Psycho killers

Trial begins in the case of former Encinitas triathlete Diana Lovejoy, who seems to have hired a hitman to kill her husband, and did an absolutely awful job of covering her tracks:

Former Marine and shooting instructor McDavid told Lovejoy he would have tactical advantage if the ambush could take place during a new moon (that is, no visible moon). Lovejoy then made an internet search to find the date of the next new moon, which was September 1, 2016. Her estranged husband Greg Mulvihill was shot that night.

The conspirators obtained “Pinger” numbers to aid their secret communications, according to the prosecutor.

Lovejoy selected a place she knew her husband was familiar with, the “Switchback Trails,” and she informed McDavid that her husband would agree to meet there for the alleged planned ambush.

Stupid is as stupid does:

Carlsbad police traced the call that lured Mulvihill to a burner phone bought in mid-August in Encinitas. They looked at the store’s surveillance video, and identified Lovejoy as the buyer.

Another meeting on council district maps

City announcement:

   Additional public meeting set to discuss proposed voting districts

Oct. 30 meeting will give residents another chance to weigh in

ENCINITAS, CA - The City of Encinitas has added another public meeting for residents to review and discuss proposed voting districts as part of the city's exploration of district-based elections. The meeting will be held on Monday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. at Encinitas City Hall, 505 S. Vulcan Avenue.

This added meeting will give residents one more chance to review and provide comments on the proposed boundaries before the City Council is anticipated to vote for its preferred option at its Nov. 8, 2017 meeting.

Draft boundary maps are also available to view online by visiting www.encinitasca.gov and searching "draft maps." Residents may provide comments about the maps via email at encinitas@ndcresearch.com or in person at the Oct. 30 meeting.

Since August, the City of Encinitas is in the process of exploring the transition to a system where City Council members are elected by district instead of serving at-large. If approved, the new system would begin with the November 2018 election.

So far, the city has held three public meetings on the topic. The Oct. 30 and Nov. 8 meetings will round out the public outreach on this issue. Both will be held at 6 p.m. at Encinitas City Hall.

For more information, please visit www.encinitasca.gov or call (760) 633-2600.

Seems to me five districts that map as closely as possible to the five communities makes the most sense. Of course, part of New Encinitas and/or eastern Cardiff would have to go with Olivenhain to balance out the population. What do you think?

10/18/17 City Council meeting open thread

On tonight's agenda: marijuana!



Please use the comments to record your observations.

Prediction:

Muir NO
Kranz YES
Mosca NO
Blakespear YES
Boerner NO

UPDATE:

U-T: Voters to decide.

U-T follow-up on church & school arsons

Union-Trib:

Tyler Carender, the accused arsonist in a string of blazes last fall that torched an Encinitas church and middle school, might have communicated with other people about the fires multiple times before his July 5 arrest, according to a recently unsealed federal search warrant affidavit.

[...]

Authorities believe that Carender’s Facebook communications with up to 11 people might not only reveal co-conspirators in the arsons but also pinpoint his motives for allegedly setting the fires.

It will be interesting to see if this was just a bored kid or if there's some weird political motivation.

Hit-and-run suspect may be son of TV attorney Larry H. Parker

LA Times archives, 1995:

* Larry H. Parker got me $2.1 million . . .Yeah, but woe be the pro team that has to negotiate for his son's services. Junior pitcher Justin Parker was 7-2 with a 1.34 earned-run average for Santa Margarita this season.

So coming soon to daytime TV:

Dad got me $2.1 million . . .

Hit-and-run suspect Justin Parker's work bio refers to playing college baseball, which would have been in the late 90's.

Larry Parker 1986 TV commercial here.

Hat Tip: Anonymous.

Is Joe Mosca out of touch with voters on marijuana cultivation?

The Sierra Madre Tattler follows up on its old friend Joe.

Was Encinitas' 2005 pension increase illegal?

The California Policy Center has found that many cities did not comply with state law when granting employees huge pension increases in the early 2000's.

In 1977, the Legislature enacted California Government Code Section 7507, which provides:

“The Legislature and local legislative bodies shall secure the services of an enrolled actuary to provide a statement of the actuarial impact upon future annual costs before authorizing increases in public retirement plan benefits. An “enrolled actuary” means an actuary enrolled under subtitle C of Title III of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and “future annual costs” shall include, but not be limited to, annual dollar increases or the total dollar increases involved when available.”

“The future annual costs as determined by the actuary shall be made public at a public meeting at least two weeks prior to the adoption of any increases in public retirement plan benefits.”

Suffice it to say, the CPC hasn't been able to find the required analysis in records at many of the cities and agencies that passed the massive pension increases that are now crippling their budgets.

Did Encinitas comply with the law? The required actuarial analysis certainly doesn't appear in the 2005 agenda item. We doubt it exists anywhere.

But does the public have any recourse if staff and council illegally gave themselves massive, retroactive pension increases? We shall see.

The California Policy Center offers an instructional guide for anyone seeking to challenge those increases.

Arrest announced in hit-and-run

10 News:

A driver was arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a mother of two in Encinitas, San Diego County sheriff's officials announced Friday.

[...]

After compiling evidence and witness tips, sheriff's officials identified the driver as 38-year-old Justin Parker of Encinitas.

Sheriff's officials said: "A search warrant was served on Mr. Parker's residence in Encinitas. Numerous items of evidence were located at the residence. Deputies also located two large-capacity rifle magazines in his house. Another search warrant was served at a custom automotive shop in the city of Riverside. Mr. Parker's truck was located at the shop. Although the truck had already been repaired additional evidence was located."

And this was probably the reason for that helicopter circling over Encinitas Boulevard and Rosebay early in the morning of Oct 3.

Looks like the sentence guidelines are 2 - 4 years for hit-and-run with serious injury, and the fact that he went all the way to Riverside to cover up the crime after he had time to think about it is not going to help.

Fox 5 identifies Justin Walt Parker, which matches the name of a stockbroker with two recent formal customer complaints to regulators, one minor but one very serious (of course, meritless complaints can be made by crackpots, but the allegations of churning and selling high-commission UITs to unsuspecting clients are not uncommon among the shadier sort of stockbroker. If your stockbroker ever tries to sell you a UIT or a non-traded REIT, be aware that he's getting a huge commission coming straight out of your pocket, and there are almost certainly better investment choices for you).

Earlier: Hit-and-run on Encinitas Boulevard, Hit-and-run victim is mother Ashley Mullins Lane, Cops find hit-and-run Ford.

Friday news round-up

Local firefighter wounded in Las Vegas shooting.

Modern Times pulls tasting room application after appeal by residents' group; now seeking full-fledged restaurant.

Beavis & Butthead kidnappers go to court. Teen describes kidnapping attempt.

Residents protest Cardiff Elementary expansion into park space.

Kranz & Mosca reach stalemate on marijuana cultivation subcommittee.

10/4/17 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

New Finance, Development directors

City announcement:

The City of Encinitas has announced the hiring of Brenda Wisneski as its development services director. She will assume her role on Oct. 9.

This critical position oversees the engineering and planning divisions for the city, which are responsible for the following areas: capital improvement, inspections, traffic engineering, city planning, building and regulatory permits, housing resources, land development and code enforcement.

Wisneski comes to the City of Encinitas after serving as the Deputy Community Development Director for the City of Newport Beach. In total, she brings 26 years of city planning experience with her to Encinitas with previous roles working for San Clemente, Dana Point and Newport Beach municipalities.

Planning and engineering were two of the departments that had extremely contentious relations with residents, so change at the top is quite welcome.

Finance Director Tim Nash, who was also a Gus Vina hire but was free of the controversy and ill-will surrounding many of Vina's people, is retiring. An interim director will be appointed tonight.

Cops find hit-and-run Ford

10 News:

San Diego County Sheriff's deputies said Tuesday they recovered the vehicle that struck and injured a North San Diego County mother.

Ashlee Mullins Lane was crossing the intersection of Encinitas Blvd. and Vulcan Ln. on Friday, September 22, when she was hit.

Witnesses told deputies she was hit by a white Ford F-150 truck. Deputies have not confirmed if that is the vehicle they recovered.

According to Lane's father, the vehicle was hidden in a body shop in Riverside.

Boerner-Horvath running for Assembly, Shaffer and Kranz not happy about it

Mee-ow!

Former Encinitas Deputy Mayor Lisa Shaffer, who supported Boerner Horvath's campaign for council, said in an email she was "disappointed" in Boerner Horvath.

"As someone who encouraged Tasha to run for City Council, and who actively contributed to her campaign, I feel betrayed, and I believe other Encinitas voters will feel the same way," Shaffer said. "We elected Tasha so that she would work for us on issues she championed, such as safe routes to school and active transportation. I did not expect her to use her Council seat as a stepping stone to higher office before even completing her first year."

Why can't you just graciously say that you wish her the best but you've already committed to supporting one of the other candidates?

Sheriff IDs vehicle in hit-and-run

NBC 7:

Sheriff’s deputies identified a vehicle of interest in a hit-and-run crash that left a mother of two in critical condition on September 22, and they are asking for the public’s help.

The vehicle is a white 2016 Ford F-150 Platinum Edition pickup truck with a CA license plate 83524A2.