Sunday, March 6, 2016

Cardiff Rail Trail fight heats up

Seaside Courier:


... and these signs have been popping up in Cardiff:






67 comments:

  1. Quality editorial cartoon. I disagree with the message, but it's well done and conveys several messages well.
    The Gang of Three look like the cast of "King of the Hill," but I like that show, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who is drawing these cartoons and writing the Seaside Courier's editorials? Never seen a byline or a listing of who is part of their editorial board, as is typical with a newspaper. Shady "journalism." Not saying I agree or disagree with the cartoon, but inquiring minds want to know.

      Delete
    2. I believe the publisher is Alice Jacobson, a long-time resident of Encinitas, former commissioner, and political ally of Jerome Stocks.

      I too was curious about the lack of a signature attached to the cartoon.

      Delete
    3. Alice Jacobson indeed owns and is the publisher of the Seaside Courier. She is also a longtime resident, a former commissioner, but my understanding is she is no longer all that cozy with Stocks. She is also on the Board of the Community Resource Center, and is founder of Hand to Hand, a non-profit where women help women. She is not as "demonic" as some have made her to be.

      Delete
    4. Good for her for being involved in so many great causes, but she has no business running a newspaper. It's wrong and unethical to publish cartoons and editorials without a byline or at least saying who's part of the editorial board.

      Delete
    5. 4:43 and 8:42, sour grapes. You don't have to read her's or any newspaper you think shows bias. I, for one, find that the Seaside Courier has presented stories with the views of both sides represented. The editorials are just that, opinions, and all of us are entitled to one.

      As for the cartoon - amazing. If you see it and obsess not about the content but the cartoonist, then you have some issues to iron out.

      Delete
  2. Kranz does the beer aspect - -but he recycles!

    ReplyDelete
  3. 7:23- Last May the City Council, in a vote of 3-2 voted YES on a project that no one still understands. What did they vote on? This project has several aspects, including a quiet zone at Montgomery, which we now find we cannot have. But the Council wants to build a crossing at Montgomery, which means that the sounds of the train horns will be blasted right into the neighborhood, including Cardiff Elementary and Ada Harris School. Chesterfield is getting reconfigured so who knows how that will affect this trail. Wouldn't it have made more sense to wait and see what the whole thing would look like before voting upon any of it? I think that is why so many residents are upset. This will cost a lost of money, and don't be fooled by the Council saying SANDAG is paying for it. They are only paying for a small amount. The rest is taxpayer money, no matter where you live in Encinitas. This is NOT a Cardiff issue. It is an issue of fiscal responsibility. In a time when our roads could use some serious work; where we need money for other infrastructure items, wouldn't it have made sense to wait? It seems as if some Council members these days wants their name on something. Barth has her fruit grove at Glen Park, compliments of taxpayer money. Shaffer, if you remember, ran on "Maggie's Choice". Of course, she says she is not running again, but rumor has it it she is. Kranz is running again and he is on the NCTD board that is a part of this boondoggle. Some say he was the man who wanted this in the first place, and he is not budging. In fact, he is angry at the engineering dept. who told the Council that there is a good chance the Montgomery crossing cannot happen, as it is too close to Chesterfield. Even the YES on the trail people have been changing their minds. Please read more about it before actually disagreeing with the message. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SANDAG is paying for the vast majority.
      Yes, please read more.

      Delete
    2. 1:06- And where exactly do you think SANDAG gets its money? Taxpayers that's who. Also, SANDAG is not paying for the vast majority of what is now proposed. I suggest you look over the new proposals such as the "at grade" crossing at Montgomery. That is NOT a SANDAG project.

      Delete
  4. Preserve the Cardiff Rail Corridor? Because the tracks are so sexy....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Apparently, cement is?

      Delete
    2. 11:07 someone long ago, in this case Teddy Roosevelt, called out "timid souls" like you more eloquently than I can. "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

      Delete
    3. Yet nothing has been accomplished! Taxpayers $ being squandered and wasted, this is our present councils legacy. Got Pacific View?

      Delete
  5. It's true, the yes people are seeing what a mess this rail trail actually is. No Huntingtonbeachification of Encinitas!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Major projects need to be voted upon by the electorate - city councils can no longer be trusted.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Since all of Encinitas taxpayers will have skin in this game, it should be voted on by the people. This is a major undertaking that has severe implications.

    It is very hard to trust this council with good decision making.

    ReplyDelete
  8. 1:58 It seems to be true that this Council has made some pretty strange choices as to where our money should be spent. Pacific View comes to mind, as does this Rail Trail. Perhaps we need a different and maybe a less ego filled council than the one we currently have?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I agree.... BORROW $13 Million in DEBT to pay for an overpriced $4 million dollar piece of property and design a $3 million non sustainable lifeguard tower in the surf zone, go $3 million dollars more in DEBT on a structure that should not be built.

    Meanwhile the streets crumble and Beacons access fails.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe Shaffer can station herself there and give guided escorts down the perilous bluff face at Beacons! Or bobsled down the trail with Kranz's empty beer cans as a track! Muir has Styrofoam containers from In N' Out to cushion the fall. Gaspar can donate her sand from the sand and rocks demonstration. And Blakespear can dress in her Mayoral sash and command the bluffs to stabilize by Imperial decree!

      Delete
    2. Remember both Gaspar and Muir voted against P.V. and the Rail Trail. Not saying they are great, but they are more fiscally responsible.

      Delete
    3. 9:35 Fiscally responsible? You can only be fiscally responsible if your vote counted to save the city money. Muir and Gaspar did not win the PV vote - they lost and the score was 3-2. So, in my estimation, the city will shell out big bucks. This is NOT fiscally responsible. Their vote actually meant nothing.

      Delete
  10. I think it is Mission Beach, where homeowners have stalled the construction of a lifeguard tower on the beach. They are using the technicality of non-notification as their rationale - they did not have the option of submitting comments. The mega-tower on Moonlight needs to be scaled back from its current Taj Mahal design - there is no justification for this over-priced monolith.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And tear down the scaffolding structure in Cardiff State Beach Lifeguard Tower... what an eyesore!

      Delete
  11. I emailed Kranz, Shaffer and Blakespear regarding the rail trail a couple months ago and raised some concerns with the rail trail being on the east side of the tracks and the parking study. I suggested the rail trail should stay on the 101.

    Shaffer told me that she wants to make parking more efficient and she would "consider" paid parking to help offset the cost of road crossings. She also wants to "set" policy to elminate green house gas emissions from vehicles and considers free and easy parking at the beach one component of change.

    She also said that the rail trail has alway been envisioned on the east side of the tracks since Jerome Stocks. While I'm not a Jerome Stocks fan, I did not agree with that statement and could be wrong.

    Kranz did not even bother to write back.

    Blakespear's response was respectful and pleasant even though she stated that she'll fight for the rail trail because she believes that it will have a light impact on the existing location of the trail.

    Has anyone seen how terrible the 101 is thru coastal downtown?? Too bad they can't repair the main road our community.

    I actually voted for Kranz and Schaffer last time but will be changing my vote this year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And you want to direct more bikes to 101 and not the rail trail?

      Delete
    2. The biggest problem on the 101 through central downtown Encinitas is parking... one good thing they could do with Pacific View is putting in a parking Garage underground and a park/school/arts complex on top.

      Delete
  12. Shaffer has been dying to charge for parking for quite awhile now. With City finances "in fine shape," one wonders why her meter mania?

    And her free and easy parking comment...why on earth would you want to discourage or limit access to the beach? Stupid notion both for residents and business, not that DEMA would dare challenge the city over reduced tourism dollars. The org, along with the other 101s, are too beholden to do anything but go along with city hall dictates.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 12:24- You have just answered my question, that I had yet to ask. I was wondering why the Mainstreet Organization, especially in Cardiff, is in favor of this plan. Made no sense until now. Thanks. Also, for whatever reason, Marco Gonzales is also in favor of the Rail trail. Isn't he supposed to be an environmentalist? Go figure.

      Delete
    2. All 101s were against Prop A per the city's directive. Dody Crawford, then-head of DEMA, was the nastiest in carrying out Gus Vina's mission to kill Prop A.

      The Leucadia 101 claimed not to follow the Prop A opposition requirement, but members at the time had seen the email come down from Vina, so don't let the L-101 crew fool you. Cardiff was similarly compliant.

      Delete
    3. Parking is a problem throughout coastal Encinitas... put nobody is addressing it.

      Other than Blakespear's plan for a rail trail - err double tracking of the railroad and removing even more parking and removing beach access that needs to be increased!

      Delete
  13. Marco's reputation of environmentalism has been sqaundered and sold out by his turning to the dark side following the developers deep pockets.

    Last year that couldn't have become more apparent when he showed up at council meetings dressed in black from head to toe while at the same time speaking at the podium and threatening to sew everyone in sight if he didn't get what he wanted.

    For a grown man, he came off as quite juvenile. He has sold his soul and relinquished any of his past good works for the almighty dollar. One would think being successful would give him the space to work for the betterment of his chosen community. That is not the case, as recent history has repeatedly shown us.

    The man in black is just that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He also wore a hoodie and had his baseball cap on backward. If that ain't juvenile, I don't know what is.

      Delete
    2. Was that the night he wore glittery earrings?

      I remember reading about this outfit on line!

      Delete
    3. That dude is a bigger Kook than the statue. Small time lawyer from a crappy little law school. Laugh that poser out of the next meeting. REAL lawyers don't threaten to make a point, they carefully articulate but you must be intelligent to do that.

      Drop in on that kook, maybe he will move, to New Jersey.

      Delete
  14. It looked like he had just come from one his downtown bar buddies where he drinks for free, so that could explain the lack of reverence he exhibited while threatening any and all who stood in the way of anything he wanted while at the podium. He couldn't have come off any more disrespectful of the proceedings that night, so imagining him loosening up before the council meeting with a couple of libations is not out of the question. His ego was well primed that night whether he was under the influence or not.

    Juvenile seems the appropriate term for what I witnessed. Wa, wa, wa,wa, wa wa, wa. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yes, sorry I left out the earings as part of darkman costume he showed up in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marco's good works: Extorting money from cities because of fireworks.
      Cabezon

      Delete
  16. This is off topic but has anyone noticed the new lit up starfish decorations on the 101 hwy. lamp posts are hung in a way that make them look like Satanic stars (2 points up)? Not all of them but many of them. This is disturbing if this was done intentionally.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Too much time on your hands. The things have been up since before Christmas and you're just now noticing?

      It's always the Christians who get all paranoid and cook up this nonsense. You folks are "saved," so no worries about the devil - right?

      Delete
    2. Whoa there 2:54 - don't jump to conclusions! It's not clear to me why 2:01 feels disturbed that many but not all of the stars are 2 points up. Perhaps 2:01 feels that ALL the stars should look like satanic stars and be 2 points up!

      - The Sculpin

      Delete
    3. No conclusion jumping...just too much experience with folks who freak on this kind of thing.

      Delete
    4. Maybe the city is promoting the TV series "Lucifer" - will there be naming rights too? The Daily Double can be Lucifer's Lair!
      7-11 will be 666! Oh, the possibilities!

      Delete
    5. I don't see God designing starfish as wicked creatures. I do see a lot of paranoid people making mountains out of molehills. I don't even think Satan would approve of floppy looking pentagrams. And that's what I do an don't think.

      Delete
    6. "I don't see God designing starfish as wicked creatures."

      Now who's being naive?

      Delete
  17. Well the devil might as well be on council, would blend right in. Probably would "fire" planning.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The devil is in the details. haha. If it took Lucifer to get us a forensic audit that would be one deal worth considering. Just think of all the slackers down there at city hall he would find and take with him when he moves on to the next gathering of slackers getting by with hiring out most the work they are paid so handsomely to do themselves and don't. A little eternal justice would be most welcomed.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I see 5 phallic symbols!

    ReplyDelete
  20. These rail trail signs are fair game and simply point out a viewpoint and attribute the cause. Word is that Kranz went ballistic when they started popping up around town, dropping f-bombs, puffing out his chest and snorting through his nose. The guy lacks the temperament for politics, and it's not too late for him to give Mixed Martial Arts a try.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He is very stubborn. His chances for re-election are better with so many seats open, and with Catherine Blakespear likely to be the new mayor, opening another seat.

      Delete
  21. That description of Tony sounds about right. Shaffer is seeing the rail trail blunder implode, the chance of assigning her name to it evaporate, and is probably scouting out parks where she can claim a parcel for her own fruit trees. Lisa, do us a favor and at least apply for a permit.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Kranz the king can kiss any reelection goodbye. See how long the Leichtag foundation supports him.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I wish everything could stay the same and there were not as many people here. It can't.
    What the Mayor and Muir are encouraging is a very dangerous parking situation for cars, bikes and pedestrians along San Elijo.
    They are endorsing beach access by way of breaking federal law and crossing the tracks
    Illegally rather than providing legal crossings along the rail corridor.
    NCTD is going to put a fence up. Rail trail or no rail trail. It will not be the massive spooky fence that is depicted in the no rail trail video.
    There are No Plans to concrete over the entire area. They will not defoliate all the plants that exist now.
    Putting the bike and rail trail on the east side would dump everything onto downtown.
    Its all Kranz, Blakesphere and Schaffer how are conspiring to make our overcrowded city safer. The Mayor wants to encourage illegal beach access.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The people should have a prescriptive right of easement over the tracks. What Federal Law are you talking about? It wasn't enforced for many years, and now is, sporadically. People continue to cross. What should be illegal is private interests or those allegedly acting "in the public trust" taking our right of access away.

      Delete
    2. People have been crossing these tracks ever since they have been built without any serious problems.

      Just like we have a lack of cross walks on our roads. We have a lack of crossing on the railroad tracks. Both cut off responsible people from walking in our fine neighborhoods.

      What should be illegal is the expansion of roads or railroad tracks without providing safe walking access to the beaches and city we love!

      Trench and cover the tracks and put a parkway on top for all to enjoy.

      Delete
  24. What Blakespear and her cronies is encouraging is the cutting off of parking from the beach that has been used for nearly a hundred years in Encinitas without any problem... Just so they can ram down a double tracking plan from SANDAG down our throats.

    Trench and cover the tracks so double tracking can occur and the environmental impacts on the citizens of this citizen owned railroad can occur responsibly!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Double tracking already runs through Cardiff. Now what's Blakesoear's reason for pushing this absurdity?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Double tacking does run all through Cardiff. Half of it is double track. The balance, to the south will have double tracks.

    ReplyDelete
  27. The second track running through part of Cardiff is a passing track. Not double tracking...

    The citizen's owned railroad NCTD in conjunction with SANDAG wants to double track the entire corridor of Encinitas. And is doing it by incrementalism to avoid a real discussion and the planning and engineering for double tracking in Encinitas. The Passing Track and the Chesterfield crossing and the Rail Trail are examples of this.

    If we let NCTD/SANDAG continue the fiasco we will have a double track here sooner with all the negative consequences... Blakespear is their new weapon to do this damage to our city.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Part of Blakespear new proposal with NCTD is to remove beach parking and access with the rail trail. Putting up a fence to deny citizens the access to the beach used for over a century here.

    Our citizens need to stand proud and united to deny this travesty of cutting our city in apart by means that do not show their true intention!

    ReplyDelete
  29. NCTD has applied for a grant to fund a fence independent from the rail trail.

    It's coming.

    "Citizen-owned" is a stupid argument. "We" also own Camp Pendelton, I-5, Lindbergh Field, Miramar Landfill, etc. All of these public assets have security and public safety issues that call for active management, strict rules, and controlled access. If you think we should be able to go picnic in the Whiskey/Zulu artillery impact area because it's "citizen owned," well then--actually--on second thought--please do that.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Why would Mayor Gaspar and Muir argue against the rail trail because it would block beach access when they do or should know that the fence is coming independently of the SANDAG funded rail trail?
    Politics?

    ReplyDelete
  31. Wow, 11:46 AM, please reread everything in their open letter from January.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Citizen owned is a perfect argument to require that the NCTD report to the citizens... Just like any company reports to their shareholders.

    Furthermore the environmental impacts of this railroad expansion should consider the effects on the neighborhoods it traverses. Just like somebody expanding a road at the front door of anybody's home.

    But of course NCTD does not want to hear these arguments. As the bully often does in a schoolyard.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Trench and cover the tracks... it is the only long term solution to responsible double tracking in the City of Encinitas!

    ReplyDelete