I attended the June 22 Encinitas City Council meeting and I felt sad.
I was sad at the illnesses and disruption of the lives of so many people who live near the development project on Hymettus Street caused by inadequate environmental protections, monitoring and enforcement. I want a City Council that demands that county and state environmental officials do their job and protect the health of the citizens. I want a City Council that cancels the permit for the construction if the developer violates the requirements for environmental hazard mitigation.
I was sad that so many people speak often and eloquently about open government and then the council votes to defend the city in court rather than release the draft of a traffic study, and after losing the case because the city failed to show a “compelling” reason to withhold the report, the city spends more time and money on an appeal.
I want a City Council that isn’t afraid to let citizens see what their tax dollars are paying for. I welcome the new city manager and hope he can address some of these problems, and I welcome the next election in hopes that the voters of Encinitas will select different council members who support open government, open meetings and have open minds. -- Lisa Shaffer, Encinitas
This sounds familiar...
Budget surplus a mirage
The impression given by an article on a city budget workshop (“El Cajon ends fiscal year with surplus,” East County, June 16) amounts to putting lipstick on a pig. The story said the city will end the current fiscal year June 30 with a “budget surplus of $300,000,” and anticipates a “balanced” budget next year.Councilman Bill Wells said the city still has a structural deficit of about $4 million. That is presumably the cumulative deficit accrued in prior years. If so, the $300,000 surplus for the current year was immediately gobbled up by the deficit.
At that rate, it would take 13 years to fully recover the deficit. The fact that next year’s deficit is “balanced” (in fact, a slight gain of about $71,000 is projected) means that a year from now, the city will still have a structural deficit of some $4 million. -- Robert Clark, El Cajon
Letter to the editor published here.
So, Lisa, what have the developers done wrong? You obviously are concerned, but you don't cite a specific wrongdoing on their part.
ReplyDelete(could be a case of NIMBY)
Lisa lives on the other side of town so that rules out MBY of NIMBY. Some people don't understand the concept of caring for others and selflessness I guess.
ReplyDeleteThe developers did a lot wrong. They cut corners and did not control their dust by keeping the toxic soil moist so it wouldn't blow onto the neighbors' properties.
I live next to the Hymettus project and I know a little about construction. City Ventures has most definitely been negligent in their handling of the toxic soil on the site. The question is will they be held responsible when they have a relationship with Jerome Stocks. He cited a "conflict of interests" at the June 22nd city council meeting when the subject of the Hymettus development came up. As City Ventures has more projects planned for Encinitas, I think it's legitimate to ask just exactly what is Mr. Stocks' relationship with City Ventures. Anyone who has followed this man's career of selling out Encinitas to developers, won't be surprised with his "conflict of interests". But when you have a negligent developer on one side and the residents that were harmed by this negligence on the other, shouldn't the city councilman be on the harmed residents side? There should be no conflict of interest, the councilman should be always on the side of his constituents, not the out-of-town developer. This man has made a career out of selling his influence to developers. We have enough developments in Encinitas. How about building our park. Please stop reelecting this man. He clearly more interested in his own quality of life than the quality of life of Encinitas residents or he'd stop selling out to developers. Let's get rid of this venal, dishonest man and elect progressive council members who will protect our quality of life.
ReplyDeleteKevin Clay