"Museum" designation at Pacific View a sham to avoid public input on commercial use?

Sure sounds like it. But we're guessing this is an ends-justify-the-means kind of council.

From the North Coast Current:

I own the property at 643 Fourth St. in Encinitas, across from the Old Schoolhouse on the former EUSD Pacific View school site. My attorney Felix Tinkov and I have submitted written inputs and testified at almost every Pacific View meeting, since the first before the Planning Commission in July 2008.

At its Wednesday, April 8, meeting, the City Council will consider a procurement for an operating partner to take control of Pacific View.

Regrettably, the city plan cuts the residents short for education in the arts, at the expense of benefitting various local art groups.

Moreover, the city proposes to violate the municipal code in order to make this happen. For Pacific View, the city plan recommends the principal use as a museum, which does not require a conditional use permit. Thereby, the city avoids a public hearing before the Planning Commission, as well as skipping the attendant due-process noticing to nearby residents.

The proposed museum has no validity as a principal use, but serves as a front, cover or façade, to permit uses prohibited by code in the public/semi-public (P/SP) zone applicable to Pacific View. The “museum” principal use also shields accessory uses, such as the farmers market and outdoor events, from scrutiny at public hearings for the use permit process. The city plan proposes a number of accessory uses under the “museum” blanket, among them 1) farmers market, 2) cafe*, 3) artists’ studios*, 4) store sales of artists’ works*, and 5) outdoor musical events. The municipal code prohibits the asterisked uses for the P/SP zone. The farmers’ market and the open-air theater require use permits. The municipal code requires the accessory uses to be “necessarily and customarily associated with” the principal use, in this case a museum. For example, a farmers market neither meets the “necessary” nor the “customary” standards. In a letter submitted to the city council, attorney Felix Tinkov identifies which of the Pacific View accessory uses will violate the municipal code.

More significantly, the municipal code also requires the accessory uses to be “incidental” to the principal use. The staff report for the April 8 hearing resorts to a euphemism for describing the principal use as “a museum to reflect the historical aspects of the site,” the latter being the Pacific View school site. Thus, the principal-use museum comprises the existing Old Schoolhouse and its archives, and nothing more. Obviously, the accessory uses in the 10,000-square-foot buildings and on the 75,000-square-foot parking lot will totally eclipse this 1,000-square-foot “museum,” designated as the principal use.

Bottom line, the accessory uses will take most of the building floor area, rent free, greatly benefiting the artists, but providing little for the residents regarding education in the arts. The April 8 staff report employs another euphemism to describe the art education offered to the public as “features to enable the public to observe and learn about the activities being undertaken.”

At the February 11 council meeting on Pacific View, the staff report acknowledged the artists’ studios as visual entertainment for the public, namely, “where you could see amazing art created by local artists who you could also watch as they create their works.”

Presumably, it will not please taxpayers to pay $15 million-plus in mortgage and interest payments to provide a home for artists to conduct their businesses, with the residents merely reduced to entertainments, such as the farmers market already operating on Vulcan Avenue, outdoor musical events and watching artists work.

Don McPherson
Manhattan Beach
April 6, 2015

Pacific View gets a whole lot more expensive

When we posted last week that the city's purchase price of the abandoned Pacific View school site was at more than 10x the book price (and presumed crony sale price) of the city's Quail Gardens property, we thought that was bad enough real estate dealings.

For comparison, the city's recent purchase of the 2.6-acre Pacific View abandoned school site for $10 million works out to more than 10 times the price at $3.85 million per acre. Pacific View is admittedly an even more prime location, but is zoned far more restrictively.

Tonight we learned that not only is there asbestos at Pacific View that will require expensive remediation, but more than 10% of the entire property is useless due to necessary access easements for 4th Street homes.

Given the loss of 0.32 acres to easements, the new Pacific View price is $4.4 million per acre!

Arts group still in way over its head on Pacific View

Back in 2014, the City Council, led by Tony Kranz, borrowed $10 million in high-cost taxable bonds to buy the abandoned Pacific View elementary school. Councilwoman Lisa Shaffer offered a vision of a thriving arts center despite most arts uses being expressly prohibited by the zoning.

Nevertheless, a new vastly underfunded but panglossian arts group was hastily formed to receive the taxpayer largess and promised to turn the dilapidated buildings into something of use.

Six years and millions of taxpayer dollars later...

On this week's council agenda.

EACEA [Encinitas Arts, Culture and Ecology Alliance] did not ask to extend the ROEL [Right of Entry and License Agreement] and it expired on December 19, 2019.

[...]

In order to use the current buildings, they would need to be improved to make them safe and clean for public use. In September 2015, a Preliminary Design Report was completed by Westberg+White for the rehabilitation of the Pacific View site. The design report provided three options with estimated costs. The cost estimate at that time to restore the Pacific View school buildings and site ranged from $3.9 million to $4.4 million.

More history of the Pacific View fiasco can be found in the Encinitas Undercover archives.

So much for "civility" -- council majority attacks Muir for merely suggesting a modicum of fiscal caution

Looks like that whole "civility" thing ended as soon as unanimity for rubber-stamping Gus Vina's agenda stopped.

First, let's acknowledge that Council Member Mark Muir's request for a hiring freeze and analysis of staffing levels is belated, possibly politically motivated, and inconsistent with his prior votes to go along with expanding Vina's bureaucracy (though he does have the legitimate point that the sudden decision to spend $10 million on Pacific View makes a significant change in the city's financial health).

That said, the substance of Muir's proposal is quite sensible. We still have no plan for paying for road maintenance and unfunded pension liabilities, plus the new debt service and operating costs for the Hall Park and Pacific View, so why not pause any new hires until somebody can explain where all the money is supposed to come from?

The response from the council majority was shrill.

Tony Kranz:

“I will be governing, and not playing politics,” Councilman Tony Kranz said as he described why he was voting against the proposal put forward by fellow Councilman Mark Muir.

Lisa Shaffer's e-mail newsletter:

Seriously, Mr. Muir? Deputy Mayor Muir proposed an agenda item related to the budget and staffing. He asked that we consider it first before looking at the overall operating budget. The agenda report said that he felt "it would be prudent for the city to implement a temporary hiring freeze" until the financial plan for Pacific View is determined. He further proposed that positions approved by the Council since January 2013 and any future positions should be reviewed "to determine if the position is meeting our community and councils [sic] needs and expectations." The timing of the item, coming just as we begin our budget discussions, seemed a bit odd to me. The budget process is how we determine funding strategies and staffing levels. So why, at the start of the process, less than a month from the scheduled adoption of a budget on which he will be voting, would he make this proposal?

Wouldn't the start of the process be the appropriate time to make such a suggestion, unless the budget had already been informally agreed to in backroom deals, and the public process was merely theater?

Teresa Barth's weekly e-mail newsletter:

The proposed FY14/15 Operating Budget includes funding for all operating costs, all proposed increases and fully funds the operating reserves and budget stabilization reserves. Resulting in an ending fund balance of $7.2M which will be available for additional capital improvement projects and/or bond debt payments.

Additionally, since 2012 operational efficiencies resulted in an annual savings of $1M in payroll and operating expenses. Reforms enacted in 2011 have already reduced pension obligations.

So what was Muir's proposal really all about? Just petty politics or a serious effort to sabotage the purchase of the Pacific View? Based on previous actions, I think the later.

Councilmembers Muir and Gaspar continue to engage in these fiscal calamity scare tactics even though the facts simply do not support their allegations. I believe they will continue with their efforts at the May 21 meeting when we discuss financing options for the purchase.

While we haven't seen the budget details yet, here are a few questions citizens might want to ask of Mayor Barth:

1) Despite Vina's claimed $1 million in "operational efficiencies," isn't it true that staffing costs actually increased during the time in question, and will continue to increase every year?

2) Isn't it true that Vina's budget continues to underfund road maintenance and allow road conditions to decay just as they did under the Stocks council?

3) Isn't it true that Vina's budget continues to underfund pension liabilities just as budgets did under the Stocks council?

4) That $7.2 million fund balance is not recurring revenue, but the last cash left in the bank from prior city councils. Vina's six-year financial plan, unlike prior budgets, appears to allocate no revenues for the next five years to capital improvement. Do you really think it's prudent management to have your only plan for future capital improvement be to spend Encinitas' last reserves?

And finally, how the heck is asking for a temporary hiring freeze and staffing analysis "a serious effort to sabotage the purchase of the Pacific View?"  Let's tone down the overheated rhetoric.

Flash council meeting on Pacific View terms

From the Inbox:

Please post this announcement online since it was released at the very last minute.

The Encinitas City Council has called a special meeting for Wednesday, April 16, at 4:30 p.m. to discuss and vote on the purchase terms of the Pacific View property. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) containing the proposed conditions for the sale appears below and the meeting agenda can be viewed here.The terms were worked out by an ad hoc committee headed by City Manager Gus Vina and Encinitas Union School Superintendent Timothy Baird. It's hoped that the City Council will vote to approve the MOU, and in turn, the school district will vote to officially cancel the Pacific View auction at its April 29th meeting.City Councilmember Tony Kranz, a primary force behind the city's dramatic last-minute purchase, explained that the meeting should "move the purchase process forward towards the final sale agreement." The meeting may go into a closed session to discuss details-- if so, results will be announced publicly immediately following the closed session.

Special City Council Meeting on Pacific View Purchase

Wednesday, April 16, 2014 at 4:30 p.m.

Encinitas City Council Chambers

505 South Vulcan Avenue 

Encinitas, California 92024

SavePacificView.org will continue covering events relating to Encinitas' acquisition of the heritage site.

Council gun-shy on open space acquisition after Pacific View fiasco

San Diego Reader:

A 33-acre Encinitas strawberry farm landed on mayor Catherine Blakespear's wish list this week when the real estate agent representing the family owners offered it to the City of Encinitas.

"It's just north of the San Elijo Conservancy," Blakespear said. "We don't have the money to buy it but I'd like to be able to."

[...]

The tumultuous multi-year effort for the city to acquire and repurpose the Pacific View property from the Encinitas School District left the city's leaders feeling a little timid about venturing into land acquisition again, Blakespear said. The city bought the 2.8-acre property for $10 million in 2015, issuing bonds to pay for the purchase.

Years after the council's $10 million Pacific View purchase, the buildings remain dilapidated and unoccupied and have yet to live up to the council's vision.


City Council rendering of Pacific View site

Sabotage in Encinitas!

Last week we pointed out the council majority's overheated and incivil reactions to Council Member Mark Muir's suggestion of a temporary hiring freeze.

Others noticed it too.

From the Inbox:

"Sabotage" is a word usually reserved for headlines during world wars to describe the enemy's stealthy lethal destruction of our military factories. Of course, for the side that leads the attack those "brave special forces" are not saboteurs, but heroes. During such existential conflict language itself is in the service of stoking hatred against the enemy; so any talk of their legitimate motivations borders on treason.

I was a bit surprised by Monday's headline of the mass mailing by the "Save Pacific View" movement, featuring the accusation of the minority faction's "attempts to 'sabotage' the purchase." Yet it was effective. Hatred, rage at the "other" with all of the associated attitudes, along with the danger of escalation is very much a characteristic of our human species. If I cited examples, it would turn this little article into long sad list, one we all know too well.

The three acres described as Pacific View is not something to be saved or sacrificed, or land that may fall into the hands of our enemy- by sabotage. It is a property that has many potential uses, one of which is under city ownership that ironically is now only an idea, with the purchase predicated on this vague idea being transformed into something concrete that will be approved by future voters.

Most Americans decry the increase in partisan acrimony on the federal level, but without great disposable wealth an individual can do very little about it. Thus a city such as ours presents an opportunity to speak to those who make our laws and spend our money more directly. This makes the tone of conversation about this particular purchase of real estate all the more disturbing. "Rage displaces rationality" is a well known aphorism that is almost too self evident to validate.

Once we transcend the image of Pacific View as a living icon to be saved, we can consider its end use, now visualized as an arts center or performance space. Was there any conversation about the performance complex two miles away at the San Dieguito Academy, that unlike Pacific View has plenty of parking space and a new theater with acoustics for drama and music of all varieties. Did anyone from Encinitas even begin preliminary negotiation for a long term option on leasing time slots for this auditorium, something that would potentially benefit both the city's and school's financial needs.

I suppose my bringing this up could be considered a type of "sabotage" by some, which I regret for those who think this way. Yet, our political culture has descended to this mentality pretty extensively, meaning those who try to buck it or either ignored, if lucky, or become targets for those who seek objects for their ire.

Personally, I keep trying, leaving articles up on my personal website that I know will enrage one side or the other---with a hope that a few may take heart that such type of writing is still possible in our day.

Al Rodbell
Encinitas CA

Gaspar, Shaffer spar on Pacific View costs

Gaspar:

Last, the Council unanimously chose the Encinitas Arts, Culture and Ecology Alliance as the proposed operator for the former Pacific View School site, which the Council purchased in March 2014. We also learned that unfortunately it would take about an additional $4 million to prepare the site for occupancy. While I opposed the $10-million purchase price for Pacific View because the appraised value of the property was only $3.3 million, now that we own the property we must consider the best future use that will enrich our community.

We must move forward with the challenge of raising the $4 million dollars needed to renovate the existing facilities and offset the current approximately $70,000 per month in debt service to repay the bonds used to acquire the property. I commend Garth Murphy and his entire team for pulling together a diverse community coalition, including, but not limited to the band, Switchfoot, and Rob Machado, whose activism and foundation work have touched the lives of many Encinitans. I look forward to helping the Encinitas Arts, Culture and Ecology Alliance clear the high hurdles in front of them.

Shaffer's newsletter response:

First, I feel compelled to offer some clarification in response to recently published commentary by the mayor regarding Pacific View. She wrote that "it would take about an additional $4 million to prepare the site for occupancy." This is not true. The architect hired by the city presented a plan to rehabilitate the building in several configurations, the most expensive of which was close to $4 million. However, the Encinitas Arts, Culture, and Ecology Alliance (EACEA), who we unanimously selected to move forward in developing an operating plan and agreement with the City, has its own architect and plans, which are much less expensive and will be financed by the Alliance. The financing costs for purchasing the property are already incorporated into the City's operating budget (which, by the way, has a handsome surplus this year, as it did last year). EACEA will be presenting its fund-raising plans and financial strategy soon, and I have no doubt that the community-based coalition will be successful in creating a vibrant and innovative space that will benefit the entire City for years to come.

The record is clear that Mayor Gaspar opposed the purchase of the property at the price that the school district was willing to accept. She lost that vote, and like all of us, is bound by the decision of the majority. So it would be nice if we could move on without having to rehash that decision. It's done. The bonds were issued and the site activation is underway. Let's work together to make the EACEA proposal a success.

So, Lisa, if city finances are so great, what was that whole sales tax increase thing about? You've still never explained that.  And why are you still underfunding road maintenance according to your own consultant?

Subcommittee needs more time for Pacific View plan

Like the proverbial dog that catches the car, the council faction that purchased Pacific View faces the question, "Now what?"

Residents were expecting an answer January 28, but it turns out that rehabilitating dilapidated buildings with limited resources is a bit more complicated than the Pacific View subcommittee expected.

The subcommittee said it favored rehabbing the site’s dilapidated buildings, a former elementary school, over tearing them down and starting anew, at least for the interim museum. Glenn Pruim, director of public works, said so far due diligence hasn’t found “significant flaws” in the buildings that would rule out restoration.

But bringing the buildings up to code will likely require new plumbing, electrical work, ridding the structures of asbestos and other improvements, city staff noted.

From Council Member Lisa Shaffer's most recent newsletter:

Council member Kranz and I have postponed the report on Pacific View site activation until Feb. 11. After our last subcommittee meeting and subsequent discussions with staff, we realized that we needed a bit more time to put together a clear proposal that we could all get behind. We're still moving forward, but want to make sure we understand the options and tradeoffs.

We hope the subcommittee's next report will be as entertaining as its last report.

EUSD says Naylor Act doesn't apply to Pacific View; attorney who saved Del Mar Shores disagrees

North Coast Current:

A document released by the school district that was penned by law firm Best Best & Krieger suggests that because the school facility and its playground have been unavailable to the public for a period of more than eight years, they are no longer protected by the act, and this is the legal opinion that the school district will consult moving forward.

“Here, the Pacific View property has not been used for playground, playfield or any other recreational activity for the last eight years,” the legal opinion states. “Accordingly, by the plain language of the Naylor Act, it is inapplicable to the Pacific View property.”

Other observers such as Carl Hilliard aren’t so sure that the legal opinion gives the best view of the law and how it works. Hilliard served as one of two lawyers who worked to keep the Del Mar Shores school property in Del Mar from residential and commercial development in the mid 2000s.

“We invoked the Naylor Act and the school in Del Mar had been closed for more than that period of time,” Hilliard said. “And the Naylor Act applies to playgrounds and allows the city to purchase (a school property) at 25 percent of per market value, but it must contain a playground and if it’s not used as a playground then there’s a right for the school district to repurchase it.

The Naylor Act would require the district to offer 30% of the property to the city at 25% of market value.

Save Pacific View

From the Inbox:

Dear Encinitas (and other North County) friends,

We are in real danger of losing the Pacific View site to general development (and a likely housing project), if the school board sells the property. This is a horrible shame, as that property was bequeathed to the children of Encinitas. Many residents would rather see it become a community arts center, me among them.

So, I urge you very strongly to visit the website below and, once there, write a short letter to the school board, explaining that we want the property to remain in the hands of the Encinitas public, not those of developers.

http://savepacificview.org

It's late in the game, but there still may be hope if the board receives enough letters. Please send a letter; it will take you five minutes or less.

See also the Coast News on local resident Scott Chatfield, the man behind the Save Pacific View web site.

City to dump another $1 million into abandoned school, hire social media propagandist

 Wow! They sure are flush with cash down at City Hall!

Union-Tribune:

Encinitas should pay for renovation work at the long-closed Pacific View property, hire a communications specialist and focus on two housing-related issues in the coming year, City Council members agreed last month.

[...]

The council’s fourth item on the top priorities list was improving the city’s online presence by hiring a communication specialist. Blakespear said other cities do a better job than Encinitas in regularly communicating online with residents.

“We can mobilize for things that are urgent, but we don’t have a consistent presence,” she said.

Kranz noted that the city did have a communications specialist some years ago, but her efforts sparked controversy.

Marlena Medford was hired by former city manager Gus Vina in late 2013. She established the city’s Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram accounts and won two state awards for excellence in communications, but one of her innovative communication efforts --- the use of the e-townhall system called PeakDemocracy to collect comments on a proposed citywide housing planning document --- generated huge controversy in Encinitas.

The Peak Democracy and Pacific View boondoggles were two of the most amusing episodes of city council incompetence in recent memory. Take a stroll through the archives here:

Peak Democracy

Pacific View

Encinitas is finalist for Golden Fleece Awards for Pacific View deal

Times of San Diego:

The city of Encinitas and the Encinitas school district are in competition with the cities of San Diego (for costly Portland Loos) and Escondido for the bottom awards by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association.

[...]

The annual program notes the best and worst in local government efficiency, spending and decision-making.

[...]

Golden Fleece Award Finalists

Metro

* City of Encinitas & Encinitas Union School District – Pacific View Profiteering
* City of San Diego – Portland Loos
* City of Escondido – Adoption of Citizens’ Property Rights Initiative


Regional

* Palomar Community College District – Computer Dumping
* Caltrans – Water Wasters
* San Ysidro School District – Title I Cover-Up

The San Diego County Taxpayers Association beclowned itself in 2013 when it awarded the Golden Fleece to the Poway Unified School District for the disastrous $1 billion capital appreciation bonds which the SDCTA had itself endorsed. Fortunately, this year there is no record of the SDCTA blessing the Pacific View purchase.

Planning Commission delays Pacific View over traffic and noise concerns

Four years after the city council borrowed $10 million to buy an abandoned school, the site has fallen far short of the council's dreams.

Coast News:

The Encinitas Planning Commission punted approval of the proposed revitalization of the shuttered Pacific View Elementary School site to April, citing a lack of details in the plan.

A group called the Encinitas Arts, Culture and Ecology Alliance wants to transform the school site, which has been closed since 2003, into an arts, culture and ecology center called the Pacific View Academy of the Arts.

The commission voted 4-0 last week to postpone its decision until April to give the group a chance to address concerns raised by commissioners and neighbors about the parking, lighting, number of events and noise.

Subcommittee plans 1500-foot CN Tower, pasty white people with balloons at Pacific View

Yes, that's actually what they're showing in this subcommittee PowerPoint.



The image is from plans for Toronto's Ontario Place, which is enormous, commercial, and waterfront. In other words, it has absolutely nothing in common with Pacific View. (And the upper photo is not, as some people have suggested, the new development at Weidner's Gardens.)

But on a more serious note, aside from the subcommittee's poor PowerPoint skills and inappropriate image appropriation, the October 6 meeting raised a lot of serious concerns that somebody should have thought about earlier. Like, say, zoning for the new arts center!



Wait a minute... art galleries, music conservatories, dance studios, and recording studios are expressly prohibited? What kind of art center are we getting for $10 million?

Then there's the Coastal Commission approval (and they don't want anything that will impact parking at Moonlight Beach!), and the non-taxable bond limitations fiasco.  Not to mention that the city is too broke to build or operate anything on the site, which is why they are hiring expensive consultants to figure out how to raise fees on residents.  Click on over to Focus on Encinitas for the full scoop on the Pacific View SNAFU.

Baird gets greedy on Pacific View price tag

EUSD Superintendent Tim Baird, who has long sought to asset-strip the community of its bequeathed Pacific View site in order to fund operating expenses, now wants even more money.

Union-Trib:

The city of Encinitas won’t be allowed to purchase the old Pacific View elementary school property at a steeply discounted rate, even though a nonprofit arts organization was once offered that option, the district’s superintendent said last week.

“That was two years ago, when we desperately needed money and (selling the land) was solving some problems,” Encinitas Union School District Superintendent Tim Baird said Tuesday.

Now, the district’s financial situation has improved, the region’s economy is in much better shape, and the real estate market is picking up, Baird said.

Open letter on Pacific View

Encinitas City Council and residents,

It's time to take a deep breath before we dive into this one. If we proceed, some changes in the proposed contract should be made. These two related elements must be addressed in concert. The first is the action plan on this purchase proposed by the City Manager:

Is there an anti-New Encinitas bias on the council?

A new blog from New Encinitas, "Encinitas Report," feels short-changed by the council's expensive purchase of Pacific View for an arts center when the city already has a long-vacant place for an arts center on El Camino Real:

Lisa Shaffer, during her original campaign for city council, stated:

"The City has rights to a parcel in the Encinitas Ranch Town Center for a theater and other community uses, as defined in the Encinitas Ranch Specific Plan. Council expressed interest in looking for ways to put that space (now vacant and weed-filled) to use as soon as possible, and to explore concepts such as an open-air theater shell and a farmer’s market. I agree with the observation by Mayor Barth that New Encinitas deserves more public spaces and that this vacant lot should be used for the community."

Apparently, during her two years in office since then, Lisa has forgotten that "New Encinitas deserves more public spaces" and decided instead to mortgage the city's future on an asbestos laden elementary school in an effort to beholden herself to the nearby wealthy homeowners who do not want the parcel developed. On top of that, those residents get more city [debt financed] investment into an arts center that they can walk to, all at the expense of the other 61,000 Encinitas residents. GLAD TO CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE!

Well, the three council members who voted for the Pacific View purchase are all from coastal Encinitas: Leucadia, Old Encinitas, and Cardiff.  The two who voted no are both from New Encinitas. Coincidence?  You make the call.

Incoming council member Catherine Blakespear is also from Cardiff and will preserve the coastal majority, so don't expect that El Camino arts center any time soon.

But we kid.  Of course everyone in the (coastal, ocean view) City Hall loves New Encinitas.  You know what kind of revenues Home Depot and Wal-Mart bring in?

5/21/14 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.

On tonight's agenda: more budget and planning stuff, including the impact of Pacific View. Pacific View's debt service, without even building anything on it to make it usable, will be more than a half million dollars per year, even as the city plans to continue underfunding road maintenance and pension liabilities by a few million dollars per year. And they've zeroed out all budget allocation to capital improvement projects for the next five years.

Hey, here's an idea: how about a temporary hiring freeze until somebody figures out where all this money is supposed to come from?

Party on, Tim!

It seems the Encinitas Union School District bigwigs wasted no time celebrating their $10 million Pacific View windfall.

Seaside Courier:

As if to celebrate their fleecing of taxpayers with the school site sale, school board members the first week in August gathered at the posh La Quinta Resort in the Palm Springs area—part of the Waldorf Astoria family—for a three-day “educational retreat” that may have cost taxpayers another $20,000 or so.

According to the flier produced by the school board, the retreat kicked off on Wednesday, Aug. 6, with a “Welcome Happy Hour at Tim’s Suite,” Tim being Superintendent Tim Baird. (Incidentally, in October 2011, Baird sued the City of Encinitas because the council at the time wouldn’t upzone the Pacific View site to allow high-density condos—a move that would have allowed the district to maximize profits from any future sale.)

After happy hour came dinner at the Adobe Grill, the resort’s onsite Mexican restaurant that one Open Table reviewer called “undeservingly pricey.”

The first day of the “educational retreat” ended with “evening libations in ‘The Suite’ or ‘TWENTY6.’” The next day, according to the agenda, a breakfast buffet on the Waterfall Patio was followed by a four-hour “management retreat.” That must have been grueling because the rest of the day was remarkably light: lunch, then “Relaxation and Reflection,” “Happy Hour at Tim’s Suite,” “Dinner off-property at The Grill on Main” and more “evening libations.”

A notice at the bottom of the flier urged school board members to “bring laptops, iPads, sunscreen, swimsuits, hats and any other desert survival items.”

An EUSD parent writes:

I have never heard of such an excessive retreat at a time when class sizes are going up, and parents are expected to fund hundreds of dollars worth of supplies and services.

Agenda for the boozefest here.