One Year Later... Brock Baj'er's First Post Is History (In The Making)

David "Doc" DeMulle starts more fires than he puts out.

Enough is enough.

Brock Baj'er has been sleeping and was rudely awakened by Doc DeMulle of The Foothills Paper infamy, digging up dirt and going out of his way to step on her while she remained on the sidelines. The Badger is mad. The Badger is launching a campaign to boycott The Foothills Paper: the only "paper of record" to spew dirt on the community it professes to serve.

Contact Brock if you want to join this campaign...

In the meantime, here is the original article that launched the blog Brock Baj'er: read it and weep but never sleep. The enemy is at the door: http://brockbajer.blogspot.com/2011/07/where-is-foothills-paper-foothills.html

The 'Doc' Debate

I'm sort of stuck between the Rock and a hard place... Remember that original controversy that landed me in hot water in this community two years ago? Well I do, because today I changed my mind. And my stand and my opinion. Wow. I did not even know I was going to do it till the words were out of my mouth and were the exact opposite of the view I held two years ago...

At that time I challenged the campaign to boycott advertisers in The Foothills Paper, a local publication almost entirely dedicated as the mouthpiece of publisher Doc DeMulle. I felt it was unfair to target the advertisers in order to force them to pull their ads from The Foothills Paper and cause it to fold by drying it up financially. I contacted the advertisers and supported their decision. I still feel the Paper (not the advertisers) should be boycotted if readers find it objectionable. Nearly all do. But everyone still reads it! Oh well. I moved on...

Recently my new employer wanted to advertise in our community and proudly told me she had found the 'community newspaper': The Foothills Paper and was about to call them for ad space. Oh Noooooo!!! I set her straight. "Nothing good can ever come of having your ad or your name in The Foothills Paper!" I declared. Don't do it! As I recounted some of the offensive statements that went to press in The Foothills Paper my friend paled. "Does he just make these remarks in the editorial section?" she asked. "No" I replied, they are throughout the whole paper, like legitimate news." She decided not to advertise in The Foothills Paper.

When I told this story to a friend tonight I said "I just don't want anyone or anything I care about to advertise in The Foothills Paper..." Then I realized, "wow, I just declared support for the drive against advertisers in The Paper!"

It's easy to champion a cause when its not your own. It's different when it becomes personal. Maybe all journalists should experience a reality check from time to time? And maybe you should think who you are likely to offend Doc, with your un-newsworthy newspaper.

The Quiet Man is the Best Man... Vote for Mark Seigel Saturday August 4th!

As a writer I depend on inspiration; I let words fill all that clean white space on a page with lines of thought, insight and information. That said, I am inspired to write to you of someone I feel I just met even ‘though I’ve known him for years: The Quiet Man aka Mark Seigel. I will definitely vote for him on Saturday, August 4th at North Valley City Hall, 7747 Foothill Blvd. Tujunga from 2:30pm to 8:30pm. PLEASE VOTE FOR MARK SEIGEL on that day!

A few days ago I interviewed Mark Seigel who is running for the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council’s all important office of President. Once you get him talking, Mark is the most engaging candidate on the roster. But he works in such an unassuming way that he is sometimes thought of as The Invisible Man…

How will he fare as a candidate? Well in a community rife with controversy, angst, and turmoil, Mark Seigel is the Voice of Reason; a quiet voice, like your conscience. It is a relief to talk to him about issues and have no gossip or vitriol clog up the conversation. Yet he could go unnoticed for that praiseworthy reason.

I’ll tell you his platform, his views, his assurances, plans, and campaign promises in a bit; before I do I want you to know the person I interviewed on a stakeholders level: Mark is a fascinating man possessed of untapped potential this community must consider!

There are a lot of things Mark Seigel is not: he is not angry, loud, or dramatic. Mark has no hidden agenda. He is straightforward and responsive to the stakeholders. Mark is no grandstander: requires no blog or Facebook page to publicize his views, and simply shows up to every meeting on time and prepared to do the job he is elected to do. What more can a voter ask?

In a moment of passion at the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council “Meet the Candidates” on Wednesday July 11, Mark Seigel declared to the audience “YOU are the Neighborhood Council, we are just the tools you need to use, to make it happen.”

Later I interviewed Mark and asked what made him decide to run for the office of President, Mark replied “the catalyst was when Tomi Lyn Bowling pulled out after Doc’s article.” The Foothills Paper publisher Doc DeMulle ran a controversial article concerning Bowling the week before. She reportedly felt her “presence was detrimental to the Board based on the content of the article” and withdrew her candidacy. Later she allowed herself to be persuaded by community members to change her mind and run. This is not the first time Bowling has resigned, called for a vote of confidence and reinstated herself in the council. She can’t make up her mind.

For this election Bowling retrieved the candidacy she had cast aside. She reinstated her intent to run… how does that affect Mark? “Well I’m not pulling out; I’ve developed more relationships with service organizations in the community than Tomi has. I have more exposure to the American Legion, the Elks, Scouting, Masons, Chamber of Commerce, and others. I have experience others don’t realize.”

“I also know how to resolve conflict. I understand interpersonal dynamics; I was an ombudsman for years. I seek positive change and I reason with all sides. I emphasize solutions not problems and want both sides to feel their differences are resolved in a win/win manner.” (This is in sharp contrast to Tomi Lyn Bowling who rejects members from her community Facebook page if they disagree with her.)

When asked what is the first thing he would do if elected Mark firmly stated “I would educate the [new] Board on the parameters for being able to execute their jobs and I would empower them so they don’t sit idle; they can get out there and DO something; they can do it now: they can engage the community! The Board can be a help to the community, not a target for the community!”

That impassioned statement is a far cry from the light statement made by Tomi Lyn Bowling during Meet the Candidates: she said about her current Vice-Presidency and Chairmanship of the Board, “We have a good time, don’t we? Don’t we?!” And Tomi concluded with “I want to see more of what we need on Foothill Boulevard and less of what we don’t need on Foothill Boulevard!”

Mark however, is “divided” on the Food Trucks Issue and wants “to hear a lot more from both sides at STNC meetings not on Facebook pages”. He refers back to his earlier statement that he knows how to resolve conflict with a win/win solution and looks forward to input from the whole community on this issue.

On the subject of “Development” Mark Seigel is strong minded. “Any development must be community oriented. Development can help or harm our community and we have to get past the buzzwords developers use to take advantage of the community. We can’t have too much, too fast. This isn’t Beverly Hills. Sunland Tujunga is an old-fashioned homey community with 90% residential, 9% business, and 1% commercial properties. There are 56 different ethnicities in Sunland Tujunga. There are a lot of different ideas we need to hear”

Finally when asked what is the most important thing he can do if elected, Mark Seigel reiterated a favorite topic by stating two things he considers vital to leadership which he feels fully capable of: “A leader needs to recognize another’s strengths and LET them use them. And, a leader must guide and empower the Board to reach its full potential as a community resource.”

The best candidate for the position of President of the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council is Mark Seigel. PLEASE be sure to vote on Saturday, August 4th, from 2:30pm to 8:30pm. AND get all your friends and neighbors to vote as well… it is a great first time experience for young people who must be 16 to vote. See you at the polls!

http://markseigel2012.blogspot.com/2012/07/

Finding Faith

Countless authors have written advice on standing up for yourself...

I just received the best advice ever: don't be a victim; and never need to stand up for yourself!

This idea does not suppose you will never face an adversary, the advice is this: don't give your opponent power; don't feed their anger, don't return it or respond to it, don't further it by spreading the story of it; let it die. Stop talking about it to others! (This is hard to do!) And my adviser continued: don't retaliate, don't return the aggression, don't attempt to tell your side of it, stop the flow of anger in its track. In other words, don't be a conductor of anger... shut it down, turn it off, let it end at you. Flip the switch.

It seems to me I have heard the Dalai Lama speak of this. Or Mahatma Gandhi. Of course this sage advice would come from a practitioner at the nearby Ananda Ashrama in La Crescenta. You can find this spiritual retreat at the top of Pennsylvania Avenue at Markridge Road. It is exquisite. Sunday service is at 11:00am and Thursday meditation is at 7:00pm.


Hold aloft this Light and stand fast to thy post, Till all wandering souls have reached their goal in safety.
Service brings strength and renewed life; Love cures all weariness. And Faith, the shining jewel of life,
performs all miracles.                             ~Paramananda~                          (photo by Terre Ashmore)



Another retreat I am especially fond of is the Monastery in Valyermo, up near Littlerock. They have massive cherry orchards and it should be cherry picking time right now... it is a wonderful fulfilling experience to pick your fill of cherries from the monks beautiful orchards...



What makes faith so important that such an elusive concept would be so sought after? It is that human need for questions to have answers and those answers to be true. I believe that is only possible in the realm of God.

However, if God inhabits the praise of His people I would prefer an altar atop a hillside or in an orchard to worship.  But I have been in some awe inspiring temples and churches. Even the kiva has moved me profoundly and frankly I have come to believe Joseph Campbells view of a God with many faces. Since I studied so many faiths and practiced a few for the spiritual gardens I once designed, I have questions only holy ones can answer now and I seek truth in places no one else would understand: in the face and eyes of all I meet... I look for God in you.

I hope you look for God in me...

Food Trucks and Farmers Markets

Maybe it's the invading hordes from NoHo we have to watch out for...

You just never know who or what you're going to see at Wednesday's Food Truck Night. I stumbled right into private negotiations between Century 21's owner Ray and NoHo's farmers market manager Eddie for Eddie to set up a farmer's market for Ray on Food Truck Night. According to Eddie, Ray wants a farmers market in his shopping mall on Food Truck Night but "no merchandise vendors; Ray wants only produce vendors because they will make him money". (Farmers Market vendors pay 10% of their profits to the market owner while merchandise vendors only pay a set fee of $25. A farmers market on Food Truck Night will "rake it in" and pay 10% of a lot of $$$.)

Eddie could barely contain himself as he trumpeted that he has "a big 'in' with the Chamber President, what's her name? Oh yeah, Sonia... it's a sure thing." He assured me: "No, no one ran this by anybody, we don't need to, Sonia said its ok." Well he would know the value of keeping a simple "deal" quiet, our Eddie would.

Last year Eddie told me he and his partner loaned their market manager thousands of dollars. There's no explanation for this windfall since the managers were on unemployment when they were not working for the entertainment industry (or the market) at the time. Oddly the monies they were given for the market somehow fell short of the projected goal for their community supported market at that same time and they were unable to buy the advertising banner, pay the markets phone bill, send out advertising postcards, and meet other promised financial goals.

But everyone deserves another chance... at another community's expense. After all Sonia and Tomi Lyn persuaded the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council to support farmers market manager "Manny" last year by upgrading the appearance of Century 21's entire business complex with new paint, awnings, etc. "for the community farmers market". Then they were taken by surprise when a poster on the Foothills Forum informed them "their" farmers market manager had moved the market from the (upgraded) site to his church. Well they are probably rationalizing now that another farmers market makes use of the upgrades and fits in profitably with their Food Truck Night. Right? Everybody's making a buck; well not the brick and mortar stores. If only the assurances were true...

...Tell me again how it's all about community.

Rock The Vote!

WANTED: new blood, new ideas, new enthusiasm, new stakeholders… new candidates to run for the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council!

This is a flat out appeal to you the local reader to be that brave and daring soul who steps out of the crowd and starts a new era. There is just too much old business, old relationships, old favors, old debts, old news, old controversies, and old alliances… in the Sunland Tujunga governing process. Let those who are feathering their political nest move on to a higher power and let other Sunland Tujungans, dedicated, hardworking, determined stakeholders do the job now.

Be that person who starts a whole new way of thinking, a new process of responding, implements a new community government and represents the majority not the minority of Sunland Tujunga (there are 65,000 residents here, not 500 friends on Facebook!) Don’t discuss it over the dinner table… discuss it over the podium. Stand up, stand out, be a leader for our people!

Do you care what happens to our twin towns? Do something about it! Do you have a better idea(s) and want more for our community? Do something about it! Do you have a desire to improve situations, correct wrongs, respond to the stakeholders’ needs and desires? Do something about it! Don’t think you “can’t, wouldn’t know where to begin, might loose, might win” because there is a whole process to help you every step of the way. Pick up your application and START HERE: http://empowerla.org/stnc/sunland-tujunga-nc-elections/

Then call for others: quiet (or not) men and women, residents, neighbors, trades people, business owners, teachers, working people, unemployed people, parents, grandparents, and stakeholders to help you, they are out there. They are your new supporters and there are more than you imagine. All it takes is that first step…

Please accept this invitation. Your future is ours.

Food Fight

Okay so I wasn’t going to write about the latest Sunland Tujunga controversy but how can I resist? When I research this story I get to eat crepes and other cool food while observing the Sunland Tujunga masses.

I kept thinking ‘there is a great story here’ while I researched the various gourmet fast food trucks and watched all the cool people. There were several hundred locals, out-of-towners and food truck followers milling in and out of the tangled and congested walkway alongside the food trucks. Pedestrians tripped over broken concrete, nearly got hit by confused and increasingly heavy Foothill Boulevard traffic and rerouted food trucks swerved in and out of spaces (their parking slots were blocked by protesters' vehicles).

The lineup of food trucks was marred by protest vehicles parked where food trucks were supposed to be. Tomi Lyn Bowling reportedly was warned that protestors in the form of ‘brick and mortar store’ owners would disrupt the night this way so she showed up to prevent it at 2:00 pm but several still evaded her and parked in the food truck slots.

Chamber of Commerce President Sonia Tatulian called LAPD Sergeant Eggers who was unable to persuade former CofC President Kathy Anthony’s son to move his truck and flatbed. It seemed to be a showdown between present and former CofC ruling parties. Sonia looked like the “angry birds” game as she expressed her displeasure. Then the Advertising Director of Voice of the Village (the “Good News” newspaper) angrily added her parked car to the mix and jammed her truck’s front bumper up against the flatbed so neither could be moved; everyone used them to lean against while eating their food. Ah, ingenuity. What fun!

I met The Fish Lady, Barbara Johnson for crepes. We were going to have lobster but that truck was a no show. Bummer. I shared fries with Abby Diamond, avoided eye contact with Kim Oglegee, discussed history with Cecile Vargo, discussed Sunland Tujunga’s castles with Tara Greer, shared vendor info with Dazey Carnes, befriended Mary Louise Burdi, saw Tomi, Sonia, Jan, Doc, Ron of Marcus Lane, and many others. I heard Doc DeMulle was blocking a parking space but when I went to check it out at the end of the row he was interviewing Tomi and his vehicle was no where near them.

For the uninitiated, Food Truck Night was orchestrated by Chamber Champions: Tomi Lyn Bowling, Sonia Tatulian, and Jan Wunderlich. It’s a huge success… at what cost remains to be seen, but there is no denying it brings paying customers in droves and we mostly have Tomi Lyn to thank for it all.

Food Truck Night invites 2-3 dozen out-of-town gourmet food trucks to the twin targets of Sunland and Tujunga every Wednesday night for great food, camaraderie, mischief, great food, mayhem, gossip, great food, mingling, favoritism and um, well yes… great food…

Oh yeah and it doesn’t hurt that these are mostly voters and the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council elections are in two months and Tomi Lyn Bowling wants to be president. Opps, well hell I said the thing no one dares to say… Tomi Lyn will yelp like someone bit her and holler “I do so much for the community!” which no one denies. It will also get her elected. Heck, she has the vote: whether throwing a party, or campaigning for one: Tomi Lyn Bowling is very good at what she does.