"There you go again" Dwight Robinson

“There you go again” Ronald Reagan said to Jimmy Carter during the 1980 Presidential election.

And “there you go again” Dwight Robinson with another one of your baseless (and tasteless) attacks on Councilman Adam Nick.

Robinson is alleged to be behind most of the attack ads that happen in Lake Forest. They began in 2012 when Robinson first ran for office – attacking long time Republicans Terry Anderson and Marcia Rudolph. They continued with the attack ads against me in 2014 and the attack ads against Adam Nick during the recall. Robinson later admitted they were “over the top” but never apologized. Now we see his signature once again on a flyer that supposedly comes from “Citizens for Responsible Leadership” which is in fact the same crew that defended Robinson in the recall and who got their money from Robinson supporters. Robinson almost always finds a new group that uses developer funds to do his dirty work.

Regardless of Robinson’s influence on the mailer, let’s see what it says.

IT’S WRONG TO WANT TO BE AN AMERICAN

The flyer attacks Adam Nick because he came to this country and changed his name, from a foreign sounding name to one that is more American. Is that a bad thing to do? Quite frankly, I believe it’s a good thing to do. Quite frankly, I always wonder why someone who comes to this country doesn’t want to change his/her name to a more American version. Nick came to this country as an immigrant child with no family, and made his life successful, and adopted a name that is more American. He should be applauded not scorned.

GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT

After Adam Nick was called a "person of interest" for “stealing" signs Dwight Robinson called on him to resign. Robinson saw no need to wait for him to be charged, tried, or convicted. Robinson convicted him and sentenced him later to be censured by his Gang. That’s un-American. When Nick was cited and people asked me what I thought, I said I would have to wait until the Court decided, and if he was convicted I would ask for his resignation. Guess what? He wasn’t convicted. In fact it didn’t even go to Court. The DA dropped the charges.

Only a year earlier Councilman Peter Herzog was arrested for DUI and eventually convicted. After his conviction I called for his resignation. Robinson, who sat on the Council at the time, never said a word. Apparently you should resign if you are cited for stealing signs but not for being convicted of a DUI. How warped must you be to believe that? What does that tell you about Robinson's character?

DON’T SAY WHAT WE’RE ALL THINKING

The flyer attacks Nick for saying “put a muzzle” on Councilwoman McCullough during one of her endless soliloquys. McCullough could go on and on, often drifting off point. She used up a lot of Council time on her endless rants. One time she spent 3 minutes telling everyone that she was going to be brief this time.

In the indicent quoted by Robinson, Councilwoman McCullough was continually interrupting Nick while he was trying to introduce an ordinance to curtain Council members spending taxpayer money, an ordinance that would impact McCullough since she was the City's big spender. Robinson, as Mayor, should have counseled her, but he didn't.

It’s true – saying that the Mayor should put a muzzle on McCullough may not have been Nick’s most gracious moment, but it’s what everyone else was thinking. Is this the worst that Robinson can dig up on Nick? Why not talk about

• His attendance, which is 100%, while Robinson's is not.
• The fact he takes no salary, which Robinson does.
• The fact he takes no benefits, which Robinson does.
• The fact he takes no expenses, which Robinson does.
• His voting record (see below)

COMPARE NICK TO ROBINSON

Take a moment and compare Nick’s campaign literature with Robinson’s. I've included both with this article. Nick spends almost all of his space listing the voting record and showing how both people voted on about a dozen issues.

• He says nothing about the fact that Robinson portrays himself as a savvy businessman when in fact he works for his father-in-law.
• Nick doesn’t bring up the fact that Robinson’s business has been cited by the law enforcement for lying about the weight of their trucks, thus trying to avoid paying their fair share of duties, nor that they had to pay stiff fines.
• Nick never mentions that Robinson’s business was cited by the Air Quality Board.
• Nick doesn’t mention the savage attacks Robinson made on Lake Forest residents, including a grandmother and her grandchildren who were passing out flyers, a senior citizen who was physically attacked by one of Robinson’s supporters, or a man who rescued the senior citizen from further harm.
• Nor does nick employ unflattering pictures of Robinson.

Nick may have his faults, as we all do. But in the character department, Nick is far superior to Robinson. These flyers prove the point.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner is not up for re-election in 2016.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be in November at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.