Lone Jack resurfacing

Smooth as a baby's butt.  Think Cardiff and Leucadia would get treated better by the city if they kept quiet like Olivenhain does?

Petition for 101 Leucadia bike lane

Bike San Diego is talking to Encinitas city staff, trying to get a buffered bike lane North of Leucadia Boulevard on 101.

This harrowing stretch of 101 is intimidating to casual bicyclists.  Rarely do we see families, people on local errands, or tourists cruising what should be one of the country's most beautiful bike rides.  Safer bike lanes would bring health, environmental, and economic benefits to Leucadia.

You can help by signing this petition.

U-T turning against Encinitas council majority?

The Union-Tribune has a history of being friendly to the Dalager-Bond-Stocks-Gaspar-Muir gang, even before its recent acquisition by developer and political backslapper Doug Manchester.

Which makes this editorial smackdown quite surprising, and refreshing.

Encinitas’ foolishness gets proper rebuke

An unacceptable case of petty government secrecy came to a predictable but sorry conclusion this week in Encinitas. The City Council decided not to challenge a court order requiring that the city pay $56,175 in legal fees to a man who sued the city because it wouldn’t turn over a draft report on road maintenance done by an outside consultant.

Kevin Cummins, a local activist, wanted to see the document to determine whether the city’s financial issues were getting in the way of needed road repairs. The city’s lawyers used the tired dodge of saying the draft report was a work product, not an official document covered by the state Public Records Act. Even after losing their first round in court, Encinitas officials chose to appeal, only to be embarrassed again when the California 4th District Court of Appeal declined to review the ruling.

If the U-T is not going to cover for the gang anymore, Stocks' and Muir's re(?)-election will be more difficult. Media coverage of their crony Dan Dalager's crimes was what led to his ouster by the voters in 2010.

Reader E. comments:

I suspect the UT is starting to smell something reeking in Encinitas. Now that the report needs to be released, I wonder what financial issues will be discovered that "The Club" spent more than $50K trying to hide.

The road report in fact has been released and shows that while the roads are currently in "good" condition, there is a growing maintenance backlog that will increase future road repair costs. The bigger smoking gun is that the city has destroyed all communication between staff and the outside consultant. The city has a practice of destroying e-mails so that the public and the press can't get a view of the backroom scheming.

#HALLPARKFAIL: Andrew Audet on the council majority's 10 years of excuses

Andrew Audet in the Coast News is rapidly becoming the must-read local columnist. Today's column is one of his best yet.

The fact is the park was approved to be built years ago but the city doesn’t have the money. Money that should have gone to the park was spent on the wrong things. City unions that supported Stocks got pay raises.

The Fire Unions that supported Stocks got new fire stations. Union members like ex-fire chief and current un-elected council member Mark Muir, who directed efforts to elect Stocks, got pension raises. Meanwhile a generation of kids lost out on using the park and their taxpaying parents will foot the bill for new fire stations and pensions like Muir’s estimated at $170,000 dollars annually. A 7-year-old little leaguer in 2001 is now 18 and off to college. Fire unions got paid and residents got hosed.

Click on over and read the whole thing.

Midnight basketball

This guy has some moves!

What is ICLEI and why is Encinitas a member?

A commenter asks, "What is ICLEI and why is Encinitas a member of this international organization?"  Encinitas is one of a small minority of 1200 municipalities worldwide that has signed on to ICLEI.

ICLEI was founded at the UN in 1990.  One of the founders was notorious central planner (and quixotic 1992 Presidential candidate) Mayor Larry Agran of Irvine.

ICLEI has connections to "Agenda 21," which is a UN push to impose international rules on local development.  Doesn't Encinitas have enough over-development mandates from the state of California?  Do we really need Euro-weenie bureaucrats telling us to over-develop El Camino Real as well?

Why, you may still ask, is Encinitas a member of ICLEI?  Well, in 2010, all five council members voted to join ICLEI and send them our money because of global warming.  If we pack everyone into high-rise apartments on El Camino Real, people will stop driving cars... or so the thinking goes, apparently.

Turko Files goes to Toxaphene Fields

Seems to me it's all about financial and operational incompetence. The city paid way too much for the property, didn't make the sellers do the environmental clean-up, then got into a legal battle with the neighbors by demanding stadium lights for nighttime sports instead of building a more low-key community park that could be enjoyed by everyone. With the legal battles apparently over, the most likely real reason for no action is money. Where's the money?