Lux Art director out after staff and artist complaints

San Diego CityBeat:

The million-dollar-budget arts organization and residency (whose vision statement was to redefine “the museum experience to make art more accessible and personally meaningful”) would prefer not to talk about the troubling reputation of recently departed executive director and founder Reesey Shaw. [...]

“I described it as an abusive relationship,” says former Deputy Director of Lux Dan Buryj in reference to working with Shaw. “I think every single person who worked there cried at least once in front of her. But at the same time you loved the mission, and you loved the people you were working with. I think that’s what kept a lot of people there. You felt camaraderie with your coworkers.”

Speaking to Buryj was the first time I was able to get anyone to openly talk about what I’ve heard among many peers in the art scene—stories of verbal abuse, high staff turnover and more. As I’ve talked about in the previous columns in this series, arts and non-profit professionals often fear for their careers if they speak about unfair working conditions and toxic leadership.

But if Shaw was making people cry, why was she allowed to lead for so long?

Unions waste no time capitalizing on bogus Graham story

Graham cleared by witnesses and video

Coast News:

Assembly candidate Phil Graham has been cleared of any wrongdoing after the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department announced that allegations that he forcibly kissed a woman at an Encinitas bar were unfounded.

The Sheriff’s Department disclosed its findings in a news release Tuesday night, one week before the June 5 primary election.

“After conducting a thorough investigation, interviewing several witnesses and reviewing video surveillance from both inside and outside of the business, detectives disproved the allegations made against Mr. Graham,” the department said in a news release. “As a result, this case is being closed as unfounded, pending any new or additional information.”

Shortly after the accusation surfaced, the Coast News found the accuser to have a long history of dubious claims.

5/23/18 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Beavis & Butt-Head kidnappers get 7 years, 1 year

Times of San Diego:

A man who tried to kidnap a 15-year-old girl as she waxed her surfboard in front of an Encinitas home was sentenced Monday to seven years in state prison.

Jeremiah Owens, 28, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life. He pleaded guilty in April to attempted kidnap for rape of a minor.

[... Accomplice Christopher] White, also 28, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to kidnapping and will be sentenced to a year in custody on June 19.

Where dolphins and surfers come to play

Leading Republican Assembly candidate accused of drunken, unwelcome bar kiss

10 News:

Niki Burgan filed the battery case with the Sheriff's Office Sunday, May 20. She accuses Graham of forcibly kissing her at an Encinitas Bar. Burgan told 10News that it happened at 1st Street Bar on S. Coast Hwy 101 on the evening of Sunday, May 13, into the early morning of Monday, May 14 as the bar was closing.

She said that Graham had initially been flirting, even mentioning that he was running for office and asked whether she would vote for him. After finding out that he was a Republican candidate she said, no she was a Democrat.

At some point, she says his talk turned into aggression and Graham grabbed her hair, pulled her in, and started to kiss her. She said she had to push him off.

Burgan also said she remembers that Graham had so much to drink that night that she had to help him sign his tab.

Graham, who previously ran a half-hearted campaign for city council, appears to be the leading Republican in the Assembly race with many mail ballots already having been voted.

UPDATE: Accuser has serious credibility problems.

UPDATE: Sheriff clears Graham.

City cancels housing task force meeting, puts Lisa Shaffer in charge

From the Inbox:

Item 10B on [this] week's May 23, 2018 Council agenda report will review output from yet another unnoticed meeting:

"On March 7, 2018, the City Council held a Special Joint City Council and Planning Commission meeting to conduct an inclusionary housing public workshop with a panel of experts specializing in inclusionary housing and Lisa Shaffer, as the workshop facilitator."

Say, what??? The originally-scheduled joint task force meeting was canceled. Was the public re-noticed that a Lisa Shaffer-run meeting would instead be held? Folks who signed up to be noticed say “no.” Is this another of Brenda Wisneski’s “unadvertised” meetings?

Output from Shaffer’s meeting – that claims to have been a “Public Hearing” – introduces policies the Council is too scared to really make public. It’s the usual “keep residents in the dark at all cost” tactic we’ve come to expect under Blakespear.

Shaffer’s meeting was a supposedly “Public Hearing to review and consider the introduction of City Council Ordinance No. 2018-03, titled “An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Encinitas, California, adopting amendments to Title 24 (Subdivisions) and Title 30 (Zoning) of the Encinitas Municipal Code, which proposes changes to the City’s inclusionary housing regulations to better address the need for affordable units reserved in new residential development projects.”

Folks, get to reading and see what Shaffer and cronies are up to this time.

Rifleman threatens Olivenhain resident in bizarre mid-morning crime

10 News:

Sheriff's Deputies are on the lookout for the man who jumped out of the bushes and confronted an Encinitas man with a rifle.

The attack happened Friday morning on Fortuna Ranch Road when the victim was in his driveway. A neighbor tells 10News the man popped out of the bushes wearing a ski mask and camouflage clothing. He then pointed a rifle at the victim, threatening to rob or shoot him.

Deputies say, somehow, the victim was able to run to his neighbor's home and call 911. The gunman got away before law enforcement arrived, but it's unclear if he ran or drove away.

That's deep Olivenhain, and with only one way in and out by car, it's a horrible place to try to commit a random crime. You have to wonder if the perpetrator is the halfwit offspring of a neighbor.

Mrs. Gaspar goes to Washington

Another pedestrian killed by train

Fox 5:

A train struck and killed a pedestrian Tuesday morning in Encinitas, authorities said.

Few details of the accident were immediately available, but it happened sometime before 5:15 a.m. just south of E Street on the tracks between South Coast Highway and South Vulcan Avenue, San Diego County sheriff’s Lt. Amber Baggs and Deputy Marcus Levine said.

This comes less than a week after a woman was killed late at night in the same area.

UPDATE: Coast News:

A man was struck and killed after allegedly jumping in front of a northbound Amtrak Coaster commuter train early this morning near the transit center just south of E Street between South Coast Highway and South Vulcan Avenue in downtown Encinitas.

San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies responded after receiving a call shortly before 5 a.m. of a possible pedestrian trespassing fatality. The train was traveling around 75 mph when it struck the victim.

The victim was described as a white male in his late 50s but has not been identified, according to San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Burk.

Authorities said they couldn’t rule out suicide as a possible reason for the accident, but further details surrounding the death remain unclear.

And Del Mar Times:

The man, who appeared homeless, died at the scene prior to deputies arriving to the scene [...]

Last week's victim has not been identified by authorities, but appears to be a woman in her 30's who grew up in Encinitas and still has family here.

Housing update from Task Force member (and Prop A advocate) Bruce Ehlers

From the Inbox, forwarded from Housing Task Force member Bruce Ehlers:

Woman sitting on railroad tracks killed by train

Patch:

A woman was fatally struck by an Amtrak train early Thursday morning in Encinitas, according to authorities.

The collision happened about 12:27 a.m. in the 900 block of North Vulcan Avenue, where the woman was sitting on the railroad tracks, said San Diego County sheriff's Deputy Marcus Levine.

900 N. Vulcan is at Leucadia Boulevard, also the site of a fatality last year.

UPDATE: A commenter says this was around G and H Streets in Encinitas, which would be 900 South Vulcan, behind the Lumberyard. Sounds like someone either suicidal or drunk late at night in the bar district.

5/9/18 City Council meeting open thread

Please use the comments to record your observations.

Many more high-density sites added to replace Quail Gardens L-7

From the Inbox:

The last-minute addition of 21 more sites to he agenda for tonight's City Council meeting might be worthy of discussion on your site.

City Council meeting on this is tonight. Here are the new sites.

Bioluminescence is back

CBS News:

Area shorelines have been drawing larger crowds lately because of the sight, which has been particularly popular with photographers.

"It's this bright electrical blue color and it's beautiful," said Jami Leslie Feldman, owner of Underwater Paparazzi.

Tuesday was the second night of the bioluminescence.

"It's nice to be able to spread the word so everyone can see it," said Feldman.

The rare phenomenon on Southern California's West Coast is known as the red tide.

Stephen Bay, of Stephen Bay Photography, captured the neon tides Monday night at Torrey Pines.

"It kind of looked like the color of a light saber," said Bay. "It really was a bright blue color that was just fantastic to look at."

The last red tide was in 2013 in San Diego.

It was pretty spectacular in 2011 too.

Tax reform increases cost of typical Encinitas home ownership by $700 per month

Last year's tax reform bill notably featured limitations on the deductibility of mortgages and state and local taxes, which would hit hardest places like Encinitas with high state taxes and high property values.

Nevertheless, many Encinitans are finding that their taxes will be reduced overall this year due to the accompanying lower tax rates and higher standard deduction and child credits. The Tax Foundation has an excellent calculator here where you can estimate the impact of tax reform on your personal situation. Even in high-tax, high-property-value Encinitas, most people will probably see their taxes reduced.

However, even those who receive significant tax cuts will see the marginal benefit of home ownership reduced. Here's a look at the math for a $986,000 (recent median Encinitas sale price from Zillow) house. With a 20% down payment, tax reform raises the monthly after-tax cost of home ownership from $3,592 to $4,326.

To see how tax reform affects the cost of ownership of your house, go to the Google spreadsheet and select File > Make a copy, and then put in your own numbers (note: there are simplifying assumptions and perhaps some technical errors, but the big picture doesn't change).

Will this affect the real estate market? It's a pretty big change in the cost of ownership.

UPDATE: For buyers who were previously in the Alternative Minimum Tax, the change may be more in the range of $450/month.

St. Archer tasting room to open next to Surfy Surfy

Times of San Diego:

San Diego craft brewery Saint Archer Brewing Co. will open its second tasting room in a 1930s-era building in the Leucadia community of Encinitas.

The new 1,200-square-foot tasting room will feature 30 taps offering core beer selections and specialty brews from the the main brewery in Miramar.

Saint Archer said that with Leucadia’s ties to surf culture, the beach community is a natural fit for the new facility.

The tasting room will open in mid May in a building originally occupied by Roy’s Market at 978 North Coast Highway 101.

How are they opening in mid-May if Modern Times has been trying for a year and a half and still isn't open?

El Callejon location changes hands again

San Diego Eater:

The Patio Group (Fireside by the Patio, Surf Rider Pizza, Saska’s Steakhouse, Harvest by the Patio) is making a first foray into North County with a new restaurant in the works for Encinitas. The Patio on 101 will land on South Coast Highway, replacing Open House Food + Drink. Launched last year in Moonlight Plaza by owners Wade and Kristi Hageman, Open House spanned 7,000-square-feet of indoor/outdoor space and offered everything from Asian cuisine to burgers, a raw bar, and craft cocktails. Expressing gratitude to their employees, loyal customers, and the city of Encinitas, where they continue to operate the popular Blue Ribbon Artisan Pizzeria and The Craftsman New American Tavern, the Hagemans say that The Patio Group will be the right fit for the coastal neighborhood.