Party on!

Bier Garden windows to open:

A downtown restaurant known for its beers can reopen its open-air window spaces and keep them glass-free until 10 p.m. each day, the Encinitas City Council decided Wednesday night.

In a split 3-2 vote, with Mayor Teresa Barth and Councilwoman Lisa Shaffer opposed, the council reaffirmed a recent city Planning Commission decision and rejected an appeal filed by several nearby homeowners.

The council’s decision allows the Bier Garden restaurant on Coast Highway 101 to return to the open-air look it had months ago — before the city discovered the newly opened business didn’t have a permit for those special window spaces and ordered them closed.

As we pointed out in August, people who buy high-density condos tightly wedged between a railroad crossing and a late-night bar scene have a lot of nerve to complain about noise. It seems the council majority agrees.

The council majority said the Pacific Station residents should have known they were in a noisy, urban area before they moved in — it’s mentioned in the housing purchasing contracts they signed.

“There is a difference between living in downtown and living in an area that is not in a commercial area,” Councilman Tony Kranz said.

A two-bedroom condo conveniently overlooking the Bier Garden can be had for $975,000.

It was a 3-2 vote, with Barth and Shaffer opposed. It's nice to finally see some dissent in council votes. It's a long-absent sign of independent thinking.

EHA considering ballot initiative in support of late-night drunks?

Does Encinitas need a Right to Party initiative?

Recently, some Encinitas residents received an automated polling phone call asking about bar and restaurant issues.  The poll was pretty clearly coming from a pro-vibrancy group, as the questions emphasized government interference in local businesses rather than neighbors' noise and crime complaints.

After gauging respondents' sentiments on bar regulation, the poll asked whether any new regulations should be put to a public vote.

Hey, it worked for the Prop A folks.

In praise of politicians, and in condemnation of citizens who hold them accountable

We hesitated to post this item, because our immediate reaction was speechlessness. The use of this quote was just so appallingly self-aggrandizing, tone-deaf, and condescending that we were stunned.

But others in the community have brought it up as well, so it has definitely struck a nerve with a number of people and merits comment here.

From Lisa Shaffer's October 4 newsletter:

THE MAN IN THE ARENA Excerpt from the speech “Citizenship In A Republic” delivered by Theodore Roosevelt on 23 April, 1910

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

The description of a politician as a "strong man" and a "doer of deeds" is telling. Roosevelt's words would be more appropriate coming from Vladimir Putin than from a legislator in a representative democracy who understands that her job is to represent the interests of her constituents.

Teddy Roosevelt had his great strengths and accomplishments, but listening to others and building consensus were not among them. As the quote above might indicate, Roosevelt was a "my way or the highway" kind of guy. In fact, he turned against his former friends, splintered his political party, and then lost his third Presidential run in a landslide. Not that that has anything to do with anyone in Encinitas.

As for the doing of deeds, we eagerly await the new council doing something toward fulfilling its campaign promises, or, indeed, doing anything differently than the Stocks/Bond/Dalager council would have done.

Oktoberküek

Braking Badly

From the Inbox:

This was reported not a vibrancy-related incident.

UFOs over Encinitas

Leucadia may have the astronauts, but Encinitas has the UFOs.

Encinitas Undercover has obtained this exclusive video of five unidentified flying objects over downtown Encinitas last night.



From a distance, the objects appear to be an unusually bright formation of stars, but then the observer notices that they are moving. Some kind of military aircraft from Miramar on night maneuvers? Or just Encinitans being Encinitans?

Leucadia sting leads to arrest in child prostitution case

This is making headlines as an Encinitas story, but the Encinitas connection so far is tangential. The suspect is from Rancho Santa Fe. The city of residence of the victims and the location of the crimes has not been released.

The one solid Encinitas connection is the suspect's prior arrest at the Leucadia Howard Johnson's for soliticing prostitution. HoJo neighbors can rest a little easier, however, knowing that it wasn't real prostitution going on there, but a police sting.

Sheriff's press release:

Michael Lustig (date of birth 9/23/43) was arrested without incident this morning by the
San Diego Sheriff's Department and FBI. Lustig was taken into custody during a car stop in the
vicinity of I-805 and Governor Drive at approximately 10:00 a.m. He will be processed at the
Encinitas Sheriff's Station and booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego later today.

In June of 2012, the San Diego Sheriff's "North County Human Trafficking Task Force" (NCHTTF) conducted a prostitution operation which targeted 'johns' at a motel in Encinitas. Michael Lustig was one of the 'johns' arrested for soliciting prostitution.

At the time of Lustig's arrest, multiple cell phones belonging to him were seized. Subsequent analysis of the phone information indicated Lustig was texting two minor females (ages 12 and 13) to solicit prostitution.

Further investigation identified these two minors, and both have admitted to having
performed sexual acts with Lustig for money in late 2011 and early 2012.