One of the most compelling things about this whole Prop A Ecke drama has been flower grower Gilbert Foerster's outspokenness.
He has really been sticking his neck out. He has taken out a series of full page No on A ads in the Coast News at his own expense. They are intelligent, well written and have been a breath of fresh air in this whole stinky mess.
The Wiegand family seems more upset with Mr. Foerster than the Eckes. I'm sure all these growers had personal friendships before Prop A. You have to hand it to Mr. Foerster for speaking the truth despite the future personal consequences.
I respect Mr. Foerster for taking issue and speaking out. His arguments have been the most logical and level headed. I highly suggest reading them before voting tomorrow.
Gil gets it.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Light Snack for Thought
Bianca Kaplanek writes an opinion column for the Coast News called Food for Thought.
Here is her recent piece that made me sarcastically roll my eyes so far back in my head that I went temporarily blind. link
Bianca seems like a nice enough person but her delicate yuppie sensibilities are hilarious. I get the impression that she would like all of north county to look like the Carlsbad outlet mall, probably the most sanitized environment in these parts.
She is okay with declaring the Ponto area "blighted" not understanding that she is endorsing the government seizing private property and selling it to corporate interest.
Sure, the big wood pile is unsightly and the "wood not for sale" spraypainted sign is a cryptic message to passing motorist.
(The wood is not for sale because it is drying out. Eventually it will be sold as firewood to tourist in the local campgrounds, duh).
For the love of god Firewood Man, build a giant fence or plant some trees or shrubs! Don't you see that the yuppies just can't deal with the big pile of wood? You are scaring the hell out of poor Bianca. She can't see past the big pile of wood and notice the really cool hotrods you are restoring this month. She can't possibly look the other way or keep her eyes on the road. Your big pile of wood is just too distracting. She and others are happy to strip you of your basic human rights just so the 3 seconds they spend driving past your property will be more pleasant.
quote from article: Greenhouses, like Mick Jagger and pit bulls, are not, by nature, pleasant to look at. But the products of greenhouses (and Jagger, some would argue) are so beautiful that we tolerate them. It's a perfect example of the end justifying the means. But when greenhouses, like those on Saxony, are abandoned and left in despair, they become unsightly and end up targets for vandalism and graffiti.
Bianca like many others are getting hoodwinked here. It is just like the recent situation in Leucadia. The city purposely let Leucadia get rundown while focusing all the tax money into the heart of Encinitas. Then, when it was shabby enough they tried to declare it blighted and seize it.
It didn't work.
So by her logic, instead of letting the Eckes develope the farm land the city should declare it blighted and seize it for themselves.
The Ecke camp don't like that idea so much eh?
Bianca says she grew up in the 60's and 70's. Her current attitude is similar to Union Tribune columnist Logan Jenkins. They both have this "I'm really tired and worn out and can no longer fight city hall because I smoked way too much dope back in college so yeah this sucks but what are ya gunna do about it so you might as well let the fat cats win. *shrug*" kind of demeanor.
People like Bianca Kalpanek need to be careful when they speak out publicly about what is unsightly and what is not. These are vapid times we live in. It is hard to tell from that postage stamp photo of her in the paper but those teeth look a little crooked to me.
Now, I think a slightly crooked smile can add character and charm to a person. But most folks in new millennium Encinitas might declare Bianca's mouth blighted and slap some braces on her grill.
Ty Paddington, know any good dentist?
Here is her recent piece that made me sarcastically roll my eyes so far back in my head that I went temporarily blind. link
Bianca seems like a nice enough person but her delicate yuppie sensibilities are hilarious. I get the impression that she would like all of north county to look like the Carlsbad outlet mall, probably the most sanitized environment in these parts.
She is okay with declaring the Ponto area "blighted" not understanding that she is endorsing the government seizing private property and selling it to corporate interest.
Sure, the big wood pile is unsightly and the "wood not for sale" spraypainted sign is a cryptic message to passing motorist.
(The wood is not for sale because it is drying out. Eventually it will be sold as firewood to tourist in the local campgrounds, duh).
For the love of god Firewood Man, build a giant fence or plant some trees or shrubs! Don't you see that the yuppies just can't deal with the big pile of wood? You are scaring the hell out of poor Bianca. She can't see past the big pile of wood and notice the really cool hotrods you are restoring this month. She can't possibly look the other way or keep her eyes on the road. Your big pile of wood is just too distracting. She and others are happy to strip you of your basic human rights just so the 3 seconds they spend driving past your property will be more pleasant.
quote from article: Greenhouses, like Mick Jagger and pit bulls, are not, by nature, pleasant to look at. But the products of greenhouses (and Jagger, some would argue) are so beautiful that we tolerate them. It's a perfect example of the end justifying the means. But when greenhouses, like those on Saxony, are abandoned and left in despair, they become unsightly and end up targets for vandalism and graffiti.
Bianca like many others are getting hoodwinked here. It is just like the recent situation in Leucadia. The city purposely let Leucadia get rundown while focusing all the tax money into the heart of Encinitas. Then, when it was shabby enough they tried to declare it blighted and seize it.
It didn't work.
So by her logic, instead of letting the Eckes develope the farm land the city should declare it blighted and seize it for themselves.
The Ecke camp don't like that idea so much eh?
Bianca says she grew up in the 60's and 70's. Her current attitude is similar to Union Tribune columnist Logan Jenkins. They both have this "I'm really tired and worn out and can no longer fight city hall because I smoked way too much dope back in college so yeah this sucks but what are ya gunna do about it so you might as well let the fat cats win. *shrug*" kind of demeanor.
People like Bianca Kalpanek need to be careful when they speak out publicly about what is unsightly and what is not. These are vapid times we live in. It is hard to tell from that postage stamp photo of her in the paper but those teeth look a little crooked to me.
Now, I think a slightly crooked smile can add character and charm to a person. But most folks in new millennium Encinitas might declare Bianca's mouth blighted and slap some braces on her grill.
Ty Paddington, know any good dentist?
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
$$$ vs. $
The Yes on A campaign has spent $186,000
The No on A campaign has spent $13,000
Seven more days until the election.
ELECTION IS NOV 8TH
Voter Info Link
The No on A campaign has spent $13,000
Seven more days until the election.
ELECTION IS NOV 8TH
Voter Info Link
Monday, October 31, 2005
"It’s Frightening" Happy Halloween!
From Rock My Car Dot Com link
It’s not about money
Ecke proponents dodge the real issues
October 28th, 2005
“I’m not going to sell my assets to save this business,” Paul Ecke III told the Union-Tribune recently. “It would be foolish to do that.”
If it would be foolish for Ecke to sell assets to save his poinsettia ranch, then it’s insane for the city to give up its assets to do the same. If he won’t, then neither should we.
Ecke and his crew pushing Proposition A — which asks the city to rezone half of his land to make room for 101 houses — have said opponents are hung up on the load of cash the Ecke family has amassed over the years. “To grade me on how much in assets I have is ridiculous,” Ecke said. “It’s frightening that a successful businessman is being attacked.”
The Union-Tribune, in yet another display that the paper has no grasp on what happens north of Highway 52, joined the fray in an editorial — accusing the “No on A” crowd of being envious and attempting to bilk Ecke Ranch for more than the proposed 8-acre park. Where did they get that?
The opposition to Prop. A is not about Ecke’s bank account. It’s not really about the flowers, either. We’re not after any more from Ecke or his ranch, and we’re not attacking him because of his success.
It’s about preserving one of the last pieces of agriculturally zoned land in the city for something other than houses. Most of the nursery and farming facilities in Encinitas are operating on land already zoned for residential. Some day very soon those greenhouses will be homes.
In an area overrun by sprawl, the remaining land zoned for agriculture is a jewel, an asset to the city. In fact, Ecke agreed to keep that land as agricultural in 1994.
Ecke says he needs the profits from the housing development to modernize his farm. Opponents have asked him to prove it — and rightly so.
When college students apply for government loans, they have to prove their need. The same is true for people who apply for Medicare, welfare or any other government subsidy.
That’s the only reason money is in this debate. We don’t fault Ecke for his success. But he is asking the residents of Encinitas to give up a city asset to “save” his business. It’s only right that we should ask him to verify his need.
The attempt by the Union-Tribune, Ecke and the “Yes on A” folks to obfuscate the real issues surrounding Proposition A is shameless, and you shouldn’t be fooled.
They’re only trying to distract attention from the fact that the ranch won’t show us that it really needs to develop the land to remain competitive. They’re dodging the fact that Ecke refuses to use his own assets.
After all, if Ecke won’t use his resources to “save” his business, then why should we?
It’s not about money
Ecke proponents dodge the real issues
October 28th, 2005
“I’m not going to sell my assets to save this business,” Paul Ecke III told the Union-Tribune recently. “It would be foolish to do that.”
If it would be foolish for Ecke to sell assets to save his poinsettia ranch, then it’s insane for the city to give up its assets to do the same. If he won’t, then neither should we.
Ecke and his crew pushing Proposition A — which asks the city to rezone half of his land to make room for 101 houses — have said opponents are hung up on the load of cash the Ecke family has amassed over the years. “To grade me on how much in assets I have is ridiculous,” Ecke said. “It’s frightening that a successful businessman is being attacked.”
The Union-Tribune, in yet another display that the paper has no grasp on what happens north of Highway 52, joined the fray in an editorial — accusing the “No on A” crowd of being envious and attempting to bilk Ecke Ranch for more than the proposed 8-acre park. Where did they get that?
The opposition to Prop. A is not about Ecke’s bank account. It’s not really about the flowers, either. We’re not after any more from Ecke or his ranch, and we’re not attacking him because of his success.
It’s about preserving one of the last pieces of agriculturally zoned land in the city for something other than houses. Most of the nursery and farming facilities in Encinitas are operating on land already zoned for residential. Some day very soon those greenhouses will be homes.
In an area overrun by sprawl, the remaining land zoned for agriculture is a jewel, an asset to the city. In fact, Ecke agreed to keep that land as agricultural in 1994.
Ecke says he needs the profits from the housing development to modernize his farm. Opponents have asked him to prove it — and rightly so.
When college students apply for government loans, they have to prove their need. The same is true for people who apply for Medicare, welfare or any other government subsidy.
That’s the only reason money is in this debate. We don’t fault Ecke for his success. But he is asking the residents of Encinitas to give up a city asset to “save” his business. It’s only right that we should ask him to verify his need.
The attempt by the Union-Tribune, Ecke and the “Yes on A” folks to obfuscate the real issues surrounding Proposition A is shameless, and you shouldn’t be fooled.
They’re only trying to distract attention from the fact that the ranch won’t show us that it really needs to develop the land to remain competitive. They’re dodging the fact that Ecke refuses to use his own assets.
After all, if Ecke won’t use his resources to “save” his business, then why should we?
Friday, October 28, 2005
US Troops to Ecke, Where is Our Body Armor?
In a tightly controlled forum where Paul Ecke III was able to pick and choose pre- written questions about his proposed rezone of agricultural land he fumbled when a brazen soldier stood and asked why his unit had still not received body armor.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
NCT Poised to Make $14422.80 Off Prop A
The NCT has run an editorial supporting Prop A. link
Why? Because 101 new homes means 101 potential new subscribers.
A subscription to the NCT is $11.90 a month, that's $142.80 a year.
101 x 142.80 = $14422.80
That doesn't even include future garage sale ads!
Why? Because 101 new homes means 101 potential new subscribers.
A subscription to the NCT is $11.90 a month, that's $142.80 a year.
101 x 142.80 = $14422.80
That doesn't even include future garage sale ads!
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
NO DJ's OR DANCING ALLOWED IN ENC ?!?
This photo was taken before the boring lame people took over the town.
You may have noticed that the bar/restaurant in our beloved historic La Paloma building is turning over to yet another owner.
First, good riddance to Martini Ranch I say. I pretty much hated that whole scene.
Unfortunately, some of the things I hated about Martini Ranch will remain and in some ways the new place may be worse.
NCT link
I have a personal hatred for hangouts with 50 television screens. Keep that crap in the sports bars. The very name "Martini Ranch" brought visions of sipping martinis and having intelligent conversation while listening to some jazz or Sinatra or something. Instead it was bad potato widgits, ESPN and decade old surf videos.
"At least the Martini Ranch had live DJ's spinning records sometimes", you say. Well, our sleepy city has adopted the fascist attitude that all music must be on CDs and listened to in your own home. Forget about art or self expression.
The license allows up to three musicians to perform but with no amplification, including microphones. Up to six video games are allowed, but pool tables are not.
Dude, I'm stoked we can play Golden Tee but these longhairs with their acoustic guitars are really disturbing my enjoyment of Monday Night Football.
Now, Martini Ranch had a bad habit of hiring lazy and untalented DJ's and ignoring the local talent pool. (Many people are completely unaware that several prominent club DJ's have grown up in Leucadia. One of them will be spinning records in New York this weekend). But at the very least we had one establishment to patronize that had a little something to check out.
Encinitas is the ultimate yuppie town. The median age of our population is 36. That leaves tons of young people who love alternative music (not top 40 baby boomer radio) and dancing and literally have no place to dance or just hang out and groove to music. Just because councilman Jim Bond wants to go to bed early doesn't mean we have too.
The film Footloose was about a new guy who moved into a town that banned fun but when it turned out that Jesus liked to dance sometimes the town elders gave in.
I laughed when I read "no wet t-shirt contest". Isn't that just some lame urban myth from the 1970's?
One of the new rules is that food sales must be higher than booze sales. How the heck do you regulate that? A 2 drink limit with every cheeseburger?
So, the new D-St Bar&Grill will have lots of tee-vees to watch and chicken wings to eat. This is unique how?
At least it's not another Italian place right?
No more vinyl, that's final!
Monday, October 24, 2005
Rebuild the Greenhouses!
Rebuild the Greenhouses is a very important grassroots campaign. Our dear friend Paul Ecke III doesn't have the money to rebuild his greenhouses. They are in a shabby state of disrepair and Christmas is just around the corner, prime poinsettia time.
If you want to help poor Paul rebuild his greenhouses vote NO on Prop A in the upcoming November election and send a donation to:
Encinitas Taxpayers Association
P. O. Box 46
Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA 92007
write "Paul III is #1" in the memo space of your check.
If you want to help poor Paul rebuild his greenhouses vote NO on Prop A in the upcoming November election and send a donation to:
Encinitas Taxpayers Association
P. O. Box 46
Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA 92007
write "Paul III is #1" in the memo space of your check.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Those Wacky 8 Acres!
It's possible that the funniest part of the Ecke Prop. A drama are those 8 acres of "parkland".
At first Ecke felt like he was getting ripped off when the city came up with the 8 acre compromise. Ecke's buddy, Michael D. Pattinson wrote an angry commentary to the North County Times about it. link
City plans allowed 200 homes on the Ecke land. City planners thought 100 were better. The Eckes agreed, but it was a Hobson's choice: Agree, or lose all economic use of the land.
So much for property rights.
Then city staffers came up with a brainstorm: Since they had eliminated 100 homes from the plan, that meant there was that much more land left to take, I mean, set aside. So they grabbed another eight acres. And the city didn't pay a penny for it.
Of course now those 8 acres are being touted by the Ecke camp as this really awesome generous thing they are doing for us.
Dietmar Rothe offered this up in the NCT on Sunday link.
The people would not automatically get a fully developed park. There is much confusion about this gift. Ecke would give the city eight acres that are no longer protected as "agricultural land in perpetuity." You, the taxpayer, would have to pay for the park's development, if and when the city approves it. There is no guarantee that these acres will ever be developed into a park for all. The city could choose to develop that "gift" into more affordable housing instead. Alternatively, Mello-Roos taxes could be collected from future homeowners on the other 30 acres to develop the land into their own private neighborhood park.
No Future For My Favorite Building in ENC
Okay, drifting away from Leucadia today towards downtown Encinitas.
I swear I am the kiss of death around here. NCT link
If I love a certain open space someone will build a hotel on it. If I love a certain building it will get torn down.
The old newspaper building on the coast highway in the heart of downtown is far and away my favorite building in this town (well, I love the little metal building on E St. that was the Redsand clothing store and coffee shop just as much).
Maybe I just have an affection for cool industrial metal buildings, they are so rare in this land of stucco and red Spanish tile.
So I am dismayed to learn that the building will be torn down.
I do support mixed use, I like the idea of a grocery store in downtown Encinitas. That has been a major void in that area for the last few years.
Underground parking is a good idea, I assume it will be a pay lot though.
I am really against any corporate chains going into downtown Encinitas. I know Crate & Barrel seems fairly harmless but they could just kill the other little boutiques in the area. The city needs to talk with these other small business owners before going forward on that.
But man, I am really nervous about the new building. Mixed use sounds groovy but the great fear is getting a horrific mixed use building like the one that just went in on the coast highway in north Carlsbad. All bling bling and no substance.
I would love to see the building built in the spirit on the existing one but I believe that the city forbids any new metal buildings.
Why? Because we are a yuppie suckhole, that's why.
Volleyball dude Steve Timmons is current co-owner of the building. Remember when he wanted to fight Mike Tyson?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)