You know our mayor Maggie Houlihan right? She's the "wacky" environmentalist that the Encinitas Elite hates. Ever since the Encinitas Elite took over in the 1980's they've loathed the whole enviro-vibe that has been in Encinitas since the 1960's. They've tried hard to beat it down many times, but the environmental wackjobs just keep coming back. They've tried to unseat Maggie's spot on the council with some pretty extreme measures but she always records large totals of votes. The Encinitas Elite are smart and they now know that they can't get rid of Maggie so they have to try and play her game. I have to admire their latest twisted plan of selling fake environmentalism to Maggie and the local media.
As you know the press has been eating up the enviro angle of a major developer "gifting" his construction dirt to us and dumping on what was until recently, a pristine beach in north Leucadia.
Relabeled "sand", 37,000 cubic tons of construction dirt is being hauled by numerous large semi-trucks that roar up and down the beach at lowtide, completely mauling the habitat there. Mayor Maggie gushed in joy, "This is a perfect example of public and private partnership," said Houlihan. "John could have sold the sand to a concrete plant, but instead we are reusing and recycling it to benefit beachgoers."
Mayor Maggie even described developer DeWald as a "maverick". source: NCT.com
Maverick is an appropriate term because this project is the type of thing that passed for environmentalism during the Bush/Cheney regime.
There is also a super funny quote in the same article from County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price,
"It's amazing how complicated it can be to put nature back after man puts it asunder," Slater-Price said.
What the hell does that even mean?
Burning Questions:
*Developer DeWald is being reimbursed $135,000 from a SANDAG fund for the cost of trucking his "gift" to the beach. How much would have the cement plant have paid him for the dirt? Construction dirt is a real burden on developers, I think we just did this guy the biggest favor ever.
*We are treated to photo after photo of these trucks smashing through saltwater. Uh, does the owner of these trucks know that his trucks are being destroyed? And, how much grease and crap is getting cleaned off the trucks and going into the ocean? That's environmentalism we can believe in!
*If this construction dirt is such high quality beach sand then why is it getting hauled all the way to north Leucadia when Moonlight Beach is a mere 2 blocks away?
Eroding Sandstone bluffs contribute to sandy beaches but they are jut one small component of what makes high quality beach sand. Now, this once pristine beach in north Leucadia is being covered in a mix of sandstone and regular old dirt (and who knows what else) from a construction site in downtown Encinitas.
The local press bought professional sand tax lobbyist Steve Aceti's song and dance about this beach being completely overrun by cobblestone (example: KPBS Ed Joyce says "part of a plan to drop 37,000 cubic yards of sand on a stretch of shoreline where existing sand is giving way to cobblestones". but as we see from this photo there is only a small ribbon of cobbles. A closer look reveals that there are cobblestones in the actual strata of the sandstone bluffs. That is because cobblestones are part of the natural beach environment and not invaders from Mars.
Steve Aceti and his pet rock. This classic photo appeared in the LA Times.
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Maggie Houlihan is not an Environmentalist!
ReplyDeleteMaggie misspeaks once in awhile but her heart and mind are in the right spot. she is one of the good ones.
ReplyDeleteLets get term limits and we will get a more balanced council that matches constituents interests.
Use the bulldozer to scoop the cobbles off the beach and let's use them for landscaping on the 101.
ReplyDeleteWatch out for those trucks. I ran along 101 yesterday afternoon and was almost flattened by one. The truck drivers turn right from 101 onto the beach with no turn signal, going about 50 mph so they don't bog down in the sand. Not only is Sierra Pacific destroying our beach but also they are in a big hurry to do it. The rest of us risk our lives in the vicinity.
ReplyDeleteMaggie got snookered on this one. She let her environmental enthusiasm get carried away. And what the heck did Pam mean with her statement?
ReplyDeleteI was at the groundbreaking ceremony for Pacific Station. It was a love fest between sleazy developers, smart growth promoters, local power brokers, and environmentalists enthralled by the phony greenness of the project.
I was taken aback by how cleverly it had all been orchestrated. It was really about power, greed, and ego. It was all there to be seen. The one bright moment was when the pastor of the church in Mexicali thanked DeWald for donating the dismantled building.
I am surprised that they didn't say this is a "win-Win” or that this will help the economy and the public like the huge tax dollar bailouts.
ReplyDeleteThe media is sooooo stupid and one sided to support our moron politicians.
Leave Maggie alone. They beat up on her for so long and now she is just to worn out to fight.
ReplyDeleteMaggie is way better than the boys, and always will be.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear about our budget projections at goal setting. CALPERS is going to demand much larger contributions to fund the money lost and the huge bureaucrat’s pensions. CALPERS is billions in the red. Staff better do a good job with accurate assumptions and projections or the Encinitas Tax Payers Association will expose the flawed accounting like so many of the other poor financial “professionals”.
If any one looks deep into the funding for the hall property, you will realize its not there. I think the City should spread wild flower seeds this winter. That land will be open fields for a very long time. I will bet there is nothing built there until at least 2015 and it will take a ballot measure to come up will a revised plan and funding that the community will support.
All the 20 million debt was used for the overpriced trophy library, Public Works Yard, and Firestation.
If the Council doesn't get the pension costs under control, this City will be in a world of hurt for a very long time.
Stay tuned and watch the goal setting on TV on January 20 and January 27. It will be really interesting.
Bob is unelectable. Maggie can't lose.
ReplyDeleteNo offense to the leucadia blog, but thats sad that a normal citizen like myself had to find out about this dumping on this blog before any other source has even mentioned anything. No heads up in the paper (and I read the NCT everyday), no signs posted on the beach, no mass email from surfrider. Shit we learned about the Shark attack on CNN when I was getting out of bed.Yesterday while surfing the water tasted bad but since it hadn't rained in quite a while I figured it was no big deal...talk about a health hazard. I say we all get sick and sue that shit out of someone. If our tax money is being used to fund this project why not get some of it back.
ReplyDeleteYES!!!....Looks like a great weekend-
ReplyDeleteOffshore winds,sunny days, nice little NW swell, chocolate brown poo water!!!
At least the chargers are playing.
I agree with Anon 9:26 Biocentric Environmentalism is unelectable in Encinitas.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes James Bond, Jerome Stocks, and Maggie Houlihan can't lose.
Yeah, those big trucks drive sketchy for sure. Agree with Shackey - put those rocks into our streetscape. But when the orange washes out of the soil (and it did in Carlsbad), I'm sure the sand will feel better than the stuff they put on Moonlight beach, suitable for 100 grade sand paper.
ReplyDeleteMaggie ain't the sharpest pencil in the drawer and those who voted for her deserve the flawed government we have. So don't lie to yourselves that you didn't support her and shut up about this environmental catastrophe. I just wonder how many fish will die or go elsewhere along with the dolphins and other marine life. If this was so good why are we the first to try it? Is there anyway to stop it by Monday when they resume trucking? Maybe a peaceful sit-in or a human blockade. Where are the surfer attorneys, no money in it for them? What a joke, we get dumped on again.
ReplyDeleteKind of interesting going back down there this morning right after the peak 7 ft+ high tide. The water cleared up mostly. Almost no surf at all, barely 1 foot. There was more cobblestones today than yesterday. At the south access state parking lot they built up a huge mound of cobblestones with the bulldozer and I think the high tide dragged a few onto the beach. That, or the onslaught of huge trucks is vibrating the cobbles into a mating frenzy. Didn't check the location at lowtide, went down to Swamis instead. Lots of sand down there and a million people and kids enjoying the nice weather and picking at the critters exposed on the reef.
ReplyDeleteThey are loving the reefs to death. I've never seen so many people turn rocks over and over and over. There can't be anything alive left there. Maybe a ranger or docent to tell them that they are killing the sea life.
ReplyDeleteSea life along our coast was gone after the '60s anyone with a mask knows that. Who are you kidding?
ReplyDeleteThanks humans. the trucks on the beach are another fine example of human stupidity.
Oh quit complaining. The dirt will eventually turn to sand and it won't look muddy forever. It's not the end of the world! Lord knows that there might be a lot of sand now in Leucadia but how many times do I and my teenage friends have to go down to beacons only to see about a 15 foot strip to lay on? The girls certainly don't like that for their tanning, so I say dump all the dirt and sand you can and at some point, the Leucadians (I am one) need to stop bitching and just go with the flow. The dirt may not look pretty, but the brown color will go away and we'll have more sand! What's so bad about that I will never know, but for some Leucadians, any change, even if good, is bad and we should all just bitch.
ReplyDeleteI say dump more! I hate having beaches with no sand. C'mon Jon DeWald, find some more sand at your project, dump it on our beaches and while your at it, maybe you could run over some of these bitchy Leucadians, while true Leucadians like me (19 yr. old male) will enjoy your free gift!
Thank you Dewald!
anon 12:07,
ReplyDelete• It wasn't free. Taxpayers paid for it.
• There are different quality sands. Only certain quality sand is going to help give you a strip of sand to lay on. Most of this dirt will end up covering the reef and not contribute to the berm. Not to worry. The amount of sand is tiny and you won't be able to even tell they dumped anything. This project was not an efficient use of money.
• Don't thank Dewald. Thank Aceti.
The big north swell coming next week is going to wash all that shit down to the submarine canyon off La Jolla so back to square 1.
ReplyDeleteAceti is a Putz. We figured that out years ago. The REAL story is where he gets his funding and why. I would love for the blog and or the bloggers to dig just a little and find out the truth.
ReplyDeleteYou will find that just like the (reverand)Jackson, this guy is a master at the art of the shakedown. Very nice for a city like Encinitas to think they are enviro-friendly because they give money to his fake "non profit"
Dig a little. It will be interesting.
This is not your taxpayers money. This was paid for by the Beach Sand Mitigation Fund. The homeowners along the bluff paid for it.
ReplyDeleteDid the homeowners approve the funding of DeWald on this project?
ReplyDeletesad sad sad....the uninformed are...its not dirt-it has been tested and is exactly the same sand already on the beach-just a different color same particle and seive size. so get it straight ITS NOT DIRT!!! and it was payed for by SANDAG, this is what they do. and it is a gift.....from what i know Sierra Pacifc could have taken this sand almost anywhere as it is a commodity for construction firms-dirt is a hassle but sand can be used for almost anything. so how is this not good for the beach? The sand will eventually make its way to moonlight beach based on the current tidal studies that are open for review to the public and thats why its being placed at Ponto....isnt the protocal here "TO KEEP LEUCADIA FUNKY" is this not Funky enough for you soooo uninformed scared of change hippies. Educate yourself first.....again....no taxpayer money, not dirt and will end up at moonlight beach for all to use. Sorry if any sandcrabs get run over during the 4 week process....somebody has to pay for the price of progress...right hippies!?!
ReplyDeleteThe dirt/sand is mostly sandstone which is what our bluffs are made of...yes we get that. The bluff sandstone is one component of the different materials that make up our classic Encinitas sand. Longtime local surfers know it's not the quality sand we need that forms good sandbars, but instead it will lay flat and only stick to the reefs which is where we don't want sand.
ReplyDeleteThe big scam is the way the press and Encinitas power brokers make it sound like Steve Aceti and John DeWald have saved the beaches from the terrible erosion and cobblestones when anyone who actually visits that beach knows that the beach already had healthy amounts of sand due to the Ponto jetties keeping the lagoon tiday 24/7. Keep drinking the kool-aid, I heard it taste like grape.
You're going to love this!
ReplyDeleteThe ASBPA has honored your construction dirt beach fill project as one of the best restored beaches of 2009!
Ludicrous!
http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=1213bfff9d46f4d9&mt=application%2Fpdf&pli=1
I think its funny when one of the ultra left-wing democrats screws up you say "oh, her heart was in the right place, she really wants to help the enviornment". if a conservative messed up, he or she should be removed from power or lynched according to you animal worshiping baffons.
ReplyDeleteOh yea, an award given to someone for littering massive amounts of debris? (Asphalt chunks, concrete chunks, rebar and sewer pipes)
Ludicrous!
Ludicrous!
Ludicrous!