Posts Tagged ‘City of Encinitas’
Former Mayor Christy Guerin against “Prop A” in Encinitas
This popped into my inbox recently and I thought I would share it with my fellow Rostrafarians. Mayor Christy Guerin is a friend of mine and she served eight years on the Encinitas City Council and then six years as district director for Congressman Brian Bilbray in the 50th District.
Prop A would be devastating for the future of Encinitas homeowners:
Politics 101 on the 101
This found its way into the Smiling Inbox today regarding the Encinitas Special Election known as Prop A. The election date is June 18:
Inbox:“How about a ROSTRA posting about how the Yes on A proponents are illegally littering the public ROW w/ signs costing the Taxpayers money to remove them?”
TSS: It’s true that in Encinitas one is not allowed to post political signs in the Right of Way, unlike in many other cities. It’s also true that the Proponents of Prop A are posting a lot of signs in the public Right of Way, and that city staff does the clean-up and that costs money. And hey let’s not forget the $500,000 tax dollars the special election is costing!
Encinitas’ Prop A – Deeply Flawed and widely opposed
An impressive list of bi-partisan folks and organizations have lined up to oppose Encinitas’ Prop A, the deeply flawed initiative coming to a very expensive taxpayer funded special election on June 18th of this year! Check it out.
As the following list shows, the opposition to Prop A is very broad and does not simply fall along the standard developer, big property owner lines. The opposition list includes a unanimous current City Council, many of whom were supported by the promoters of the initiative. As you will note, this is not a partisan issue. Opposition is coming from all sides:
Deeply flawed initiative up for a Special Election in Encinitas
Some residents of Encinitas, working with a Carlsbad based activist/NIMBY group, have used the initiative process to force the City of Encinitas to spend at least $350,000 on a special election to be held in June of 2013. Nice.
This ill-conceived measure:
A) Won’t correct or address state mandated forced planning for additional housing units,
B) Will actually replace steep-slope local 12 ft building height limits currently in place with its blanket 30ft limit which would be very destructive to the impacted neighborhoods and their views,
Out With the Old, in With the New
Newly elected Encinitas City Councilman-elect, Tony Kranz, has indicated via email to the City that he is having “trouble” grasping the grading required for the Encinitas Community Park, a 43 acre $18 million dollar project, 12 years and countless public meetings as well as hearings and litigation, in the making.
He seems to want a 3D model built for this project (already under construction) which would cost about $56,000 to create.
Dang! $56,000 because this guy can’t visualize grade changes?
Seems extreme, but hey, the voters selected him to represent them…
I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Encinitas Mayoral Process Changes
Since incorporation of Encinitas in 1986 the positions of Mayor and Deputy Mayor have been held by a member of the City Council, selected each December by a majority vote of their peers on the City Council to serve for the next year.
This is not an unusual method for new cities to select their Mayor and Deputy Mayor; However, over the years many attempts at changing the system have been proposed, but none have succeeded in garnering a majority vote.
Recent Encinitas Council Drama
Somewhat newly minted Council Woman Kristin Gaspar (November 2010 first place vote getter) has been a real worker on the Encinitas City Council. In addition to her other obligations she agreed to serve on a Sub-Committee with Council Woman Barth along with some other folks (Barth came in 2nd behind Gaspar in 2010 even though she was the incumbent…) dealing with our ongoing General Plan 2035 update. The meetings were tough but productive until the last meeting when it appears Barth had unilaterally imposed her opinion on staff between meetings, altering the direction the committee was headed. This Hi-Jacking of the sub-committee process was not well received by Gaspar, and at Wednesday’s City Council meeting Gaspar read this into the record as a report to the Council which authorized the Sub-Committee and gave them their charge:
Risky Sports
A credible shark sighting was reported today in Leucadia, a community of the City of Encinitas.
The weather has been great and the water has been mostly glassy, making the beach a wonderful place to play. But be careful out there, and (hopefully) this was not just a Halloween spoof! Here’s the incident report I received:
To Council and Administrations,
You want to plant a lawn and let people play on it? That’ll cost you!
The following is an update on the status of Encinitas Community Park, formerly known as “The Hall Property”…
It’s about 43 acres just west of the I-5 freeway and south of Santa Fe Drive. Encinitas purchased this former greenhouse property from the Hall family to make into a park in 2001. The purchase was one of my first votes as a City Councilman, and at roughly 20 million dollars it was an attention grabber!
Shovel Ready Jobs anyone?
Per Richard Phillips of the Encinitas City Manager’s Office:
Construction of the Santa Fe grade-separated pedestrian undercrossing was been placed out to bid by SANDAG today (8/30). The project is the first of four grade-separated pedestrian undercrossings that are planned for the rail corridor that runs through Encinitas. Part of the Santa Fe project includes construction of a small portion (220’) of the rail trail just south of the undercrossing site. The purpose of the grade-separated pedestrian crossings is to improve pedestrian access and circulation across the rail corridor and improve rail/pedestrian safety conditions. Planning of the project began in 2002 with the settlement agreement between the City and NCTD and obtaining a funding commitment from the State for preliminary design and engineering. The City and SANDAG partnered in the project, with the City taking the lead in design approval and environmental documentation phase, and SANDAG on the construction phase. Funding for the project is from State TCRP, STIPP, a TransNet funding swap by SANDAG and the City of Encinitas CIP # WMC02A ($1.25 m).
A Safety Reminder
M E D I A A L E R T
For Immediate Release August 29, 2011
Sergeant Jason Rothlein
858 513-2800
San Diego County AVOID DUI Campaign
DUI Strike Team to Keep the Roadways Safe During
On August 28, 2011 from 3 P.M. until midnight, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the San Diego County Regional Avoid the 14 Task Force conducted a DUI enforcement operation in the cities of Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas and San Diego to coincide with the Pacific Classic of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club racing season. This operation was made possible by grant funds provided by the Office of Traffic Safety.
The Surfing Madonna in the News Again!
This press release went out today. The level of interest regarding the outcome of this issue has been amazing to experience, and I wanted the Rostrafarians to see the full and reasonable resolution that was reached and announced today. Whatever her future, it appears that this chapter in her saga is coming to a conclusion.
June 21, 2011
Mosaic Mural on Encinitas Blvd. & Rail Underpass
Mark Patterson, the artist and owner of the “Save the Ocean” mosaic that has been come to be known as “The Surfing Madonna” placed on the Encinitas Boulevard/rail bridge underpass has reached an agreement with the City of Encinitas to remove the art work from its present location on the underpass wall so it may be relocated elsewhere.
Wow, What an Insightful Editorial!
The U-T Editorial Board was at the top of their game last weekend when they published this hum-dinger of an editorial that really nails this local Encinitas issue. No doubt the entire County didn’t get to see this North County editorial, and no doubt, other jurisdictions have had to deal with similar issues. So I just thought publishing it here would be beneficial to all. The bottom line is that I’m impressed by the U-T! It’s a good read…
Vote ends nine years of obstructionism
Sheffo Responds to Stocks
Let’s make it very clear we are not about to allow a never-ending tête-à-tête every time a couple of individuals happen to have a difference of opinion on this blog, but when it comes to political differences, as opposed to personality issues, a fair debate is warranted.
So, in response to Encinitas Councilman Jerome Stocks’ post of yesterday, in which he takes past city council candidate Joe Sheffo to task, we are allowing Mr. Sheffo some “equal time.” Obviously, an elected official putting a strong opinion in the public “rostra” cannot be expected to pass quietly or go unnoticed. To a reasonable extent, that’s the purpose of this weblog.
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