No old hotel with a swanky ballroom, no place to get all dressed up for, no central location to all meet up, no fireworks at midnight.
*yawn*
Monday, December 31, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Mayor Barth
nctimes.com story
KPBS
Encinitas Patch
Coast News
UT San Diego
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Small cute children stretching at school, a religion?
It's hard to know where to begin with this story, back when I started this blog in 2005 I would have dedicated an hour of my life to typing up some witty commentary skewering all the players involved, but these days I've kicked the blog over to Krazy Kevin, who only cares about the pension crisis and I just don't have time for this goofball nonsense anymore.
So, let's keep it short. Dean Broyles is an Escondido attorney who plans to sue the school district because they added yoga to the physical education program saying it's totally a religion and not just stretching (it's just stretching, before we go any further, it's just stretching. If you think it's anything more than just stretching then you are brain damaged).
SD UT story: Encinitas classroom yoga conflict a precursor to litigation?
Check out Dean Broyles webpage about religious liberties: clicky
*DISCLAIMER: I have a 5 year old in our local school system and turns out he has been doing yoga. The other day he grew a beard and hijacked a plane because he was so limber. You are right Dean Broyles, this should have never have happened. Thank you for saving America.
IVN San Diego News story: clicky
North Coast Current Op-Ed does the heavy lifting for me: clicky
    |
| Fun fact: 33% of the Encinitas economy relies on the sales of yoga pants. |
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Toys for Tots in Leucadia
Do good with your resources
W/Toys for Tots
Saturday, December 08, 2012
Monday, December 03, 2012
You Willing to Tell People They Love Encinitas?
There is a difference between enacting positive policies and speaking happy talk. The later is easier and gets in the way of the former.
Information comes to light
It was also discovered that Councilwoman Kristin
Gaspar’s husband, Paul Gaspar, was the registered agent for the group.
Political blog Encinitas Undercover publicized the information in a Nov. 21 post.
...
“Technically, nonprofits can send out mailers to educate people about
issues. Had it not been an election season, those mailers could be
qualified as nonprofit education, but their timing and substance (was)
sketchy,” Gonzalez said.
“They attempted to put Mark Muir and Jerome Stocks in a favorable light in a time when running for office,” he added.
Stocks and Muir denied to the North County Times in mid-October having any connection to We Love Encinitas and knowing who was behind it.
That's almost as credible as aliens stealing signs from Tony's garage. Good thing Tony's story was corroborated by someone with known connections to the opposition campaign (note that Jim has not been willing to state the full extent of his political activities, to date).
Paul Gaspar responds
In an email exchange with a North Coast Current writer,
Paul Gaspar said that “We Love Encinitas activities have never been
political or a secret.”
Oh boy, Paul is going to be busy running a nonprofit and paying for lots of mailers outside of the election season to make it look like the mailers were just a coincidence.
“As one does not have to be secret about disseminating
good news – unlike the multiple anonymous negative groups and blogs that
have infected Encinitas,” Gaspar wrote.
Like the ones calling for fiscal sanity or transparent government that does lie to public (resulting in positive public opinion, when it was not deserved)? Like that, or the ones that ooze hatred for Jerome. Can't pretend those don't exist.
...
Along with his responses to questions, Gaspar forwarded a
news release dated Oct. 17 that identifies him as a founding member and
introduces the organization as “a nonprofit, nonpolitical organization
committed to a positive voice for informing the Encinitas community
through: community outreach, multimedia, direct mail, social media, and
the sale of promotional items.”
Gaspar said he sent the news release to now-jointly owned daily newspapers U-T San Diego and North County Times.
U-T San Diego did not respond to an inquiry regarding whether the publication received it. However, an Oct. 23 report from U-T Campaign Watch still questioned who was behind We Love Encinitas.
Seems contradictory, no? The LB didn't get the press release either. It would have been easy to disclose all this on the organization's website for easy access or to post a comment on the UT. The Gaspars read articles about the city and Paul's organization, right?
...
Kristin Gaspar declined to comment for this story,
saying her husband was best to direct questions to as she is not an
officer of the organization.
...
She didn't even do homework on her husband's activities, related to such a good cause, and the nucleus of political intrigue? Was she not allowed to ask questions of her husband? There has been speculation that Paul is really in charge and he is the one who is the man who makes the political decisions.
In most modern families, especially political families, spouses are consulted before a husband starts a political campaign. Spouses should be allowed to be part of the decision making.
It is sad that in this day and age spouses aren't even adequately briefed on the other 's activities. They should be treated as a partners. Kristin should be allowed to know enough to field questions, and should feel integrated enough that she has some ownership of the decisions her husband makes. She is the elected official.
Paul being dominant seems unlikely. Maybe Kristin was briefed and was part of the decision making. Then she was just dodging the questions. Why?
In most modern families, especially political families, spouses are consulted before a husband starts a political campaign. Spouses should be allowed to be part of the decision making.
It is sad that in this day and age spouses aren't even adequately briefed on the other 's activities. They should be treated as a partners. Kristin should be allowed to know enough to field questions, and should feel integrated enough that she has some ownership of the decisions her husband makes. She is the elected official.
Paul being dominant seems unlikely. Maybe Kristin was briefed and was part of the decision making. Then she was just dodging the questions. Why?
...
The allegations from city activists have not fazed Paul
Gaspar and the organization. He said the group will continue to “execute
its mission for the benefit of the citizens of Encinitas.”
What exactly is the mission? Tell people what they already know? They already know that Encinitas is bad ass. Why else would they be so dedicated to keeping poor leaders from deflating its future?
...
[Gaspar said:] “(We Love Encinitas) will not engage in this political banter any further.”
Translation = We know this looks bad and we know the more we talk the more our story will look like a poorly thought out phony cover story. It looks bad. The use of nonprofits for stuff like this has been disdained by the LB before this story broke.
The Leucadia Blog has championed many things which have and would have made Encinitas and Leucadia a better place to live. The LB loves Encinitas, and is willing to be called names by those in power in order to fight for it. What are you willing to do?
(Read the full article at the Coast News Current)
Saturday, December 01, 2012
Growing Local to be Yuppies Only Pastime
The San Diego County Water Authority, which Encinitas is a member, approved the purchasing of Carlsbad desal water.
Encinitas buys water from the San Diego County Water Authority. If there are no explicit safeguards to protect Encinitas ratepayers now, you might as well expect water bills to go up. You'll have to be rich to be a backyard grower. Growing takes water.
If you are one of those trendy hipsters and wanted to try to get your daily caloric intake from backyard food from 0% to like 3% (good luck getting much more than that without having a farm or being rich and have the luxury of lots of free time).
San Diego County Taxpayers Association (aka "San Diego County Developers and Contractors Association"), supports desal, but what they really support is decoupling the water market system from the new development market.
How about this for a proposal? Any new water source capacity that is credited to the local agencies for this expensive and polluting source of water is a cost that is carried by newly upzoned properties and not treated like a subsidy for big developers.
Good idea, bad idea, an unspoken idea?
Remember when the for-profit desal company came to Encinitas to sell us water and the council said not so fast, because it is was worried that it might become too expensive and cause greenhouse gas pollution? I remember that, but actually I don't think the council cared about green house gas pollution.
Encinitas buys water from the San Diego County Water Authority. If there are no explicit safeguards to protect Encinitas ratepayers now, you might as well expect water bills to go up. You'll have to be rich to be a backyard grower. Growing takes water.
If you are one of those trendy hipsters and wanted to try to get your daily caloric intake from backyard food from 0% to like 3% (good luck getting much more than that without having a farm or being rich and have the luxury of lots of free time).
San Diego County Taxpayers Association (aka "San Diego County Developers and Contractors Association"), supports desal, but what they really support is decoupling the water market system from the new development market.
How about this for a proposal? Any new water source capacity that is credited to the local agencies for this expensive and polluting source of water is a cost that is carried by newly upzoned properties and not treated like a subsidy for big developers.
Good idea, bad idea, an unspoken idea?
Monday, November 26, 2012
How Much Did That Cost?
The Encinitas Community Park (Hall Park) has a giant pit in it now. That must be where they are going to bury all the contaminated surface soil.
That pit is the biggest and most expensive manifestation of Mayor Stocks' lies (a.k.a. super extreme nacho cheese covered spin).
There is contaminated soil on the Hall park property. Trying to hide the contamination cost the City of Encinitas a lot of money.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
2013: The Year of the Kook, Again
Coming soon.
According to inside sources, the new calendar is jam packed with new pics;
costumes; and corny captions. Make that kooky.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Christmas Slurry
|
Sent from my super groovy iPhone
JP St Pierre
CEO and janitor of the super huge mega corporation:
Surfy Surfy Surf Shop
974 N Coast Hwy 101
Leucadia, CA 92024
760-452-7687
Andreen Sets the Record Straight
Mike Andreen, head of a New Encinitas area business advocacy group that has repeatedly raised concerns about some housing changes proposed in the revisions, said Thursday that his organization strongly opposes the proposed (Right 2 Vote) initiative. “We think it’s a bad idea for a variety of reasons,” he said.
Among other things, its name — the “Right to Vote” initiative — is misleading, Andreen said, commenting that Encinitas voters already have a say on housing-density issues. Also, he said, its proponents are using “scare tactics” to make people think the city is about to allow five-story buildings all over town.
Andreen said that the initiative’s passage will result in nullifying three community planning documents — ones for New Encinitas, Leucadia and the city’s downtown — that citizens spent years creating, and it will ultimately discourage all development in town.
Andreen has also pointed out how outrageous and dangerous the initiative would be, on his blog.
Example: if the ‘Encinitas Right To Vote’ were currently the law and the owners of the McDonalds that burned down in the Sprout’s Center wanted to rebuild it exactly as it was in the 70’s, they would have to underwrite a Special Election of the half million dollars before they have spent one nickel on plans, materials labor etc…
He didn't cite which section of the initiative would cause that result. I thought the initiative just addressed upzoning, not remodels, not building permits, and not development permits. (Disclaimer: We haven't read it yet, as we've been busy lately.) Upzoning is where developers gain NEW development rights by the vote of the council majority (4/5ths). The council, not hard work or market forces, makes them rich. Usually, the public subsidizes directly and indirectly the bulk of the windfall profits from the upzoning (Now you know why developers poor 6 digit figures into council races.) The initiative puts the decision on upzoning in both the hands of the council AND the public. The upzoning will have to pass muster with the public, rather than slide by unnoticed until buildings go up.
There is zero doubt the initiative will result in upzoning proposals that provide more benefit to the general public, rather than the lion's share to those receiving the gift of NEW rights.
Andreen also posts this photo (Mike, we assumed you'd be happy to spread the word, let us know if we should take this down):
However, Mike is right. Some proponents do not want more traffic, higher buildings, more pollution, or a change in character. They moved here and stay here because they like Encinitas. They are rightfully scared that upzoning will result in that. As Mike actively recognized, major changes could be coming to Encinitas and it would be great if the changes were being made for the benefit of the general public and not 24 people.
The proponents like Encinitas. They think the majority of the voters will continue to agree that Encinitas is pretty darn nice and will want to keep it that way if they are given the power to confirm the council's approvals.
Leucadia Will Get Screwed?
The initiative will also send all the upzoning to Leucadia, because we are the city's infrastructure dumping ground. Are New Encinitas or Olivenhain going to vote to keep 10 story complexes out of Leucadia if they think it will keep their community from having to take on more density? Will we get the short end of the stick?
Saturday, November 17, 2012
A Taste of Leucadian Homes
Old School, Authentic Chill
Pre-fabulous
A contemporary investment in our hometown. A monument to the belief in our town's future.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Inconsistencies?
This flier says it was paid for by the Muir and Stocks campaigns. It was all over middle Encinitas a few days before the election. I wonder if the polls were saying the people want to vote on upzoning and the public knew who was supported by big developers.
The UT says Muir was against the right-to-vote initiative. If is for the right to vote, which part of the right-to-vote initiative is he against?
Friday, November 09, 2012
Opportunities
The changing of the guard at city hall presents all sorts of opportunities.
Opportunities
Over the last decade many people have attempted to help bring solutions to the city, but ended up fighting city hall for the simple recognition the problems. Denial of problems was frequently accompanied with public dismal and private, and sometimes public, name calling by council members. Many citizens were labelled whiners and malcontents. Some of these citizens are now council members, so we can hope that will change.
There was also a somewhat grounded claim of partisanship and unequal vigor in the critical appraisal of city leaders. The new council should be given the same level of slack given to the previous. Not only will the council members be under the microscope, so will their supporters. Nothing less than highly ethical and respectful behavior should be expected.
Nobody's perfect. We should expect our city's new leadership to address mistakes rather than sweep them under the rug. Hiding mistakes is better for personal political careers, but stepping up to mistakes is better for the public's interest. Being open with the public is the fundamental difference between the practices of the old council majority and the promise of the new.
This is an opportunity for the citizens of Encinitas to demonstrate that they are motivated to participate in developing and implementing smart and broadly appreciated solutions--an opportunity to show that their desire to "dump stocks" was about bringing better public policy and public administration to our hometown and not personal or petty (for most people). A few citizens who consistently spend their valuable time participating in the public discourse are deeply generous and care enough for the future residents of our hometown that they give up their time and attention. Their dedication is to the future, so they spend their time on unconformable and hard problems, rather than engaging in personally satisfying past-times or relatively comfortable or quick window dressing civic support.
This is an opportunity for their efforts to be genuinely considered, rather than being feared.
It is an opportunity to show that who gets elected matters. There is still a political machine, which has temporarily lost control of city hall and will want to own city hall again. That machine is funded by developers and aligned with the union leadership. Next time the machine will know they need to spend more money. A LOT MORE MONEY. Without a system to counter-balance misinformation, the next election is going to be even more over the top.
How Much Does Character Matter?
That political machine tried to scare the dickens out of the public. If Tony and Lisa were elected the city would go to hell and Tony would go City Hall rage! Tony now has 4 years to show that getting into it with that dude down in San Diego isn't a reflection of how he will handle himself at city hall.
Now, if that sort of behavior matters, what did Jerome's "psychological assessment" say and why wasn't that sent out by the SDCounty Voters for Progress? Jerome conducted himself with consistency horrible interpersonal interactions, but that did not stop former Mayors, law enforcement, or fire fighters from endorsing him.
On the other hand, Jerome was raw and let people know he did not care for their views or feedback. Is that better than being phony or responding with non-answers, or passive aggressive behavior?
The Jim-Tony phone call thing remains an awkward "he said, he doesn't want to get into a he said, he said" thing. No student witnesses came forward, as far as I know, but if Jim wants to put us into contact with them that changes things. One thing that both Jim and Tony openly agree on is that a phone call was made about the signs being taken from Tony's garage. The press and the political machine (and Stocks directly) tried to make fun of Tony as being a really bad liar. Did Tony make up a story that his signs were taken?
Jim's account erased any doubt that Tony had fabricated a story about his signs going missing from his garage and that he was the one removing the early signs from Leucadia Blvd.
Tony gets the opportunity to demonstrate that his behavior represents an improvement at City Hall. We hope to be the first to publish Jim's follow up writings if Tony does not.
An Opportunity for an Important Major Shift
Rumor has it that Tony didn't go postal, but was extremely courteous, to the interlopers. We can assume that any such incident would have been photographed and used in mailers.
The radical change that the election of Tony and Lisa represent is a dedication to the public good, over the private profit of their supporters. We think that is why people voted for them, at least.
Tony has spent a lot of time working on public policy. Stuff that doesn't fit on a mailer. The one thing we can say is that he is genuinely interested in a better city hall. That effort extends beyond the possible recognition that he would get in return.
Only one person took the time to go over all the roads reports, public records law, AND call the contractor (adding evidence that the city was lying), and go to the council with a path to avoid loosing a public records lawsuit. That was Tony. None of those hundreds of hours of work translated directly into extra votes for Tony.
We hope he continues to put the public good before his personal political agenda.
How the Republican Party Gave the Race to Tony and Lisa
The Republican Party supports candidates for Encinitas city council who increase taxes, increases bureaucracy, adds regulation at the same time as reduces bureaucratic accountability, takes the city into more debt (blindly) and straps the future with an unsustainable pension system. Given that the republicans in the race seemed to ignore this history, its no surprise that many fiscal conservatives in this city refuse to register with any party and are happy to vote Lisa and Tony, because they were more fiscally conservative than the republican candidates. Tony and Lisa were given a gift by the Republican Party leadership.
Candidate Kevin Forrester would not respond to an invitation to discuss and reconcile our views about Encinitas city hall's open government practices or how it was possible that a few NIMBYs were responsible for the decade of delays to the Hall park, even though it was now obvious that financial difficulties had been a major problem for the project (plus all the other stuff). Forrester grossly ignored or was (willfully?) ignorant of open government law violations. Forrester's campaign highlighted that he was an attorney and a mediator. Ironic.
The election result is an opportunity to move further away from party politics and show republican leaders it is time to be about principles rather than being a good ol' boy club. When the republicans pick candidates who are genuine, they will have an easy time taking back city hall.
The Possibility for More Empty Disk Space
This is an opportunity to clear out the computer files. Jerome's history was broad and wide. It was hard to keep up with him (Sandag, NCTD, CH). Where ever he went, he provided great writing fodder. We've got a lifetime worth of clips of Jerome that make for great blogging. I don't think we ever got to the one below, perhaps because we actually try to focus on important things. This is just to bizarre to never post. Think of it as a farewell clipping.
What boat access points? We don't actually have world-class surf. World-class surf is filled with international surf travelers. Our waves are fun, and sometimes sick, but never worth flying internationally, because on the best days the waves are stupid lame crowded. You're lucky if you catch two waves without having to dodge people.
Most local surfers would choose to move to the ranch rather than live in Encinitas if given the choice to house swap.
Opportunity for Financial Disclosure
A real analysis of the city's finances is the promise.
We hope this new council will become the benchmark for the inclusion of all points of view. Dr. Shaffer should be the shinning of example for the council by answering even the toughest questions posed by people openly opposed to her initial positions.
Barth's Stage for Partial Vindication
The change on the council gives her a chance to shed some of the cloud following the harassment reports. It didn't just go away on its own.
Many in the community, not interested in public policy or the reality of the city's administration, wanted the council to "just get along." One way to do that is to dump all dissenters and build a parallel thinking council. It will be interesting to see if they now think we should get rid of any minority members of the council in the name of kumbaya.
This is an opportunity for Barth to demonstrate the respect she requested while in the minority.
This is also an opportunity for Barth to show that she is in office to make changes to public policy, and that the only reason she was not bringing legislation to the table was that she was cutoff by being in the minority.
It is also an opportunity to show that she was kept from being mayor because she would agendize the discussion of things the former majority wanted to keep away from the public, things that would be politically uncomfortable, but good for the public interest.
Barth has the support of much of the community because they believe she will keep her word to do things like:
If they don't show up, we still will. We will hold all 5 council members accountable and give them no more slack than we gave Jerome, because we won't be personal or partisan when it comes to public policy and public administration.
Opportunities
Over the last decade many people have attempted to help bring solutions to the city, but ended up fighting city hall for the simple recognition the problems. Denial of problems was frequently accompanied with public dismal and private, and sometimes public, name calling by council members. Many citizens were labelled whiners and malcontents. Some of these citizens are now council members, so we can hope that will change.
There was also a somewhat grounded claim of partisanship and unequal vigor in the critical appraisal of city leaders. The new council should be given the same level of slack given to the previous. Not only will the council members be under the microscope, so will their supporters. Nothing less than highly ethical and respectful behavior should be expected.
Nobody's perfect. We should expect our city's new leadership to address mistakes rather than sweep them under the rug. Hiding mistakes is better for personal political careers, but stepping up to mistakes is better for the public's interest. Being open with the public is the fundamental difference between the practices of the old council majority and the promise of the new.
This is an opportunity for the citizens of Encinitas to demonstrate that they are motivated to participate in developing and implementing smart and broadly appreciated solutions--an opportunity to show that their desire to "dump stocks" was about bringing better public policy and public administration to our hometown and not personal or petty (for most people). A few citizens who consistently spend their valuable time participating in the public discourse are deeply generous and care enough for the future residents of our hometown that they give up their time and attention. Their dedication is to the future, so they spend their time on unconformable and hard problems, rather than engaging in personally satisfying past-times or relatively comfortable or quick window dressing civic support.
This is an opportunity for their efforts to be genuinely considered, rather than being feared.
It is an opportunity to show that who gets elected matters. There is still a political machine, which has temporarily lost control of city hall and will want to own city hall again. That machine is funded by developers and aligned with the union leadership. Next time the machine will know they need to spend more money. A LOT MORE MONEY. Without a system to counter-balance misinformation, the next election is going to be even more over the top.
How Much Does Character Matter?
That political machine tried to scare the dickens out of the public. If Tony and Lisa were elected the city would go to hell and Tony would go City Hall rage! Tony now has 4 years to show that getting into it with that dude down in San Diego isn't a reflection of how he will handle himself at city hall.
Now, if that sort of behavior matters, what did Jerome's "psychological assessment" say and why wasn't that sent out by the SDCounty Voters for Progress? Jerome conducted himself with consistency horrible interpersonal interactions, but that did not stop former Mayors, law enforcement, or fire fighters from endorsing him.
On the other hand, Jerome was raw and let people know he did not care for their views or feedback. Is that better than being phony or responding with non-answers, or passive aggressive behavior?
The Jim-Tony phone call thing remains an awkward "he said, he doesn't want to get into a he said, he said" thing. No student witnesses came forward, as far as I know, but if Jim wants to put us into contact with them that changes things. One thing that both Jim and Tony openly agree on is that a phone call was made about the signs being taken from Tony's garage. The press and the political machine (and Stocks directly) tried to make fun of Tony as being a really bad liar. Did Tony make up a story that his signs were taken?
Jim's account erased any doubt that Tony had fabricated a story about his signs going missing from his garage and that he was the one removing the early signs from Leucadia Blvd.
Below was the funniest political art of the email campaigns.
Tony gets the opportunity to demonstrate that his behavior represents an improvement at City Hall. We hope to be the first to publish Jim's follow up writings if Tony does not.
An Opportunity for an Important Major Shift
Lisa and Tony can have a huge impact on the city. Some campaign contributors behind the anti-Tony election mailers got so scared that Tony and Lisa would bring change to city hall that they pulled some pretty lame stuff.
Instead of telling the electorate what they were really afraid of (developers and employees losing special favors) they made shit up (Tony and Lisa were extreme occupiers). A couple unknown dudes and photographer(s) associated with the opposition campaign crashed Tony and Lisa's campaign kickoff. They got their picture in front of Tony and Lisa, who were not looking as happy to be recorded together as the two strangers were (never to be seen again).
Rumor has it that Tony didn't go postal, but was extremely courteous, to the interlopers. We can assume that any such incident would have been photographed and used in mailers.
The radical change that the election of Tony and Lisa represent is a dedication to the public good, over the private profit of their supporters. We think that is why people voted for them, at least.
Tony has spent a lot of time working on public policy. Stuff that doesn't fit on a mailer. The one thing we can say is that he is genuinely interested in a better city hall. That effort extends beyond the possible recognition that he would get in return.
Only one person took the time to go over all the roads reports, public records law, AND call the contractor (adding evidence that the city was lying), and go to the council with a path to avoid loosing a public records lawsuit. That was Tony. None of those hundreds of hours of work translated directly into extra votes for Tony.
We hope he continues to put the public good before his personal political agenda.
How the Republican Party Gave the Race to Tony and Lisa
The Republican Party supports candidates for Encinitas city council who increase taxes, increases bureaucracy, adds regulation at the same time as reduces bureaucratic accountability, takes the city into more debt (blindly) and straps the future with an unsustainable pension system. Given that the republicans in the race seemed to ignore this history, its no surprise that many fiscal conservatives in this city refuse to register with any party and are happy to vote Lisa and Tony, because they were more fiscally conservative than the republican candidates. Tony and Lisa were given a gift by the Republican Party leadership.
Candidate Kevin Forrester would not respond to an invitation to discuss and reconcile our views about Encinitas city hall's open government practices or how it was possible that a few NIMBYs were responsible for the decade of delays to the Hall park, even though it was now obvious that financial difficulties had been a major problem for the project (plus all the other stuff). Forrester grossly ignored or was (willfully?) ignorant of open government law violations. Forrester's campaign highlighted that he was an attorney and a mediator. Ironic.
The election result is an opportunity to move further away from party politics and show republican leaders it is time to be about principles rather than being a good ol' boy club. When the republicans pick candidates who are genuine, they will have an easy time taking back city hall.
The Possibility for More Empty Disk Space
This is an opportunity to clear out the computer files. Jerome's history was broad and wide. It was hard to keep up with him (Sandag, NCTD, CH). Where ever he went, he provided great writing fodder. We've got a lifetime worth of clips of Jerome that make for great blogging. I don't think we ever got to the one below, perhaps because we actually try to focus on important things. This is just to bizarre to never post. Think of it as a farewell clipping.
click to enlarge
What boat access points? We don't actually have world-class surf. World-class surf is filled with international surf travelers. Our waves are fun, and sometimes sick, but never worth flying internationally, because on the best days the waves are stupid lame crowded. You're lucky if you catch two waves without having to dodge people.
Most local surfers would choose to move to the ranch rather than live in Encinitas if given the choice to house swap.
Opportunity for Financial Disclosure
A real analysis of the city's finances is the promise.
We hope this new council will become the benchmark for the inclusion of all points of view. Dr. Shaffer should be the shinning of example for the council by answering even the toughest questions posed by people openly opposed to her initial positions.
Barth's Stage for Partial Vindication
The change on the council gives her a chance to shed some of the cloud following the harassment reports. It didn't just go away on its own.
Many in the community, not interested in public policy or the reality of the city's administration, wanted the council to "just get along." One way to do that is to dump all dissenters and build a parallel thinking council. It will be interesting to see if they now think we should get rid of any minority members of the council in the name of kumbaya.
This is an opportunity for Barth to demonstrate the respect she requested while in the minority.
This is also an opportunity for Barth to show that she is in office to make changes to public policy, and that the only reason she was not bringing legislation to the table was that she was cutoff by being in the minority.
It is also an opportunity to show that she was kept from being mayor because she would agendize the discussion of things the former majority wanted to keep away from the public, things that would be politically uncomfortable, but good for the public interest.
Barth has the support of much of the community because they believe she will keep her word to do things like:
- letting the voters decide on increased density,
- requiring an independent audit, prudent fiscal policies,
- meeting the needs of the present without compromising the future generation, and
- decreasing expenses through accountability.
If they don't show up, we still will. We will hold all 5 council members accountable and give them no more slack than we gave Jerome, because we won't be personal or partisan when it comes to public policy and public administration.
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
Paradigm Shift for Encinitas politics
- Lisa R. Shaffer .......... 5,490 votes 22.9%
- Tony Kranz .......... 4,296 votes 17.9%
- Mark Muir .......... 3,484 votes 14.5%
- Jerome Stocks .......... 3,216 votes 13.4%
Relative newcomer Lisa Shaffer impressed the voters with her thoughtful and calm demeanor and longtime local Tony Kranz proved to the voters that he is committed to this town and is steady and intelligent.
The dedicated anti-Stocks crowd, who have been labeled as fringe wackos, let Jerome do the heavy lifting for them as he became increasingly hostile and grumpy in public.
Many locals saw the Shaffer, Kranz, Muir signs in Gary Murphy's yard (by the Roadside Park on W. Leucadia Blvd) and gave him grief. The organized anti-Stocks crowd is poised to make Muir the next Encinitas Boogey Man, but I implore you all not to do this.
Gary Murphy advised to give Muir some breathing room and give him a chance, with Stocks and Bond out Muir deserves the chance to prove himself as an independent and not some lapdog.
The most interesting council person is now Kristin Gaspar, who many view as nothing more than a Rotary Club plant to mindlessly vote along with Stocks and Bond. Now that we have a diverse city council we will find out who the real Gaspar is. This is a great day for both Muir and Gaspar.
The biggest paradigm shift is the approval of a
Election night overall was a push back against the cynics. Romney getting crushed was proof of that. Let's move forward with class and dignity and help the new Encinitas city council make the right decisions for the future of our town.
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
Monday, November 05, 2012
Sign, Sign Everywhere a Sign
2012 has been the year of the sign in Encinitas. Battles and bumbles over public banners, art, graffiti, billboards, bumper stickers, censorship, media ethics and political signs all played themselves out in our little lab of democracy by-the-sea.
We at ruthlesshippies.org spoke to a few city council candidates recently. Some of these topics such as the 101 Artist Colony banners and the Surfing Madonna did pop up. Incidentally, the
Surfing Madonna was a favorite art piece of all three candidates we interviewed.
Our chats with Tony Kranz (click to see interviews) and Lisa Shaffer happened before the sign-gate story picked up steam, so we did not ask them any questions relating to political signs. And while we considered this little scandal to be somewhat of a distraction from the real topics that voters should be focusing on, we were glad to find Mark Muir ready to give his take on the incident.
We wished we could have interviewed all of the city council candidates, but there simply was not enough time in our lives. Also, Mayor Stocks was not interested in meeting with us for an interview. He keeps e-mailing us though about stuff like fighting graffiti, how happy he is to meet with anyone in person and how his e-mails aren't costing tax payers any money. We're not even sure how he got a hold of our address. We hope that by next year there's a new city ordinance defining all political signs as graffiti.
Lisa Shaffer, who we did give our email address to, informed us of a cool little event she is holding to clean up those ugly signs:
Sign Collection Saturday, Nov. 10. This campaign has been too costly and too dirty. In an effort to clean things up, I'm asking everyone who has a Shaffer for Council campaign sign to bring it to one of the following collection points on Saturday, Nov. 10. We're selling the metal holders back to a distributor and donating the corrugated plastic signs to art programs for re-use. Thanks to my volunteers for their help.
New Encinitas, in front of Flora Vista on Wandering Lane
10:00 - 12:00
Historic Encinitas, D Street Park (across from the library)
12:00 - 2:00
Happy voting to all!
Saturday, November 03, 2012
Unwanted Non-campaign Election Signs
Below the line came in one of our in boxes. It was from Yost and Yost's campaign manager, but according to them, it was sent out in their independent capacity as board members of a "California non-profit public benefit corp".
They also say the city made an official determination that these election signs are not campaign signs. Cool.
The LB does not condone the disbursement of ANY signs on city property.
What if Jerome ran a non-profit, cough cough, like We Love Encinitas and put out Dump Barth signs, and collected a lot of money not reported on his forms, or collected over $1000 and didn't file, or organized a non-profit but used it primarily for campaigning? What if Jerome sent out an email saying what hours code enforcement and public works was off duty? Yost and Aronin were asked if they wanted this posted and the answer was yes.
_____________________________________
Dump Stocks Campaign Status Report
It's looking good! We've got Stocks on the run!
But, we can't let up now. We need to do all we can before election day.
1. DUMP STOCKS Yard Signs
We still have about 40 signs available. We need people willing to put them up Friday evening.
A couple of thoughts: Signs put up on city-owned public spaces Friday evening won't be removed until Monday at the earliest - maintenance employees don't work over the weekend. And, signs placed curbside along shopping centers Friday evening are unlikely to be removed over the weekend, for the same reason. (Encinitas Neighbors doesn't condone either action).
If you can help get these signs up, they can be picked up anytime from my front porch:
[clip]
Let's make sure we get every sign up!
2. DUMP STOCKS Mailing
We're planning to put out a DUMP STOCKS mailing to target neighborhoods where they're likely to have an impact. We need to raise $1250 by Friday. The mailing will be delivered to the post office Saturday and delivered Monday. We'll mail as many pieces as we've raised money for.
If you can help: Contributions can be made via the DUMPSTOCKS website - www.DUMPSTOCKS.org.
Or, send a check made payable to "Encinitas Neighbors" and send it to
Encinitas Neighbors
PO Box 232426
Encinitas, CFA 92023-2426
We can do it! See you at the the DUMP STOCKS celebration!
Bob
[clip]
--
Bob Aronin
Encinitas Neighbors Assn.
www.Encinitans.com
___________________________
Apparently, not as many people as expected wanted Dump Stocks signs.
If this way of setting up campaign funds/expenditures is fine for the anti-Jerome crowd, please don't crow when there is just an implied appearance of Jerome doing the same. In this case it is not just apparent. It is admitted reality..
They also say the city made an official determination that these election signs are not campaign signs. Cool.
The LB does not condone the disbursement of ANY signs on city property.
What if Jerome ran a non-profit, cough cough, like We Love Encinitas and put out Dump Barth signs, and collected a lot of money not reported on his forms, or collected over $1000 and didn't file, or organized a non-profit but used it primarily for campaigning? What if Jerome sent out an email saying what hours code enforcement and public works was off duty? Yost and Aronin were asked if they wanted this posted and the answer was yes.
_____________________________________
Dump Stocks Campaign Status Report
It's looking good! We've got Stocks on the run!
But, we can't let up now. We need to do all we can before election day.
1. DUMP STOCKS Yard Signs
We still have about 40 signs available. We need people willing to put them up Friday evening.
A couple of thoughts: Signs put up on city-owned public spaces Friday evening won't be removed until Monday at the earliest - maintenance employees don't work over the weekend. And, signs placed curbside along shopping centers Friday evening are unlikely to be removed over the weekend, for the same reason. (Encinitas Neighbors doesn't condone either action).
If you can help get these signs up, they can be picked up anytime from my front porch:
[clip]
Let's make sure we get every sign up!
2. DUMP STOCKS Mailing
We're planning to put out a DUMP STOCKS mailing to target neighborhoods where they're likely to have an impact. We need to raise $1250 by Friday. The mailing will be delivered to the post office Saturday and delivered Monday. We'll mail as many pieces as we've raised money for.
If you can help: Contributions can be made via the DUMPSTOCKS website - www.DUMPSTOCKS.org.
Or, send a check made payable to "Encinitas Neighbors" and send it to
Encinitas Neighbors
PO Box 232426
Encinitas, CFA 92023-2426
We can do it! See you at the the DUMP STOCKS celebration!
Bob
[clip]
--
Bob Aronin
Encinitas Neighbors Assn.
www.Encinitans.com
___________________________
Apparently, not as many people as expected wanted Dump Stocks signs.
If this way of setting up campaign funds/expenditures is fine for the anti-Jerome crowd, please don't crow when there is just an implied appearance of Jerome doing the same. In this case it is not just apparent. It is admitted reality..
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Jerome Stocks, Community Hero
Encinitas Mayor Jerome Stocks saves Widow from Homelessness
It made the feature of Turko files Monday October 29, as shown in this clip. Only one problem, the sub text, the narrative that this conveys is full of holes as described below.
KUSI.com - KUSI News - San Diego CA - News, Weather, PPR
What's wrong with this narrative that glides along many themes of our political culture. It's the story of a strong forthright elected leader who is willing to buck the bureaucracy--it can be local, state or the federal government itself. The meme (great word for the little factoids that most people build their images of the world on) is one that is fostered most by the tea party crowd that has captured the Republican party.
This five minute segment on the local news featuring a crusading reporter Michael Turko, illustrates how a good story beats reality every time--especially, when you have the dramatic elements of an elderly widow being thrown out of her home by a heartless city government. The reporter goes to the very top, the Mayor, and within a few days, together they have reversed months of government intransigence to allow the tearful grateful women back into her home. Two heroes, splashed over television and the Internet, that just may sway an election and change the structure of a small city.
If Proposition K passes, it will allow the current mayor, Jerome Stocks to continue to help the people of this little city in ways such as this, and if the proposition for direct election to this office passes, he can continue to protect people from an overbearing government.
The entire premise of this television feature is illusory. The reporter, Michael Turko, described how his first report got the Mayors attention. The word "mayor" was accentuated to mean what most people think a mayor is, the chief executive officer of a city. Only one problem, the City of Encinitas has no such position. Jerome Stock's position is that of "titular" mayor, meaning he is one of five equal members of the city council who have delegated executive authority to a city manager. His only authority beyond any other member of the council is to preside at meetings.
He is, in actuality, the unofficial leader of a controlling majority of the council, and as such he leads this majority that did select the official executive officer, the city manager. It is he who controls the city inspector and code enforcement and who made the decision not to allow the woman to occupy her home. Mayor Stocks has no authority to overrule this decision.
What was not discussed in the little melodrama presented last night, is that it's unbelievable that this women had not corresponded with the members of the council asking them to intervene during the several months since the fire shut her out of her house. And if so, what was the rationale for not allowing a reversal of the decision. If the city manager was wrong, does this not raise a question of his competency, or was he following a regulation that should have been defended by the member of the city council who was interviewed, namely Jerome Stocks.
It can't be both, that Stocks actually has the authority implicitly conveyed by this television segment, yet he did nothing before this presentation-- that just happened to break one week before a highly contested election. This is not only an election where he is running for office, but also on Propositions that changes the structure of the position of mayor. I described the reality of three flavors of the role of mayor in California that is based on state law, in this article Props KLM.
This little Turko Files episode reinforces exactly the difference between reality and illusion in city government that this article describes.
Al Rodbell
alrodbell.blogspot.com
Isn't Turko the dude that didn't realize NIMBY's weren't delaying the Hall park construction the last few years, and the City didn't have the funds to build the park? The city manager still refuses to release information on the cost of issuance of the third round of park bonds. Another million bucks? That would be a lot for an $8 million net. That might be why it is secret until after the election.
Mark Muir can't/won't say what that cost is and indicates that he doesn't know, but that he forwarded that question to the City Manager, who is apparently covering the council's asses.
It made the feature of Turko files Monday October 29, as shown in this clip. Only one problem, the sub text, the narrative that this conveys is full of holes as described below.
KUSI.com - KUSI News - San Diego CA - News, Weather, PPR
What's wrong with this narrative that glides along many themes of our political culture. It's the story of a strong forthright elected leader who is willing to buck the bureaucracy--it can be local, state or the federal government itself. The meme (great word for the little factoids that most people build their images of the world on) is one that is fostered most by the tea party crowd that has captured the Republican party.
This five minute segment on the local news featuring a crusading reporter Michael Turko, illustrates how a good story beats reality every time--especially, when you have the dramatic elements of an elderly widow being thrown out of her home by a heartless city government. The reporter goes to the very top, the Mayor, and within a few days, together they have reversed months of government intransigence to allow the tearful grateful women back into her home. Two heroes, splashed over television and the Internet, that just may sway an election and change the structure of a small city.
If Proposition K passes, it will allow the current mayor, Jerome Stocks to continue to help the people of this little city in ways such as this, and if the proposition for direct election to this office passes, he can continue to protect people from an overbearing government.
The entire premise of this television feature is illusory. The reporter, Michael Turko, described how his first report got the Mayors attention. The word "mayor" was accentuated to mean what most people think a mayor is, the chief executive officer of a city. Only one problem, the City of Encinitas has no such position. Jerome Stock's position is that of "titular" mayor, meaning he is one of five equal members of the city council who have delegated executive authority to a city manager. His only authority beyond any other member of the council is to preside at meetings.
He is, in actuality, the unofficial leader of a controlling majority of the council, and as such he leads this majority that did select the official executive officer, the city manager. It is he who controls the city inspector and code enforcement and who made the decision not to allow the woman to occupy her home. Mayor Stocks has no authority to overrule this decision.
What was not discussed in the little melodrama presented last night, is that it's unbelievable that this women had not corresponded with the members of the council asking them to intervene during the several months since the fire shut her out of her house. And if so, what was the rationale for not allowing a reversal of the decision. If the city manager was wrong, does this not raise a question of his competency, or was he following a regulation that should have been defended by the member of the city council who was interviewed, namely Jerome Stocks.
It can't be both, that Stocks actually has the authority implicitly conveyed by this television segment, yet he did nothing before this presentation-- that just happened to break one week before a highly contested election. This is not only an election where he is running for office, but also on Propositions that changes the structure of the position of mayor. I described the reality of three flavors of the role of mayor in California that is based on state law, in this article Props KLM.
This little Turko Files episode reinforces exactly the difference between reality and illusion in city government that this article describes.
Al Rodbell
alrodbell.blogspot.com
Isn't Turko the dude that didn't realize NIMBY's weren't delaying the Hall park construction the last few years, and the City didn't have the funds to build the park? The city manager still refuses to release information on the cost of issuance of the third round of park bonds. Another million bucks? That would be a lot for an $8 million net. That might be why it is secret until after the election.
Mark Muir can't/won't say what that cost is and indicates that he doesn't know, but that he forwarded that question to the City Manager, who is apparently covering the council's asses.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
(rush draft) Will the UT Defend its Reasoning?
Papa Doug tosses out a last minute endorsement for Stocks, Muir, and Forrester.
Either we are super crazy or Papa Doug's UT has no shame.
Here is some stuff the UT writes:
Either we are super crazy or Papa Doug's UT has no shame.
Here is some stuff the UT writes:
This trio represents the best
possibility for the city to continue on its path of fiscal
responsibility and economic development.
Quietly raising business fees (Fred?), is pro-small biz?
Borrowing money and using that money to fill reserve funds is smart? Only from the perspective that you can spin the high reserves and not tell the public about how you got the reserves.
Not having enough money for the crown jewell project of the council majority, after 10 years to save up (and borrow $20 million twice), is fiscally responsible.
Blowing millions on stupid real estate deals, keeping the pubic unaware of the actual costs for borrowing (AGAIN) for building the hall park, lying to public about the costs of the Hall park and breaking the law on restricting access to financial documents, giving massive pension increases, not paying for the pension increases, hiding the true nature of the pension underfunding, lying about revenue projections, giving raises through the worst economic downturn, blowing money on stupid public records law violations, underfunding streets repairs (hiding the BDI past 4 year out) and refusing to release to the public the current roads repair underfunding levels after spending $100K on software that allows the city to update the underfunding report at a touch of a button!
The candidates most likely to be the top vote getters in this race can
clearly be divided along ideological lines, with the above three pitted
against Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz, who represent a more liberal point
of view.
Left versus right. Keep that in mind future anti-establishment campaign workers. Don't be greedy.
A win for Shaffer and Kranz, along with the general disposition of
Teresa Barth, would flip the majority of the council in a direction
that would lead away from economic vibrancy.
Things are bad when the "liberals" are the only credible candidates supporting real pension reform.
Stocks...is also chairman of the San
Diego Association of Governments and board member at North County
Transit District.
The UT forgot about the Sprinter mismanagement and that under Stock's leadership SANDAG has grossly borrowed and does not have a balanced Transnet budget. It could have, and provided better long-term economic stimulus to the county.
Stocks’ calling card has been to keep the city on a path of improved
quality of life and fiscal responsibility.
There is no way someone at the UT could put there name to this statement and defend it if they knew anything about Encinitas.
When asked about his record,
he points to projects like the Whole Foods mixed-use complex and the
Encinitas Lofts developments as the right direction for the city.
Jerome did that? Huh? How did he do that? Was he an investor or something?
Mark Muir is a former fire
chief of Encinitas and was appointed to fill the vacancy left by the
death of Maggie Houlihan in late 2011.
Also appointed to fire chief under the appearance that he was given job with no competition or a record of even applying for the job, after working on his buddies council campaigns.
Forrester would be the
newcomer. He is a real-estate broker and lawyer who once served on the
Olivenhain Town Council and has been on several city task forces,
including the Encinitas Ranch Specific Plan Task Force.
Did he speak out against the way ERGA was organized? He won't answer questions about his statements that there is no open government problems in Encinitas, making it ironic if he gets elected.
All three — Stocks, Muir and
Forrester — oppose the Right To Vote initiative, which if placed on a
future ballot and enacted would send all zoning changes that increase
density to the voters for approval. Such planning by strangulation is
anathema to improving the quality of life in Encinitas.
Why? Increasing zoning is a rare event and the Right to Vote initiative does not change anything related to current property rights. It does mean that windfall profits can't be gained by buying off a favorite council member. Remember Prop A (local agriculture to be upzoned to suburbia). Jerome and Muir loved it. The voters did not want it. The voters could have just deferred to the electeds, but they did not.
The anti-business side of the
ballot is represented by Shaffer, a business ethics lecturer at UC San
Diego, and Kranz, a printing company executive who ran unsuccessfully
in 2010.
This might be true, but I couldn't say that and I doubt the UT could defend this. Examples?
Their point of view on the
greater intervention of government — say, as represented by support of
the Right to Vote proposal — is unwelcome in a sputtering economy.
The right to vote only moves the approval from the council to the people. No more or less intervention, no?
They also oppose Proposition
K, the Encinitas ballot measure that would make the city’s mayoral spot
an elected one rather than an appointed one.
How can they be for and against the right to vote? That's really awkward.
This last minute editorial is just in time for one more mailer to include the UT endorsements. Do most people know this is Papa Doug's endorsements? A lot do. A lot have already voted too.
My money is on this scenario, Jerome freaked out and called in his favors at the UT. The UT didn't interview the candidates and it was believed they would not be endorsing during this election at all for local city council races. Why the change of heart and why was it written by someone who didn't know squat about Encinitas.
You won't learn what is going on fiscally by reading the UT.
Olivenhain to Experience Density Bonus
Encinitas is home so some of the developers who helped create the density bonus law. Leucadia has seen it in action for many years now and had reached out to the rest of the city for assistance.
From the InBox:
Lest we be written off as a bunch of NIMBYs, I would like to state that we are not opposed to building in our area, just inappropriate building. Just as other areas of Encinitas, we have a strong affection for the character and lifestyle that our neighborhood affords us. While Cardiff is known for its beach feel, Leucadia, its funkiness and the downtown area is known for its great shops and restaurants, Olivenhain is known for its country feel and horse lovers. Those of us who have chosen to make this area our home want to preserve the very character that drew us to the area.
The developer of the proposed high-density project purchased the Dana Rullo Stables, located at the end of Desert Rose, at the very height of the real estate boom. Their decision may have been questionable since other builders, more familiar with the property and the cost of development in the area had passed on the opportunity to buy and build. It just didn’t pencil out. When the development was pitched to the surrounding area, it was presented as an 8-home community, with homes and lots similar in size and character as the existing homes. With the collapse of the real estate market, it became clear to the developers that they would not be able to sell the 8 homes for the price that they had projected. So instead, they are using the bonus density law that was intended to assist low-income folks to afford homes to make the project viable. In practical terms, what this means is that one of the 16 homes would be “affordable” housing and the others could be sold at market value. So, this enables them to build twice as many homes and sell them for half the price they would have sold the 8 homes for, netting the same profit. On the surface, that doesn’t sound too unreasonable until you look at the actual implications of the high-density project.
In order to cram 16 homes into the available space, they will have only 5’ setbacks from the property line. The pictures below depict the typical home spacing in Olivenhain versus a high-density project. While some folks would embrace the lack of a yard to maintain and the close proximity to their neighbor, those folks are not found in Olivenhain. Instead of conforming to the current half-acre zoning, some proposed lots are closer to one-fifth of an acre.
Fortunately, the bonus density law does not permit a community to build an inherently unsafe community. There are numerous concerns related to the safety of not only the future residents but also the people who live in the area. It is widely known that the emergency services do not meet their goals for response time in Olivenhain. A fire truck, without EMT services, is not parked in the neighborhood about 10 hours each day to respond to fires. Since it is not EMT staffed, it affords no additional support for medical emergencies. Even if it were, it only offers coverage half the day. You had better plan your medical emergency well!
LB NOTE: This must be wrongish, if not way off base. Isn't every firefighter paid as a firefigher/paramedic in Encinitas (although that doesn't mean that FD management ensures that all firefighters are competent paramedics)?
The fire department has required the developer to install an eight-foot, non-flammable wall along two sides of the community. Since it backs up to an ecologically sensitive wetland, there can be no openings in it that would permit human traffic. This has the potential to trap people in their yards in the event of a fire coming from the West or South.
LB NOTE: Much more of a public safety issue is all the density that is being put up NEXT to a freight train rail road, back here in Leucadia. See this and this.
See if you can get the Mark Muir on record saying that all the extra people on the corridor is not going increase the chances that the emergency medical response in bad train derailment situation will be overwhelmed. If they are overwhelmed it increases the likelihood of a triage situation, where black tags are being issued to people who might survive but resources are so inadequate for the disaster that people with a better chance of survival are selected to live. Those given a black tag are given pain medications until they die.
The last time the city was asked, they either did not know or wouldn't reveal what is being hauled on Leucadia's tracks. I was told, when the train derails the FD will check the markings on the tanker cars, get the manifest from the train engineer, and/or wait for the Rail Road company to send the manifest.
Back to Olivenhain,
A Mitigated Negative Declaration was performed, in lieu of a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the property. The irony of this is that the developers are represented by an attorney who would have an EIR required for a single-day event in San Diego and a sea wall that has been in existence for over two years. A full EIR is absolutely warranted due to serious concerns about downstream erosion, removal of all existing Eucalyptus and Torrey Pine trees, unstable soils in the area and increased traffic on neighboring streets, including Rancho Santa Fe.
The parcel of land is bordered by wetland on the east side.
The developer touts that this development will actually improve the wetland area by installing the eight-foot wall and restoring the some of the native vegetation. The fact is that during its almost six years of ownership of the property, they have done nothing to improve the wetland area, in fact, they were cited this year for multiple violations. The picture below shows where the wetland had been dozed with a tractor.
If approved as presented to the City Planning Commission, the developer would provide only an average environmental buffer zone of 25 feet. This is entirely inconsistent with the other developers who have had to provide a much wider buffer zone. Three properties immediately to the south of the proposed development had to provide a buffer of 100 feet.
It may be argued that this issue concerns only the neighbors in the immediate area. The fact is that it will have a detrimental effect on all of the residents of Carlsbad, San Marcos and San Elijo who traverse Rancho Santa Fe each day. Anyone who does, knows what the estimated additional 180 vehicle trips per day will do to their travel time.
A group of concerned neighbors have banned together, as Save Desert Rose, to make certain that any building in Olivenhain be done in a thoughtful, well-planned and character-preserving manner. At the very minimum, a full Environmental Impact Report should be required of the developer to make certain that any development is safe, doesn’t create environmental issues and is consistent with the area.
The developer is scheduled to present the project to the City Planning Commission this Thursday, November 1st, at 6:00pm. It will be held at the Encinitas City Hall, located at 505 S. Vulcan Street, in Encinitas. It is imperative that all concerned citizens show up to raise their voices against reckless building.
What does your candidate for state assembly think about the density bonus law? What position does the City's high paid Sacramento lobbyists take on the density bonus law? What position does your City Council candidate take on using our high paid lobbyists to address the density bonus law?
For more information or to contribute to support the efforts of your neighbors, please go to: www.savedesertrose.com.
From the InBox:
Lest we be written off as a bunch of NIMBYs, I would like to state that we are not opposed to building in our area, just inappropriate building. Just as other areas of Encinitas, we have a strong affection for the character and lifestyle that our neighborhood affords us. While Cardiff is known for its beach feel, Leucadia, its funkiness and the downtown area is known for its great shops and restaurants, Olivenhain is known for its country feel and horse lovers. Those of us who have chosen to make this area our home want to preserve the very character that drew us to the area.
The developer of the proposed high-density project purchased the Dana Rullo Stables, located at the end of Desert Rose, at the very height of the real estate boom. Their decision may have been questionable since other builders, more familiar with the property and the cost of development in the area had passed on the opportunity to buy and build. It just didn’t pencil out. When the development was pitched to the surrounding area, it was presented as an 8-home community, with homes and lots similar in size and character as the existing homes. With the collapse of the real estate market, it became clear to the developers that they would not be able to sell the 8 homes for the price that they had projected. So instead, they are using the bonus density law that was intended to assist low-income folks to afford homes to make the project viable. In practical terms, what this means is that one of the 16 homes would be “affordable” housing and the others could be sold at market value. So, this enables them to build twice as many homes and sell them for half the price they would have sold the 8 homes for, netting the same profit. On the surface, that doesn’t sound too unreasonable until you look at the actual implications of the high-density project.
In order to cram 16 homes into the available space, they will have only 5’ setbacks from the property line. The pictures below depict the typical home spacing in Olivenhain versus a high-density project. While some folks would embrace the lack of a yard to maintain and the close proximity to their neighbor, those folks are not found in Olivenhain. Instead of conforming to the current half-acre zoning, some proposed lots are closer to one-fifth of an acre.
Fortunately, the bonus density law does not permit a community to build an inherently unsafe community. There are numerous concerns related to the safety of not only the future residents but also the people who live in the area. It is widely known that the emergency services do not meet their goals for response time in Olivenhain. A fire truck, without EMT services, is not parked in the neighborhood about 10 hours each day to respond to fires. Since it is not EMT staffed, it affords no additional support for medical emergencies. Even if it were, it only offers coverage half the day. You had better plan your medical emergency well!
LB NOTE: This must be wrongish, if not way off base. Isn't every firefighter paid as a firefigher/paramedic in Encinitas (although that doesn't mean that FD management ensures that all firefighters are competent paramedics)?
The fire department has required the developer to install an eight-foot, non-flammable wall along two sides of the community. Since it backs up to an ecologically sensitive wetland, there can be no openings in it that would permit human traffic. This has the potential to trap people in their yards in the event of a fire coming from the West or South.
LB NOTE: Much more of a public safety issue is all the density that is being put up NEXT to a freight train rail road, back here in Leucadia. See this and this.
See if you can get the Mark Muir on record saying that all the extra people on the corridor is not going increase the chances that the emergency medical response in bad train derailment situation will be overwhelmed. If they are overwhelmed it increases the likelihood of a triage situation, where black tags are being issued to people who might survive but resources are so inadequate for the disaster that people with a better chance of survival are selected to live. Those given a black tag are given pain medications until they die.
The last time the city was asked, they either did not know or wouldn't reveal what is being hauled on Leucadia's tracks. I was told, when the train derails the FD will check the markings on the tanker cars, get the manifest from the train engineer, and/or wait for the Rail Road company to send the manifest.
Back to Olivenhain,
A Mitigated Negative Declaration was performed, in lieu of a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the property. The irony of this is that the developers are represented by an attorney who would have an EIR required for a single-day event in San Diego and a sea wall that has been in existence for over two years. A full EIR is absolutely warranted due to serious concerns about downstream erosion, removal of all existing Eucalyptus and Torrey Pine trees, unstable soils in the area and increased traffic on neighboring streets, including Rancho Santa Fe.
The parcel of land is bordered by wetland on the east side.
The developer touts that this development will actually improve the wetland area by installing the eight-foot wall and restoring the some of the native vegetation. The fact is that during its almost six years of ownership of the property, they have done nothing to improve the wetland area, in fact, they were cited this year for multiple violations. The picture below shows where the wetland had been dozed with a tractor.
If approved as presented to the City Planning Commission, the developer would provide only an average environmental buffer zone of 25 feet. This is entirely inconsistent with the other developers who have had to provide a much wider buffer zone. Three properties immediately to the south of the proposed development had to provide a buffer of 100 feet.
It may be argued that this issue concerns only the neighbors in the immediate area. The fact is that it will have a detrimental effect on all of the residents of Carlsbad, San Marcos and San Elijo who traverse Rancho Santa Fe each day. Anyone who does, knows what the estimated additional 180 vehicle trips per day will do to their travel time.
A group of concerned neighbors have banned together, as Save Desert Rose, to make certain that any building in Olivenhain be done in a thoughtful, well-planned and character-preserving manner. At the very minimum, a full Environmental Impact Report should be required of the developer to make certain that any development is safe, doesn’t create environmental issues and is consistent with the area.
The developer is scheduled to present the project to the City Planning Commission this Thursday, November 1st, at 6:00pm. It will be held at the Encinitas City Hall, located at 505 S. Vulcan Street, in Encinitas. It is imperative that all concerned citizens show up to raise their voices against reckless building.
What does your candidate for state assembly think about the density bonus law? What position does the City's high paid Sacramento lobbyists take on the density bonus law? What position does your City Council candidate take on using our high paid lobbyists to address the density bonus law?
For more information or to contribute to support the efforts of your neighbors, please go to: www.savedesertrose.com.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
more sand no more tourists
The sand dredger has been pumping sand all night long. Now they are pouring it on George's.
A couple big storms will wipe a away this multimillion dollar project, which is suppose to bring more tourist money to Encinitas. But how can that work if the parking at George's was already full, even when there was no sandy beach some years ago?
On the surf side of things, George's had a crew of guys hitting it up. George's had been working with these little wind swells.
Does tourist season and election season coincide? Everyone loves puppies, apple pie, and sand.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
SD Rostra on Signage & More
I know three people who would write a blurb for SD Rostra on Encinitas' phony pension reform and our city's future budget mess, if they thought they would publish something that outlined Jerome's history.
They did publish this about the signage stuff. Hat tip to Barry.
North Coast Current Chimes in on independence in the local media. Hat tip NCCurrent.
And another reason to go to City Hall -> Blodgett and Helmreich on display. Both are icons of Encinitas.
They did publish this about the signage stuff. Hat tip to Barry.
North Coast Current Chimes in on independence in the local media. Hat tip NCCurrent.
And another reason to go to City Hall -> Blodgett and Helmreich on display. Both are icons of Encinitas.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Why the meeting was cancled
Big deal. The meeting was cancelled and the public didn't get a chance petition the council in public. That means no rancor and that's good right?
What is not good is how the city operates.
The following is a pretty weak example of manipulation over something 99% of the public would have a knee jerk positive reaction to, so it sort of depreciates the efforts others have taken to expose manipulation and outright lying about more substantive issues. However, can you read this and then tell us what gives the city manager authority to cancel a meeting?
Credit to the people who questioned authority when something didn't seem just right.
Dear Mayor Stocks
The city code below defines the dates for council meetings. The code also defines the process for cancelling a meeting.
At your earliest please let me know why the meeting was cancelled. Thank you very much.
Kind regards
Andrew Audet
Encinitas
city code:
2.20.040 Regular Meetings. (Ord.2001.21)
A. Regular meetings of the City Council shall be held on the second, third, and fourth Wednesday of each month.
B. The City Council may, by resolution, designate another date, time and location for a regular meeting.
From: Jerome Stocks [mailto:JStocks@encinitasca.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 3:13 PM
To: Andrew Audet
Subject: Re: Cancelled meeting
Again, from the City Clerk to whom I recommend you ask follow-up questions:
... Resolutions can only be passed by the City Council at a public meeting. However, a resolution is not required to cancel a meeting.
Kathy Hollywood
City Clerk, City of Encinitas
760-633-2603
Mayor Stocks-
Thank you for your prompt response. Do I understand correctly that your answer is the city has no business on behalf of the taxpayer to discuss?
Can you please cite for me specifically where in our city codes it defines, states or codifies that the city manager may cancel a meeting? This is my third request for specifics.
Thank you for your prompt response.
Andrew Audet
Encinitas
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 4:20 PM
To: Kathy Hollywood
Cc: Gus Vina
Subject: Cancelled council meeting procedures
Hi Kathy
I was contacted by a resident who had the following procedural questions about the cancelled meeting. Can you help me answer her questions?
I would really appreciate it if you could verify that I am correct in the following conclusions:
In order for council to cancel a regularly scheduled meeting, they must designate another date, time, and location via a resolution..
A resolution must be passed by a council majority in public.
Resolutions are assigned numbers so that they can be located in city records.
Thanks
Teresa Arballo Barth
Councilmember
City of Encinitas
760-633-2620
Encinitas - Five Unique Communities. One Great City.
Correspondents should be aware that all communications to or from this address are subject to public disclosure and may be reviewed by third parties.
From: Jerome Stocks [mailto:jstocks@encinitasca.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 10:24 AM
To: Andrew Audet
Subject: Re: Cancelled meeting
Mr. Audet, below please find a response from the City Clerk to Council Member Barth's similar request:
Teresa – here is the information you requested.
1. If a meeting is canceled for lack of business, there is no such requirement. This is consistent with the City’s past practices of canceled meetings.
2. Correct
3. Correct – resolutions are given an assigned number for identification purposes
Let me know if I can be of further assistance
Kathy Hollywood
City Clerk, City of Encinitas
760-633-2603
Correspondents should be aware that all communications to and from this address are subject to public disclosure and may be reviewed by third parties.
On Oct 17, 2012, at 10:16 AM, Andrew Audet wrote:
Dear Mr. Mayor:
This is my second request, can you please cite for me or direct me to the city code that allow the city manager to cancel a city council meeting. Thanks greatly.
Andrew Audet
Encinitas
From: Jerome Stocks [mailto:JStocks@encinitasca.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 6:40 PM
To: Andrew Audet
Subject: Re: Cancelled meeting
The City Manager cancelled the meeting due to a lack of agenda items. This reduces the overtime/evening staff costs.
I am curious as to why you would care about such an issue and look forward to your response.
Jerome Stocks
Mayor
City of Encinitas
From: Kathy Hollywood [mailto:khollywood@encinitasca.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 6:06 PM
To: Andrew Audet
Subject: RE: Cancelled meeting
Attached is a copy of City Council Policy No. C019.
Kathy Hollywood
City Clerk, City of Encinitas
760-633-2603
Correspondents should be aware that all communications to and from this address are subject to public disclosure and may be reviewed by third parties.
From: Andrew Audet
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 10:41 AM
To: Kathy Hollywood
Subject: Cancelled meeting
Dear Ms. Hollywood:
If you would be so kind could you please provide me the specific city code that defines the process and under what circumstances the city manager can cancel city council meetings. Your prompt response is appreciated.
Thank you
Andrew Audet
Encinitas
From: Gus Vina [mailto:gvina@encinitasca.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 6:04 PM
To: audet
Cc: Kathy Hollywood
Subject: Inquiry
Andrew, fyi.
Statement regarding the cancellation of the City Council meeting for October 17, 2012.
There were no business items to be placed on the agenda for the October 17, 2012 City Council meeting. The City Manager confirmed this fact with the Mayor and consequently canceled the meeting.
Thank you.
Gus Vina
City Manager
City of Encinitas
gvina@encinitasca.org
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2012 6:15 PM
To: Andrew Audet;
Subject: Fw: Illegal cancellation of regular Council meeting by city manager Re: Inquiry
Sent this to Gus and the Council.
To: "Gus Vina" <gvina@encinitasca.gov>
Cc: "Jim Bond" <jbond@ci.encinitas.ca.us>, "Jerome Stocks" <jstocks@ci.encinitas.ca.us>, "Mark Muir" <Mmuir@ci.encinitas.ca.us>, "Kristin Gaspar" <kgaspar@ci.encinitas.ca.us>, "Teresa Barth" <tbarth@ci.encinitas.ca.us>, Khollywood@encinitasca.gov, "Claudia Bingham" <cbingham@ci.encinitas.ca.us>
Date: Thursday, October 18, 2012, 6:11 PM
Gus,
You have only provided a statement of your actions. You didn't answer the question of where in the municipal code do you have the authority to cancel regular scheduled Council meetings.
By your actions, you have told the Council that your power and authority usurps their power.
Oddly enough, the Council members meekly went along with your actions.
Your actions consisted of conspiring with Jerome Stocks, the mayor, to subterfuge a power grab in which the legal authority to cancel regular scheduled meetings was the responsibility of the Council as a whole.
Please answer the question:
Where in the municipal code are you given the authority to cancel regular scheduled Council meetings?
<gvina@encinitasca.gov> wrote:
From: Gus Vina <gvina@encinitasca.gov>
Subject: Inquiry
To: twicesites
Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 6:11 PM
[...]fyi.
Statement regarding the cancellation of the City Council meeting for October 17, 2012.
There were no business items to be placed on the agenda for the October 17, 2012 City Council meeting. The City Manager confirmed this fact with the Mayor and consequently canceled the meeting.
Gus Vina
City Manager
City of Encinitas
gvina@encinitasca.org
Here's the stuff that the city clerk attached after being asked for the specifics:
When the city is right about about something they stab at members of the public with the sharp end of the municode (ie city law). They cite the specific sections of the law.
In this case, more than a couple people were asking for the city to cite the section and verse of the law that allows for the city manager to call off a meeting. I only had time to skim the emails, and I didn't see it. Did you?
BTW, if there really wasn't any business planned for this week's meeting, why wasn't the cancellation at least mentioned at the council meeting the day before agenda packets are normally released to the council? That's how things would roll in the real world.
Below, citizens held a mock council meeting allowing citizens to speak at oral communication, the night of the canceled meeting. Some people cared that the meeting was canceled. I think they were more concerned about HOW it was cancelled.
It is reported that Lynn was given only one minute to speak and she didn't complain about it.
The following is a pretty weak example of manipulation over something 99% of the public would have a knee jerk positive reaction to, so it sort of depreciates the efforts others have taken to expose manipulation and outright lying about more substantive issues. However, can you read this and then tell us what gives the city manager authority to cancel a meeting?
Credit to the people who questioned authority when something didn't seem just right.
_____________________________
On Oct 16, 2012, at 5:53 PM, "Andrew Audet" wrote:Dear Mayor Stocks
The city code below defines the dates for council meetings. The code also defines the process for cancelling a meeting.
At your earliest please let me know why the meeting was cancelled. Thank you very much.
Kind regards
Andrew Audet
Encinitas
city code:
2.20.040 Regular Meetings. (Ord.2001.21)
A. Regular meetings of the City Council shall be held on the second, third, and fourth Wednesday of each month.
B. The City Council may, by resolution, designate another date, time and location for a regular meeting.
_____________________________
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 3:13 PM
To: Andrew Audet
Subject: Re: Cancelled meeting
Again, from the City Clerk to whom I recommend you ask follow-up questions:
... Resolutions can only be passed by the City Council at a public meeting. However, a resolution is not required to cancel a meeting.
Kathy Hollywood
City Clerk, City of Encinitas
760-633-2603
_____________________________
On Oct 17, 2012, at 2:34 PM, "Andrew Audet" <audet@earthlink.net> wrote:Mayor Stocks-
Thank you for your prompt response. Do I understand correctly that your answer is the city has no business on behalf of the taxpayer to discuss?
Can you please cite for me specifically where in our city codes it defines, states or codifies that the city manager may cancel a meeting? This is my third request for specifics.
Thank you for your prompt response.
Andrew Audet
Encinitas
_____________________________
From: Teresa Barth Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 4:20 PM
To: Kathy Hollywood
Cc: Gus Vina
Subject: Cancelled council meeting procedures
Hi Kathy
I was contacted by a resident who had the following procedural questions about the cancelled meeting. Can you help me answer her questions?
I would really appreciate it if you could verify that I am correct in the following conclusions:
In order for council to cancel a regularly scheduled meeting, they must designate another date, time, and location via a resolution..
A resolution must be passed by a council majority in public.
Resolutions are assigned numbers so that they can be located in city records.
Thanks
Teresa Arballo Barth
Councilmember
City of Encinitas
760-633-2620
Encinitas - Five Unique Communities. One Great City.
Correspondents should be aware that all communications to or from this address are subject to public disclosure and may be reviewed by third parties.
From: Jerome Stocks [mailto:jstocks@encinitasca.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 10:24 AM
To: Andrew Audet
Subject: Re: Cancelled meeting
Mr. Audet, below please find a response from the City Clerk to Council Member Barth's similar request:
Teresa – here is the information you requested.
1. If a meeting is canceled for lack of business, there is no such requirement. This is consistent with the City’s past practices of canceled meetings.
2. Correct
3. Correct – resolutions are given an assigned number for identification purposes
Let me know if I can be of further assistance
Kathy Hollywood
City Clerk, City of Encinitas
760-633-2603
Correspondents should be aware that all communications to and from this address are subject to public disclosure and may be reviewed by third parties.
_____________________________
On Oct 17, 2012, at 10:16 AM, Andrew Audet wrote:
Dear Mr. Mayor:
This is my second request, can you please cite for me or direct me to the city code that allow the city manager to cancel a city council meeting. Thanks greatly.
Andrew Audet
Encinitas
From: Jerome Stocks [mailto:JStocks@encinitasca.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 6:40 PM
To: Andrew Audet
Subject: Re: Cancelled meeting
The City Manager cancelled the meeting due to a lack of agenda items. This reduces the overtime/evening staff costs.
I am curious as to why you would care about such an issue and look forward to your response.
Jerome Stocks
Mayor
City of Encinitas
_____________________________
From: Kathy Hollywood [mailto:khollywood@encinitasca.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 6:06 PM
To: Andrew Audet
Subject: RE: Cancelled meeting
Attached is a copy of City Council Policy No. C019.
Kathy Hollywood
City Clerk, City of Encinitas
760-633-2603
Correspondents should be aware that all communications to and from this address are subject to public disclosure and may be reviewed by third parties.
From: Andrew Audet
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 10:41 AM
To: Kathy Hollywood
Subject: Cancelled meeting
Dear Ms. Hollywood:
If you would be so kind could you please provide me the specific city code that defines the process and under what circumstances the city manager can cancel city council meetings. Your prompt response is appreciated.
Thank you
Andrew Audet
Encinitas
From: Gus Vina [mailto:gvina@encinitasca.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 6:04 PM
To: audet
Cc: Kathy Hollywood
Subject: Inquiry
Andrew, fyi.
Statement regarding the cancellation of the City Council meeting for October 17, 2012.
There were no business items to be placed on the agenda for the October 17, 2012 City Council meeting. The City Manager confirmed this fact with the Mayor and consequently canceled the meeting.
Thank you.
Gus Vina
City Manager
City of Encinitas
gvina@encinitasca.org
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2012 6:15 PM
To: Andrew Audet;
Subject: Fw: Illegal cancellation of regular Council meeting by city manager Re: Inquiry
Sent this to Gus and the Council.
To: "Gus Vina" <gvina@encinitasca.gov>
Cc: "Jim Bond" <jbond@ci.encinitas.ca.us>, "Jerome Stocks" <jstocks@ci.encinitas.ca.us>, "Mark Muir" <Mmuir@ci.encinitas.ca.us>, "Kristin Gaspar" <kgaspar@ci.encinitas.ca.us>, "Teresa Barth" <tbarth@ci.encinitas.ca.us>, Khollywood@encinitasca.gov, "Claudia Bingham" <cbingham@ci.encinitas.ca.us>
Date: Thursday, October 18, 2012, 6:11 PM
Gus,
You have only provided a statement of your actions. You didn't answer the question of where in the municipal code do you have the authority to cancel regular scheduled Council meetings.
By your actions, you have told the Council that your power and authority usurps their power.
Oddly enough, the Council members meekly went along with your actions.
Your actions consisted of conspiring with Jerome Stocks, the mayor, to subterfuge a power grab in which the legal authority to cancel regular scheduled meetings was the responsibility of the Council as a whole.
Please answer the question:
Where in the municipal code are you given the authority to cancel regular scheduled Council meetings?
<gvina@encinitasca.gov> wrote:
From: Gus Vina <gvina@encinitasca.gov>
Subject: Inquiry
To: twicesites
Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 6:11 PM
[...]fyi.
Statement regarding the cancellation of the City Council meeting for October 17, 2012.
There were no business items to be placed on the agenda for the October 17, 2012 City Council meeting. The City Manager confirmed this fact with the Mayor and consequently canceled the meeting.
Gus Vina
City Manager
City of Encinitas
gvina@encinitasca.org
_____________________
Here's the stuff that the city clerk attached after being asked for the specifics:
In this case, more than a couple people were asking for the city to cite the section and verse of the law that allows for the city manager to call off a meeting. I only had time to skim the emails, and I didn't see it. Did you?
BTW, if there really wasn't any business planned for this week's meeting, why wasn't the cancellation at least mentioned at the council meeting the day before agenda packets are normally released to the council? That's how things would roll in the real world.
Below, citizens held a mock council meeting allowing citizens to speak at oral communication, the night of the canceled meeting. Some people cared that the meeting was canceled. I think they were more concerned about HOW it was cancelled.
It is reported that Lynn was given only one minute to speak and she didn't complain about it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)