Encinitas fire chief quits after two months

Del Mar Times:

Encinitas Fire Chief Jon Canavan has resigned after two months on the job and will return to Poway as its fire marshal. Canavan said Thursday his change of heart was based on the large time and energy commitment needed to do the Encinitas job, coupled with unspecified personal issues.

Bank-robbing returns to Encinitas

It's been almost three years since frustrated home-seller John Leendert Oskam was identified as the Drywaller Bandit. Yesterday, bank robbery returned to Encinitas. Someone robbed the El Camino Citibank:

A man wearing a white baseball cap robbed a Citibank in Encinitas on Tuesday, authorities said. The robbery was reported at 12:30 p.m. at the bank on North El Camino Real near Encinitas Boulevard. The thief approached a teller and lifted his shirt, showing a handgun tucked in his waistband, FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth said.

"Mistakes were made"

In the U-T, Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz share their thoughts on their first year in a roundup of freshman council members around the county.

 Asked to expand on the highlights and disappointments, Shaffer emailed the best part has been “a new kind of leadership on the City Council.”

“I think we have created a new expectation of civility and respect,” she said, “and it has enabled us to work together across differences.”

As for disappointments, she said she was “sad at the divisive tone and misleading messaging” at the Proposition A special election last June. 

We share Shaffer's sadness at the divisive tone and we wish we could remember who was responsible for the misleading messaging. Kranz emphasized the positive impact of strategic planning:

Her colleague Kranz said: “Looking back on my first year on the City Council makes me feel very grateful for the opportunity to serve my community. I’d say that the council’s biggest decision this year, one that will position us for future success, was to engage in a strategic planning process in order to establish next year’s budget priorities for both operations and capital improvement projects. “One of the frustrating parts of governing is how long it takes to get things done. But I’m looking forward to this next year, when we’ll be implementing some new ways for the public to contribute to the conversation.”

City and contractor face fines of $430,000 for dumping sediment into Rossini Creek at the Hall Park

Read all about it here.  Full complaint with photos here.

When a culture of cronyism and incompetence is tolerated at city hall, stuff like this is bound to happen.

Related post from June: Who killed Rossini Creek?

Strawberry Fields paved over?

Encinitas Guerrilla raises the specter of the Manchester strawberry fields being paved over for a Park & Ride (hat tip: Dr. Lorri).

Funny, we had heard the city's Smart Growth politicians and developers were eyeing that land for high-density housing.  Rumor is that the council is working on one or more mass-upzoning ballot initiatives, to include the strawberry fields.

Which will it be?  A Park & Ride or high-density housing?  Maybe a little of both?

How are we supposed to "Buy Local" food when all the local agriculture land is being turned into parking lots, apartment buildings, and offices?

Meet your new Encinitas Communications Director

... Marlena Medford, former editor of Encinitas Patch.

She did a solid job at Patch, with good local news coverage.  Since she left Patch (about a year ago?), it's gone to more generic, non-local fluff.

Congratulations to Marlena on the great new gig!

A modest proposal

From the Inbox:

Dear New Encinitas folks,
Below FYI is an idea I have submitted to the whole Encinitas City Council and the Encinitas Traffic Commission.  I want to send it along to you as a representative of many New Encinitas residents for your review.  Perhaps a plan like this one could be developed to present to the city to try to reduce the El Camino Real traffic gridlock and make a more community friendly space in the process.
Thanks,
Ed Wade