Thursday, March 17, 2016

Council to reconsider Cardiff Rail Trail; Blakespear changes position

Encinitas  Advocate:
The future of the Cardiff rail trail is in question.

At the request of Councilwoman Catherine Blakespear on March 16, the Encinitas City Council will reconsider its controversial decision to put the rail trail between the train tracks and San Elijo Avenue in Cardiff.

Blakespear was part of a council majority last spring that approved the rail trail — a biking and walking path that’s designed to appeal to casual cyclists and families. Her about-face at the March 16 council meeting opens the door for potentially moving the project west onto Coast Highway 101 or nixing it altogether.

“We supported a concept 10 months ago, and in that 10 months, new information has come to light that makes it so I no longer support that plan,” Blakespear said in an interview before the council meeting.

51 comments:

  1. She's a weasel. Just doing this for votes. Just like 6 months before the election the city repairs the roads...

    Vote OUT all incumbents!!!

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    1. I believe the name of the actual species you are referring get to is Coastal Weasle

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  2. The sound of Thunder ringing an end to her political aspirations had to have been deafening. hahaha. Thank you No on the Rail Trail for doing such a great job.

    Any chance you folks can come up with a couple of candidates or more to replace some the deadwood this year? It is just your type of of advocacy that we need so desperately on our council. There are many other issues we could use your help with. Come on down and show the thunder that seems to have made a difference with this ill conceived idea. I don't believe Tony will be getting much support from these folks since it was his idea to route this project off of the 101 and they all know it.

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    1. Flip-flopping Blakespear - thinking of her mayoral run, eh? Vote her out.

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  3. Catherine made a good decision, and whether she did it to get elected mayor, I could care less. At least she reviewed what the citizens showed her and decided that the project was a little more intense and costly than originally anticipated. Kranz is digging in his heels and is not budging. Shaffer isn't running so who cares what she thinks. I like Catherine. I liker her before, when she was for the Rail Trail( I am against it in the way it is configured now) and I like her even better now. Good politicians change their minds when given new evidence. And that is what Catherine did. I applaud her for that. If some of you want to be cynics, go right ahead. Personally, I think it's wonderful she listened to the community and reconsidered her stance.

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    1. She's a politician. Anything to get elected. After the election she'll reverse her opinion and screw you and her new supporters.

      Vote OUT all incumbents!!!

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    2. I believe you are correct. There is a reason Blakespear is on the sign with Krandom and Shaffer. Kranz and Shaffer told voters they backed prop A, then once elected the not only sided against residents they lied on the ballot statement sent to every voters in the city. Blakespear is just like them

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    3. I disagree 5:14. Catherine has voted with Kranz and Shaffer on most every issue. Catherine wrote a ridiculous colunm a year ago saying city finances are great- meanwhile we are paying for Pacific View interest , and we can't use it. Catherine like Kranz will say and do anything to get elected

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    4. You're easily swayed...

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  4. Ask her to rethink the pathetic fruitcake grove as well.

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  5. Catherine is smart. I couldn't agree more. The rest- not!!!

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  6. The trains going through San Clemente slow down from 80mph to 40mph... Why? Because the environmental impacts on the nearby homes close to the beach.

    Our councilmembers need to make a similar statement to trains crossing here in Encinitas.

    Make all the trains slow down to 40MPH just like they do in San Clemente!

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    1. Or they could responsibly double track this citizen owned railroad through Encinitas...

      Trench and cover the train tracks. Leaving a park on top connecting instead of seperating our neighborhoods from our schools, business district and beaches.

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  7. and then slow down in Oceanside, Carlsbad, Solana Beach, Del Mar... so much for the trains running on time!

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    1. If NCTD cared about mass transit times they could do a lot besides trench and covering tracks in Encinitas like they have in Solana Beach with a trench to mitigate impacts.

      Foremost is make a tunnel from Sorrento Valley to Mission Bay. As the train currently goes far inland to Miramar Marine Air Base and then back to the coast - costing the train 20 minutes on a 40 minute run.

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    2. That inland jog will make a lot of sense when sanity is restored and Lindbergh moves to Miramar.

      That property has more room, easy access to 52, 805, 15, 163, and coaster. It's located at the population centroid of the county (population-weighted center of the county). Development of the current airport property downtown will pay for the new airport, and an expansion of NAS El Centro with new facilities for the marines better suited to the new hardware they are getting (V-22, F35B).

      It will happen eventually. It makes too much sense.

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    3. No doubt Miramar should have been the San Diego International airport... but politicians like the conservative electorate that the Marine Air base there brings. And the Port District loves the money that is brought to their coffers from Lindberg Field. Hence why they fought against making Miramar which is the logical choice and desperately needed for a public Airport.

      Don't expect the Navy/Marined to give up Miramar with this political support and an official vote from San Diego opposing the move. Many in La Jolla do not want an International Airport at Miramar because of noise over their homes.

      We can still make a larger commuter airport at Palomar by extending that field. Which is the next logical choice considering what happened to Miramar.

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    4. Totally agree on all points 10:44.

      Still a decade down the line, there will be another BRAC process, and the Pentagon may decide they to consolidate out of Miramar, like they did at El Toro.

      Do we really need in one small area FIVE airfields? (Miramar, NOLF Imperial Beach, North Island, Pendelton, and El Centro)

      Imagine how inefficient the staffing, maintenance, and parts logistics is spread across five airfields. I've heard that the malfunctioning F18 that crashed into a house in the golden triangle flew right over North Island because the people and parts to fix it were at Miramar. Somebody had to die for that kind of inefficiency.

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    5. From the Cardiff Rail Trail to moving the airport. What a bunch of casuals.

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  8. This just goes to prove that the council should insist on having all relevant information available to them in order to make a good decision.

    This issue was too important for the community.

    Perhaps Blakespear realized her chances of becoming mayor were very thin. We need a whole new fresh bunch of people who will work for the citizens of this city.

    Dump all incumbents, including Blakespear.

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  9. Standard election year pandering!

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  10. Blakespear is solid and will make a great Mayor. I wish we had 5 like her.

    No more stupid PV moves. that one and the $3million dollar life guard tower sunk Kranz and shaffer.

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    1. Blakespear has voted in line with Shaffer and Kranz, important to remember Blakespear supported Pacific View at any price and did not support residents seeking leadership to be financially respojsible.

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    2. I think she made a wise choice on this, and that will definitely help her chance of becoming our next mayor. It's great when elected officials are flexible enough to change their minds in the face of populist sentiment and new facts. There's a good article about this on the front page of today's Coast News.

      All elected officials are politicians. That is the nature of their job. Their decisions should reflect what the voters want and need. There was so much controversy on this subject. Catherine did the right thing, and I am proud of her.

      Catherine didn't ever say she supported buying Pacific View at any cost. That was Barth, Shaffer and Kranz. When CB spoke on the subject, before she was elected, at the EUSD Board of Trustee, and at a City Council Meeting, she favored purchasing PV, but at a reasonable, publicly negotiated price.

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    3. 1:48 Blakespear voted along with Shaffer and Kranz to purchase PV at the very high price. Her words and actions don't seem to go together. All she had to say was NO not at this price.

      She has to show me a lot more before I can put my trust in her.

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    4. CB wasn't on Council went the vote went down to purchase PV at $10 Million. That happened under Barth, Kranz, Shaffer, with Vina as the City's "negotiator," in closed sessions, so without the public's knowledge or intent.

      You are factually incorrect, 2:36.

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    5. 4:35 My apology. I must have gotten her mixed up with BARF.

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  11. Blakspear should step away from Kranz and Shaffer and make her own right decisions. Leave losers to vote on their own losing prospects. Like PV.

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  12. Excepting a few boneheaded votes, I thought Catherine could be the one and the only keeper of the bunch. My faith has been tested by some of her wrong votes however. She might stillahve some value if she can divest herself from the future losers of her current majority.

    Tonight at the Planning Commission meeting, Julie Graboi nailed it perfectly, This community's biggest problem is with our traitorous Planning Depts. whoring out to every project that comes down the pike.

    Manjeet is just a leftover stooge from past administrations whoring out our town. Our energy should be directed toward him and his dept. Any expectations for progress will depend on new blood and a new community based planning dept.

    So many in Planning are deserving of being sent to the gallows for their traitorous behavior while supposedly representing our community. That we are paying them so handsomely to betray us all, has to end.

    Julie Graboi, good on you for directing this community's ire where it most belongs.

    I am beginning to feel some civic disobedience is needed to make it clear that Planning needs a major overhaul now, not after the coming election.

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    1. Did she talk about steam-cleaning sidewalks again?

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    2. Flaming torches and pitchforks!!!

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  13. It's not just planning. Engineering is a travesty and needs a major cleaning of deadwood

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    1. They can't get anything done on time, or in a decent amount of time.
      The folks at MOTODELI have been waiting nearly 2 years for planning and engineering to complete the plans and give approval.
      Is Encintias business friendly?? NOOOOO!!!!

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    2. Deli is small tax potatoes, back burner stuff. David Meyer? Right this way, sir!

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    3. Question: What companies were in line for rail trail contracts and what are their associations with the pro folks, council members, and NCTD board members? Just asking. Always follow the money.

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    4. Same thing goes for the disastrous plan to put six roundabouts on Historic Highway 101, which most business owners and residents, most voters, don't want or need. Follow the money on that one, too.

      When there is so much controversy, and so many have signed petitions against a pie in the sky, shoot-for-the-moon plan, seemingly propelled by special interests and openly biased engineers/consultants/lobbyists, then a good elected rep would welcome a public vote to assess the public's true wants and needs.

      The vast majority of bicyclists are recreational, and mostly on weekends. We should not take away two lanes of our highway for roundabouts, which would be more unsafe for the bicyclists than what is presently in place.

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    5. 4:44-

      Google the value of Roundabouts and streetscape.

      Learn good Street Design. Geez....

      Your comments are kind of embarrassing.

      Regards,

      Anon

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    6. I have a better idea. Ask Leucadians if they want their part of town to look like a theme park.

      Buh-bye, Streetscam.

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  14. The story in the UT today paints a different picture. Catherine the Great's recant of action will not be revisited until at least April or May. Gaspar is quoted as saying that the Trail may not be stopped because SANDAG has already spent $600,000 to $700,000 of taxpayer money on the design plans.

    Thanks a lot Catherine the Great.

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    1. Interesting as the GOP locally is backing Abed for supervisor, is Gaspar preparing to take on Blakespear
      ?

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  15. 9:16am you are an a hole and sound like the typical post from as.ream or his even lower lownessssssss. Julie has so much more credibility than either of you could ever hope for. Moving on.

    12:20pm spot on. Follow the money. Better yet, a forensic audit is so long overdue. So much would become clear if this could ever become a reality. In the meantime, going after our acting ? acting indeed, planning director Manjeet, is paramount to have any progress in this long election year ahead of us all. He will squander millions of OUR limited funds trying to legitimize his worth while trying to bamboozle the unaware public on the HEU. It is destined to fail. We will not be sold a perfumed turd, Manjeet. You are destined for the scrap pile, so please submit your resignation now and follow Jeff Murphy, Gus Vina, Lisa Rudloff, and so many other despicable staff members who have vacated.

    If Manjeet chooses to hand around, he will become more and more of a target at every council or planinng commission meeting and deservedly so.

    If this community can do anything, it should direct its efforts toward Manjeet as Julie Graboi suggested, Thursday evening at the Planning Commission meeting. He and his whoring Planning Dept. should be cleaned out if we can ever expect any progress. They are traitors to this community and should be treated as such every freaking time they present their tainted opinion on anything. They are compromised to the hilt and deserve no respect from any caring and aware citizen who has been paying attention.

    Karen, it is well past time to sweep this dept. clean. Please step up. You know what needs to happen. Please don't wait any longer. Getting rid of Rudloff is a good start to restoring some confidence that you are what this community needs.





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    1. Usually you aren't supposed to respond to your own comments....

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  16. 8:24pm - What you really need is someone to rewrite state law and wipe the density bonus low income requirements from state law. State law trumps local code every time. If you don't like it move to Florida. I may.

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    1. So far it's going the opposite way. A new bill introduced this year includes the following addition to the DB statute:

      "(q) Each component of any density calculation, including base density and bonus density, resulting in factional units shall by separately rounded up to the next whole number. The Legislature finds and declares that this provision is declaratory of existing law.
      "(r) This chapter shall be interpreted liberally in favor of producing the maximum number of total housing units."

      While it's too early to tell if this bill will gain any traction or how it will get amended, but clearly it favors tighter restrictions rather than loosening them up. There are other bills of similar ilk.

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    2. You'd be expecting Politicians to be intelligent. Messing with free markets makes no sense from the State level when the housing market is so differentiated needing local planning for management - not state.

      We can rest assured the State will continue to mess this up by dictating what local government need to do.

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  17. What is the deal with Manjeet at Planning Commission meetings recently?

    He stands up and walks out during meetings or disappears for 10-20 minutes. Then he comes back in and sits down for a while and then stands up and leaves again when people like Peter Stern speak.

    I am not talking about the occasional, unplanned potty breaks for some of our more senior commissioners. That is certainly justifiable, but even THEY are always back in a few minutes every now and then.

    I don't know what Manjeet is doing, but as the expert and the main advisor to the Commission, is it too much to ask that he sits through the meeting for which he is paid as the authority? He is the only guy who is paid $80 per hour. Everyone else is there on a voluntary basis except the CA. The commissioners get paid $50 per meeting, but that is really just a token amount.

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    1. Or in the middle of proceedings when he sneaks behind Commissioners and whispers in their ears. Is that even allowed?

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  18. Manjeet has to be hearing the roar of our community calling for his immediate dismissal and looks to be scrambling to still have some relevance. How he is still here is disappointing, to say the least.

    Any council members who are resisting this needed action, please know it is to your own peril. You will be voted out if you continue to hold on to this pariah in your midst and this goes for a number of his staff members, just as well.

    We have been lied to by him and his dept. automatons on too many occasions to expect anything less from you, our elected representatives.

    If you want to have any support at all in this election year, you know what needs to be done. Don't wait.

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  19. New city council scandal. Council vote on Wednesday will buy them at least 2000 votes for the November election.
    Council has promised the Encinitas Soccer Express (1500 members) artificial turf and 60-70 feet tall stadium lights on Leo Mullen sports park. City's not requiring any environmental review.
    Cost will be over a million dollars and taxpayers are footing the bill because the promised grants have disappeared.
    Turfgate and Stadium lights gate.

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  20. This is a designated day use park. Before lights of any ht can installed, this has to be addressed.

    Soccer Express needs to cover these costs and not rely on the 99 per cent of the citizens to pay for their every need.

    Put your money where your mouth is Soccer Express.

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