Incumbent Baker Defends Record Against Challenger Baker

The following is a letter from 1 Robert "Bob" Baker (as he's listed on the ballot) defending his record against attacks from his challengers.

If Bob 0 really wanted to differentiate himself from me because of my voting record, logic dictates that he would list himself on the ballot differently. He would have listed himself as Bob Baker, Robert Baker, Robert John Baker or something other than Robert “Bob” Baker.

I filed first and he chose to list himself exactly as I was listed. Draw your own conclusion. 0 Bob has done exactly 0 for the City of San Clemente in his 47 years. Now all of a sudden we are to believe that he is going to be a city council member?

My opponents signed his candidate nomination papers. He did not file a candidate statement. He never showed up for a forum. He never attended a city council meeting, planning commission meeting, or wrote a letter before the one published recently in the Orange County Register. You decide whether his candidacy was a sham designed to confuse the voters.

Now let’s talk about my record. I’m proud of it. Courtney’s Sandcastle seems to come up all of the time. I’ve been called mean spirited and heartless because I voted against spending $182,000 for a handicapped restroom at the park? That price works out to $500 a square foot. Houses don’t cost that much. We taxpayers paid Taj Mahal prices for a public toilet and I voted NO.

Four local contractors contacted me and expressed a desire to donate their time and skills towards building this restroom for free. They were rebuffed. One contractor was allowed to donate the sealed floor; finally.

I voted against the rental agreement for the farmer’s market. The City collects $250 a month for renting the main street of town every Sunday. That is not enough. As an aside, The Chamber of Commerce pays the City $1 a year for its rent. One dollar!

They have a half a million dollars in their bank account and accept subsidies from the City. Again, I voted NO.

I voted against the Sports Wall of Fame at the new sports park. My reason? Every athletic team at San Clemente high school already has a “Hall of Fame” to acknowledge their athletic accomplishments. Put up a wall of fame to honor students, community servers, band members or volunteers. Olympic and NCAA athletes already get enough recognition without taxpayers paying for it.

Unlike my opponents, I also voted against giving away public land seized via eminent domain for a beach park and parking to a developer so he could build private retail shops. The residents of San Clemente voted NO on Measure A to overturn that terrible deal. It’s done. Don’t try and resurrect it. It was a bad idea. Paving over open space was also a bad idea, I helped organize
San Clemente residents so they could vote and decide on Measure C. Seventy percent voted NO as I did.

As a City Council Member I’ve made over 1,000 votes during my term. If these three votes are the worst I’ve made over the course of four years I must be doing a pretty effective job.

Vote to re-elect 1 Robert “Bob” Baker, last name on the ballot.

Sincerely,

1 Robert “Bob” Baker

Can you believe I have to sign my name that way?