9/28/16 City Council meeting open thread

The current city council has continued prior councils' practice of not providing written summary minutes of council discussion, but only "action minutes" which state the outcomes. Encinitas Undercover will provide a forum for observers to record what occurs at each council meeting.

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Local Summer arrives late

In the 1890's, early German settlers in Olivenhain coined the term "Lokalen Sommer," referring to that time from early September to early October hen the Zonies headed back home and the grommets were back in school, but the weather remained spectacular and the beaches were all for locals.



In the tradition of those early settlers, Encinitans from every corner (especially Merle), rejoice in Local Summer to this day.

This year, September got off to a cool and damp start.  But Local Summer has finally arrived!

Trouble in Paradise?

From the Inbox:

What goes on at D St. that they need such a lengthy dress code full of anti-gang references?

The D Street bar was the site of a stabbing a few years ago.

Lisa Shaffer: if everyone who lives in Encinitas would just work in Encinitas, then high-density Measure T wouldn't create any traffic nightmares

Lisa Shaffer's newsletter:

If people can live in Encinitas near to where they work, especially for bigger employers like Scripps Hospital, that can reduce traffic. Most of the people who work in Encinitas do not live here because housing is not accessible. Commuters create a bigger traffic impact than if they could live nearby and walk or bike a few blocks to their jobs.

Remind us again what the population of Encinitas is and how many people work at Scripps Encinitas and where the massive Encinitas business parks are?

9/21/16 City Council meeting open thread

The current city council has continued prior councils' practice of not providing written summary minutes of council discussion, but only "action minutes" which state the outcomes. Encinitas Undercover will provide a forum for observers to record what occurs at each council meeting.

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Miraculous appearance of Surfing Madonna in Leucadia

More than five years after the Miracle of the Surfing Madonna, the image of the Madonna has once again appeared, this time in a tree by a trailer park on Vulcan in Leucadia.



Locals believe Mary has appeared to herald the return of the Surfing Madonna Beach Run, set for October 15.

Is there a doctor in the house?

From the Inbox:

A lot of us would gently roll our eyes when confronted with the Art History PhD who insists on being called "doctor." But few are aware that the use of "doctor" as a title in a variety of healthcare roles is controversial, because it can be confusing to patients. The problem is serious enough that the American Physical Therapy Association has issued guidelines that any Physical Therapist using the title "Doctor" in a clinical setting must clarify that they are in fact not a physician.

In the context of the controversy, it is noteworthy that Encinitas mayoral candidate "Doctor" Paul Gaspar chooses to use the title, but certainly not disqualifying. The fact that he uses the title 17 times on the brief homepage of his campaign website begins to raise one eyebrow.

But, it's still not disqualifying.

Where it really goes wrong is the large-font campaign slogan that Paul Gaspar puts at the top of every single page of his campaign website:

"Prescribing Common Sense for Encinitas"

Prescribing. That's worth both eyebrows and a "wow."

pre·scribe
prəˈskrīb/
verb
(of a medical practitioner) advise and authorize the use of (a medicine or treatment) for someone, especially in writing. "Dr. Greene prescribed magnesium sulfate" synonyms: write a prescription for, authorize "the doctor prescribed antibiotics"

Do you get it? He's a "doctor" and he's going to "prescribe" common sense for Encinitas.

There's one tiny problem. Paul Gaspar has never been to medical school.

He doesn't have an M.D. He's not a physician.

Paul Gaspar can't "prescribe" anything, because he's not that kind of doctor, but he certainly wants you to think so.

Without an advanced degree in Psychology, I can't tell you if the use of these terms is evidence of a specific mental disorder. But as a lay person, I can state the obvious: that Paul Gaspar thinks he's smart enough to dance on the head of a pin and play clever word games in an attempt to mislead and confuse the good people of Encinitas.

That's a skill set we've seen often enough in politics, and it is disqualifying.

Well, if Kristin Gaspar can call herself an "educator" on the ballot based on volunteering in her kids' schools, we guess Paul can play "doctor."

9/14/16 City Council meeting open thread

The current city council has continued prior councils' practice of not providing written summary minutes of council discussion, but only "action minutes" which state the outcomes. Encinitas Undercover will provide a forum for observers to record what occurs at each council meeting.

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Phil Graham wants to protect Encinitas' bays

Ever get the feeling this guy is just cut-and-pasting his campaign from somewhere else?

Measure T impact on Olivenhain

The Waves to Ride blog has taken an in-depth look at the impact of Measure T's high-density development on Cardiff, Leucadia, Old Encinitas, and New Encinitas.

Now, Olivenhain:

If Measure T Passes, Plan to Idle More on Olivenhain’s Rancho Santa Fe Road

[...]

Traffic is heavy at and near the intersection of Encinitas Boulevard, Rancho Santa Fe Road and Manchester Avenue. The string of stop signs and traffic lights on Rancho Santa Fe Road backs up traffic in long, maddening lines every day. Packing more people and businesses in high-density developments at Olivenhain’s main intersection would only magnify an already difficult problem.

And the Grand Finale:

The Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) numbers have varied wildly. If the RHNA number the city is required to upzone to meet is 1,093 units, and the 82 percent buffer to 1,987 units is only to ensure the 1,093 number is met, why does the proposed plan say the upzoning creates “an opportunity for at least 1,987 units that are allowed by-right”?

Remember that “by-right” means a voter-approved Measure T would “pre-empt local discretionary land use approvals of specified housing developments by having all such approvals be considered ‘ministerial’ actions, meaning eliminating opportunities for public review, project-level environmental review and restricting design review.”

If the city had worked with residents rather than catering to developers and other special interests, we could have found a way to comply with state housing law without further urbanizing our city, destroying its small town look and feel, overpopulating it, and producing more traffic and crowds everywhere. And there wouldn’t have been several lawsuits to drain hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.

All this begs the question: Why did the city take the route it did? We can only speculate: The city is using the state housing law to ensure city solvency by urbanizing Encinitas to gain more building permit and property tax revenue, and by increasing the population to gain more sales tax revenue. Increasing revenues also perpetuates extremely high compensation packages and pensions for employees. Through this years-long fiasco, the city ignored resident input because it was contrary to what they had already decided to do. Sadly, that’s par for the course.

[...]

We’ll vote NO on Measure T and we hope it fails. If it does, we call upon the City Council to abandon its devotion to city staff, developers and “stakeholders” and, from November 8 forward, to represent the best interests of Encinitas residents. City Council members should remember who elected them.

Brandenburg opposes Measure T?

From the comments:

Tony Brandenburg says he is voting against T; he says that while he voted as a member of the Planning Commission to place Prop T on the Ballot for November so the voters are empowered to choose, he doesn't believe it does enough to create any affordable housing. He also couldn't understand why there wasn't any ability to make changes to At Home In Encinitas when it came before the Planning Commission in late May?

It looks like Brandenburg is the only candidate for council that is against Prop T out of the 7 council/mayor candidates.

Cardiff candidate forum open thread

Tonight at 6 p.m. in the Ada Harris School auditorium, 1508 Windsor Road.

Former Encinitas triathlete arrested in plot to murder husband in Carlsbad

NBC 7:

Diana Lovejoy, 43, and Weldon McDavid Jr., 49, were arrested Thursday near their homes in Carlsbad and Fallbrook, respectively, police said. They were charged with Attempted Murder, Conspiracy, Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Assault with Great Bodily Injury.

Investigators say the pair conspired and planned the shooting, which happened in early September.

Authorities say McDavid, an employee at a local shooting range in Oceanside where the victim reportedly took lessons, called the victim and arranged a meeting on the access road off Avenida Soledad the night of the shooting.

[...]

Lovejoy, also charged in the shooting, is the estranged spouse of the victim, police say.

Police are still piecing together why Lovejoy and McDavid conspired to shoot the victim, as well as the connection between the two suspects, said Chief Neil Gallucci.

Lovejoy is a UCSD graduate and was a competitive amateur triathlete when she lived in Encinitas 10 years ago.

Cardiff candidate forum Monday night

Encinitas Advocate:

With election season descending upon the city of Encinitas, tradition will hold as the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Town Council, in coordination with The League of Women Voters, is slated to host the first public election forum for Encinitas City Council and Mayoral candidates on Sept. 12.

[...]

6 p.m. in the Ada Harris School auditorium, 1508 Windsor Road

Despite push for full-time, pensioned "Lorax" on staff, city decides to massacre 2nd & 3rd Street ficus trees

November 2015:

Encinitas officials are looking for an in-house arborist who can speak for the trees.

Call it the city’s very own Lorax.

The council at last week’s meeting voted unanimously to direct City Manager Karen Brust to determine if they can staff the position in-house with existing personnel.

September 2016:

Four massive ficus trees in downtown Encinitas will be removed within the coming weeks, despite a neighborhood push to save the towering plants.

Public Works Director Glenn Pruim delivered that news during an emotion-packed community meeting Tuesday, saying the purpose of the gathering was to collect input on how to replace the trees — not to revisit the city’s decision to yank them.

Dozens of people said the targeted trees — two in the 600 block of Second Street and two in front of rental housing at 1011 Third Street — are an integral part of the neighborhood’s character and help soften the effects of noise from downtown bars and restaurants.

"We have been under siege for years ... (removing the trees) is going to make it worse," said Third Street resident Joe McNelley.

Next to meet the city's chain saws: Leucadia's historic eucalyptuses.

Suicide at D Street

10 News

An apparently suicidal man laid down on the railroad tracks near the Encinitas Transit Station and was fatally struck by an oncoming train, authorities said today.

A northbound Pacific Sun freight train struck the victim on the tracks running across East D Street shortly before midnight, sheriff's Deputy Marcus Levine said. The name of the person killed was not immediately available.

The engineer told authorities a man stepped out in front of the train and laid on the tracks, ignoring the locomotive's warning horn. The train was traveling at about 48 miles per hour. The man died at the scene, Levine said.

If Voters Pass Measure T, High-Density Housing Could Clog New Encinitas

Waves to Ride.

Teresa Barth's "Engage Encinitas" to push high-density development Measure T

Engage Encinitas:

Housing has been in the news a lot lately. Is it a crisis? What is affordable housing? Why don't developers build housing most people can afford? Can government help? Why does it matter? As part of its Citizens Academy series, Engage Encinitas invites you to dig deeper into the topic of housing in Encinitas.

The discussion is not intended to be a 'debate' about the Ballot Measure rather an opportunity to learn more about this complex topic.

Hear from a panel of experts who will discuss what's possible or probable, the regulatory challenges and the economic, environmental and social impacts to our city and the San Diego region.

The discussion will be moderated by USD Professor Norm Miller. Panelist will be:
Keith Harrison, Encinitas resident and real estate investor
Josh Lichtman, Resident and real estate professional
Stephen Russell, San Diego Housing Federation, Executive Director

Keith Harrison is a 101 commercial property owner who would get a huge financial windfall from Measure T's upzoning to high-density 3-story buildings. We don't know Josh Lichtman, but as a self-described "real estate professional," we're pretty sure he's going to be in favor of pushing more high-density development on Encinitas.  Stephen Russell's SDHF is a high-density-pushing front group backed by SANDAG, developers, and mortgage lenders.

Conspicuously absent from from Engage Encinitas' "opportunity to learn" are any neighbors and community members opposed to the high-density development agenda.

As for the "affordable housing" in the catch line?  Read the fine print. There's nothing affordable about Measure T's high-density luxury condos.

Measure T's impact on Cardiff

Previously, the Waves to Ride blog looked at Measure T's high-density impact on Leucadia and Old Encinitas. Now, Waves to Ride sets its sights on Cardiff:

But the planners have built in an 82 percent buffer, so the proposed plan upzones to allow at least 1,987 units by right. "By right" means a voter-approved Measure T would "pre-empt local discretionary land use approvals of specified housing developments by having all such approvals be considered 'ministerial' actions, meaning eliminating opportunities for public review, project-level environmental review and restricting design review."

None of the at least 1,987 units are guaranteed to be affordable for people earning very low or low incomes, as defined by the feds and the state. If voters pass Measure T, some affordable units might become available if density bonus and/or inclusionary units come into play.