Photo op illustrates confusion

By RICHARD RIEHL -- For the North County Times | February 26, 2010

The picture in the newspaper last week of North County's Reps. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, and Darrell Issa, R-Vista, at a Carlsbad Toyota service center was a sad reflection of their leadership styles and legislative priorities. Bilbray appears confused, Issa skeptical, at the sight of a gas pedal in need of repair. I can relate, having stared at car parts myself. With no clue of what I'm looking for, I tend to agree with whatever the mechanic recommends.

The scene reminded me of Bilbray's confused proposals for reducing unemployment and Issa's skepticism of how the Obama administration is counting the numbers of jobs created or saved by the economic stimulus program. If you're out of solutions to this country's biggest problems in an anti-incumbency election year, your safest campaign strategy is to show your concern over the safety of Toyota drivers.

Bilbray's confusion can be found on his campaign Web site, where he declares, "The best way to encourage small business owners and entrepreneurs to start hiring again is not to increase taxes on them, but to offer them tax incentives to hire more people!" Apparently nobody told him about the president's plan, announced last March, to cut taxes for small businesses and provide a tax credit of $5,000 for every new employee they hire.

In a letter to the president in November, Bilbray suggested that Immigration and Customs Enforcement should step up its worksite enforcement actions to deport illegal immigrant workers, making room for more jobs for legal workers. His letter arrived six months after an ICE crackdown on lawbreaking employers had resulted in 1,897 worksite enforcement actions, compared with 605 during the same period in 2008.

Our confused congressman appears to be neglecting his homework.

Issa mentions job creation twice on his Web site, questioning the Obama administration's method of tracking the success of the recovery act and offering his solution to unemployment: "stop the threat of policies like a national energy tax and a government health care take over that scare private sector employers away from expanding their businesses and hiring new employees." In Issa's America, the job market will bloom again if the government adopts Herbert Hoover's strategy of benign neglect.

Although the nation's unemployment rate stands at 9.7 percent, it's less than 5 percent for those with a bachelor's degree and more than 15 percent for those without a high school diploma. With budget cuts decimating our schools and colleges, and while area unemployment remains above 10 percent, it was discouraging to find our local lawmakers posing for a photo op with a broken gas pedal.

Sears Horror Story: an open letter to CEO Bruce Johnson

Dear Mr. Johnson:

The following is an account of our attempt to buy an appliance from Sears which may give you some insight into the reasons your sales have tanked and your shareholders are losing their shirts.

On January 26 we ordered a 27” Frigidaire stacked washer/dryer combo from the Carlsbad, California Sears store. A guy named Augie was the salesman. He did a fine job of explaining the terms of the sale and the delivery service. Since we were having our bathroom remodeled, where the unit would be installed in a closet in our tiny condo, we advance-ordered delivery for February 15.

When the remodeling job was completed a week earlier than expected, I called to move up the installation date, as Augie told me I could do. We were disappointed to learn it could only be moved up one day, to the 14^th, since our old washer no longer worked. But we accepted that when we were told that was the best Sears could do. Since the 14^th fell on a Sunday, I did ask to make sure they made deliveries on that day of the week. I was assured they do.

On February 12^th I called the delivery service number to confirm the new delivery on the 14^th and was alarmed when the automated voice system told me there was no record of our order based on our telephone number. After I was transferred to a human representative, I became even more alarmed when she informed me that they had our delivery day rightly scheduled for the 14^th, but the order was for the installation of a dryer only. When I told her that was not correct, she put me on hold to check with someone else. After waiting ten minutes, I gave up and called salesman Augie at the store. He assured me that the washer/dryer combo would be delivered as promised and that the sales slip only says “Electric Dryer Kit” to distinguish it from the gas model. The slip does not indicate it is half of a washer/dryer combo.

That seemed odd enough to me to ask to speak to Augie’s supervisor to register a complaint about the confusion. His supervisor Denise called me back promptly to explain further and agreed with me that the sales slip is confusing and that the customer service people should be better trained. She assured me the washer/dryer would be delivered as promised on the 14^th and to await a call from the delivery service the night before to confirm the time of installation.

The evening of the 13^th we received an automated call telling us the appliance would be delivered the following day between the hours of 3 and 5 and to prepare for the delivery. On the 14^th I spent my Sunday afternoon removing two doors from their hinges and pulling out the old appliance to make it easier for the delivery people to install in the small space.

After waiting until 5:30 on the day of the scheduled delivery, I called the delivery service again. This time the person I talked to told me she had no idea why it was not delivered on time, but she thought she’d seen a note that the appliance “could not be located in the warehouse.” I asked to speak to her supervisor, so she put me on hold.

After waiting ten minutes, I gave up and called the store again. The person who took my call said he’d check on it and call me back, which he did in about five minutes. He said the delivery had been rescheduled to February 16 and that we’d get a call on the 15^th to confirm the time. I told him if the machine were not installed and operating by the 16^th we’d cancel our order and ask for a refund. He readily accepted that.

Later that evening, I called the delivery service number once again, just to double check on the delivery date. Once again the automated voice system did not recognize an order with our telephone number. When Rocky, the representative came on the line he assured me that our electric dryer would be delivered as promised on the 16^th and to expect a call confirming the time of delivery on the 15^th. I didn’t bother to ask if we’d get both the dryer and the washer, since it was clear he had no idea it was a combo.

It’s now the morning of the 15^th and a Sears representative, who didn’t identify herself, called to tell me the manufacturer had not delivered the machine to the warehouse and that she had no idea when it would get there. She assured me I’d get a two-day notice before the installation.

At that point I simply said goodbye, canceled the order and bought a Maytag from the local Home Depot, who promised a free two-day delivery and installation, including the haul away of the old machine.

I realize that losing a mere $1,222 sale doesn’t amount to much for Sears, but if our experience is any indication, the future doesn’t look bright for you in this competitive economy. When I told Augie’s supervisor that your customer service is “killing you,” she just nodded and said, “I know.”

THE RIEHL WORLD: Group's off-target early hit

By RICHARD RIEHL -- For the North County Times | February 12, 2010

From the urgency of its actions, you'd think the Friends of Aviara had just discovered a Super Walmart was about to open its doors on the shores of the Batiquitos Lagoon.

The La Costa neighborhood group is suing Carlsbad's City Council for approving a planning document that would bring affordable senior housing to their backyard. The lawsuit is a pre-emptive strike on a proposal the City Council has never discussed, much less approved.

What the council did approve at its Dec. 22 meeting was a revision of the city's general plan that references Pontebello, a proposed project that would add 76 low- and moderate-income units to its housing plan, helping the city meet the state's affordable housing law.

Senior Planner Scott Donnell explained that if the city failed to obtain state certification for its housing plan it could lose millions in future state and county government grants. Carlsbad would also be exposed to lawsuits halting development until the state steps in to mandate the number and locations of affordable housing units.

Donnell emphasized that the approved housing element does nothing more than guide future development. All rezoning requests are still subject to public hearings, during which time the Friends of Aviara may produce evidence supporting its opposition to the change. If the rezone is denied, the city must find another site for the project.

No new development project can be approved without a formal assessment of its environmental and architectural impacts and after another public hearing has been held.

A preamble to the petition being circulated by the Aviara group claims, "This rezoning of a low-density single family housing area to high density meets the definition of spot zoning" and "represents a taking of property value from established property owners and tax payers."

A review of Carlsbad's zoning map reveals the shakiness of those claims. Only 20 percent of the Pontebello project area is now zoned for single family residences. Seventy percent is zoned for either multiple-family dwellings or "Limited Control," which allows for mixed uses, ranging from family day care homes to pig farms. The Friends of Aviara should be careful what it wishes for.

It's quite a stretch to call the rezone of property proposed for the Pontebello project "spot zoning," since its purpose would be to support Carlsbad's stated land use policies and objectives, the area is surrounded by compatible multiple-family residence zoning, and there's no evidence it would reduce property values.

If Aviara Oaks Elementary School were to give Friends of Aviara a report card, it wouldn't surprise me to find "doesn't play well with others" under teacher comments.