Living on a River in Egypt
Like Most Folks, The City of Rocklin doesn’t have the Courage to Face the Economic Music
10/4/2011 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

Why can’t Rocklin get its act together. I warned them of the economic crunch in 2006. They didn’t listen then and they are not listening now. The City of Rocklin is on the brink of financial disaster and the council still acts like a developer candy store, something it should have stopped cold back in 2000. Who’s fault is this? It is the fault of the people of Rocklin. They are huge co-dependent enablers. They haven’t got a clue as to what’s going down around them and won’t until they pry the television from their cold dead hands or perhaps when they can no longer afford to put healthy food on the table.

Ten Things a Responsible Citizen can do?
  1. Know who sits on your city council.
  2. Attend city council meetings.
  3. Stop electing folks that take the money. Register Decline to State and vote. Get involved and include your friends.
  4. Run, fund and elect folks that don’t take the money. Quit reading yard signs and start thinking critically.
  5. Force your city council to quit spending money it doesn’t have.
  6. Stop the city from giving away your rights and property in exchange for federal and state handouts especially through eminent domain projects that aren’t necessary.
  7. Read online rather than limiting yourself to the local newspaper.
  8. Understand the Placer cabal and how the “quid-pro-quo” system works to keep its own in power.
  9. Understand that these are Republicans in name only. They are really developer owned communists.
  10. Devote 1 hour a week to this project.

Pension Reform???
The New City Council - Which is really the Old City Council - Talks the Talk
5/30/2011 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

Rocklin’s City Council has decided to address the pension problem that is bringing our city to its knees. Since this cabal brought us the problem in the first place, I have a hard time believing they can fix it. They caused our annual pension costs to jump from $185,884 per year to $3,577,004, or an increase of 1,824 percent, according to our new city manager, Rick Horst as reported in the Placer Herald on May 5, 2011. This can only happen when the town (its people included) doesn’t pay attention tp the money or take action when problems occur. I lack faith in the City officials and in the people of Rocklin to fix this in a timely manner. For the rest of us, be ready for less police and fire and more potholes in the roads. When the next economic bust hits later this year or during next year, I plan to be prepared by managing my own personal fire and protection programs. My vehicle will be a pothole handler.

Residents Got the City Government they Deserve
Residents lack of political discipline is now costing them dearly and the cost is well deserved.
2/9/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

Rocklin’s City Council has been not so secretly doing as a few of us expected, and at the worst possible moment. They are raising fees and planning on spending more money they don’t have at least money that should go to street and infrastructure repairs. The folks that voted in the incumbent Scott Yuill and the blessed one, Diane Ruslin.are getting exactly what they deserve and should have expected from the cabal they reelected. Too bad for the few of us that tried to show some good sense and economic frugality. If you can’t think critically and act accordingly, I’m afraid you’re doomed to follow the whims of a developer owned communist city council.

In 2007, the council must have felt like it was awash in revenue and spent like there was no tomorrow on all kinds of things. Unfortunately, as folks like me had warned them, tomorrow came and its cost is prohibitive. Roads, parks and other infrastructure are not being maintained because our city can’t afford it. They did some sprucing up in 2007, but that was a drop in the bucket. We all will pay dearly for the council’s reflection of the fiscal attitudes of the local population. More spending and more redistribution of our wealth. This council has not really learned anything because they know full well what they are doing and to whom they really work for.

Let’s start with parks. Parks paid for by the rest of us help developers sell to new folks. The city council works for developers and developers contribute the most to the incumbent and blessed candidates. Those yard signs that cause the sheeple to vote in one direction or another are not cheap. Most of you are too young to remember when some old folks died, they donated their fortunes to cities to build parks in their name and sometimes to cover their maintenance costs. Now we rely upon redistribution of the wealth since those that want the parks really don’t want to pay for them by themselves. Parks are not cheap, and like roads, need constant maintenance, especially when vandals start destroying them. Back in 2007 our city, planned for more parks and water parks. They did not seem to care where the economy was heading. Despite their huge miscalculation which has left the city with fewer staff to manage everything they grew, Rocklinites have decided to keep those folks in power. So where will the maintenance money come from?

As I predicted, the election is over, and the council is raising business and other fees to pay for their misdeeds. These are essentially new non-voter approved taxes that go into the general fund and are not applied to the services they are taxing. I guess they want to increase the level of vacancies in local strip malls, now owned by banks that were wise enough to convert their free, and eventually worthless cash they got from the government into real commercial property. But that’s over the heads of the average Rocklinite. I digress, it is not over the heads of some who sit on the City Council who’s agenda is not on behalf of their constituents, but rather on behalf of the few large campaign donors like the garbage utilitiy. The amount they donate is a drop in the bucket in relation to what they get from the city council in return. However, the voters each give far less than 1% of what such organizations give and that was the difference.

Then we have the monopoly utilities charging tiered systems no matter how many folks live in the residences charged. The council permits this as does the Public Utilities Commission. In other words, it doesn’t matter how much you use per capita. You could be frugal but over charged. In still other words, you are being charged for being frugal. The state pays the utilities money to run this unfair slanted and unfair system. Of course our city council and the PUC is mute on the subject.

In education we’ve increased expenses there back in 2007. Again, education couldn’t see the writing on the wall, either. Parents are paying additionally for anything beyond bare bones education. The kids also pay more for less education, especially noticed when applying for college. As with all government institutions, you will pay more for less. This is their track record. This all occurs at a time when folks are making less money or may not be employed at all.

Getting their own elected to the City Council keeps the secrets of the tomb and skeletons in the closet hidden. Once free men get elected, the game will be over for them as their secret agendas spill forth. Fortunately Rocklin voters enabled this again.

When I walked the town talking to residents, I was totally discouraged by the lack of critical thinking in the town. Voters were basically ignorant of government shenanigans. Many were apathetic or lazy. They would all watch the super bowl but most would not contribute that much time to understanding their city responsibilities. I asked myself, “who am I running for. Do they really deserve my efforts?” I still feel that way to this day. Rocklin, until the residents start taking responsibility for it, is FUBAR, fouled up beyond all recognition, borrowing from kids to fund what we use today. Forget it. I would rather keep promoting fiscal responsibility through this site.

Residents continue to say “buy me, show me, take me” to the city council they elected, with little thought as to where the money is coming from. Meanwhile the streets are getting worse and worse, something the city cannot afford to fix while staying within its budget. Management continues to reduce the staff while this is all not happening. Yet management salaries still remain high. They will protect their own against us. A decent city council would go without any stipend whatsoever, but trust me, this city’s council doesn’t love you that much either. Back in 2007, the city was raking in revenues. The council was not thinking of us then, and they are not thinking of us now that revenues are almost non-existent, though I might add, above 2003 levels.

The city’s budgets have been as follows:

Years Income Expenses Difference
2003-2004 37,078,400 57,515,400 -20,437,000
2004-2005 34,433,700 59,551,900 -25,118200
2005-2006 50,640,300 60,906,400 -10,266,100
2006-2007 57,801,000 64,020,500 -6,219,500
2007-2008 57,952,916 59,362,557 -1,409,641
2008-2009 61,266,707 63,002,061 -1,735,354
2009-2010 47,786,835 57,131,073 -9,344,238

I am warning the City of Rockliin and its sleepy residents. The last recession was just the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg. Neither the city, nor its residents are prepared for the terrible economic calamity ahead. Only the rich and powerful that run Rocklin will have enough to survive the tough times ahead.

.
An American Home is Broken Into every 14.6 seconds - according to the FBI
The Home catecorner to mine was broken into and cleaned out!
12/1/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.Elections are Over, the Heretics are Out of the Way, and its Back to “Business as Usual”
Money flows forth as the secrets of the tomb are kept that way.
12/20/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

Watching Jesse Ventura’s conspiracy theory about the possibility that the pentagon wasn’t hit by a plane at all, could only be possible if enough people are willing or at least made to keep their mouths shut. It reminds me of most government activities these days. One never knows exactly what the truth is. One thing is apparent. The folks of Rocklin are usually too sleepy to figure the truth out or to even care about the truth once discovered. Where does Rocklin’s money really go? Why hire someone from Florida to run our city? Would it be for reasons other than qualifications? These are questions the sleepy folks of Rocklin should be asking were they to truly care about their community. You might say that Rocklin has a voluntary “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The first cure for Rocklin will be to wake its residents up. Abdication of their throwns is only going to lead to further problems in the city who’s finances have not been watched carefully. There is definitely an instilled ownership of the town by monopoly interests and a huge quid-pro quo relationship between the cabal and the cabal leaders. Meanwhile, the folks of Rocklin will have to learn to pay more and more for less and less.
An American Home is Broken Into every 14.6 seconds - according to the FBI
The Home catecorner to mine was broken into and cleaned out!
12/1/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

Most Rocklinites come in three flavors. Sheep, Lemmings and Ostriches! Most of them think we have low crime and great schools, but both premises are flawed for those in the know. First, this is relative to a country that is falling apart and has rampant crime and a city that markets itself to Los Angelinos and San Franciscans and wants to brush crime reporting under the carpet. The home across the street was robbed in a way that took a lot of time. A story should have been in the Placer Herald, but instead we saw more William Jessup PR and the standard Chamber hype, even an article about some dummy that doesn’t want to vote. Responsible Rocklinites are not city and police dependent. They actually do what they can to defend themselves and their family knowing that the city and police are virtually useless. Next to having a “Beware of Mean Dog” sign, the best protection is an active alarm system hidden from a city that will charge you for having one — even one that isn’t linked to a big alarm center. The City seems determined to increase crime by charging its citizens to defend themselves. We had an opportunity to dump the incumbents that served us these problems. But as sheep, lemmings and ostriches usually do, they did nothing on November 2. To the sheeple, I say, “Enjoy your increased crime and diminished educational opportunities in your collapsing state.” The rest of us will take care of our own.
Is Rocklin Spying on its Citizens?
Other than the new 360 degree cameras at intersections, what other mischief has the city been up to?
11/29/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

New 360 degree cameras have been installed at some intersections. What’s the point? Why? What else has the cabal that runs the county and most cities therein been up to lately? Those astute citizens, all five of us, are pretty aware that Rocklin’s City Council is mischievous and there is more than a hint of dishonesty in how they have handled affairs in the past. Can we trust the city with our personal data? If government is more than willing to steal from its citizens, as Rocklin is always prone to do, than can we trust that they will do the right thing with surveillance, or will it be used against us? I think not, but I also think the citizens will see the city collapse financially before they take action on retaining their money or their personal freedoms. Unfortunately, there is an irony in that most folks that live in Rocklin consider themselves Republicans, members of the second largest mafia family in the United States. I do believe that in the end, these apathetic folks will get their just desserts.
The William Jessup Herald
Do You Like The Placer Herald’s New Name
11/24/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

The blatant support of the Placer Herald for all things Republican and Communist cracks me up. Amid the support is the constant promotion of William Jessup University, the perfect blend of church and state for Limbaugh Republicans. Thursday the 18th’s photo caption, “William Jessup flies the flag to honor vets” kinda sums up our local disease when the sub-caption reads “WJU is a military friendly school, ...” What does that have to do with anything. This is actually an indirect endorsement of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, two wars we are losing at great expense to future generations. “Enlist today! We’ll help with your tuition.” We’ll incentivise the wars of futility! We support capturing control over all mideast oil! We support the Project for a New American Centery (PNAC), blah, blah, blah. Somedays, there’s nothing more boring than a Political Christian university.
TODAY IS ELECTION DAY - WHERE IS THE PLACER HERALD?
DEVIOUS VOTER SLATE CARDS TELL THE WHOLE STORY
11/2/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

Perhaps more than 100,000 extremely devious slate cards were sent to Rocklin voters. They contained so-called recommendations by organizations for three of the most heavily funded candidates for the Rocklin City Council. Alongside their names were asterisks (*). In the fine print you would have learned that the candidates had paid for the recommendations. These candidates must have assumed that the voters of Rocklin are stupid. They assumed ignorance. They assumed voters would not look up the footnote that explained how these were simply advertisements paid for by supposedly recommended candidates. I think if the Sacramento Bee and Placer Herald, which also make recommendations that could easily be biased towards candidates that run ads with them, had made the devious slate cards known to the public, we might have a smarter election where the public votes these grimy devious, insulting politicians out of office. This is typical of what I have called “cabal” activities that have corrupted our local politics and begin with the Republican and Democratic parties. They can’t seem to run a clean election if they wanted to. These Republican and Democratic backed politicians feel they must be sly and devious to win. Today, we will find out if they were right. There were candidates such as myself that have not tried to insult your intelligence. Let’s hope there are enough voters out there that are tired of the Republican and Democratic shenanigans that have ruined our government at every level. I also encourage you to vote for independents and third party candidates that promise to end these corrupt parties’ dominance over local and California politics. You know who the devils are. Let’s not vote for the lesser of two bo-weevils. Let’s punish the newspapers that kept us so badly informed this election by no longer buying their products. Its time we got a non-conglomerate news source that is truly local and that is fair in its reporting. Were the press remotely responsible, they would have warned you about these evil slate cards and shown more of the falsehoods in the campaign brochures. May the men and women with the biggest and the most yard signs lose this election.
Judgement Day is November 2, 2010
“This is the day that the States, Counties and Cities decide whether to give themselves away to the Federal Government”
10/30/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

Election day, November 2, 2010 - This will be the day voters will decide whether to give up the rights of their states, counties and cities to the Federal Government. Non-voters will have to accept their decision. This is one of the final nails in the coffin of your freedoms. This is the culmination of events started on Jekyll Island back in ... That is when the richest men (no women) in the world began those events with the design for the what would become the Federal Reserve system. We would pay dearly for the decisions ever since, in both blood and wealth. On November 2, most voters will acquiesce to their wishes by re-electing the democrats and republicans chosen for them. Fear will again drive their decisions, a fear that is no longer based on American ideals. The constitution has been pushed under water, drowning in apathy and debt. And you, the one who will go to their grave by him or herself, what will you do? Will you pass on your horrid irresponsible legacy to your kids by teaching them to vote for the lesser of two evils? Will you hold the hammer that puts that last proverbial nail in THEIR coffin?

For an interesting read, try: The Creature from Jekyll Island : A Second Look at the Federal Reserve by Edward Griffin

Decline to State Gains Ground as Repulicans and Democrats Lose, Lose, Lose
“Californians Everywhere should get out of the “stained” Republican and Democratic Parties”
10/28/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

A record 3.5 million of the state's registered voters decline to state a political party preference, according to updated figures released today by Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

Please Run for City Council
“Currently There is no hope on the Horizon for a worthy Candidate—“I want to change that.”
6/25/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

"When you call your community the “City of” something, you show your intent to become like L.A. or San Francisco.”

Is unrestrained growth and an increase in government and social services what Rocklin voters want? I don’t think so.

This November, we have yet another opportunity to replace developer owned communist City Council folks in Rocklin. There doesn’t seem to be much hope when the only announced candidate, Diana Ruslin, is at least pro growth. The last time, only pro-growth and development socialists ran against them. One might have asked, “Why replace what’s already there?” Maybe that’s why they lost.
One day, if we are lucky and more vigilant, Rocklin’s voters will elect someone that understands that the city government’s job is not to become an arm of development. They will also understand that the city council folks should not be there to hinder development either. Whenever possible, it is probably better to let the free market forces fend for themselves without city government assistance and that means the public being vigilant and following their money’s attempt to own our City Council. The current council, by working as an arm of development actually caused over development and property devaluation to be worse in Rocklin than in most other places in the country, especially places where the cities do not work for developers. (There are very few of those left.) Our housing prices here fell like a rock, because at the time, there was too much City approved and assisted inventory. Clover Valley could be a good case in point. I think the City went against the voters on that one. We also had a “so-called” taxpayer funded first time homebuyer program offering developers assistance in filling their homes. Now everybody is feeling the pain of those decisions, that is everybody but the City Council itself. I see no pay cuts there.

Folks in L.A. and San Francisco, seeing that they already ruined their own cities, have been looking for a retreat. The City of Rocklin went about advertising itself to these folks. When they continue to pour into Rocklin and the city grows in width and height, the City Council usually gives itself a raise justified by an increase in their duties and responsibilities. They say, “we have to pay more to compensate our folks at the same level as other cities our size.” So who else, besides the developer owned city council, benefits from “growth for growth’s sake?” First is the Chamber of Commerce because with city growth it gets more members with no increase in competition. After all, there’s only one Chamber of Commerce per town, right? Also to increase in size is the fire and police departments, the local cable company, the newspaper and virtually any other monopolized services. Following the “growth for growth’s sake” comes more traffic congestion which in turn may benefit large private road construction companies that, though non-residents of Rocklin, find themselves contributing heavily to our City Council campaigns in order to win their business. Is that a conflict of interest for incumbent council folks involved in road construction, either directly or indirectly? I wonder. Let’s not forget William Jessup. It’s also on the pro-growth track. Rocklin is honored. We read about the college in every edition of the local cabal’s newspaper, The Placer Herald. All these forces work together to grow our city, increase its population and eventually try to turn it into Los Angeles. Loomis has been trying to fight this for years, but more recently has fallen to the wiles of the developers and the cabal that mocked Loomis by building its most crowded developments right on the border between it and Rocklin.

Unbridled growth also benefits those with insider information on future city planning. Many folks with the wherewithal to do so, invest in companies that buy land and then lobby cities and counties to rezone and repurpose the land for development. They get to buy land cheap, win rezoning, and then sell it at exorbitant prices when say Wal-Mart comes in with the Council’s blessing. The council hates to rub these big donors the wrong way. That’s why it looks forward to “big box” stores and raising the allowable height of buildings. It’s excuse is that to protect the wetlands, it needs to build higher denser buildings. This stopping urban sprawl is part of the developer plan. It means they can put more cement on each square inch of land. It costs them less to do that. Eventually, you have skyscrapers, our City Council’s dream come true.

In the end, growth for its own sake does not help Rocklin’s private competitive and non-monopoly businesses because it instead brings in more competition along with the traffic jams, bureaucracies and other counter productive aspects. For example, as the council promoted Rocklin to L.A. and San Francisco, we saw them sell their homes a million dollars, move to Rocklin, buy the same house for $500,000 and invest the difference in a small franchise or other venture. They inflated the home prices making it more difficult for locals to afford a home and we became inundated with pizza joints and hair salons, many of which have now gone out of business, creating joblessness and local deflation. Of course the city blessed monopolies like water and power prices continued to soar with the City’s blessing. To add insult to injury, the City also increased taxes. Meanwhile Rocklin’s City Council started to promote the idea of “quality” big box businesses because they would supposedly bring in tax revenue to compensate for their propensity to spend, spend, and spend some more. Those large companies, assisted by the City, certainly won’t bode well for mom and pop that live and work here.

The rich and powerful special interests will again try to buy Rocklin’s election this November. I’m sure that they’ve already started and due to local apathy, will probably again succeed while benefitting from their exploitation of the locals. In prior elections, they were very, very successful. This happened because the people that live in Rocklin are generally politically lazy. They don’t fund their own candidates and don’t check up on the developer promoted ones. Therefore, those “on the take” and sponsored by developers have consistently won our elections and grown our government in the process. Contrary to their sales spiel for growth, getting bigger did not make the City better, healthier or even better for local businesses. After the developers took over our town, look around you at all the empty strip malls and folks living on the verge of foreclosure and those offering up short sales. Look at the unemployment. This town is in extreme trouble now and becoming literally “bank owned,” thanks to the City Council not reading the warning signs while assisting rampant growth and development. Much of our money has already gone to out-of-town developers and large construction corporations. It’s simply not here anymore. These same folks buy elections in our surrounding communities like Lincoln, Roseville and Sacramento. They could care less if we are Republicans and Democrats as long as they are “pro-growth for growth’s sake.” They get to build prior to an infrastructure to support it as in the case of Lincoln’s bypass or the Hwy 80 tie ups. The City and County get to charge residents for schools, etc. via special “Mello-Roos” bonds that in Lincoln, have been as high as $500 a month for 40 years. They’re pretty bad in Whtney Ranch, too. The Council and developers get away with it because, again, voters are apathetic and have abdicated all responsibility to the developers that fund the incumbent campaigns. Few folks look at that funding, some of it hidden by the names behind the development interests.

The City has further digressed by increasing taxes on its residents on such things as Cable TV and private alarm systems. The City Council is now desperate to steal whatever money it can from the community to pay for their grandiose self edification. One has only to look at the new police department. Did anybody see any real benefit of it? Had our City worked on a percent of revenue basis, it wouldn’t be in this pickle today, even with the shortcomings of State and Federal revenue. But no, the City set budgets dependent on constant revenue or even on revenue increases. I warned them that you can’t build “fun and pretty” while we’re at war in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. The council either couldn’t or wouldn’t connect the dots. President Johnson got the nation in real trouble the same way, by funding Vietnam at the same time as he funded his “Great Society.” The goals of this “out of touch” City Council and Ms Ruslin appear to still be about “growth for growth’s sake,” even if it means ruining fire and police protection and taxing you if you try to protect yourself and even when it means bankrupting the city. Look at the current absurd laws that force communities to pay for their own streets (while having to pay taxes for everyone else’s, too) because they put up a gate to give their community some degree of security, which contrary to public opinion, does actually cut down on crime. Lately, how many residents have found the Rocklin police department to be all but useless? I suppose if somebody gets murdered, they’ll come out and clean up the mess. Too, bad the victim didn’t put in an alarm because of the prohibitive tax the City imposed. Our city council actually gets in the way of our trying to protect ourselves. Only technology has caused a temporary decrease in crime, but I think, with the future, an increase in crime is almost certain. The current alleged decrease is probably due to criminals not being able to afford the gas to get here or the fact residents find the police here so useless that they don’t bother filing reports. After all, the department actually discourages you’re filing them. So perhaps it only looks like crime is down.

The problem in Rocklin and surrounding communities is that it is in a hole but plans to keep on digging. It’s been spending money it doesn’t have for years and was totally blind sided by the current economy. Contrary to stories told to us, the City can’t afford the retirement programs of its own workers. It is, for all intent and purpose, bankrupt. The writing was on the wall, but the Council couldn’t read. The only word it seemed to understand is greed and cover-up. Indirectly, I would imagine being on the City Council has worked out well financially for all that have sat there and for those hired at the discretion of the City Council such as the city manager and police chief. However, their actions have certainly not worked out well for most of Rocklin’s residents, whether they are aware of the fact or not. If they keep this up, our future will look more like Sacramento’s. That city has simply travelled further down the same path.

SOLUTIONS

  • The City of Rocklin needs to get out of the way of business with rip-off taxes and licenses.
  • The City needs to quit funding developers, directly or indirectly.
  • It needs to put itself on a “percent of revenue” budget.
  • It needs to simplify itself and restrict government growth and decrease its sphere of operations.
  • Just because the Fed and State may have had a sale on money in the past, doesn’t mean it always will. There is a price we pay when we take that money and that needs to be more carefully considered.
  • Don’t go overboard on self-edification and funeral expenses for City employees and don’t punish residents by cutting down on essential services to pay for waste elsewhere.
Who’s going to run on that platform? I’ll surely vote for someone that does. It would be a first and give us all a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel.

One other thing—my dream candidate would be a registered independent, not a Republican or Democrat. After all, it is a non-partisan office, whatever that means. I certainly won’t be swayed by endorsements from County or State officials either. They’ve been responsible for their own massive layoffs, service shortcomings and other fiscally related problems. I won’t be fooled by those “quid-pro-quo” endorsements.

Rocklin has already been hurt by the fact that nobody contested the re-election of our communist county supervisor Robert Weygandt.* Let’s not let the same forces continue to ruin our city.

If you doubt anything I’ve said here, I invite you to go through the City’s Meeting minutes and its election campaign donation records at City Hall. I think you’ll find I’ve been kind here. Your own outrage will probably be greater—hopefully great enough to get someone that believes in our freedom, is fiscally responsible, and not owned by the rich and powerful, to run for City Council.

*Some might be offended by my use of the term communist. I for one, have read Marx and Engel’s “Communist Manifesto” (about $5 and 50 pages at your local bookstore). I know what I’m talking about. Before you get too offended, please get a copy and read it.

Is Carlos Urrutia Taking us to the cleaners?
“Or is it what lazy citizens deserve?”
4/1/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe." - Thomas Jefferson

Last election, the people didn’t come up with any qualified candidates to oppose the City Council, those actually responsible for the Urrutia situation and others like it that didn’t receive as much publicity, “ad nauseum.” That was the people of Rocklin’s own fault. I warned the citizens, that thought they are conservative, if they keep voting for developer owned communists, they’ll get what they deserve. The folks the Democrats put forward kept talking about building a downtown faster than the currently Republican endorsed council. It was all dumb and evil and the Democrats were offering something dumber and more evil. THERE IS NO MONEY FOR SUCH THINGS LIKE BUILDING A DOWNTOWN OR MORE ROUNDABOUTS, ETC. If you want to borrow money to do these edifications, then ask your kids. After all, you’ll be spending their money. Rocklin’s City Council is simply too used to spending and wasting money. It is addicted like a trophy wife in a shopping mall. The Democrats only offered to make the situation worse.

If you live in Rocklin and want better government, you actually have to lift a finger. However, the people of Rocklin are for the most part, too lazy to do that. They really don’t try to run, fund and elect people at all. Therefore, incumbent authoritarians rule the roost. They quid quo pro each other to death and Rocklin’s residents just keep on sleeping. One has to use a crow bar to get people up and running for the city council. Only a handful of residents seem to care—those with a vested interest in growth, like freeway builders, or those that want to increase Rocklin’s “free lunch” programs. The rest can’t wait to get home to their big screen TV’s and slap in a reality TV show as their own realities go to hell in a hand basket.

The Council hired Urrutia and he’s a good boy that has done what he is told and they have awarded and rewarded him. Unlike, the Placer Heralds stories, the council has actually damaged Rocklin by over growing it and promoting more folks moving here. They spent too much money and have us committed to spending more. Rocklin’s retirements alone will kill our young. The council has assisted developers in every way outside the county, state and federal requirements. And guess who funded the council’s yard signs during their campaigns. You got it—developers! They understand that the more cement they can put on a square inch of land the more money they’ll make. Who cares what happens to Rocklin after they leave. Certainly not the developers and apparently not our City Council either. This wasn’t Carlos’s fault. He was just trying to get the best paycheck he could as would you and most normal folks.

Rocklin’s problems have more to do with the Council’s strategy than with the City Manager. The Placer Herald gives little attention to folks like Assemblyman Ted Gaines that advocated for a smaller footprint by building higher and smaller, more communist style projects. Rocklin’s been following suit with our own buildings going higher and higher. The developers love the small footprint idea. As I said earlier, more cement per square inch makes good sense to them. What they don’t tell you is that it promotes overcrowding, which in turn means more crime and traffic. That’s good for a council that has a vested interest in road building, bigger police and fire departments, utilities and the cable company. It worked out well for Carlos financially, too.

Meanwhile, of course the Rocklin Chamber of Commerce supports having more businesses, too. It means more memberships. Unfortunately, if you’re a hairdresser, it really means more competition. Growth really benefits those that have monopolies over those that have small businesses. People forget that the local newspaper, the city council and the Chamber or Commerce are all local monopolies. They love growth resulting in bigger organizations and higher pay—Urrutia being a case in point. “Hey, I run a bigger town, therefore I deserve more money.” As he gets a raise, managers in other towns might complain that because he got one, he raised the bar, and now they deserve one, too. Next thing you know, all the city managers are climbing the wage scale while civilian pay continues to go down.

In conclusion, Rocklin’s lazy residents, through apathy or lack of understanding, elected the incumbents and never, not once in the last ten years, came up with anyone better. You elected the wrong folks and they did expensive things with your money that went against your own interests. Tough luck, that’s democracy for you! (Or it's a lesson for the young) And now what do you think the residents of Rocklin are going to do about it? I won’t give you my answer and I am certainly not holding my breath waiting for a responsible electorate in Rocklin—so enjoy seeing your dollars vanish before your very eyes. Enjoy your new cable taxes and alarm ownership fees. Just enjoy. Then, when you go to hell in a hand basket, maybe you’ll, by having had long hours of practice, enjoy that journey, too.

Is the Chamber of Commerce Good for Us?
“The Inherent Conflict of Interest”
3/5/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.


While you’re reading this, keep in mind that I am a huge anti-communist and huge supporter of existing Rocklin businesses. In fact, my own business is all about bringing money into Rocklin and then keeping it here. And I do it without bringing in more residents and more competition.

If you’ve been following my diatribes, you’ve already read where I’ve described The Rocklin Chamber of Commerce as an integral part of the local political cabal, which consists of the Placer Herald, William Jessup University, the Rocklin City Council, the Placer County Supervisors and lest I forget, the developers that over developed our area with the cabal’s assistance. However, this begs the question, “Why is our Rocklin Chamber of Commerce a part of the cable and what’s in it for the them?”

First, most small businesses don’t understand where there is a conflict of interest between most, if not all, chamber of commerces and business. It comes down to membership. The more memberships the Chamber has, the more successful it considers itself. So, first and foremost, the Chamber indirectly helps our developer owned cabal to get more folks to move into Rocklin, usually from home-sale proceeds from the LA and SF Bay areas. They sell their homes for a million bucks, buy a really great home here for $500,000 and then dump the rest into an SUV and a pizza joint. Of course, that’s a little simplified, but I think the average Rocklinite can follow me here. They tell members how growth will mean more for them. The City also helps the Chamber by giving them a building for a ridiculous low lease at the taxpayers’ expense. Of course, the City expects something in return, a sort of “quid pro quo.” The Chamber actually competes with me directly in some small ways, but the City doesn’t give my company a discount at the tax payers’ expense. Fine with me. I hate working with stolen money, anyway. The Chamber obviously doesn’t mind.

As more folks move into the area, there will indeed be more businesses and more Chamber memberships. The chamber does very well. Also, the Chamber loves big successful, so called “quality” businesses that need more employees to move to the area and that end up anchoring and controlling chamber activities and functions AND pay higher chamber dues. In other words, the big guys usually end up running the chambers and it wont’ necessarily mean more jobs for you, unless you picture yourself a greeter at Wal-Mart.

What small business members seldom realize is that if they already own a pizza joint, there will now be five more competitors popping up along with the increase in population. They come in with new assets just as their own assets are aging and need replacement. Growth, supported by the Chamber is not always, and in fact seldom is, good for current businesses. That growth, supported by the local political cabal is also good for the City of Rocklin’s self edification process. It justifies raises for everything from City Council salaries, to City Manager salaries, to Police and Fire Chief salaries. Everybody seems to become more important—everybody but the current existing businesses. Home builders also love the growth while the City of Rocklin benefits from higher property taxes as home values escalate. That means more money for cabal self edification and NO ADDITIONAL benefits for current residents. The cabal will usually build homes prior to appropriate infrastructure every time. That increases the need for highway expansion and federal funding with the Fed’s fiat currency—something highly promoted by the outgoing Doolittle crowd. If City Council members and Chamber management are personally invested in this kind of growth, then all the better for them, not “we the current residents and small business owners.” Watching Lincoln’s situation shows us a magnification of this principle, where a developer owned city council was instrumental in the exceptionally high Mello-Roos, lack of infrastructure, miserable traffic and devastating foreclosure rates that will hamstring the City for years to come.

Imagine this happening all over the country. No wonder we’re headed for a greater financial calamity. This past depression is only the tip of the tip of the tip of the tip of the financial iceberg—AND I HOPE THE CITY COUNCIL IS LISTENING THIS TIME. I warned them about the recession last time, but my warnings fell on deaf ears. This is one reason that I currently don’t give a dime to local short sighted chambers who’s job is supposed to be the magnification of the local business voice and not a vehicle for over development. Unfortunately, this requires more educated chamber members, something I won’t hold my breath waiting for. Growth for growth’s sake is not necessarily a good thing. Anyone that supports the self-edifying cabal, doesn’t willingly get my money.

Don’t get me started on the Rocklin Downtown Project, the dumbest idea in the history of dumb ideas and one they’ve already failed at over and over. The City of Rocklin only has to observe what happened to Mission Viejo, California. There, a so-called planned community went in all the directions that Rocklin is heading. Rocklin will have the same negative results. MV now has four level strip malls that go right up to the sidewalk on busy streets. The City of Rocklin, despite its current—and what will be a lasting—fiscal dilemma, still wants to waste our money on creating a downtown with our tax dollars. This will compete with all other areas of Rocklin. In other words, current businesses will fund the development of their competition so that they either have to move to the downtown area or possibly close their doors in the current location. Is that fair? Is that right?

You conservatives out there should know better. Whenever government, especially our cities, start manipulating the market place, almost all of us will have hell to pay. So why, I ask are these so-called conservatives supporting this dumb idea. The answer should be obvious. These are not conservatives at all, but donkeys wearing elephant suits.

It all starts with the incredible greed at the expense of the common folks. The local cabal loves taking advantage of what they probably consider to be the under educated and apathetic. Things won’t get better while residents continue to prove them right.


Rocklin’s Socialist (Communist) School System is Dying!
“Rocklin rides on top of California’s budget Miseries”
2/3/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.


We had a great run with a nice local public schools with high schools having an incredible quantity of kids going on to college. We have a local Christian University now and Sierra College (JC) has always been popular, too.

But communism is always the greatest Ponzi scheme. Like all Ponzi schemes, they seem to go great in the beginning, a perfect free lunch. But down the road, dark clouds appear and the systems collapse. Folks like me remind their neighbors that“ I told you so.” Of course, in 2007, I also warned them about investing in “insecurities” and that the economy was going to tank. Nobody listened then either. No wonder I call folks “sheep, lemmings and ostriches.”

Then I ran for the state assembly to stop the demopublican bleeding. I refused to take campaign money from special interests, businesses and even my political party of which I was registered with at the time. (I’m now registered DTS (Decline to State, which is Independent in CA) I would only take up to $150 in campaign contributions from individuals that lived in District 4. I promised to represent the people that lived there for the first time since the state was founded. I had a great showing and appeared at all the forums where I had a great reception from the 20-40 or so voters that actually showed up to most of them. The winning Republican candidate, Ted Gaines only showed up for one in the primary and none in the actual election. That’s like applying for a job and not showing up for the interview. Ted was confident that constituents would be dumb enough to vote for the “R” anyway and he was right. Voters are lazy and non-voters, well.. ?

Now everything “governental,” including our schools, are falling apart around us. Nobody has the money. It’s already been squandered by the Board of Education and now students are running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to get required classes that have either been cancelled or suspended. What is a Republican parent to do? - Read Further

Rocklin’s Business Leaders Are On Drugs!
“They want citizens to pay for their improvements”
2/5/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

I thought that education was the bigger issue of the moment since the city can’t really do much for business at this time. However, I was well entertained by The Placer Herald’s February 4th article “Rocklin Business Leaders Push for New Downtown.” It was evidence that there’s a drug problem in town. I own a business in Rocklin, but it looks like some downtown businesses are advocating for favoritism and financial help from my city taxes. After all, that’s how communism works. You take from everyone and then the statists redistribute it to whom ever they decide should get it (like friends and buddies). That’s one of the myriad of reasons why, years ago, I told the Rocklin City Council that I’m tired of living in a developer owned communist community. We’ll the developers are going broke and the City Council needs campaign money so they need to pander to the next best group that will help the council continue its self edification process of building an unnecessary downtown, a problem exhibited by the fact that Rocklin chose to call itself a city in the first place. The word city implies dreams of LA-like grandeur. We certainly don’t need more people around here and I wish they’d quit selling Rocklin to LA and the Bay areas. That’s not their job. If you think more people is good for current businesses, then you too are probably doing drugs. When more folks move in, it doesn’t mean more haircuts at your shop. It simply means more hair salons and barber shops. Worse, these folks come with the dream of opening a small business with the cash coming out of the sale of their LA home. Hence, you actually have too many hair salons and barber shops and too many bankruptcies and empty strip malls. The people that actually do benefit are those with a vested interest, like our city council, in highway infrastructure expansion. Of course, once the Fed prints money to help us with that, the highway builders make out like bandits. Once the roads improve, then more folks move out to Rocklin because the commute to work isn’t as bad as it was. That means more folks in Rocklin and higher home prices and coincidentally, higher property tax revenue for the city and higher taxes on you if you slide around from a small home to a larger one. What the city and these businesses are promoting is a lose, lose, lose situation for the residents, the city and in the end for themselves. Drugs anyone?

William Jessup gets Bailout from Rocklin?
“Why not let William Jessup pay for its own improvements?”
2/5/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

Constant articles like “William Jessup Named Test Site for Solar Tracking System” represents great marketing from one of our local neo-con cabal members. They really work tightly with The Placer Herald which pushes something about the University almost every week. This is the same university that holds and biases even conservative political debates like the one for Congress where they only let McClintock and Ose speak when there were other Republican candidates. That was just plain wrong and tells everything about how the so-called "Christian" university operates as a part of the neo-con cabal that is finally somewhat out of favor these days. Solar Power? Conservative Environmentalism? Again, in comes City of Rocklin (Cabal member #2 after Placer County) to their constant aid. What the neo-cons get in return is their own university to train future neo-con politicians, etc. This University, contrary to Joe Womack's comment is not about encouraging new thoughts and bold innovative ideas. It's probably more about saving a buck with the assistance of my tax dollars via the Rocklin Community Development Department.

Dark Days Ahead!
1/3/2010 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.


I ran into one of our councilmen at a local furniture and appliance store the other day. I happened to mention that I warned the City Council in 2005 about the upcoming economic problems that would be associated with spending on fun and pretty while the nation was at war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, etc. President Lyndon B. Johnson made that mistake with his “great society” programs while we were getting deeper into Vietnam. In other words, Johnson was promoting communism while we were fighting communism. The government printed so much money to pay for it all that inflation went through the roof so much that the French wanted the US to honor its promise to give them gold at $35 an ounce. Nixon reneged and got America off the gold standard. Nixon was an all time great communist, signing into law, the EPA, FDA and OSHA. No wonder he became such good buddies with China, who would help us hide the actual effects of the dollar inflation by offering goods at more than half the price. This enabled the US government to dig itself into a deeper hole while empowering and enriching China. Of course none of this made sense for America, but the Chinese bought and paid for our politicians to continue working for the Chinese, but that’s another article for another website. The funny part of the few words the councilman and I exchanged was that this he felt that it was he that warned the council about the housing debacle. I was polite at the time, but I thought, “How did he do that when he was among those receiving developer campaign money??? Yes, he certainly didn’t give it back. He also was one of those fighting for the over-development of Rocklin via his arguments on behalf of developing Clover Valley, etc. No Mister councilman and sometimes mayor, you certainly didn’t do a Paul Revere ride to warn us that the red coats are coming.

Now, Rocklin is in financial trouble and it is possible that when the other economic shoes of credit cards, commercial property and cash itself begin to drop, Rocklin, like many of its residents, might also go bankrupt. This could have been avoided, but this councilman, like his peers, decided to spend a fortune on, and among other things, the death of Matthew Redding as though no other Rocklin resident was worth the millions spent for their funerals no matter what they had done for Rocklin or society at large. You see, government folks love to edify themselves by spending your tax dollars on their own memorials. It’s part of their “quid pro quo.” (Santucci Justice Center also comes to mind). Nothing ever seems to get dedicated to the people of Rocklin, who bled money for their government.

As I told the City Council to their faces years ago, “I’m tired of living in a developer owned communist town.” It is not even just Republican communist. Today it seems that nothing has changed. Of course I have to give most of the credit to the sleepy Rocklin voters that have enabled all of this. Unfortunately, nobody with any talent seems to want to run against the cabal, which has been supported by the likes of William Jessup University, Bayside Church, the Chamber of Commerce, The Placer Herald, and at one time, the developer community and Starstream Communications, the first now financially crippled and the latter bought out by Wave Communications. Over arching this cabal is the greater Placer County Republican cabal that gives endorsements out like candy to the Rocklin City Council incumbents who in turn endorse them back. Those endorsements came from folks like Congressman John Doolittle, who unfortunately “did a lot” to further this whole mess we’re in starting with his Iraq war. This cabal would go around endorsing each other with “good ol’ boy high fives” and back slaps and even lots of party money. Meanwhile, Rocklin residents could hear the great sucking sound of their own wealth disappearing at a rate higher than most of the nation. Perhaps, in their defense, money itself is too overrated—especially the American dollar!

Now, we finally have Rocklin City layoffs that are not as great as the private sector layoffs, and a shift of funding towards fixing the long overdue infrastructure problems. Even though the parks got too much funding last year, we may see some reduction there as it finally dawns on our ancient City Council that now is not the time for investment in fun and pretty. I guess I can help saying, “I told you so.”

Of course Rocklin’s more completely communist contingent still runs occasional candidates that advocate a new and very, very expensive creation of a downtown project along with other socialist ideas. This bodes badly for Rocklin because the conservative residents that live here still blindly vote for the other communists that run under or are endorsed by the local Republican Party. Remember, if you are a communist and really want to be a councilmen or supervisor in this red county, you best register as a Republican, and they do. These crafty buzzards are unfortunately the ones that get elected to office here.

Will the people of Rocklin wake up and support candidates that don’t take the money? Will they continue to blindly check the “R”s at election time? I’m certainly not holding my breath for change in Rocklin. I think the basically conservative residents are politically lazy and apathetic enough to let the City of Rocklin fall first. Perhaps bankruptcy won’t be a bad thing. It might keep the City from borrowing money in the future to fund all the fun and pretty things that the council will want to waste money on while the nation sinks further into its wars. Think back to the fake granite the city installed at Rocklin Road and Hwy 80. At least it can be considering a warning to those choosing to move here that Rocklin may be as fake as the Republican party is anti-communist.

Hey, but that’s just me. Perhaps you feel I’ve been too harsh. Just because I’ve been proven right about most things the last ten years doesn’t mean I’ll be right for the next ten years.

But if for some strange insane reason you appreciate what you’ve read here, be sure to check out my other writings on www.AmericanLiberty.org or Economics101.Biz. especially if your considering something foreign like a Toyota Prius.


I don’t Call, I don’t write? What kind of Friend of Rocklin am I?
7/28/09 by Michael Patrick Murphy a registered "Decline to State" voter.

Rocklin’s in deep dark trouble. The City Council spent on fun and pretty like drunken sailors over the past ten years. (I think they are still spending like drunken sailors). I also suspect that the City Council will sell the rest of us out to anyone with a sizable campaign contribution. In addition, according to the Sacramento Bee, the State of California is sinking from its own set of problems and trying to pass the burden onto the cities, like Rocklin, and the Counties, like Placer. Each man, woman and child living in Rocklin will lend the state $51 to help it make ends meet. If you have a family of four, this means you will lend the state $204 as a Rocklin and Placer County resident. Already, the state has raised sales taxes by one percent without our permission. As layoffs continue, none of these new revenues and loans will be enough. If the state files for bankruptcy, will you ever see the loan repayed? Worse, the Federal government’s printing money is devaluing the currency in everyone’s wallet. From Bank bailouts to “cash for clunkers,” there is no end to the government spending and lending to questionable borrowers. America is spread the thinnest of its entire history. I imagine this represents the most massive theft in the history of the world. We have already crossed our “Rubicon.” Governmentally speaking, its definitely going to be downhill from here for the rest of my lifetime at least.

Here’s 13 things we can do about it.

  1. Buy Rocklin. Buy from rocklin shops and vendors. Save on gas and time. You’ll need both to fight your own economic depression. This will increase Rocklin’s sales tax revenue and give money back to Rocklin. Especially, consider buying from stores owned by Rocklin’s residents for a win, win result.
  2. Buy on Craig’s List and other sites from Rocklin’s residents first.
  3. Encourage the City of Rocklin and Placer County to quit spending on non-essentials and social programs. No more spending on fun and pretty, like the local parks. Rocklin created far more parks than it can afford. Right now, Rocklin is doing unnecessary spending on parks while its roads are falling apart. Essentials include police, fire and roads. That’s about it. Consider firing free spending council members and county supervisors while replacing them with fiscally budget minded candidates that aren’t constantly looking for a raise.
  4. If you’re in trouble, consider Bankruptcy vs. Foreclosure to save the neighborhood from further declining real estate values. When folks get rid of credit card and other debt, many can then afford their homes. Ironically, many folks are not too fond of the credit card companies right now anyway.
  5. Hire employees that live in Rocklin first.
  6. Donate to Rocklin charities first. Once Rocklin is healthy, then you can take extra money and donate elsewhere.
  7. Make a budget and stick to it.
  8. Manage your time better. Quit watching so much television and go clean up your yard. This will bring up your neighborhood values and your own self esteem. Clean and neat is a good thing.
  9. Quit spending on fun and pretty, yourself. Take care of your health first. Next, consider taking care of long-term care so you won’t also become a burden on the “system.” No more big screen TVs and other non-essential toys.
  10. Make sure you have at least 6 weeks extra supply of food and water and a cache of gold and silver. Rocklin has its own suppliers for all these essentials.
  11. Have PG&E do a home evaluation to help save money on utilities. Consider things like solar power and dry scape front AND back yards to escape utility monopoly control over your gas, water and power. Force Placer County and the City of Rocklin to pressure these utilities to quit raising prices and rates and to stop unfair tier pricing that gouges residents with the City and County’s blessing.
  12. Force the County and City to set spending to “percents of revenue” verses fixed amounts that don’t work during recessions and low revenue years.
  13. Keep your neighborhood clean and abide by your CCR’s to protect everyone’s property value. Common breaches of good neighbor policies are:
    • Broken down fences
    • Basketball Backboards in the street.
    • Trash cans stored in plain site of the street.
    • Broken down vehicles stored in the driveway.
    • Unwatered yards and runaway landscaping or combustible weed growth.
    • Leaving children’s chalk marks in the street and on the sidewalks.
    • Parking backwards on streets or on sidewalks.
  1. Rocklin’s police department can also improve. Police reports need to be done fast and done in a complete and effective manner. There is more going on in Rocklin than meets the eye. As the economy worsens, crime will increase. Complete and fast report filing is necessary to track and prosecute crimes and to stop potential crimes. Today, the crime happens and then the police show up. It takes an act of congress to file a report. Someone should be available at all times to take reports at the station. Fees for having and attending to burglar alarms has got to stop. Fingerprinting crime scenes such as theft and vandalism has to become a priority. Avoiding crime reporting does not mean the same thing as “there are no crimes in rocklin.” Look at the stats for your neighborhood. I’ll bet more has happened than you thought.
  2. Write me if you have improvement ideas.

Granted, Rocklin is far from the worst city in California and perhaps in some ways, it is one of the best. However, all lot could be done to improve it. It is up to its citizens to know who represents them and to watch them. It is up to its citizens to keep Rocklin safe, clean and economically stable. It starts with our own efforts to clean up our own acts and to support our town. As honest and disciplined as we are, so will go our city.

Rocklin’s Lost Jobs Chart 2009 (from SacBee.com)
Rocklin-lost-jobs
Local Jobs and What they pay.

How many folks are in the County’s prison system?
Placer County Prison’s houses .03 percent of its population size or 1,053 prisoners, while Sacramento County houses .05 percent with 7,560 prisoners as of 12 p.m. on Wednesday, August 5th. Source Sacramento Bee.