BSRA president picks slate for Thursday's vote

You may be interested to know that the Belmont Shore Resident’s Association (BSRA) is expecting a highly contentious election on Thursday at 6:00 pm at the Bay Shore Library. It appears that Councilman DeLong, the 2nd street bar owners and the Belmont Shore Parking Commissioners will attempt to overthrow the current BSRA board. I say this for the following reasons:

1. Councilman DeLong and his wife sighed up as BSRA members two weeks ago. They can both be BSRA members and vote because they own residential property in Belmont Shore. They were not BSRA members last year. As BSRA President, I frequently write about Councilman DeLong's support of Parking Commissioner (commercial property owners) projects that negatively impact our residential neighborhood. I suspect that they both didn't sign up to vote for the current BSRA Board.

2. Joe Toney, Councilman DeLong’s Legislative Assistant, signed up for the BSRA two weeks ago. He was not a member last year. I suspect he also didn't sign up to vote for the current BSRA Board.

3. Timothy Moriarty sent me an email yesterday announcing that he was running as a write-in for the BSRA Secretary position. Timothy is a Belmont Shore resident and new partner in the Acapulco Inn bar on 2nd street per the below ABC link.

http://www.abc.ca.gov/datport/LQSData.asp?ID=2029471150

4. Belmont Shore resident Matt Seiburt sent me an email yesterday announcing that he was running as a write-in for an at-large BSRA Board position. Matt is the nephew of Parking Commission Chairman Bill Lorbeer and the son-in-law of Gene Rotondo, who is the owner of Legends bar and the President of the Belmont Shore Business Association per the below link.

http://registry.weddingchannel.com/wedding_websites/PersonalWebsite.action?occ=572245220&view=os&c=572245220&s=10&t=100&p=21&l=106497

5. Parking Commission Vice Chairman Kurt Schneiter told me two months ago that “you're going down in the next election.”

6. I have been told by several individuals that they have been approached by various people who claim to be running for election as write-in candidates to overthrow the current BSRA Board.

7. Of particular interest is the high number of new members that have only recently joined the BSRA in August. According to Google, many of the new members are either city employees, city staffers, elected officials, monetary contributors to Councilman DeLong’s campaign or people who have spoken before City Council in support of alcohol licenses and entertainment permits for 2nd street bars.

8. Bottom line, Councilman DeLong, the Parking Commissioners and the 2nd street bar owners feel they must get rid of the current BSRA board because we are questioning how they have been conducting business in our community. Moreover, the BSRA has halted several of their commercial projects that would have been signed off by the previous BSRA board led by Parking Commissioner Jeanette Gavin. They need to remove us as their obstacles to furthering their self interests.

We are expecting a capacity turnout for the election. I suggest that this may be a wonderful opportunity to observe how our elected Councilman and Mayoral appointed Commissioners attempt to manipulate a resident’s association election in their self interest. Apparently, their recent manipulation of the Parking Commission bond election was practice for the BSRA election.

I think Councilman DeLong should tread very carefully on this one if he wants to keep any confidence with his constituents.There is a right way to do this and a wrong way. Gary has chosen the wrong way. Because he is a Council man, and has power, he has decided that the BSRA does not agree with his personal agenda--so lets go in and upset a neighborhood association election with write ins (he and his friends). This smacks of dirty politics. I am happy to hear that the press will be there.
A suggestion to DeLong--stay out of it--otherwise it's a great backfire on you!

I think Mike has done an admirable job as president of the BSRA representing the residents. He is loyal to the residents and has their BEST interests at heart.
Gary DeLong, his wife and staff members have just recently become members of the BSRA. Has the Councilmember also extended his membership to College Estates,Belmont Heights,University Park Estates, Marina Pacifica, Island Village,
Bixby Hill, Spinaker Cove--all neighborhood Associations in his third district. I think not.
Gary's move to stuff the BSRA ballot box and thwart democracy and fairness is reprehensible!! It reminds me of "Boss Tweed" and the slimiest of old corrupt Chicago politics.

Delong is all about looking out for his own little clique---like a nerdy "frat" boy at his first keg party

I find it very interesting that my name is not going to be listed on the ballot in spite of the fact I submitted my application in plenty of time. You have apparently chosen to print the ballot long before it was necessary so as to preclude any other names being on the ballot! Talk about "manipulation"! You have even refused to share the ballot with anyone except yourselves.
Please be advised we (the other candidates) are NOT "The Business Association and Parking Commission candidates"! We are individuals who are long time residents of Belmont Shore who want to work for the ENTIRE community. We are tired of your obviously personal vendetta against the businesses and feel your actions are detrimental to the overall ambiance and cohesiveness of The Shore. You should be aware there are many, many Shore residents who share our concern. We will campaign first and foremost for the residents, and we will protect the residents to the best of our ability against detrimental actions of others. It is not in anybody’s best interest to create an aura of hostility, as you have done.
We stand for COMMUNITY CONSENSUS & PROGRESS. THAT SAYS IT ALL! An "overthrow"???? Dictatorships and the ilk are "overthrown". This is a move to return the Shore to normalcy for the residents, and we are NOT controlled by Gary DeLong, Gene Rotundo, Bill Lobeer, or anyone else except the residents!

Rich Carry, Candidate for President of the BSRA

Can Long Beach politics get dirtier? Bars and restaurants on 2nd street are now offering to reimburse their customers with free drinks if they go to the BSRA election tomorrow at 6:00 pm at the Bay Shore Library and vote for the following list of candidates endorsed by the Belmont Shore Business Association.

Rich Carry – President
Scott Dixon – Vice President
Tim Moriarty – Secretary
Roy Hanson – Treasurer
Matt Seibert – Member at Large

According to a friend of mine, Gene Rotondo, the President of the Belmont Shore Business Association, delivered membership forms and candidate lists to Ron the owner of Shannon’s Bayshore Saloon. Customers who enter Shannon’s are asked by bartenders if they are Belmont Shore residents. If they answer “yes,” they are handed a BSRA membership form, the above list of candidates and are told they will get a $10 drink coupon if they vote in tomorrow night’s BSRA election for the Business Association slate of candidates. My friend gave me the information that he was handed and had been printed at 1:49 pm today.

A second friend called and told me that customers entering Gary Roth’s Belmont Station Bar are being handed the same information and told to vote for the above Business Association candidates because the current BSRA is trying to shut down all bars on 2nd street. I asked my friend if any other restaurants were doing so. He called back soon thereafter to say that Riley’s, Acapulco Inn Legends and Panama Joes were doing likewise. He said that the person handing out the forms at Panama Joes told him to vote for the Business Association candidates because “Mike Ruehle” was trying to have all 2nd street bars close at 10:00 pm.

Hearing this, I walked up the street and confirmed that this is indeed what is happening in Legends, Belmont Station, Riley's and Bayshore Saloon. I spoke with some people who I thought were my friends and asked them what was going on. They were uncomfortable speaking to me. However, the handout's with the Business Association candidate list were laying everywhere in each establishment. Apparently, being President of the Belmont Shore Business Association and owner of Acupulco Inn and Legends isn’t enough for Gene Rotondo. He and the Parking Commissioners must also have control of the BSRA.

I guess I must be doing something right if the Business Assoication is going to such great lengths. I am actually surprised that they would act in a manner that might alienate 2nd street customers. I guess we will find out tomorrow what the residents want.

Mike Ruehle
BSRA President

I have been a fan of Belmont Shore since I started working in the area as a high school freshman over 10 years ago. The restaurants, shopping and friendly neighbors let me know early that this was a community that I would love to be a part of when I was on my own. I worked in the Shore all through high school and college and was fortunate enough to become engaged to a wonderful man who lived in the area and my teenage dream of living in the Shore became a reality. I moved to Belmont Shore one month before the 2007 election for the BSRA and was excited to take part. Over the last year I have not been able to attend as many meetings as I would have liked because I have a job that requires frequent travel but I was always eager to receive the monthly email from Mr. Ruehle to find out what was happening in my beloved new home. What I saw were emails where Mr. Ruehle let everyone know what his opinions were on what was happening, how he seemed to be constantly hounding our government representatives over what were, in my opinion, non-issues and surveys that were worded in such a biased nature that it was never a surprise to me when the results came out favoring the opinion of Mr. Ruehle and his board.

I am sure that many of you saw the email that Mr. Ruehle sent on September 9th where he handpicked the board and officers he thinks you should vote for tomorrow evening. I personally do not think it was appropriate for this publicity stunt to be sent out to all of the current members of the BSRA without affording the same option to any other person interested in running. This was not an option given to my husband, Matt Seibert, who is running as a write-in candidate. When I emailed Mr. Ruehle this afternoon to see if we could possibly be given the email distribution list, my email was ignored. I believe that this was done purposely since Mr. Ruehle sent out a completely inaccurate email accusing several business of buying votes for tomorrow (as you can see in his post here) much later after I made my request. Is Mr. Ruehle afraid that someone else could have something intelligent to add to the discussion and that maybe the residents would find out that there is another option?

When I checked my email this morning and saw that Mr. Ruehle felt it was his "obligation" to inform the residents that Mr. Moriarty and Matt had ties to Belmont Shore businesses I was outraged. This insinuated that these men should not have their opinions as residents counted because they have connections to the business community. With the way Mr. Ruehle informed everyone that Matt is related to a member of the Parking Commission and to Gene Rotondo was to indicate that Matt is not able to think and act on his own but that since these are his relatives he MUST be a puppet for them and their opinions. This absolutely ridiculous and totally stereotypical and who does he think he is to characterize my husband by just those two things that have nothing to do with his character. Matt had a degree in Business Administration and Public Management and co-owns his own business. He cares about the area he grew up in and is tired of feeling like he is in the minority because he appreciates how fortunate we are to live here. I think it speaks measures to Mr. Ruehle's character that he is so quick to support and build up those who share his opinions but he never even thought to call those who are running against him to see what they stand for and why they want to represent this great neighborhood.

To address the last email about "Dirty Long Beach Politics" (by the way, this election is for a RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION, not an actual political office) there were many incorrect statements made. Mr. Ruehle claimed that he went into Legends this evening and verified that customers were being given $10 drink coupons if they voted at tomorrow night’s BSRA election. This is absolutely not true as Legends was closed most of the evening for a private party. He is also calling the group of residents who are running as write in candidates the "Business Associations" slate which is an opinion of Mr. Ruehles. These candidates are as entitled to run as he is since they are, in fact, residents of Belmont Shore. It would be great to have a BSRA board that has not alienated many residents or lost all support of the local businesses.

I hope that the residents of Belmont Shore are planning to go to tomorrow evenings BSRA election and vote for the people who they think will best represent what they feel life should be like in Belmont Shore.

In regards to Rich Carry’s letter, I have the following comments.

1. The reason that Mr. Carry’s name is not listed on the ballot is because we printed the ballots on Monday. The BSRA received Mr. Carry’s candidate form today. I will bring the envelope to the BSRA election for everyone to see. The postmark date received at the Post Office is September 9th. It did not get delivered into the BSRA mailbox until September 10th when I picked it up. Mr. Carry, is this what residents can expect from your Presidency. Your very first sentence is an untruth. If you have read my newsletters, I have been asking months for people to declare their candidacy so that we could avoid exactly what you now accuse. I ask, why did you wait until one day before the election if you wanted your name to be included on the ballot? The BSRA did not preclude you. You did that to yourself.

2. Matt Seibert, one of Mr. Carry’s running mates on the Business Association slate emailed me requesting to have a ballot. I refused. Like I explained, the reason is to control the number of ballots issued and make sure that no unauthorized ballots are used to vote. Every person must check in or register as a resident member at the registration desks. When they do so, each paid-up member will be given a single ballot to mark their votes. The scored ballot will then be deposited in the voter box to be counted after the election closes. The intent is to avoid someone from creating duplicate ballots and casting more than one vote. Apparently, Mr. Carry was unhappy with that answer, declaring in his statement above that I “refused to share the ballot with anyone except yourselves”

3. Mr. Carry, if you are not one of the Business Association and Parking Commission candidates as you state, how come the BSRA found out about your candidacy by reading the sign posted on Business Association President Gene Rotondo’s wall at Legends? Why was Gene Rotondo circulating flyers with your name on it to 2nd street bars and restaurants dated September 10th at 1:49 pm, hours before your candidate form was retrieved from the BSRA mailbox? If you are not the Business Association candidates, how come the Business Association is the only ones who knew about your candidacy?

4. I have no “personal vendetta against the businesses” as Mr. Carry states. I wish to represent residents and our quality of life, not create an “aura of hostility”. However, it is not always fuzzy bunnies when you deal with a handful of people who have grown accustomed to getting their way for so long that they are unwilling to compromise. As I have repeatedly stated, I would much rather sit down and discuss an issue. I can show you reams of emails where I have asked for that opportunity and have been denied. Because I happen to disagree does not mean I have a “vendetta.” I believe it means that I am committed to representing the residents desire to maintain the overall ambiance that Mr. Carry speaks of.

5. Mr. Carry, if there are many residents that share your concerns about the way that the BSRA conducts its business, then why not be upfront and honest about declaring your candidacy and let the BSRA membership judge. Why is it necessary to hide in the shadows hoping to be overlooked? Why didn’t you state your concerns at one of the BSRA meetings where everyone is allowed to speak their intentions? It’s easy to sit in the background and criticize how other people conduct their business. Is that how you wish to lead the BSRA?

With that said. I wish good luck to Mr. Carry in today’s election. Fortunately, we live in a society where people have an opportunity to select their candidate. May the best man win.

Mike Ruehle,

If all the rebuttal comments you made to the above write in candidates are valid--I think you
may have a good case for slander against your person.

The good guys swept all 11 BSRA Board positions last night at the election...........need I say more

Mike Ruehle
Re-Elected BSRA President