Please use the comments to record your observations.
Items of interest:
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
1/28/15 City Council meeting open thread
The current city council has continued prior councils' practice of not providing written summary minutes of council discussion, but only "action minutes" which state the outcomes. Encinitas Undercover will provide a forum for observers to record what occurs at each council meeting.
Please use the comments to record your observations.
Items of interest:
- Pacific View subcommittee report
Please use the comments to record your observations.
Items of interest:
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I predict, tonight will be a hum-dinger.
ReplyDelete- Karnac
Wow.
ReplyDeleteShafFe r response to Gaspar's "one question only" "joke" was chilly. KG's little quips can be grating, but they are harmless. Shaffer needs hide her annoyance a little better.
Gasbag keeps looking to someone in the crowd and smiling about negociations w city employees..... What does she know that's she's not telling us??
ReplyDeleteCouncil receiving feedback about crosswalks and signage on saxony and quail gardens ....... Prediction ... Council won't do anything until someone dies crossing the roads.
This Senior Zone must have some negative impact that we have not grasped for them to all be supporting it so strongly. I wholeheartedly want to see a safe crossing, but what ELSE do they get to do by changing it to a Senior Zone?
ReplyDeleteR30 comes with the Senior Zone. Thanks Saxony neighborhood
ReplyDeleteSaxony folks had better come out swinging against the real reason the city would entertain a "senior zone:" the R30. Sit on your hands and hope for the best, deal with the consequences.
DeleteIs anyone else having a problem viewing the meeting online?
ReplyDeleteGasbar also welcomed our interim CM at $15,000 per month. Clearly she and the council feel he is worth the money because it's not their money she is spending. I wonder how many staff at Gasbar PT earn $15K per month??
ReplyDeleteHe could be worth that independent of who's money their spending. The position needs to be filled, the individual needs to be paid, and a cursory search of CM salaries indicated this on the lower end of the range vs population. This doesn't seem so out of line.
DeleteWhat were you expecting the range to be?
- The Sculpin
A friend of mine who is the City Manager of a City in Los Angeles makes $230.000 per year. From what she tells me it is a thankless job. Perhaps to attract talented people you have to pay what they think they are worth. And right now, my understanding is that there are a lot on incompetent CM's running around.
DeleteSculpin should be Gaspar's parrot - squawking "It's a great deal".
ReplyDeleteHere's what I learned from this little exchange:
ReplyDelete• We have had crappy City Managers
• To assure future CMs are better, we should lower what we are willing to pay.
Brilliant.
How about do a more comprehensive search.
DeleteYes.
DeleteIf you look hard enough, I'm sure you can find a highly qualified, talented, experienced executive with impeccable track record and references willing to work for $40K.
They just aren't looking hard enough.
Basically, a genius at all things save knowing the value of his own talents.
DeleteDepends on what the market will bear. 6:05 PM apparently can't comprehend competition.
DeleteAs pay rates escalated that companies pay their management, so has it escalated, though at a much reduced rate, that public agencies pay their management. So it really is a reflection of market competition, as public agencies compete for management with the private sector.
Delete15k a month for contract CM seems reasonable to me.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. And no pension to boot.
DeleteIf he doesn't hire Rutan & Tucker and give away the Little League fields, let's offer him a 5-year contract!
7:50 PM. The Little League fields aren't the city's to give.
Delete5:28,
DeleteYou're wrong.
The city had an absolute right to a clean 10-year extension of the lease for Little League fields until Vina and Rudloff gave it away with the help of an oblivious city council:
http://encinitasundercover.blogspot.com/2014/12/stocks-writes-in-sd-reader-on-ecke-ymca.html
It was Kranzed by a council asleep, with the city manager crossing vulcan for coffee, and the city attorney reviewing the details and signing off as the citizens get dealt another blow.
Delete9:27 PM
DeleteYes, the 10 year extension was part of the original lease. Did I say lease? As in someone else owning property that the city agrees to use. So at best the city had an additional 10 year lock on the use of those fields but at the end of those 10 years it could be nada. Do I want to continue using those fields for years to come? You bet. I spent many a night at those ball fields.
So far, all we've hear is what might happen. Do I suspect that the Y may want to make some changes in the future when they develop their future plans? Yes, I do but to what extent I don't think anybody knows, including the Y. I also don't think the Y wouldn't give ample warning if they did want to make changes.
The more the CM cuts staff and the over all budget the higher his/her salary . That's a CM I can get excited about.
ReplyDeleteme too. Lets cut the City Hall salary budget in half. Think of all the projects we could accomplish if we were not paying for all that deadwood.
ReplyDeleteStart clear cutting. 2/3 of planning, 1/2 of engineering, 1/2 of PW operations…etc could go without being missed. If Larry Watt was worth anything, he would start the firing. But He will not… he is just a pass card with no brain or desire to do anything good for Encinitas.
Its time to start with real accountability. You screw something up, we will admit it and make someone accountable. That will change the attitude at City Hall really quick.
Sadly govt has come to believe that the citizens work / pay taxes to keep govt alive. Govt is more than willing to slap the citizenry around in their quest for more power and taxes.
DeleteNever , NEVER re-elect any politician. They all must go.
Staff ?? Gut them !! A 50% reduction minimum. Pay ??50% reduction. Let them take on part time jobs like millions of Americans. I'm sure Sculpin is tired of shoveling horse shit all day, there's a nice part time job for a department head.
Actually, I never tire of "shoveling horse shit" as you put it. If you're not willing to deal with the shit, you will never fully experience and appreciate all the good things that produced it........
Delete- The Sculpin
All I can say is he is so full of shit (and himself).
DeleteTsk tsk. I guess Sculpin missed a few rounds of kool-aid. He's demonstrating independent thought. Mustn't have that here. See how quickly the followers turn on you.
Delete5:26,
DeleteMost elementary school civics classes would teach that successful political movements seek to include, persuade, and motivate as many people as possible.
However, there is a small group of local activists trying to prove a new theory: that staking out positions so extreme and rigid that only a tiny clique can join will become a political dynasty. The theory also calls for thought purity tests. Anyone who fails to score 100 is branded "full of shit," and worse. All policy positions are to be expressed with much shouting and arm flapping, and without any research, data, or logical consistency.
I for one am excited to see their results--it could change democracy as we know it.
Sculpin devotees - The Brown Nose party.
Delete11:32 PM I think you're hogging the kool-aid. I actually don't always agree with Sculpin and I couldn't really give a shit about brown nosing s/he or anyone on this blog. What I dislike are commenters who disagree with someone and try to dismiss them through guilt by association.
Delete11:32, I haven't heard or used the term brown-noser since high school, which may be the point where your development stopped.
DeleteBack then, we used the term as a perjorative for people who tried hard to get good grades. Know what we call those same people today?
Answer: Boss.
Maybe your boss....
Delete5:51 - there is a (fast growing) group of activists whose opinions and actions stick in the craw of predatory developers. You got a problem with that? Why?
Delete11:44 AM "predatory developers"
DeleteIt's funny how many of the density bonus projects here in Encinitas are actually initiated, if only indirectly, by the land owner who either hires a developer or sells their property to a developer knowing that it will be a density bonus project. So the real "villain" here would be your neighbors. Just look at the former greenhouse sites that become density bonus projects. So it often isn't outsiders to blame. Another example is Desert Rose.
I guess it's much more fun to blame "predatory developers" and yes, there are some bad developers out there.
The level of waste at city hall is beyond belief. Perhaps having someone document how much city workers sluff off would help council see what goes on. I watch in disgust the pathetic pace workers move at, we are being soaked. More than a 50% reduction is needed.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the Communications Czar can put a spin on that? How can someone spend 40 hr/week on something like that? That also goes for alot of other city positions.
DeleteWhere is Gaspar, the fiscal conservative?? She won't touch that sacred cow.
Watch for the Starbucks-hanging-out-with-my-coffee in the parking lot, during working hours. Ask about the city worker who has a "special arrangement" to go surfing during working hours. All on our dime, these "workers" are praised to the skies by the council.
DeleteProbably the tip of the latte; or. Surf's UP! Does City Hall have time clocks?
DeleteWhere is Gaspar and Muir. Get the communications manager useless position released and make some real gains with the the voters.
ReplyDeleteRight now - Kranz is sucking shit and will not be elected next term.
Exactly.
DeleteWhere is they?
Yesterday, I drove by the proposed and accepted 'new' senior zone on Saxony that now includes an R-30 all the way to Encinitas Blvd that was being driven by the E3 group. We can all agree we wanted a safer crossing for the seniors across the street to get to the YMCA.
ReplyDeleteFunny or not, that a zoning to R-30 automatically comes along with the new Senior Zone designation. I want to know if this changes any of the current zoning for all those units that currently are south of the YMCA on Saxony. There are a number of single story units south of the YMCA that I wonder if they will be replaced with three story units by our Planning Dept. The E3 group seems to be pushing this Senior Zone designation to allow increased density all the way to Encinitas Blvd. I welcome any informed person to clear any misconceptions of this questionable ruling and getting around current zoning without the public having a vote as regards to Prop A. The fact that when this Senior Zone was proposed and accepted by council last week, there was no mention of the R-30 that goes along with this Senior Zone all,the way south to Encinitas Blvd. Curiouser and curiouser. Thanks ahead of time for any clarification.
Does anyone have a source for this rumor that Senior Zone means R-30?
DeleteAs far as I know, it's just a traffic zone like a 25 mph School Zone.
Maybe creating a Senior Zone, in addition to slowing traffic, can qualify the City for grants to help pay for this crossing. There seemed to be broad support for this move.
DeleteOther having senior pedestrian traffic crossing a street presumably from senior housing to a facility seniors frequent, there is nothing in the vehicle code pertaining to density, R-30 or otherwise. One may presume that the existing senior housing would be of higher density but that has nothing to do with the senior zone designation. I don't think that immediate area even has any sites identified in the housing element update.
DeleteI don't know where people get these ideas.
Anonymous at 2:00 pm totally misunderstands how upzoning is done in Encinitas. It requires a General Plan Amendment. All Prop. A did was add voter approval as the final step in the process instead of a super majority vote by the council. The city established a 25 mph speed zone on Saxony where there is senior housing. The city can do this for school or senior zones, otherwise the state establishes the speed limit by the average speed in the area.
DeleteThe city currently has no R-30 zoning category, and certainly no exclusive zoning category for senior housing. Categories are based on density -- units per acreage. The city is currently doing a Housing Element Update with the proposed upzoing to go to a public vote in November 2016. The city is required to do an EIR before the vote.
2:00 Are you sure you are not Muir? He is the only one that I know of that uses the phrasing "as regards to". That man needs to come up with something different because it is getting nauseating.
DeleteSmacks of Mikey with the faux innocent investigative tone.
Delete6:10 PM
DeleteWhere do you up with the statement that the city is required to do an EIR? The developers won't have to pay for an EIR on each parcel with the city paying half a million dollars now.
"Does anyone have a source for this rumor that Senior Zone means R-30?"
DeleteAnswer: Check 1/28/15 7:00's butt. I'm pretty sure that's the primary source.
Thanks for the explanation, 6:10! The R30 claim sounded fishy...no doubt the work of certain operatives :)
ReplyDeleteWhy has no one here mentioned Mark Muir's proposal to form a private community group to come up with an alternative housing element map?
ReplyDeleteI find it curious that the loudest voices criticizing the process have fallen silent. It would seem that this is the opportunity you wanted.
Methinks Muir has outsmarted you. He's going to show that all the objections about community input and process are bunk. The true motives behind All Rodbell and his merry band are about to be revealed. Namely, there is a small no growth group that wants a hostile confrontation with Sacremento over state housing law.
Actually, I don't have a problem with that position. I do have a problem with cloaking that position in side issues of process and community input.
I will be watching closely to see if Al, Sheila, Julie, Lynn, Andrew, Bob, and Donna actively participate in the citizen-driven alternate process, and if they can produce a plan the conforms to state requirements and guidelines.
Thank you, City operative. Back in yer hole.
Delete