Teresa Barth’s letter to the editor in the North County Times on August 05 states that “…there has been a lot of misinformation regarding this issue [drought level 2 vs. level 1] …” And while I agree that there has been misinformation spread, I contend her letter has been one of the sources of misinformation.

The “Deepwater Horizon”, a semi-submersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit, was operating under lease to BP, formerly known as British Petroleum, and tasked with drilling an exploratory deep-water oil well in American waters located in the Gulf of Mexico in water 5,000 feet deep. The rig was certified to operate in waters as deep as 8,000 ft deep so this was well within their operating tolerances. And In fact, it should be noted that many counties have similar oil production units in the Gulf of Mexico, and worldwide deep water drilling is considered a safe technology. Please remember that during Hurricane Katrina, not one of the oil rigs in the gulf, many of which were badly damaged or destroyed, created any oil spills.

Ever wonder how the water gets to your tap, graffiti gets cleaned, or a pot hole gets filled?

Join us as the Encinitas Public Works Department Invites the Public to Tour the Public Works Yard

 The City of Encinitas Public Works Department invites the public to take an educational tour of the public works facility, located at 160 Calle Magdalena in Encinitas, on May 21 from 12:00pm until 2:00pm.  Representatives from the City of Encinitas Public Works Department and San Dieguito Water District will explain how they maintain the City’s infrastructure, including streets, storm drains, sewers, buildings and the water system.  This event is being held during National Public Works Week. 

The following is a reprint of an email I received from the law firm Best Best and Krieger. The court ruling addressed makes it clear that authority for local land use has been usurped by the State of California. Even local voters don’t have the ability to trump the state. Isn’t that a comforting thought?

…In a recent ruling with potentially wide-ranging and immediate impacts on local land use authorities, the Alameda County Superior Court has ordered the City of Pleasanton to rescind its voter-approved housing cap on grounds that the cap violates state law and prevents the City from meeting state-mandated housing requirements.

From www.dictionary.com

Niggardly
–adjective
1. reluctant to give or spend; stingy; miserly.

I received an email from Mr. Kent Davy, editor of the North County Times asking about a proposal to give the Encinitas City Manager a pay raise and so I sent him what I thought was a reasoned response. I got no feedback from him via email, but today the editorial encourages the Encinitas City Council to stiff the City Manager who hasn’t had a raise in three years, and gives no valid fiscal rationale for it other than basically just because we can!

There’s been so much local tragedy and scandal lately I thought I would post some positive things we can all take part in, mostly for free! It’s likely nothing listed will be of interest to all, but scan through and I bet you find SOMETHING you’re interested in!

Encinitas Arts & Events Calendar

March 8-14, 2010

Mon., Mar. 8, 6:00pm

Olivenhain Community Workshop, General Plan Update, Olivenhain Town Hall, 423 Rancho Santa Fe Road, www.encinitas2035.info

Tues., Mar. 9, 6:00pm

New Encinitas Community Workshop, General Plan Update, Diegueno Middle School, 2150 Village Park Way, www.encinitas2035.info

What’s the Surface Transportation Program (STP), and how does it impact you?

The STP provides flexible funding that may be used by States and localities for projects on any Federal-aid highway, including the NHS, bridge projects on any public road, transit capital projects, and intra-city and intercity bus terminals and facilities. Wow, that seems important!

The funding is authorized by something called SAFTEA- LU, and it has expired. The Feds haven’t gotten around to agreeing on what a new authorizing bill should contain, so instead they were planning to extend the current bill for a a year or so. An extension was part of a bill that Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky managed to kill late last week. 

The North County Transit District (NCTD) invites everyone to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the COASTER train with a “COASTER Crawl” on Saturday, February 27.

The event will carry customers to the rail line’s stations in Oceanside, Carlsbad Village, Encinitas and Solana Beach where merchants will offer special COASTER Anniversary product promotions. Many businesses around the COASTER stations will be offering special prizes and discounts. The event is sponsored by theMainStreet Association, the Carlsbad Village Association, MainStreet Highway 101, Encinitas-Leucadia Association, MainStreet Encinitas, Solana Beach Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Oceanside and the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce.

Additionally, on Saturday February 27, a second COASTER customer can ride free when accompanying a fare-paying customer or monthly pass holder. This two-for-one promotion runs for the entire day. The 15th Anniversary COASTER Crawl will use the regular Saturday COASTER schedule and will feature special events at the Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad Village and Oceanside Transit Center stations. No reservations are necessary; however space is limited on trains. For details and schedules visit: http://gonctd.com

I just got the message I’ve pasted below these comments  from the Carlsbad Desal Update folks and want SDRostra.com readers to be up-to-the-minute informed on this important regionally significant project. This project represents the first step in making our region drought proof!

The California Coastal Commission voted today to dismiss a request filed by opponents of seawater desalination to revoke the Carlsbad Desalination Project’s Coastal Development Permit (CDP).  The vote marked the second time in as many months that the Commission rejected an attempt by a handful of opponents to revoke the permit issued to the project in November 2007.  The Commission has now voted five times since 2007 to affirm its support for the Carlsbad Desalination Project.

The link below should take you to the “Green Police” Audi commercial from the Super Bowl.

It’s an absolute crack-up, and well worth the 30 second investment! Be sure to watch it to the very end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq58zS4_jvM

I was tasked with purchasing four 40 watt light bulbs for the new floor lamp my lovely bride just knew (correctly) would make a huge improvement to our family room decor.

So off to Home Depot I go. There I found Compact Fluorescent bulbs with  the “soft white” equivalent light output of a 40 watt incandescent bulb, but only use 9 watts of electricity. Sounds good so far, but they’re not for use with a dimmer. And 4 bulbs cost $15.00. Ouch.

I also found four “soft white” incandescent 38 watt bulbs which of course use 38 watts of electricity and can be dimmed. 4 bulbs cost $0.99 No joke. $0.25 each.

How long would it take to earn back the additional $14 in saved electricity from the reduced electricity used by the more expensive, non-dimming, toxic-mercury containing light bulbs? Is this what people refer to as the “green economy”? 14 times the price for an inferior product just to save a few watts of juice?

I received this email this morning and thought it was worth posting. It would seem that our current Congress has irritated at least one person enough to cook up these “reforms” for our consideration. 

Of course, if I were a betting man, I would bet the chances of this actually happening are between slim and none, and slim is on life support.

Your thoughts?

THIS IS HOW to FIX CONGRESS!!!!!

A press release from NCTD:

OCEANSIDE, Calif. – November 23, 2009.

North County Transit District’s SPRINTER rail line has won the 2009 “Project of the Year” from the American Public Works Association (APWA), an international professional association of public agencies and private companies. APWA cited the SPRINTER as the Transportation Project of the Year for projects valued over $75 million.

The SPRINTER was previously named the regional Project of the Year and then submitted for national recognition. The APWA Project of the Year Awards are presented annually to promote excellence in the management and administration of public works projects.

Yesterday the Board of Directors of the North County Transit District (I am a member of that 9 member Board) voted unanimously to  outsource the bus drivers and mechanics to a private concern. The buses and routes will be the same, and most of the employees will likely be the same but they will work for a private company instead of a public agency. The change will largely be invisible to the transit riding public. So why do it? Because the private company can put service on the street for about 10 million dollars less per year. Public transit is taxpayer subsidized and the Board felt this would be the best way to maximize public benefit and most efficiently use taxpayer dollars, which is especially important in these tough times.

I recently received an email requesting monetary or other donation to the Young Republicans Christmas party. I like the Young Republicans and have previously donated to their cause, which is likely why I was on the email distribution list.

What made this request irritating if not brain-dead stupid is that the name under the ask was one “Joe Sheffo”, V.P. 

Well heck, Joe isn’t particularly young, but I guess he’s registered as a Republican, and we’ve been courteous to one another over the years in a friendly but guarded sort of way… and then he decided to run for the Encinitas City Council in 2008, the same race in which I was seeking my third term. In a City that has never granted a third term to any Council Member not named James Bond.

At 05:30 am Monday morning there was a human trafficking incident involving a boat/ponga from Mexico in Encinitas.

The boat came ashore in Leucadia, a community of the City of Encinitas, near Beacons Beach.
Local Sheriffs, U.S.Border Patrol & Customs Agents were able to interdict & seize the boat and its passengers.

All 21 people onboard were arrested and taken into custody.

There were no lifejackets on any of the passengers, but the group did make it to the beach safely. There were no reported injuries and no fuel was spilled on the beach.

The country of origin for the individuals detained is unknown to me at this time, and I’m not certain who gets the nifty boat. This very dangerous method of illegally entering our country seems to be gaining in frequency, and I find it troubling on many levels.

One indisputable fact of the health care reform debate is that free care provided to the uninsured is a hidden tax on all the rest of us. It’s a hidden tax because it creates “cost shifting” which is where the costs of free care are shifted to those of us with money or private / commercial Health Insurance. The predictable result is higher premiums and costs for all.

But there is another level of cost shifting that has a tremendous impact. It’s called “under-compensated” care.
So, what is under-compensated care? It’s the care provided to Medicare and Medi-Cal / Medicaid patients by hospitals
and doctors who are paid at government-mandated levels far lower than the true costs to provide such care.

This from the U-T:
By Susan Shroder
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
5:34 p.m. October 1, 2009

SAN DIEGO – Fires in the Interstate 5 median between Balboa Avenue and Nobel Drive have caused problems for both commuters and firefighters, and authorities on Thursday asked for the public’s help to find who is setting them.
About 15 fires have been set in the 5-mile stretch since July 22, said Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. The unknown arsonist or arsonists are setting oleanders in the median on fire, Luque said.
The latest blazes were set Wednesday – one that snarled traffic during the late-afternoon commute and another that started about 10:45 p.m., Luque said.
“We don’t have any conclusive evidence that links all of the fires, but we have reason to believe that they are being intentionally set,” the spokesman said.
They have also caused major traffic backups.
“They are nuisance fires, but they are a danger to fire crews that have to respond, and to motorists that are driving by,” Luque said.
Suspicious activity, including seeing a vehicle that is parked along the freeway, can be reported to the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.
“We welcome the public’s help with information on something that they may have seen, or something they may see in the future,” Luque said.

This is a great weekend in Encinitas.  The 30^th Annual Wavecrest Woodie show is Saturday, September 19 from 10 AM to 3 PM at Moonlight Beach.

Arrive early, enjoy a pancake breakfast served by the Encinitas Firefighters  from 8 AM to 10 AM, and then view the hundreds of beautiful Woodies on display, the hardest part will be deciding which one you like best. Sunday morning Woodie drivers will meet at the Encinitas City Hall parking lot at 8 AM for a cruise on Coast Highway 101.

 SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20th the 15^th Annual Oktoberfest is set to happen from 10 AM to 6 PM at El Camino Real and Mountain Vista Blvd in Encinitas.  Enjoy a day of German heritage with music, dance, arts, crafts, food, drink and a street fair. Good fun for the whole family .

A project has been trying to get off the ground since the City purchased the property in 2001. It has caused two seperate CEQA lawsuits and cost over a million dollars to get through the environmental impact report and legal fees. What was the City proposing? A cement plant? A power plant? A smelting plant? Nope, nope, nope. The City of Encinitas had the temerity to propose a park… And now many years and many dollars later the Court has given us the green light to go forward. Turko has followed this from about the beginning (when the neighbor called him to complain about the messy property) and he does a very good wrap-up.