The Surfing Madonna “Save the Ocean” Paver Project has begun!!! Become a part of the history & legend of the Surfing Madonna!
Customize your own brick (paver) with a message, name, date, or favorite quote of your choice that can be shared with your friends, family and community for years to come!
The paver will be installed below the Surfing Madonna mosaic, which has recently been transformed into the zen-like Surfing Madonna Park, complete with a flowing fountain, native plants and flowers, night time lighting and a 24 hour camera, which is live on the internet!
Funds raised will provide local high school students the opportunity to get involved with our Surfing Madonna Ocean Conservation Programs and be a part of the positive change in our community. A portion of the proceeds will also provide the on-going support for our free educational community programs and events, which are open to the public!
We have very limited space, so the bricks will go fast! It’s the PERFECT GIFT for someone special that will last a lifetime!
Price starting at $150 and includes the following: • An 8x4 Customized Engraved paver with 3 lines of any name, message, quote and/or date of your choice placed directly in front of the Surfing Madonna at her permanent home off Encinitas Blvd and the Pacific Coast Highway • Installation and Maintenance • Monthly updates and photos of the community charity projects YOU helped make possible with purchasing the brick
TO ORDER YOUR PAVER, PLEASE VISIT http://www.surfingmadonna.org/fundraisers/donations
For more information, please call Robert Nichols at 760-846-5721 or Megan McCarthy at 760-585-6631 or you can visit our website www.surfingmadonna.org
PROP A SET NEW HEIGHT LIMITS OF TWO STORIES OR 30 FEET, CAN A DEVELOPER PROCESS A WAIVER FROM THIS STANDARD?From the Inbox:
Yes. A height limitation qualifies as a development standard for which a developer may request a waiver.
Government Code 65915(o)(1)
Prop A is not a "development standard," but a general amendment enacted by the voters, not the city, that requires a public vote for any structure over 30 feet, and that is not something the city can get around. The only way to eliminate the Prop A requirements is through another vote of the people.Can there now be any doubt that staff's #1 priority is to force high-density development on Encinitas against the will of the residents? And whose side are your council representatives on, staff's or the public's?
"the city has already included a 10% annual increase in the current six year financial plan beginning in FY 2015/16."In contrast, see how Berkeley officials discuss the same circumstances in their city:
“This is a pretty grim projection for the future,” said Mayor Tom Bates. “The assumption (on the rate increases) is there are no salary increases and no new employees. It’s difficult to imagine there won’t be an increase over that time. We’re headed for some really difficult decisions down the road, there’s no doubt about it.”
“Those numbers are shocking enough without seeing them going up,” said Capitelli. “People are retiring at an earlier age and living longer.”
Finance director Hicks said the primary driver for the rate increases is Calpers’ investment returns (see table above). In the year to June 30, 2013, its investments gained 13.2%, 5.7% higher than the assumed 7.5%. But that excellent year, and the likelihood of another bumper year to this June 30, does not make up for the severe losses in 2008, 2009 and 2012.
“This is not just a Berkeley problem, this is a major problem for the state of California,” Bates said. “The state needs to step into this. It’s going to hemorrhage all over the state. We’re putting ourselves in the position where there’s going to be a major hit on the economy.”
| 10A. | Public Hearing to review and consider: 1) the introduction of Draft Ordinance No. 2014-01 entitled "An Ordinance of the City of Encinitas, California, adopting an amendment to Title 30 of the Encinitas Municipal Code to add Chapter 30.27 - Deemed Approved Alcoholic Beverage Sale Regulations and Provisions for Expanding and Intensifying Alcohol Serving Establishments, and amendments to certain Specific Plans to make reference to Chapter 30.27 of the Encinitas Municipal Code"; and 2) other related actions and activities. CASE NUMBER: 13-271 ZCA/SPA/LCPA; APPLICANT: City of Encinitas; LOCATION: Citywide. Contact Person: Planning and Building Director Murphy Recommended Action: A) Implement a proactive enforcement program as described by staff; as part of that program, include a single point of contact for the public and identify more efficient ways to report complaints such as adding signage/branding; B) Develop metrics to help track/measure the success of proactive enforcement efforts; C) Delay adoption of the Deemed Approved Ordinance (DAO) to December 31, 2014. Once information from the proactive efforts are collected and evaluated, have the DAO returned to the Planning Commission for review in February 2015; D) Should the Council adopt draft Ordinance No. 2014-01, remove the reference "incompatible uses" under Section 30.27.010(A) attached herein as Exhibit A to Attachment 1 of the Agenda Report; E) Receive an overview of other actions taken by the City to address the concerns raised relative to impacts associated with alcohol serving businesses; F) Consider the proactive enforcement and outreach program described in the Agenda Report. Should the Council wish to implement the program, the required staffing will be presented as part of the FY2014-15 budget process in May 2014 as per previous Council direction. |
2014-03-19 Item #10A Public Hearing to Consider Draft Ordinance 2014-01 - Alcoholic Beverage Sale Regulations
The [sales tax] proposal drew a critical response from Jack Humphreville, a neighborhood council member who campaigned successfully against the city's sales tax hike last year. Humphreville said that in recent years, money that should have gone to repairs went instead to "over-the-top compensation" for city workers.
The city's elected officials "were grossly negligent over the last two decades in maintaining our infrastructure," he said.
We’re informed the deferred maintenance on infrastructure in Encinitas is staggering. Councilman Tony Kranz tells me the pricetag is $25 million or much more.While activists have long known that deferred road maintenance was a major problem on par with our unfunded pension liabilities (and believe that "or much more" is the operative phrase), this was the first time that a city insider had publicly acknowledged the magnitude of the problem. The statement directly contradicts the official party line that Encinitas is well-managed and fiscally responsible. A few recent examples:
Gus Vina: "Good, prudent and consistent fiscal management in Encinitas has allowed our organization to serve the community at appropriate levels in spite of the recession that has swept across America."March 2013:
An important element of the City’s overall financial strategy is to remain nimble, proactive and prepared for occurrences beyond its control. The City has a $10 million Contingency Reserve and a $1.1 million Budget Stabilization Reserve.Thanks to Tony Kranz for beginning a long-overdue honest discussion of the Encinitas financial mess, and to Lisa Shaffer for making a similarly important revelation last month about the annual amount of ongoing road maintenance decline.
The City plans to continue pursuing the conservative budgeting philosophy that has enabled it to preserve programs and services while moving forward with new projects desired by residents such as Encinitas Community Park, slated to open in 2014.
In the current six year financial plan projected contributions to PERS are increased approximately 10% per year beginning in FY 2015/16. By FY 2018/19 (the final year of the current six year plan) contributions are assumed to increase 40%. When the six year plan is updated to add FY 2019/20 another 10% increase will be included resulting in a total 50% increase in PERS contributions between FY 2015/16 and FY 2019/20.Encinitas Undercover wanted more information so that we could share the good news with our readers. Somehow, City Manager Gus Vina had found a way to increase revenues and/or cut costs that resulted in a balanced financial plan even including rapidly rising pension costs, road maintenance, park operations, and debt service. It seemed too good to be true.
The 10% annual increase that the Mayor is referring to is the anticipated increase in PERS contributions for actuarial changes that CalPERS has implemented. The “draft” financial plan was included in a couple of slides in the CIP presentation on 2/12/2014 and is included as an attachment to the agenda report for that meeting. The final budget and financial plan will be discussed at three City Council meetings in May with final adoption in June.In fact, the CIP presentation on February 12 did not include anything that could be remotely considered a financial plan, "draft" or otherwise. A financial plan, in any normal sense of the term, would show projected revenues and expenses by category, and an explanation for any significant increases or decreases. Nothing like that exists in the presentation.
Encinitas residents should be surveyed on whether they would support raising the city’s sales tax rate to pay for roadway improvements, new trails or other civic projects, a majority of the City Council indicated Wednesday night.Watch the consultant's presentation from last night. The survey isn't about finding out what the public wants. It's about how to spin a sales tax increase to get it to pass.
The council voted 3-2, with Councilwoman Kristin Gaspar and Councilman Mark Muir opposed, to seek cost estimates from survey research companies, with the goal of voting on a contract next month.
Conducting surveys and doing other community research is likely to cost at least $100,000, one research consultant told the council Wednesday night.
Catherine Lew, president and CEO of the Oakland-based Lew Edwards Group research company, also warned Encinitas officials that they should set a fast pace if they hope to have their tax proposal ready to go before the city’s voters in November. Other communities proposing to put sales tax proposals on the 2014 general election ballot started work last year, she said.
Even without that time crunch issue, the sales tax hike proposal appeared on Wednesday night to be highly unlikely to make the November ballot. In order for the proposal to go on the ballot, four of the city’s five council members must back it, and two council members — Councilwoman Kristin Gaspar and Councilman Mark Muir — said there was no way they were going raise residents’ taxes.
“You can count me out,” Gaspar said, commenting that she doesn’t believe city leaders have done enough to make certain the city is living within its means.
“When we’re exploring any kind of a tax, it needs to be a last resort — I don’t believe we’re in that place,” she said.
Muir agreed.
“My standards for raising taxes are pretty high … I will not be one of the four-fifths voters,” he said.
But Mayor Teresa Barth, Councilman Tony Kranz and Councilwoman Lisa Shaffer said the survey work was worth doing, even if the sales tax proposal was unlikely to make it on the November ballot. Shaffer said she would like to get the survey results to find out how residents would like the extra tax money spent.
The auction of the old Pacific View Elementary site is moving forward despite protests at Tuesday's school board meeting.
Nearly 100 people attended the Encinitas Union School District's board meeting in an attempt to convince the trustees to postpone or stop the auction of the property. The opponents of the auction asked district leaders to keep the space public.
"This was a gift from the public, by the community to the school district and it's time for the school district to reciprocate," said a speaker.
[...]
The trustees told the group to share their concerns at Wednesday night's City Council meeting. The auction is planned for Tuesday, Mar. 25 at a minimum bid of $9.5 million.
But the cool thing about Encinitas is that not much has changed. Surf culture is relatively timeless in terms of its dress, daily rhythms and attitude. All of my favorite haunts are still there. I got to have my grilled-fish taco platter at Las Olas, Curry Panang at Siamese Basil, the Ahi Wrap at Ki’s, and a soy latte and gluten-free muffin at the Pannikin in Leucadia. I even took Ryan into Cardiff Seaside Market not to grocery shop but to browse, to see the sesame-encrusted seared ahi in the gourmet deli, the fresh flowers, the beautiful vegetables and the amazing baked goods that somehow taste good even though they’re this-free and that-free.See also Waves to Ride: A Better Mousetrap
