I was all set to write about the newest political dynasty in the United States of America by being the first to print the news about Brian Bilbray’s son Patrick as a forthcoming candidate for City Council in Imperial Beach. Everyone in the quaint seaside pueblito of Imperial Beach is talking about the potential for a new generation of Bilbray leadership. Brian got his start in politics as the mayor of Imperial Beach.
But I don’t think there is going to be a dynasty. I did not realize that Patrick and his sister Briana got into a little bit of trouble last month by posting photos of themselves on MySpace and Photobucket while doing a little bit of drinking with their friends. Poor Patrick is depicted in a photo wearing a “Town Drunk” trucker cap.
Patrick, dude, trucker caps are like so last year. Sort of like the DKNY fur wraps that the crazy anti-seal activists in La Jolla wear while heckling seal defenders at Children’s Pool.
So instead of preparing for the exciting life as an Imperial Beach councilperson it looks like Patrick is setting himself up for an internship with Paris Hilton.
On second thought this might be the best opening move in a local election in San Diego County history. The MySpace debacle has given Patrick all kinds of street cred with the brodude vote. Brodudes are a San Diego version of NASCAR dads but without the obsession with country music. Brodudes hate country music.
Here’s the thing though. I called Kurt Bardella, Brian’s press guy in D.C. to verify the rumors about Patrick and the new Bilbray Dynasty. He did not return my calls.
While waiting for Kurt to get back to me, I waded through the Bilbray for Congress website and was intrigued by the absence of any information about Brian’s disastrous tenure as the mayor of Imperial Beach. In addition to neglecting his stint at the top boss in IB, Brian’s campaign bio states that he was “instrumental in developing San Diego County’s progressive initiatives regarding environmental protection, pollution control, and economic development.”
Brian must be confusing San Diego with Santa Cruz. He spent his entire time as the mayor of Imperial Beach trying to turn the Tijuana Estuary into a yacht harbor and trying to convince the Army Corps of Engineers to build a breakwater off of Imperial Beach, which according to the Surfrider Foundation would have “degraded water quality, eliminated surf and destroyed miles of pristine coastline.” Brian later went on to waffle on such “progressive projects” as the proposed Brown Field Cargo Airport, which cost him his first congressional seat to Susan Davis.
Both the marina and the breakwater projects were classic pork barrel projects that Brian has made his political career out of supporting. Sort of like the Bajagua sewage treatment plant he lobbied for that has been an absolute disaster from the get-go. And we have the polluted water to prove it.
For the record, Brian is extremely sensitive about his failed attempt to wipe IB surf off the map. But hey, why should Brian care if anyone knows that even though he claims to be a surfer, he spent half his life trying to destroy the coastline of his hometown. After all, Bilbray is now in DC ensconced in the Duke Cunningham Chair in Congress. And back in IB we are still cleaning up his mess.