Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Feb 26 Economic Development Council Meeting Open Thread

... because tonight's meeting seems to be generating a lot of discussion.

60 comments:

  1. If the council did not appoint this committee then how can the council give this committee direction? How can they have a vote on a committee that had nothing to do with and oversight of?

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    1. What part of Vinas direction of we don't know what we don't know don't you know and understand ?? But don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain nor what he says nor does!!!!

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    2. Gus Vina said he appointed the committee. So Council can give him direction to give the committee direction. According to public speakers, and according to the staff report, the committee appeared to be unbalanced in several respects. It did not include Arts or Environmental economic concerns . . . and is primarily composed of city sponsor/subsidiary business associations. I did not hear it revealed how many people are on the committee?

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    3. The ad hoc committee members and their affiliations are listed in one of the attachments to the agenda item link on the City's site. The bias toward development is overwhelming. The public has zero representation.

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    4. Also no representatives from New Encinitas in the group. Probably why the only recommendation for the El Camino Real was more bars and breweries. Drink up New Encinitas!

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  2. Don't know don't care..... but in a year theres a pension to take him anywhere. Fire this clown. All talk followed by wrong action.

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  3. Why do I expect Gaspar to start telling us a story about her college sorority ??? Just a question??

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  4. Tony fighting for our tax dollars... Yeah Tony!!!

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    1. Have to agree Tony is fighting for our money. He4e's what you do, how much is the developer selling the lot for, what is the undeveloped square footage, divide price by sq ft to arrive at a price per sq ft. The take that price and multiply by sq footage of city land to be sold. Then offer a 25% discount to take a deed to build a single home, done

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  5. Yeah and how much wasted taxpayers $ to agonize over this baloney? Just kick the can down the road as always and move on to doing nothing as always. This is just ridiculous.

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  6. Well good to see efficiency. How bout hiring a time motion study on our council.

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  7. Both Barth and Schaffer just gave us all a lecture that we were not there at 9:30 and we complain so much we should be there. Truly unfreaking unbelievable.

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    1. Barth and Schaeffer want the public to be there to support them when they are never there to support residents. Tonight they didn't thank a single public speaker, they did thank the upzoners from chula vista - see how it works?

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    2. More freaky unbelievable is poor Barth crying about complains of her cutting off speakers. Each council member chimed in for her to keep doing what she was doing. Schaffer went the extra mile by reminding the council that they had talked about the city clerk shutting of the mike if a speaker went over the 3 minutes. Pull out that whip, Schaffer. Thirty lashes with a cat-of-nine tails to those speakers.

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    3. I was at the meeting, but came back home, after the economic development strategic planning session to watch the conclusion on the live broadcast on the web. We were told at the beginning of the meeting that public speakers re that agenda item would be limited to 30 minutes, total, as it was part of Strategic Planning, and "that's the format for those meetings."

      Many times by Teresa Barth, in particular, I have been told I speak too much, to give others a chance. Then when I leave, she and Lisa Shaffer complain that the public is not there to address something we have said is important to us, environmental considerations of the I-5 expansion.

      I can't tell you how many times staff and the Chula Vista people who presented their economic development plan were praised and thanked. Not once did Council thank any of the public speakers, including Sheila Cameron, who gave an excellent presentation re economic development, with two time donations. Fred Caldwell spoke for three minutes, as well, and he did give some credit to Sheila for positive changes she had made, as mayor.

      There was one slide, re economic development, that Kristin Gaspar objected to: "Managing Change." What was funny is that someone in the audience said, as an aside (not recorded), it should read: "changing management." So true.

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    4. Just wait to read their propaganda newsletters this week

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  8. City seems to be concerned about getting top dollars for an empty lot they want to sell. Hmmm ?? Why?? Why are they now concerned about money when they've never been concerned in the past.

    Shaffer wants to take this item behind closed doors?? Why?? What's the big secret??

    Muir says he's confused.
    Council wants to know if adding this piece of property to another piece of property will increase that other piece of property?? Sabine wants to contact appreiser and do it himself. Really?? Let me understand this, I take a piece of property in enc and ADD to that property the value goes up?? Ahhh yes it does!! There's your answer. And I don't have a law degree.

    Mr Strong has spent 7 minutes talking about the I-5 widening but only after 7 min does he get to the point. Mostly he's telling us that at " future. " meetings they will get to the real issues. In other words... No action to take place tonight.
    Now he's telling us about the enc environment , gee will he tell us how much Rossini creek fiasco is going to tell us?? Nope he's concluded his presentation.

    Kranz wants rubber roads not concrete. Gee Tony I want any surface to fix the streets. Concrete is fine by me.

    Gaspar asking about why I-5 widening is being hidden behind tabs. Says I-5 might be listed under city projects... Why it's not a city project!!
    Shaffer worried about web page links. Disappointed peblic not there to criticize the project. Says no one watching on TV is paying attention.... Whoa...yes we are. Read this blog honey, we got you covered.
    Barth says her radar involves the lagoon.
    Muir reveals staff is paid overtime to attend counc meetings. Strong says he'll take time off where he wants.

    Vina sits like a bump on a log.....
    Back to Muir he wants the communication officer to earn her pay, Vina says she will join the conversation in the future... No action tonight... Seems to be a theme.

    Shaffer says Sandag accomplished nothing at her last meeting. Again seems to be a themes of no action.

    Tony says nctd has no plans to trench the tracks.
    Gaspar says encintas waste water won numerous awards, seems happy about this, why?? As if water rate payers have any choice. Never a dull moments at those water meetings. Wow !!

    Muir says we will see $70 rebates in 4 years. Whoopee !!!
    Gaspar finds this funny.
    Muir is happy that the water authority has so much money in reserve, versus giving it back to the ratepayers.
    Barth says she has nothing to say.
    Vina says city ready for rain flooding.
    Sabine has nothing to say.
    Gaspar wants shit from waste water plants to be placed on children playing fields, says she used it on her grass and it's green.
    Barth closes meeting.

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  9. Gaspar doesn't know about the heavy metals in the sewage sludge. Never, never, ever use sewage sludge. Not good for children.

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  10. Folks: write, write, write your council and get your friends to do so, too. The alternative is Vina will do our speaking for us and it's quite evident he does not fairly represent residents. He'll tell the council what he wants them to hear, clearly not what we would say to them.

    Letting them hear from as many residents as possible does matter.

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  11. Vina still trying to sell Strategic Planning to the public. Sorry Vina, anyone with over a 50 IQ knows it was a waste of time and energy and in the end the real thing that is needed is a Future Financial Plan for the City. We know all your fat pensions and money you borrowed to build ridiculously expensive fire palaces and a regional sport park on little old Encinitas tax base. Sigh…..

    What a waste of time! Vina needs to be fire immediately.

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  12. Muir asked Gus Vina a direct question about what the new Communication Person was doing. Vina comes back with his "made for television" answer- Next meeting you just wait and see. Why didn't Muir tell him to go F himself and give him an answer then and there. This was truly embarrassing.

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    1. Vina doesn't have answers - Only delay tactics. Now his is sending his staff into a tizzy this week trying to devise a plan that will make the new communications/spin doctor look like they will actually do something….

      My thought was having effective communication is one skill set that each City Employee must have before becoming a candidate for consideration at the City. Here is the questions that should be answered. Considering thousands of Cities effectively operate throughout the USA without Communications "Directors", what value above and beyond all the other Cities in America will Encinitas receive for this $135,000 position?

      If its not apparent, then the positions should be eliminated and Vina should be let go. Its obvious to most he in totally incompetent.

      Our City Council looks like complete idiots being led by this fool. They look like Monty Pythons Flying Circus goes to the beach.

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    2. Great post. I cannot make next council meeting. Will somebody please ask counsel that direct question?

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  13. I just emailed Tony and thanked him for asking the question about the land that was going to be sold for $16,000. If anyone knows anything about this particular developer group, they already know they are shady. Come on, who didn't think that they wanted it to get more bang for their bucks, at at a very cheap price. $16,000 in Encinitas property-where do you get that? Answer nowhere. I have always given the Council a little more credit about their intelligence. I can see I may have to change my mind on that one. Muir didn't tell Vina, hey buddy, you work for us and I want an answer. Teresa and Lisa were just plain rude to the public that was watching at home, and yes there are a lot of us. Not all of us can make it to City Hall each Weds. And many of us work way past 6PM. Are there any Council members who are currently full time employed? I don't think so, but I am not sure. What I do know is that Muir, Teresa and Lisa are retired and can devote as much, or as little time as they want to the City. Not sure about Kristin and Tony's status. Sabine confused the land sale even more than it already had been. o, who really knows what the developer really wants that land for. Shouldn't that have been thought of when it was appraises. The two City planners looked like idiots, in my opinion. So, once again, nothing of importance was done at yet another City Council meeting. I sure don't miss Stocks barking at people, but I sometimes miss Jim Bond.

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    1. Yes, Tony gets credit for his comments on selling the piece of land to City Ventures for $16,000. He simply asked why our we selling land at $2 per square foot to combine it with land worth $50 per square foot. The guy from City Ventures was playing dumb, but they know exactly what they are doing and almost fooled the city. Thank you, Tony, even though the discussion degenerated into confusion with comments from the city attorney and staff.

      City Ventures portrayed themselves as the good guys for down zoning the property. No one mentioned that it is perfectly legal to build to RR-1 density on an R-11 parcel. A zoning change isn't necessary to do that. The down zone would prevent the house from being torn down in the future and higher density housing put in its place.

      There was a disconnect here. The same council that opposed Prop. A requiring a public vote on up zoning was freely talking about wanting a down zoning. Go figure!

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  14. Vina doesn't have answers - Only delay tactics. Now his is sending his staff into a tizzy this week trying to devise a plan that will make the new communications/spin doctor look like they will actually do something….

    My thought was having effective communication is one skill set that each City Employee must have before becoming a candidate for consideration at the City. Here is the questions that should be answered. Considering thousands of Cities effectively operate throughout the USA without Communications "Directors", what value above and beyond all the other Cities in America will Encinitas receive for this $135,000 position?

    If its not apparent, then the positions should be eliminated and Vina should be let go. Its obvious to most he in totally incompetent. Council looks like idiots to be led by this fool. They look like Monty Pythongs Flying Circus goes to the beach.

    Vina don't care- he will be announcing his retirement within one year. As another "leader" once declared, "Mission Accomplished!!!"

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    1. No action ws accomplished last night, only talk. A complete waste of time.

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  15. Lets just cancel the meetings and save money since nothing is done. I wonder the "real world" cost of last nights non event? Oh how I wish our "bozo capital of the world" would unincorporate.

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  16. When does Gustavo turn 54? Sometime shortly after that date like within 6 months, he will announce his retirement. Encinitas benefits for are 2.7% at 55 based on highest pay for a 12 month period and 3% at 55 for Lifeguards and Fire! Some of the most lucrative Pensions in the County and you wonder why Encinitas has Zero money for project.

    when is Vina going to talk about the financial condition of Encinitas and what we can afford to accomplish in the next five years….. oh yeah, he is his answer--- we are working hard and will present you that answer in the future- Stay Tuned!!! As he inches closer to retirement and leaving us holding the bag with no solid plan on how to move forward.

    This Council does remind me of Monty Pythongs Flying Circus Goes to the Beach.

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    1. Catch your local fire department shopping at Vons or cruising the beach....

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    2. Or catch them when they're first responders or saving somebody's life. It's the nature of the beast 2:58pm.

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    3. Just so you know. Fire personnel all cook for themselves and each shift is responsible for buying its own food. They take a truck to the store so they can respond to a call from there without having to return to the fire station. 2:58 PM, if your house catches fire, maybe you'd rather have them either go back to the station first or wait until the one fire person returns from the store.

      Just asking.

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    4. Buy your groceries on your own time. When was the last time your employer let you go shopping on their dime? Looks like hero complex has warped your perspective.

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    5. Yeah, hero worship, that's a laugh. I didn't know you stayed at work for twenty-four hours per shift.

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    6. Well you don't work for a full solid 24 hours either do you.. And since you want to represent to enc firefighters perhaps you explain to us why every house burns to the ground?? Clearly you are working as you watch these homes go up in flames!!

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    7. Oh that's right you guys cook all your own food, except when you don't. Like when you make a run to Kotija taco shop...liars!!

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    8. 8:56 PM

      Perhaps you'd rather they wait until they're done eating before responding to a call. Heart attack? Yeah, we'll be right there after we eat.

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    9. Next thing they 'll tell us how hot the fire is.... Firefighters.

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  17. I wrote two letters. One to Teresa and the other to Tony. So far neither has replied. I'll let you know if they do and what they say.

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  18. Last night was a bunch of jibber jabber happy talk. All the public speakers thanked the council for the opportunity to speak blah blah blah. I wonder if the staff from Chula Vista mentioned how ugly and run down E st and H st have become in the last 35 years. How their downtown mall is basically been abandoned by the public. Main st in CV is a blighted eyesore that needs complete reviltilization. It's about 5 miles in length, cost about $100M to fix. I really have no idea what ideas the cc hopes to garner from CV.
    CV...it's a dump.

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    1. In my 'biz' they don't call it Chula-juana for nothin'.

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    2. Not to mention we have to listen an boring presentation about a city that has a 39% commercial vacancy rate. Is this the race to the bottom they are trying to emulate

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  19. More jibber jabber talk. The "new" Encinitas communications plan has been unleashed. A one-liner from the plan - Once democracy is deepened, policymakers will gain a more complete picture of the
    community so that they can continue to make informed decisions.

    Is the council really so dumb that they can't see they are being played?

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  20. I think at the next election democracy needs deeply gouge two new council people, then 3 more in 4 years.

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  21. It is hereby given that a Public Hearing will be held on Thursday, the 6th day of March, 2014, at 6:00 p.m., or as soon as possible thereafter, by the Encinitas Planning Commission to discuss the following hearing item of
    the City of Encinitas:

    CASE NUMBER:
    13-141 MIN/CDP

    FILING DATE:
    July 29, 2013

    APPLICANT:
    The Leucadia Club

    LOCATION:
    828 North Coast Highway 101, Suite E (APN 256-014-11)

    ZONING/OVERLAYS:
    The subject property is zoned North 101 Corridor-Commercial Mixed-1 (N-
    CM-1), in the North 101 Corridor Specific Plan area, in the community of Leucadia and in the Coastal Zone.

    DESCRIPTION:
    A public hearing for a Minor Use Permit and Coastal Development Permit for a private club (The Leucadia Club) to be located in an existing suite within Leucadia Plaza.

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  22. WTF is leucadia club?

    I heard its a gay circle jerk club?

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    1. Don't be putting down the gays...put these dudes down for what they are: nose-thumbing, high-density-loving, good ole boy yahoos.

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    2. This is very interesting 9:24, are you suggesting the club are actual high density community character changing profiteers masquerading as small town caring about the community soulful leucadians? Are they a collection of newbie shop owners converted to the profit over community mantra? It was ironic last night that the council and upzoners wanted to know why go pro moved to Cardiff, and then discussed ways to change the very thing that attracted thethem, the Cardiff of today

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    3. who' is putting down the gays/ just saying who likes to sit in a circle do things we can't talk about?

      I wish the gays take over Leucadia. They did amazing things with north park. Lets see what they can do with Leucadia?

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  23. The only thing I understand is high-density loving ---

    what does the rest mean? What are their objectives. I heard one of the people involved one the green house south east of beacons on Leucadia Blvd. going up to Beacons. What is their purpose and objectives?

    Deny any alcohol license and lets see how successful they are.

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  24. If Its shady… we will be all over their shit.

    Planning Commission needs to ask and understand, What is their purpose and objective?

    We shall see how they fit with our neighborhood. Plus they get to deal with Gary Murphy….that is Murphy's neighborhood.

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    1. It's not only Murphy's neighborhood, his property and house are across the alley a few feet behind the site of the Leucadia Club.

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  25. I Googled Leucadia Club and came up empty. What is the organization and what do they do?

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  26. I agree. What is their business?

    Planning Commission should ask….

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  27. Several months back, Leucadia Club applied for some kind of alcohol license from the City. Anybody who wants more information about the club could probably find out something from whatever City department handles such things. Then there's the Planning Commission hearing cited above.

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  28. I get so tired to hear Vina waste our time with his visioning process, and strategic plan, and his "if you will" and "excellent question" and "I plan to address that whenever I want. He is slimy. The guy talks in circle trying to sound intelligent but by the time he finished talking you can't even figure out what was the question. He is a s spinner and a waste of time and money fro the city.

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    1. Tell the council in addition to the rest of us - tell them what you just said! The wool has got to be pulled from council's eyes, and it's up to us to do it.

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  29. Agree with 11:31.

    Council is blowing it by not firing Vina.

    Fire Vina ASAP.

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  30. 11:31 nailed it perfectly. Vina has to go! Talk about a fraud to the voters.

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