Citizens' Oversight Projects (COPs)

This web site is dedicated to enabling citizens to provide needed oversight to our democracy. You can help! Read how here: COPs Program

• REGISTER TO VOTE <-- Click Here!
• UPCOMING EVENTS ---> See Common Calendar for all upcoming events! See Events for details on events we are hosting or sponsoring.

HOT ISSUES

• Sunrise Powerlink - SDG&E surprises Lakeside with the announcement that the huge transmission line project is slated to decimate EL MONTE VALLEY. See background and videos here: Sunrise Powerlink.
• Blackwater Otay - Blackwater offends the community with agreement with Southwestern College to use campus classrooms in trade for use of shooting range. Come to Board of Trustees Meeting to voice your objection on April 15. More here: Blackwater Otay and Blackwater In Southwestern College
• Procinctu Group - Planned mercenary training camp being resisted by locals in Riverside. Had Rally/Protest on March 17. More here: Procinctu Group

Recent Events

• Election Integrity project is meeting with San Diego County elections officials and reviewing their operation.
• Stop Blackwater Nisour Massacre Rally - 13 Sep 2008 (3-5 pm) Rally to commemorate the ruthless murder of 17 innocent Iraqi civilians by Blackwater mercenaries on the street outside the Blackwater Otay facility. Great Event! THANKS for coming.
• Lutz For Assembly Kickoff Party - 23 Aug 2008 (4-7 p.m.) At the Lutz Residence. Had a great time!
• Uniting For Change Rally - August 3, 2008, at Harry Griffen Park -- Wonderful success! See photos of the event on this page.
• Blackwater Federal Court Protest - See pictures and comments about protest in front of the Federal courthouse, at the corner of Front and Broadway in San Diego at 10 a.m. on June 17th. City Attorney Mike Aguirre argued the case before President's father appointee, Hon. Marilyn Huff.
• Blackwater Otay Protest Rally - See pictures from June 11, 2008 massive outpouring of opposition to Blackwater and their underhanded operation in front of their facility in Otay Mesa.

Recent Changes: Media Topics

• How to Video Record Public Meetings -- Raymond Lutz, Citizens Oversight, 2009-06-27 Ray Lutz of Citizens Oversight.org explains how to use a digital video camera to video record public meetings.
• Plan for Training Camp Draws Antiwar Ire -- Rural residents fear lost quiet -- Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times, 2007-04-22 Reprint of Tony Perry 2007-04-10 Article
• A 'Paper Coup,' and Blackwater Eyes Midtown Manhattan -- Naomi Wolf, Huffington Post, 2007-11-04 Info on Blackwater near end of article.
• Pivotal Family Lawsuit Against Blackwater USA Blocked from Court -- and Moved to Panel with Company Ties -- Amy Goodman, Jeremy Scahill, Bill Sizemore, Democracy Now, 2007-05-23
• San Diego City Council Meeting 2009-06-16: settle with Blackwater for $150,000 -- Raymond Lutz, Citizens Oversight, 2009-06-16. Council agreed to ask Blackwater to forgive the debt and to improve internal system to avoid future misuse by unscrupulous companies.
• San Diego City Settlement with Blackwater for $150,000 regarding Otay Mesa facility. -- Raymond Lutz, Citizens Oversight, 2009-06-16 Includes comments about the City Council Meeting.
• Southwestern College Governing Board meeting, 2009-06-10 -- Raymond Lutz, Citizens Oversight, 2009-06-10 Videos available for entire meeting and Blackwater Comments only. Includes Agenda item #21 "TASK FORCE FOR FIRING RANGE"
• At What Cost -- Contingency Contracting In Iraq and Afghanistan -- Interim Report to Congress -- ", Commission on Wartime Contracting In Iraq and Afghanistan, 2009-06-11 121 Pages
• A Question of power -- Stop the Sunrise Powerlink -- Diane Conklin Donna Tisdale, ", 2008-10-20 Very important description of the ridiculous Sunrise Powerlink; Public Access TV
• 52nd CD Forum 2008-10-22 Cuyamaca College -- Raymond Lutz, Citizens Oversight, 2008-10-22 Includes attempt by write-in Candidate Joe Ryan to be a part of the forum. Features Mike Lumpkin, Michael Benoit?, and Duncan Hunter Jr?

Recent Changes: Other topics

• Media Topic Header - This Page: /Common/ Source: ' / "}%
• Crest Nancy Jane Park - View Larger Map
• Crest South Lane Park - View Larger Map
• Cocos Restaurant On Fletcher Parkway - View Larger Map
• Public Access Videos - PublicAccessVideos Videos for Public Access http://communitycurrency.org/911TV/publicaccess.html Nanothermite Steven Jones (58:35 and 2:02:53) 9/11 Revisited ...
• Public Access TV - PublicAccessTV Public, educational, and governmental (PEG) access requirements for cable companies http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/pegfacts.html County Television ...
• Westfield Parkway Plaza Mall - WestfieldParkwayPlazaMall VoterRegistration Location. Letter to Westfield Parkway re Voter Registration.odt: Letter to Westfield Parkway Plaza re voter registration ...
• Contact Us - Contact Us PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A VENUE AND YOU GET TO THIS PAGE, WE CAN'T HELP YOU WITH THAT! PLEASE YOU MAY FIND IT WITH A SEARCH ENGINE HERE ...
• Vickie Butcher - VickieButcher http://www.votevickiebutcher.com/
• Eastlake Bonita Democratic Club - EastlakeBonitaDemocraticClub EB Democrats is a Club of Democrats from Eastlake, Bonita, Rancho del Rey, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, and other South Bay communities ...

Projects

The following projects list includes only main projects and their immediate sub-projects. Not all projects are listed here.

Infrastructure - Projects related to how we manage projects and support information.

• COPs Program -- Parent project to all COPs projects.
  • COPs Resources -- Compilation of resources and related information useful to COPs participants.
  • Project Anatomy -- A "project of projects" -- how we manage and organize COPs projects on this site.

Govt Oversight - Choose a governmental body and monitor it.

• Grossmont Healthcare District -- After being cited by the California Medical review board, the community became aware that the District Board was unaware of these events, despite a clear expectation by the community that they stay perform hospital oversight.
• Grossmont Union High School District -- Oppose the sad story of a high school district taken over by religious radicals and left in disarray. Now, they've done it again.

Issue Oversight - When important issues arise, we track them as projects.

• Border Security -- This topic includes discussion of the border fence, and the larger issue of border security and immigration reform.
• Election Integrity -- Comprises all election integrity issues
  • Manual Tally Issues -- 1% Manual Tally is required for certification of elections but are either not completed or are insufficient to report vote-substitution errors. SERIOUS PROBLEMS DETECTED IN SAN DIEGO!
  • Open Canvass -- Describes a method of election canvass processing that uses high-speed electronic equipment but is not subject to hacking vulnerabilities
  • Scanner Tape Review -- Our attempt to audit the elections process in San DIego County regarding Diebold scanner tapes.
• Energy Policy -- Consideration of various approaches to solving fossil fuel addiction.
  • Sunrise Powerlink -- Project to oppose the installation of the Sunrise Powerlink
• Local Politics -- East County Politics that is not covered by another project
• Private Mercenaries -- Considers the rise of private mercenary firms and warfare training camps.
  • Blackwater Otay -- Opposition to private mercenary training center in Otay Mesa, San Diego
  • Blackwater Worldwide -- Considers the entire family of companies related to Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater Lodge Training Center.
  • Covert Canyon -- A shooting range training area in East San Diego County, off Japatul Valley Rd and operated by Marc Halcon.
  • Procinctu Group -- Opposition to development of "The Ranch", a mercenary training center in Riverside County
  • Wind Zero -- Mercenary-style trainging camp just east of San Diego County in Ocotillo/Nomirage.

See Also: Common Projects - Election and local government projects (Deprecated)

Collaboration Areas

• Common Calendar - Month-at-a-glance format for all events relevant to East County
  • Calendar Update - Quick list of the events for the next 2 weeks.
  • Event List - Edit this topic to include your events! See How To Add Events for details.
• List Serve - Sign up for our email lists
  • List Serve Etiquette - Common courtesy when mailing to 100's of subscribers.
  • Managing List Email - Does it seem like you're getting too much mail? This should help.
• News Media - submitted media in all categories, and anyone who submits them.

• Current Events Theater - Enjoy videos of politics and current events.
• Student Outreach - Our presence on campus of Cuyamaca, Grossmont, SDSU, and other campuses.
• East County Progressive - Our progressive newsletter!
• Public Access TV - efforts to establish progressive TV and radio programs in San Diego

Ballot Recommendations

• May 2009 Ballot Recommendations - How should we vote on propositions 1A through 1F? It's not a simple matter.
• Nov 2008 Recommendations - Read recommendations for the November 4th General Election
• June 2008 Recommendations - Read recommendations by Raymond Lutz for the June 3rd Primary Election
• Feb 2008 Recommendations - Read recommendations by Raymond Lutz for the February 5th Primary Election
  • Presidential Primary 2008 - What's your choice??
• November 2006 Voter Guide - Club recommendations
• All Ballot Recommendations - All prior and current recommendations

• All Ballot Recommendations - All prior and current recommendations

Party and Region

• Democratic Party - Notes and information on the county, state, and national Democratic Party.
• East County Democratic Club - wiki pages for the Club.
• Our Region - Districts and history
• Vote Count - recent elections
• Harris Ranch Fire - Information about recovery from the fire; stories and Photos.
• Air America Blackout - Companies we should NOT patronize as they have requested that none of their commercials air on Air America radio stations! Boycott Clear Channel Communications stations for pulling KLSD.
• State Party Exec Board meeting, July 14th 2007 in Sacramento
  • RESOLUTION OPPOSING BLACKWATER WEST AND MERCENARY TRAINING IN CALIFORNIA - Approved by unanimous vote
  • RESOLUTION FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF MEETING DOCUMENTS USING THE INTERNET- Referred back to the author.

References and Resources

• Nine Eleven - A starting place for investigating the truth and missing pieces behind the events of 9/11
• Relevant Links - Links to other web sites that are important resources or cooperative organizations.
• Meeting Places - Venues where meetings are sometimes held, directions, maps.

• The Constitution Of The United States - Great reference!
• Declaration Of Independence - Important document!
• Political Research - Papers on Trends and policy analyses
• Creating Message - How to generate talking points.
• News Headlines - Aggregated from various news sources.
• How To Turn In Churches To The IRS - How to turn in churches and other nonprofits who are promoting a candidate or spending significant time on propositions.
• Gun Control - The State Democratic Platform supports Safe Gun Ownership... Read more here.
• Strong Family Model - How should we decide issues of pregnancy termination, end-of-life decisions, and even gay-marriage? The "Strong Family Model" is an important umbrella for these issues.

Other Stuff

• County Removes Lutzs Trees - After sending a request for information to Dianne Jacob's office and to the County Counsel regarding Brown Act violations, the County retaliates by driving over the curb with a truck and removing all the trees in front of the Lutz residence with no notice at all.
• What Are RSS Feeds? - Learn about an important technology for distributing Blog-like postings.
• Basic Instructions - When you first start using this wiki to report on a strange event, I will refer you to this topic to get you started!
• Wiki Usage Tips - Some secrets about using this wiki

Common Web Utilities

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