Walkin on Sunshine

"Sunlight is the best disinfectant."
- Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

The dirty back rooms of Encinitas City Hall are about to get a whole bunch o' disinfectin'.

Judge Timothy Casserly just ruled that the city's practice of hiding embarrassing information from the public is illegal under the Public Records Act.

A big thank you to Kevin Cummins for his work in bringing this case to court.

Killer bees return to Encinitas

Like the swallows returning to Capistrano and the flies returning to Del Mar, the killer bees have returned to Encinitas.

Yesterday I drove through a swarm of them, then came home to find another bunch contemplating building a nest in the compost bin.

Last year the killer bees arrived in late April and early May. Then in June they killed poor Marco Lazaro.

Logan Jenkins on Encinitas' rich history of unauthorized art

Surfing Madonna and the Stone Steps Mermaid.

There was a time, you see, when Encinitas wasn't ruled by self-important petty tyrants.

In related news, a new pro-removal faction has surfaced.

Penny wise, pound foolish

City council squabbles over $2000 for a 25th anniversary celebration while refusing to address outrageous pensions costing millions of dollars per year.

If the city founders had known we'd have a council this irresponsible, they would probably never have incorporated.

Logan Jenkins fingers Bryan Snyder as Madonna artist

... and slams Stocks and Bond for their petty, Cartmanesque "Respect my authoritah!" hatred of the mosaic.

Though he said he likes the art — in beachy Encinitas, that’s like saying you love Swami’s — Councilman Jerome Stocks scolded the outlaw artist(s). He/she/(them) put the city “between a rock and a hard place,” he grumbled.

Really? Your city is graced by a glassy bolt out of the blue ocean and you’re bemoaning that you’re forced to act like a grown-up? Not cool.

Mayor Bond struck a similarly ungrateful theme, likening the Surfing Madonna to a St. Bernard puppy gifted to someone who lives in a one-room studio.

The analogy is way off the wall. The wildly popular Surfing Madonna fits its 100-square-foot space in a rail underpass like a seamless dream. To rip out the mosaic would be akin to euthanizing Bond’s oversized puppy, stuffing it, and displaying it at a 7-Eleven.

On Snyder:

In North County, the street-smartest artist is Bryan Snyder, the Carlsbad muralist who famously transformed the Cardiff Kook statue on Vincent Van Gogh’s birthday.

Though a few art locals suspect Snyder may be the perpetrator of the beautiful crime, he says he’s “not taking credit.” Neither is he straight-out denying a role, saying he prefers to preserve the Surfing Madonna’s “mystery” (as well as take out of play, one can imagine, financial and/or criminal liability).

I had hoped and suspected that the artist was a Leucadian. Is it Snyder? His web site is here. He could be the guy.

Glenn Sabine: We need secrecy in government so bloggers can't criticize us

Really, that's his excuse.

In KC's public records lawsuit over the roads report:

Sabine also questioned the use of social media that allows preliminary documents to be sent out on blogs and websites though they are not a finished product.

"Let the staff do its job," he said.

Assistant City Attorney Greg Lusitana said releasing draft documents can create problems for staff.

"The city needs to be able to have a decision-making process free from second-guessing by public questioning of funding options," said Lusitana.

It's an arrogant, condescending attitude toward the public reminiscent of Nancy Pelosi. "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."

Goat head puncture vine citizen action Saturday, May 21

Encinitas' alleged bicycle paths along 101 and Vulcan have long been notorious for goat head puncture vine that massacres bike tires. You're better off taking your chances with the drunk drivers on 101 than trying to bike on the Puncture Path.

And as the City of Encinitas is now spending millions a year on employee pensions and can't afford basic services like road maintenance or bike path maintenance, citizens are taking it into their own hands.

NC Times:

"They are brutal, the thorn is long enough to go through ... a thin part of flip-flops," said Russell Levan, a Coast Highway recycling company owner who has watched many a cyclist derailed by the plant and has experienced the frustration himself. "You can literally get six, seven, eight thorns in a tire."

Levan, who lost two tires at once during last year's Bike-to-Work Day, is rapidly becoming known as the weed-hating guy of Leucadia because of his campaign to rid his community of the "horrible invasive plant."

When he first started speaking out some 18 months ago, no one really took him seriously, he said Thursday.

But momentum began to build in recent weeks and now he's got the backing of the North County Transit District and the city of Encinitas public works department for a special community weed-bashing day.

The first-ever, open-to-the-public, whack-the-weed party is set for Saturday, and it will start at Coast Highway's intersection with A Street.

It'll be a zero-waste event; participants are encouraged to show up with their own re-usable mugs for free coffee and a fork for the goodies. People also need to bring closed-toed shoes, gloves and shovel or a rake. To participate, e-mail Levan at nomoregoathead@gmail.com

He shall be Levan
He shall be a good man