*Note-I have to get my local news from the North County Times website because despite the fact that they have withdrawn $10 from my bank account I have never once received a paper on my doorstep.
Encinitas mayor upbeat in State of the City address
By: ADAM KAYE - Staff Writer
ENCINITAS ---- Mayor Christy Guerin delivered an upbeat State of the City address Monday, emphasizing the positive, downplaying the negative and welcoming an audience of 250 to learn more about the city's finances.
"We invite all of our citizens to take a look at our budget, talk to our staff and council members, so that we can answer any questions or concerns that you may have," she said. "It's your dollars, and we are more than happy to share the information."
Guerin shared her concern that more than ever, city leaders must prioritize which capital projects to fund, because construction materials are increasingly expensive, she said.
"There have been challenges this past year and the year ahead of us will include them also, mostly financial challenges," the 22-year resident told her audience at the Encinitas Community and Senior Center.
In 18 months, the long-awaited Encinitas Community Library will open, Guerin said. She recounted the council's scramble to fill a $6.4 million funding gap in the $20 million project.
City officials have started to approve plans to replace Encinitas' three oldest fire stations, Guerin said. Her speech did not reveal her previously stated concerns that a $7 million budget probably won't be enough to finish the job.
She celebrated the completion of designs for four pedestrian crossings over the railroad. "In the next several years the council will be working hard to acquire funding to construct those crossings," she said. How much the crossings will cost, however, and when the first pedestrian will use one, is anyone's guess.
By the end of 2006, the city will respond to environmental concerns and certify an environmental impact study for the Hall property park, Guerin said. The park would be built as money becomes available, starting with ball fields.
"We are committed to moving as quickly as possible to get this park built," she said.
Toward the middle of her speech, Guerin addressed the recent defeat of a ballot measure that had asked property owners whether they would support a $5-per-month fee to help pay for the city's clean water program.
The loss of Proposition C "will be a continuing fiscal challenge as costs to maintain this program grow," Guerin said, "but I have the greatest confidence in both our staff and this council team to accept the challenge."
Despite any looming challenges, 92 percent of participants in a city-commissioned survey indicated that Encinitas is a "good to excellent place to live," she said. She cited the $10,000 survey of 300 residents later in her speech, reporting that 87 percent of respondents were "satisfied to very satisfied" with city services.
Last I heard the railroad crossing were going "under" the tracks not over. does anyone have any information on this? I wouldn't put it past our mayor bossypants, who flip flopped on undergrounding the tracks, to have changed this plan to irritate the citizens that live near the tracks.
ReplyDeletethose city commissioned surveys are bogus. I read through the recent one in Carlsbad and it only asked things like "are you satified with garbage pick up?" Not "do you think all the new housing and commercial development will improve traffic?" "do you think the general plan should be amended to allow the strawberry fields, sitting on the lagoon, to be converted to condos, commercial businesses and city office buildings?" "Should Ponto become another artificial village?" Only at the end of the survey were people asked to make general comments and they were mostly concerns over growth. The city patted itself on the back for overall satisfactory survey results.
ReplyDeleteHey, when is the unveiling of the new Leucadia welcome sign?
There is a reason some politicians, and staff lackeys, are called "spin doctors". They leave your head spinning and you forget where you were to begin with. Guerin is not a bad person, just a "hired spin doctor", put there by the people who brought you the all the mansions, pollution, and greed that got them where they were. She just wants a bit of that. Too bad she can't seem to get it by honest, hard work.
ReplyDelete"The Doctor"
The importance of being Mayor Guerin.
ReplyDeleteAnother taxpayer financed trip to Japan for Mayor Guerin and sidekick Deputy Mayor Bond. Ever the one to cement foreign relations with other countries, the Mayor will sign a new agreement with a new merged sister city in Japan. Hondo is merging with another city.
Sayonara, Mayor Guerin-san.
Correction - Hondo is merging with many other cities. Maybe Mayor Guerin -san and sidekick Deputy Mayor Bond-san will decide to stay in Japan to teach the finer aspects of decentralized politics.
ReplyDeleteSayonara, Mayor Guerin-san.
Sayonara, sidekick Deputy Mayor Bond-san.
Sounds like Christy is willing to share city budget and expense information when she is in front of a crowd. Why didnt someone ask her what the city spent to try to pass Prop C. she promised the information but has yet to deliver.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder Guerin is totally upbeat.
ReplyDeleteThe city isn't going to return the illegally collected clean water fee money. They want to give a credit on the trash bill.
Can the council spell f-r-a-u-d?
Can anyone tell me why Hondo is our "sister" city. For some reason I guess I thought it should be Cardiff, Wales.Just curious.
ReplyDeleteYes, we are tired of Bossypants Guerin's paid junkets to Monterey, Japan, Washington DC and everywhere else she can justify at our taxpayer expense. And again, if she retired from the Sheriff's Dept. with a Workman's Compensation award for stress fractures in her knees, how can she run these Hondo races? I wonder if that will be off the publicity scheme this time? And where will Maggie be? Surely James Bond can't run.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't want Christy Guerin going up to Monterey to lobby for the develolpers, either. We think her trip to Washington DC was bogus, too. She could have called those representatives and sent them her picture since she is so anxious for them to remember her face. I wish I could forget it.
We've been out of town for awhile, so we are glad to be back, posting again. Yes, the railroad crossings are pie in the sky. That will not happen anytime soon. And don't count on the "certification" of the environmental impact report at the Hall property. As the Citizens for Quality of Life showed, that place has a bunch of toxins, that is, poison, in the dirt caused by years of pesticide run-off. The City knew this, or should have known, and endangered the neighbors with the unsafe demolition there which kicked up so much "dust in the wind."
How can we afford to do any capital improvements in this city when 90% of the General Fund goes toward staff salary, benefits and contracts to those such as our overpaid, unethical city attorneys, Sabine & Morrison?
Why wasn't the State of the City given at a regular Wednesday City Council meeting? Was this televised? Well, we might have missed it, anyway. We saw the first one Bossypants Guerin gave, after she squeezed her original promoter, Sheila Cameron out, in 2002, months before she had our home raided by her buddy code enforcement officer Marianne Buscemi and her bro crew of six Keystone Cops, battering ram in hand, for our allegedly (not true) being a zoning violation, when Christy Guerin and the city know this is completely false, and a misrepresentation of the facts and the law. Christy Guerin will not appear in court, we think because she does not want to answer some hard questions we would ask her about her excessive use of force while she was a deputy sheriff here in Encinitas. The citizens of Encinitas are curious about your record there, Christy. Did you release confidential information, or not? As you are an elected official, we should have the right to ask. Whether you think this is relevant to our case, or not. We know it is. Malfeasance or misfeasance of office are always relevant to the taxpayers and voters.
Yes, the phone survey was bogus. I could have called 300 people for $2,000.00. This is one more waste of city funds.
How could Bossypants have fooled so many people? People do want to think well of government officials, but you, Christy Guerin, have given us many, many reasons not to trust you ever again.
The latest scuttlebutt out of city hall shows that the deception continues. The San Dieguito Water District is to go to monthly billing. This is to try to sneak another rate increase through without anyone noticing. Meter reading and billing costs will double, as well as postage. Where will the extra money be spent?
ReplyDeleteI suspect the city has a cash flow problem. Kerry Miller has run amuck and spent all the money. The city doesn't have the cash to give us our Prop C refund. We are to get a credit on our EDCO bill. Why a credit and why EDCO? Something smells rotten here.
I say: WHERE'S THE BEEF?
The beef is being held in a segragated interest bearing account. This money $1581,731. has earned $38,822. in interest thru the second quarter of FY 2006. The settlement agreement stipulated that the collected fees should, in the case of rejection of the ballot initiative, issue refunds without having to file a claim to everyone who paid it. Staff is currently weighing the cost of in-house refund process versus third-party outsourcing. In-house costs are estimated to be $4000-5400. Staff is recommending the issuance of credits on trash or water bills rather than issuing 19,000 checks. Staff anticipates completion of the process by June 2006.
ReplyDeleteExpenses associated with the ballot proposal are approx. $128,650. This does not factor in the interest earned on the funds or the cost of the refund process. Of the 128,650. $106,317. is listed as consultant expenses and $22,333. charged to City Central Services for Printing and Postage. A complete breakdown can be found in the staff report for the April 19 Council meeting posted on the City Website.(If you can navigate the maze until you find it. It is pages 7-15 of the staff report.
One of my biggest complaints with this city council is they spend all this money -- for ballot measures or designs for a Public Works Yard (that wasn't even approved)-- the list just goes on on. I wonder if ole Mayor Guerin would throw away this money if it was hers alone????? hmmmm
ReplyDeleteTime to say bye bye Christy!! Too bad you put your name on Prop A.
Just when you think the city staff and council couldn't get any craftier, they propose giving credit for money they own to Encinitas residents.
ReplyDeleteThe council and staff made it very clear when they forced the illegal fee on residents that EDCO's only purpose was to act as a collection agency and collect the money for the city. The fee had nothing to do with the trash bill or with EDCO.
The clean water regulatory fee should be returned as money, not as a bogus credit on a trash bill.
The fees don't belong to the city, and they don't belong to EDCO, so why would EDCO give a credit for trash pickup that has nothing to do with their business?
Maybe it has to do with the shoddy or nonexistent record keeping of EDCO and the city for this fee.
Fess up, you council.
Off topic, but I just came through the Santa Fe roundabout. I was going north on Devonshire and came to a full stop. A pickup was approaching very fast heading west on Santa Fe. I waited, and the driver hardly slowed down. I guess this guy didn't go to the city's website to read how to navigate a roundabout. Earlier in the morning heading west on Santa Fe behind a large truck, the truck driver came to a full stop and sat there not knowing quit what to do. There was no other traffic. Wow, this engineering marvel seems to be really confusing people.
ReplyDeleteCHRISTY IS UPBEAT BECAUSE SHE IS PREPARING FOR A LONG VACATION. IT WILL START RIGHT AFTER THE NOVEMBER ELECTION WHEN SHE FINDS HERSELF OUT OF A JOB!!
ReplyDeleteCOME TO THINK ABOUT IT, SHE MAY FIND WORK WHEN THEY RE-MAKE THE WIZARD OF OZ ... PERFECTLY TYPE-CAST FOR THE WICKED WICH OF THE WEST.
We know, from Court documents that the City has paid out at least $54,000.00 in Attorney Fees to Quality of Life lawyer, Everett Delano. At least that much was paid to Sabine & Morrison on this case, including their fees for filing a bogus appeal re these attorney fees, which was later abandoned.
ReplyDeleteThe City has paid out approximately $17,000 for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer's Association's fees, as far as we know. Again, this amount or more has been paid to Sabine & Morrison, our corrupt, unethical attorneys, we believe, on that case.
On our case, still in appeal, the City has doled out at least $95,000.00 in Sabine & Morrison's fees to try to keep us quiet, politically, and to invade our property. The political part comes in through City Council's too close for comfort ties with developers running amok.
Gil, and all watchdogs: please ask for a complete break down of all legal fees and litigation related costs for the last four years. You will be amazed and dismayed. This must include outside counsel contracted with, without bidding, to sue, or threaten, selective businesses and citizen residents.
We know that there was one private attorney used, named Dianne Fox, re F Street which is in appeal, also. Appeals are very expensive. Also, our former homeowner litigation Attorneys Daley & Heft are currently being paid by the City of Encinitas to represent them for more litigation.
The buck stops with Guerin, again. And her bro-bro, Dalager. The system of beauracracy and tax making is profiting, at the great expense and to the great detriment of our quality of life and our trust in our current elected and appointed "officers" of Enc. Inc.
Encinitas, Cardiff by the Sea, Leucadia and Olivenhein incorporated twenty years ago, in the public trust, for the greater common good. Not for the greatest profit of a greedy elite few, who equate constant expansion and consumption with "progress." No you can't fight progress. But we won't roll over to corruption in action, or to oppression. Don't tread on us.
We don't need Guerin and/or Dalager essentially giving sweetheart deals to developers, at our expense, acting as de facto paid lobbyists for private corporations. Council must be objective, neutral, not fronting as boosters for developers, as they are, now.
Happy Easter everyone!