Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Second group forms to create alternative housing plan

UPDATED: New time and place:
Location and Time UPDATE

We will be meeting down the hill from the library at the Encinitas Café, in the “backroom”.


We will push the start time back 15 minutes to give people a chance to walk down the hill if they don’t get this message in time. We will post a notice at the library.

What: HEU Alternative(s)
When: Sunday at 3:15pm
Who: Encinitas Residents
Where: Encinitas Cafe

From the Inbox:
From: Encinitas Project
Subject: Encinitas HEU Alternative(s)
Date: February 3, 2015 at 6:15:20 AM PST

Encinitas Residents,

An Encinitas City Council majority is supporting an offer to consider suggestions from the public on how to construct the Housing Element Update (HEU).

Council Member Mark Muir is aware of only three people expressing interest in forming a committee to develop (an) alternative(s) to the plan developed by staff and supported (at least tacitly) by the council. We are looking to the public to develop various approaches to addressing issues that will impact our future.

We are planning to meet next Sunday (Feb 8th) at 3 pm at the Encinitas City Library.

Our agenda on Sunday includes:
Scoping what would be entailed in the project
Developing ideas for a process
Deterring how to structure and organize the collaborations
Determining what would be needed to successfully contribute to the HEU


What: HEU Alternative
When: Sunday at 3pm
Who: Encinitas Residents
Where: Encinitas Library



Please share with your friends and readership.

Thank you for your past contributions to the city,

Kevin Cummins
Tom Frank
(2 of the 3)

22 comments:

  1. I still say this is gamesmanship on Muir's part, and played really well.

    He waited to make this offer until there isn't enough time or resources to do a good job, so the private alternatives will be pretty sad, probably--no threat of serious disruption to the official process.

    They may cherry pick one or two good ideas and incorporate them into the city plan, so they can claim they took the input seriously.

    In the 2016 ballot campaign, the city will make a big deal out of all the various methods they used over the years to assure that the ballot proposal reflects and incorporates the will of the citizens. This just becomes another facet of that PR campaign.

    Whether you like it or not, you have to respect the strategy.

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    Replies
    1. Yea, Muir finally does something.

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  2. Kevin- Is this the same group as Bob Bonde's or a different group?

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  3. Will this meeting come under the Brown Act?

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    1. I've seen this question asked elsewhere, and I have to say I am somewhat perplexed by it. Let's say I take Muir up on his offer, so I call MGJ, Cabezon, Marco, Lynn, Dr. Lori, Ehlers, Senor Varones, Fact Thrower, Julie, and the poster who always calls me a bottom dweller over to the ranch for some brainstorming and a libation or two. We'll call ourselves The Buck n' Snort Committee to Reevaluate Encinitas' Woeful Decisions (or BnSCREWD). Is it 11:03's contention that this meeting is covered by the Brown Act?

      - The Sculpin

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    2. 12:46 I don't think it takes much to perplex you.

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    3. Then isn't this a BA loophole? What's stopping the city from skirting the BA by invoking a citizen's panel (of their donors, mentors, allies, friends) to craft possible council actions for every contentious issue. The citizens panel would be free to explore back channel quid pro quo deals with various players without pesky transparency.

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    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    5. I'll take Sculpin up on his offer to meet at this ranch, have libations and brainstorm. Let us know when. I also love the name of the group:)

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  4. It would not be covered by the Brown Act, as there are no CIty officials there.

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  5. Not a bad idea Sculpin. Do you know who all of those posters real names are? Hard to call them if we don't know who they are.

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  6. 12:49 PM
    Cite the section of the Brown act that requires a city official to be present.
    The council approved a citizen community group, as yet unknown as to members' names, to provide an addition plan. The council sanctioned approved a city related group. The group is required to follow the Brown Act.

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    1. 1:01 - you state "The council approved a citizen community group..." Did it? I don't think it did. Was there a motion, a 2nd, and a vote? Per the Coast Dispatch, "Muir’s plan calls for community members interested in developing an alternative plan to self-organize and come up with a consensus alternative that they would present to the City Council at a meeting likely in March." Self-organize is the key phrase here. Is that Muir's phrase, or the reporters?

      - The Sculpin

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    2. "A divided City Council approved Councilman Mark Muir’s proposal to allow residents to create a community housing map group for the purpose of developing a housing map the city could use during its housing element process."

      https://thecoastnews.com/blog/2015/01/residents-will-have-chance-to-create-housing-map/

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  7. From the Coast News -

    "The community alternative plan must meet all state guidelines and environmental requirements. If it does, and passes City Council muster, the city could include the plan as an alternative to the city’s preferred alternative in the draft-housing element, which will then be reviewed by the city’s environmental consultant."

    Brown Act required.

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  8. The city has an Enviromental consultant?? Poor Sculpin ... you are screwed. All that horse shit needs to be disposed of with a approved waste management plan. Can't dump it in your garden to make the flowers grow....

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  9. Even if not required, these groups should want to conform to Brown Act requirements.

    Open and transparent is good, right? They need to have full disclosure of all private communications and potential conflicts.

    These groups are now authorized to act as agents of the city, as part of a larger city process to develop a formal ballot proposition.

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    1. It's not a formal arrangement; you're barking up the wrong tree (Brown Act). If you so interested in what they're discussing, why don't you join them? Pretty easy fix, eh?

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    2. Will they notice all public meetings, and avoid discussions away from the open meetings? Seems like a logical good governance practice.

      Why would they want to avoid transparency? Do they have something to hide?

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    3. The Brown Act applies to legislative bodies of public agencies' being required to have open meetings. A so-called "map group," as proposed, isn't part of our city government and wouldn't be a legislative body.

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  10. I want the name address and phone number of each of these people posted on the net ASAP. We have the right to know... c

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  11. Hello Kevin and Tom,

    It was a productive first meeting. Based on the discussion it is likely that we can come up with a strategy and plan that will be better, less divisive, than the city's current offering.

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