What I Learned About Prop A at the Street Fair: The Negative Consequences

I stopped by the No on A booth at the street fair this weekend. It was manned by three young guys.

They told me that if Prop A passed there would have to be a "special election" if I wanted to build a second story on my house, unless I had a "lien" on my property that said I could go to two stories. All three of the guys were attentive to the conversation when this was said. They also said that the special election would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to the taxpayers.

I did probe them on these statements. First, by asking if they had a copy of the initiative, so they could show me where it said these things. They did not have a copy. They did say there was a copy on their website. They couldn't really explain the "lien" thing, but did confirm they were talking about something that would be officially recorded.

They all said they were volunteers. I asked if they lived in Encinitas. One said yes, the other said he lived down the coast a bit, and the third's response was not clear to me. I asked the one who admitted to living outside the city what his interest was that drove him to spend a weekend in a booth. He said he was concerned about the taxpayers spending so much money on special elections and nothing else.

New BFFs

Now that Mayor Barth's position on development and the public's right to vote has "evolved," former mayor and Barth arch-nemesis Jerome Stocks has nothing but praise for Barth:

This thing, as written will be bad for Encinitas and you should join me as well as Mayor Teresa Barth and the entire Encinitas City Council, the Board of DEMA, the Board of Leucadia 101, and others in working to defeat this deeply flawed ballot measure.

Though he posted more than a dozen comments on his own Patch post, Mr. Stocks did not respond to the most pertinent question posed to him:

You wrote, "the verbiage in the initiative makes it supersede our current 22-26 limit"

I think that is wrong and nobody seems to want to defend that statement. Will you? Doesn't the general plan already have the same 30-foot height limit that you are worried about? Can you explain how it raises the 22-26 foot height limit on residential lots?

Why are both the current and former mayor afraid to answer such a simple question?

Questions for Mayor Barth on Right to Vote

... over at Leucadia Blog:

A week after inquiring, Barth has responded to the question of what she sees as negative consequences of Prop A. A week later, simply pointed me to the ballot arguments (to be posted later) without anymore explanation. Many, if not most, of the negative consequences in the ballot statement are questionable. I've requested a meeting with the Mayor to discuss the validity of the objections in the ballot argument. I'm hoping that meeting will be an open meeting that the public could attend.

The council is reportedly planning to spend tens of thousands of our tax dollars on a propaganda campaign against the Right to Vote Initiative (likely unanimously, as dissent is frowned upon). If they are so confident in their position, how could they possibly be opposed to an open, public discussion?

Out with the old, in with the new

Big new development being graded all the way from Quail Gardens Drive to Saxony.

Encinitas Garden Festival today

This year's tour is in Olivenhain.

Bring a gun.  You know how those folks get about their shrubbery.

Still Life with Avocado

Well it ain't the Surfing Madonna, but even a simple guerrilla art avocado inspires the spirit.

Keep Baja Leucadia funky!

Right to Vote fearmongering debunked

At the Leucadia Blog:

There is already an existing, city-wide height maximum of 30 feet or two stories in the general plan! All the initiative does is reaffirm this and require a public vote to change this provision.

Does Al understand that the Municipal Code is subordinate to the General Plan and the Municipal Code can (and DOES) set building heights that are lower, such as the 22-foot and 26-foot limits in certain areas and under certain zoning. So what is the problem?