Alien-ation

via Sustainability the Musical

According to Mary: Boiled Frog Syndrome

Encinitas' own Mary Fleener, nationally recognized cartoonist presents her view.  This week Encinitas You Need Us blog showing the companion, the May 18 cartoon unavailable until now. 

Olivenhain Residents - Persistent Request for Fire Safety Services

Here are 3 clips from hours of articulate speakers from Olivenhain speaking out against the insufficient solutions being recommended by the Encinitas Fire Department. For the full meeting - go here.  To begin, the two candidates to challenge the council majority in the election this year, Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz.

Finally, our minority voice on the council, Teresa Barth speaks to these same themes of public safety and internal failures. Her questions also point up the resistance to change endemic in the current system - planning, human resources and fire department status quo. The lack of political will and sense of urgency for the sake of human life is stunning - despite the reasonable tone throughout the conversations.

Blog Note: Postings will be lighter this week. Real life takes on demanding interferences. There will be more videos from around the country and the world. Despite US television, cable, radio and print mediums, there are the largest protests in history happening this very week and will be continuing. No reason Encinitas should be under a rock.

Myths Encinitas

Myths Encinitas shares a gigantic myth with the rest of country.  So today this should realistically be titled, Myths US of A.

Myth: If taxes on the rich go up, jobs will go down.

It's somewhat surreal to have a video saying this obvious myth be considered controversial.  The TED talk below became the news chum in the water recently in what seemed like manufactured news at Time and Huffington Post and Washington Post, etc., etc., in the corporate news fustercluck.

Said to be too outrageous, or was it simply not that innovative and worthy of the selection for TED?  Who knows.

What's important is simple reality has broken through the fog of the corporate media and a capitalist is speaking.  Enjoy.

Art Banner Auction - A Tribute in Spite of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor

The Arts Alive Banners will be auctioned Sunday!

The colorful banners, designed by artists throughout the region and the world, will go to auction starting at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Courtyard at Cardiff Town Center, at the corner of San Elijo Road and Birmingham Drive. The minimum bid for a banner is $150, with proceeds shared between the artists and arts organizations 101 Artists Colony, Cardiff 101 and Leucadia 101. What a battle it has been to allow Maggie Houlihan, a friend to the artists of Encinitas prior to her death last fall, to be honored and remembered through this civic project.

At this last May 16 city council meeting, Gaspar the rigid post, was unbending in her self-supporting stance regarding the her accusatory words and behavior towards the Artist 101 Colony director, Danny Salzhander on April 11 this year. After Danny and most all of the previously packed council chamber were long gone and most watching at home had, like this editor, clicked off the meeting, when the Deputy Mayor offered her explanation of her conduct just minutes before the close of the meeting.

"Definition of Apology" by J. E. Brown
Fake Apologies and How to Recognize Them

• While a true apology shows concern for the receiver, many fake apologies begin with "I'm sorry" but end with a point that is completely incompatible with remorse: {You're reading
• Standing by what you did is not remorse, therefore not an apology.
• Demanding to be forgiven is self-serving. A good general formula to help you recognize non-apologies is "If it's self-serving, it's not an apology."
• Changing the subject is not an apology: "Well, what about what you did?" Changing the subject indicates an unwillingness to apologize.
• Verbal abusers often show resistance to apologizing. Continuing to insist that what you've done was not verbal abuse somehow, or that verbal abuse is somehow not wrong, or that Wrong is somehow relative -- that's not an apology. The point of apologizing is not to say that the crime still feels reasonable to you.
• "I'm sorry but ____" is not an apology, because it does not communicate an understanding that you did wrong.
• Any blaming of the receiver's perceptions: "I'm sorry you perceived that I ____." Calling someone delusional is a tactic, not an apology.
• "You misunderstood." Pretending that your words didn't mean what they mean, i.e. pretending that your words don't have literal meaning, is not an apology.
• "I'm sorry you misunderstood" is a more blatant, in-your-face form. Most often, when someone says "I'm sorry you misunderstood," neither is true.
• Calling the receiver "ungrateful" for not instantly forgiving. In general, calling the receiver ethically defective, perceptually defective, etc., are not apologies, but are forms of gaslighting.
• "But I didn't do it on purpose!" The universal excuse of good intentions isn't an apology; it's an excuse for doing more of the same, for continuing to offend. It's a childish belief that one can continue acting in a hurtful way as long as there is some nebulous "good intention" involved. Hitler apologists like to make use of this one, often in the form "He was only doing what he thought was best for his country, and that's not so evil, is it?" Yes, in fact, it is. Don't be taken in by excuses that look at the problem through the wrong end of the binoculars. Any offense can be described from such a high level that the problematic details conveniently disappear. But the motive behind the search for such a viewpoint isn't really remorse, is it? Saying "I don't see the connection between my actions and your reaction" is not an apology. It's a denial of responsibility. It's a suggestion that the hearer overreacted.
• "I'm sorry [but] you ____" is not an apology. It's a blame-shift.
• "I'm sorry you got all offended" is not an apology. It's a slap. It's a technique for adding insult to injury.
• "I'm sorry you feel that way" is not an apology.
• "I want to apologize" is no more an apology than "I want to lose weight" is a diet.
• "I'm sorry about what happened" is not an apology, any more than saying "I hate when that happens." ;^) When someone says "I'm sorry about what happened," consider answering, "And...what was that, exactly? I'd just like to be sure we're on the same page." People have been known to completely miss the point and apologize for the wrong thing.
• Variant: "I regret that it happened." Referring to one's actions as "what happened" is not an apology because the speaker is not taking responsibility. There are two kinds of phenomena: those which "just happen" (earthquakes, tornadoes, old trees falling down in the wind) and things which are caused by deliberate, chosen actions (like the house damaged by a tree which falls when a drunk driver collides with it). Of course, the drunk driver will usually claim "It was an accident," as if to say "I wasn't the cause." This is merely propaganda, designed to trick the gullible.
• "I'm sorry for what I did" is an improvement. Still, it leaves things unsaid; it doesn't specify what the speaker did, perhaps even conceals it on purpose, perhaps because the speaker doesn't understand or agree that what he/she did was wrong. What a pronoun is to a noun, this statement is to an apology. A complete apology is not vague; it doesn't say "I'm sorry about...that thing I did." If the parties don't agree as to the nature of the error, they don't agree as to the meaning of the apology. The promise inherent in the apology has been left blurry.
• One sometimes sees this method used between nations. The thought process seems to be, "How small an apology can I offer while still causing the receiver to think I feel remorse?"
• There are other ways of distancing oneself from responsibility. "That's in the past" is an assertion that the passage of time is a substitute for an apology. It's a suggestion that one is entitled to hurt others as long as no one notices for a very long time.
• "We've both said unfortunate things" is not an apology. It's an accusation. It's inflammatory. It's an attempt to shift the spotlight.
• "I'm sorry about that. And now, isn't there something you'd like to say to me?" An apology is not a quid pro quo -- reciprocation is not required, unless wrongdoing occurred in both directions. But if not, only an uncivilized person would apologize to you as a way of forcing an apology out of you.
• Deathbed apologies are not necessarily real. Real apologies are not triggered by intense emotions or deadlines or expediency. True apologies are motivated by "I'm sorry for what I did," not "I'm sorry we weren't close, I wish I could figure out why we weren't."
• "Of course I'm sorry" contains just a hint of annoyance. It's a bit like saying "Am I sorry? What a silly question. What are you, stupid?"

We Write Letters

Update: Video Clip added 5/18/12, 11 am

Ideally, well composed commentaries and letters like this one will be seen in many different venues.  In the event that an Encinitas voter doesn't read the Coast News paper or hasn't paid the online fee to read these citizen-generated pieces, this blog might be the place a connection is made.   For that reason we are advocating redundancy.  Good stuff shouldn't go unread. 

Message from the Mayor: ‘Your input is unwelcome and irrelevant’ 
By C.J. Minster May 14, 2012

Once again the mayor of Encinitas has demonstrated his disdain for what you, as citizens of Encinitas, have to say.

At the May 9 Council meeting, a resident requested a revision to the April 18 Minutes (not yet approved and posted) to reflect more accurately the main point of a statement she had made during Oral Communications.

Mayor Stocks, in his usual snarky tone, stated that the topics of the presentations should not have been in the Minutes at all, and that the City Clerk had erred by including them. He said that it is Council policy to have “action” minutes that only state who spoke during Oral Communications, but not what they spoke about. He said, “I’m not sure when we got away from that.” He went on to say, “There is absolutely no reason to take up what they addressed.” Video Link

Mayor Stocks’ statement indicates the following:

• He must not be reading the Minutes (even though Council must approve all minutes before they are posted) for, in fact, all Minutes for regular Council meetings from at least 2002 up to the present briefly describe what each person addressing Council during Oral Communications spoke about.

• Underlying his stance against including brief documentation of what citizens take time and effort to present is a message to the public that our input to the City is unwelcome, unimportant, has no relevance to what Council should consider or not consider, and is best forgotten.

But this time Mayor Stocks wasn’t able to rally support around his position. Council voted to put a discussion of this topic on a future Council agenda. Mayor Stocks was the only council member who voted against doing so (Jim Bond was absent).

Mayor Stocks, we get your message loud and clear, but we’re not buying it. And, we have a message for you: “You aren’t our king, and this City is not your realm.” Fortunately, we live in a democracy. Watch us vote you out in November!

Thanks to C.J. Miinster for this at the Coast News.

Update: Sorry for the oversight. Here is the full length video clip. Go to the 3 minute mark to capture the incident C.J. is writing about in her commentary.

Quality of Life

Talking about how the quality of life in Encinitas has declined for residents because of too many bars - isn't the Council's job to try to enhance quality of life? 

 

The proposed resolution is not just more law and order strong arm tactics. This group proposes a collaborative process rather than force from authority figures and cops alone. This is an appeal for good neighbor strategies based on bar owners, businesses and neighbors coming together with the assistance of the city. This also begs the questions of why these behaviors are on the rise? Could it be the young so disillusioned that drinking and partying (self-medication) is the answer to monstrous student debt, bleak career futures and unresponsive government? Just a thought . . .

Walking

Frankly, 5" heels aren't a real  issue of sacrifice for most in Encinitas. But, sacrifices are an understatement when it comes to walking in and feeling safe in Leucadia, New Encinitas, Cardiff, etc. Perception alone of a street being unsafe can discourage walking.

Today at City Council there is an agenda item: 

Approve the Transit Feasibility Study Interview Panel’s recommended consultant, and authorize the City Manager to negotiate an agreement with Parsons Brinckerhoff in the amount not to exceed $100,000 to assist the City in developing the Transit Feasibility Study.

Before saying more, this blog is against the city recommendation primarily because Parson's Brinckerhoff sounds like a character on Gilligan's Island, or one of Mitt's friends.

Seriously . . .

The real reason for rejection of this recommendation is NOT disappoval of a study. Criticism centers on the SANDAG and NCTD connections to this firm appear hard wired in the agenda packet information  We in the public know that neither power base, SANDAG or NCTD, or their Encinitas vassal, Mayor Jerome Stocks, is receptive to public sentiment or any dissenting council voices and have never been.  We don't need to pay money for we Encinitas serfs to be targeted for the continued assault of these unelected overlords.

That said, the concept of 21st century revised way of thinking about circulation in a multitude of forms is not in and of itself bad or wrong headed.  Not just shuttle buses, not just bike lanes or traffic calming - but a serious pedestrian commitment are all needed.  Examples extend back thousands of years and even in just the last century there have always been exemplars of allowing for all forms of travel in cities around the world.  If you have lived or traveled in the cities described below, you know this to be true.

Look at cities such as New York, Boston, San Francisco, London, Paris and Barcelona. These cities have beautiful streets that encourage walking. Commuters in these cities happily walk 15 or 20 minutes from a subway or rail station, or from a parking garage, to their home, workplace or school. They don't hesitate to walk a half-mile to visit their favorite shop, cafe or friend.

In addition to changing terminology, we need to modify a pervasive American planning standard: the dogma of the one-quarter-mile walking radius. If you look at development plans, you'll see circles drawn around transportation nodes to show the presumed limits of how far Americans are willing to walk. [ . . .] A quarter-mile is 1,320 feet, walkable in about five to six minutes.

Walking infrastructure is a lot cheaper than subways and buses. It is good for your health. It makes our cities lively and supports the businesses along the way. He is right; it is time to change our mindsets.

More in the Washington Post

We know that our traffic engineers are riddled with dogma from another era, so vigilance is appropriate.  A fully integrated system of shuttle buses, commuter buses are a necessity for a city committed to reducing fossil fuel use, carbon emissions, air quality, valued time and money; but, who is designing this master plan is vital.

Myths Encinitas

Encinitas traffic engineers, traffic consultants like Austin-Foust, traffic commissioners, Mayor Stocks (especially in his role as SANDAG chairman), Jim Bond, crony friends and many in the community of Encinitas keep perpetuating the myths about automobile-centric supremacy as the only transportation approach for a robust economy.

This is a myth.  Today's post will feature a  Streetfilms video sharing information from over 100's of studies done around the world about livable cities.

Despite the automobile's 100 year reign and all the great things each and every one of us may have enjoyed with our drivers licensed entree into the US auto-centric 20th century, it will ultimately be viewed by history as a mistake for two reasons (discussed within this film):

1. Traffic undermines the livability of the city. 
2. The auto does a poor job of moving people in a dense urban environment.

This isn't to say there is no place, no function for the automobile.  That would be silly.  It is simply not the sacred gift to humanity that it is touted to be, especially in the Western US in the decades that lie ahead of us.  The time of rethinking has begun and decades overdue.

But, someone who has studied this in depth will take over here in a  Streetfilms video. Even though Encinitas is a tiny dot compared to New York City.  This living laboratory of all that traffic can be is worthy of our attention.

"For more than 100 years New York City government policy has prioritized the needs of the automobile over the needs of any other mode of transport. Working under the faulty assumption that more car traffic would improve business, planners and engineers have systematically made our streets more dangerous and less livable. As a result, even the idea that a street could truly be a “place” – a shared space for human interaction and play – has been almost completely destroyed."

This website is on our Encinitas traffic engineers should be forced to use as a tutorial until they lose the 1950's traffic myths.   Streetfilms has . . .

"done over 450 Streetfilms in nearly 6 years!  We've been a lot of places. We've explored a lot of ideas. We've interviewed the top world experts in the transportation & livable streets realm."

Update: 3:20 pm The correct video has been embedded.  Apologies for the oversight.

Hand back the keys to the house and car

As adult men, some of us have stated outright that it is insulting to be portrayed in film, comedy and throughout the culture as clueless teenage boys. We are shown as stupid and useless without a responsible woman or a mom to set us straight. But, we are also given permission to blame them when we screw up. It’s trite and deeming to us and to moms and to women in general. Looks like it doesn’t serve anyone. The media does it in part to sell things. The attitude is do what you want, when you want and don't let anyone stop you.  Justified selfishness.  So why do conservative (for lack of a better word)  political planks sound like spoiled frat boys wrote them? Sometimes it does seem like teenage boys are running the country.

Case in point - Brat response

Reading the following article in the North County Times yesterday, “Alliance to expand reach beyond homeless shelters”

“The [North County] alliance is made up of Carlsbad, Del Mar, Escondido, Encinitas, Oceanside, Poway, San Marcos, Solana Beach and Vista. The nine cities united about five years ago to work together on

solutions to regional issues.

"The group's main focus has been its winter homeless shelter program, but two weeks ago, alliance members held a workshop to expand its vision and mission.”

"How do we identify emerging needs and gaps in services, and create solutions for those?" Stump said the group also wants the alliance to be seen as an advocacy group for North County, becoming more strategic than reactive. “

Having a lot of respect for North County Resource Center and its director, Lauren Pause, and Councilwoman Barth, the article was of interest. Another participant was Anahid Brakke of the Leichtag Foundation, the group purchasing the Ecke land. Teresa Barth’s newsletter had this note,

“I attended this meeting and look forward to participating in the future. The expanded focus is about helping people become self-sufficient. In this economic downturn many people find themselves in need of assistance...housing, food, job retraining, etc.... for the first time in their lives.“

That was what I found most important to me. How many of us who never thought of ourselves as vulnerable can have the night sweats, of being a couple of paychecks away from the unthinkable, a fear of descent into deepest debt foreclosure and homelessness. It is a changing reality where big banks, big oil , big agriculture, big auto, big coal all get bail outs and subsidies and millions who are drowning are systematically being cut off from any assist. It is horrifying in country supposedly the wealthiest in the world.

Yet, I turned to the comments thinking there are others noticing the rising ranks of homeless and find comments like this,

NewTrueAmericanPatriot4a257 - May 06, 2012 5:00 pm What? Don't these people know that these issues are very Liberal and Liberalism is NOT where America is at present! Who ever heard of compassion in a conservative America? How are my taxes going to go down if we are compassionate? Compassion only means creating government programs to help the needy! This must stop! The greater good for today's America is about lower taxes!

Bunch of Teen Boys Gone Crazy
This kind of arrogant, selfish childishness is exasperating. What really got me going along these lines were some perceptive words about teenage boys by Sara Robinson this morning that hit me squarely in the gut. Perfectly stated for what I’d read in those comments. She is writing as a mother on Mother’s Day to right wing politicians (commenters?), “

Also: I'm putting them on notice: I don't ever want to hear one more word about the "nanny state." Not one. Not ever again. First of all : It's ugly. It just reeks of that 16-year-old boy being told to clean up his mess. The big sigh. The dramatic eye-roll. The drawn-out, agonized, "yyezzzz, mommmm..." that lets you know you're about to spend the rest of the evening in a passive-aggressive battle during which your teenager will generate enough inertia to bring the rotation of this and several neighboring galaxies to a dead stop. The "nanny state" is making you do the dishes, and then it wants you to clean out the garage. You poor persecuted darling. Go dial 1-976-WAAAAAH”

And then this, where I thought of the great monstrous misfit in our California communities. We have a growing stock of empty, foreclosed houses and a burgeoning need for affordable housing for the homeless and simply lowered incomes of our middle class residents, aging population and young families. The system is broken. Capitalism as it stands is a monstrous failure to sustain our community fabric. Who is being served except the top 1%?

 Sara continued,

“The essential difference that separates the men and the boys is that men understand and accept that they have an obligation to the greater good, and are willing to unflinchingly step up to that responsibility. They commit to their families. They work to improve their homes and communities, so they're safe and nurturing places for everyone to be. They take the long view as they plan for their kids' future. They look out for people around them who are weaker than they are. And they respect and cherish the co-parents of their children as their equal partners in that effort.

Adult men do not resent being asked to contribute to the collective whole. They know that their actions have consequences, and that they are responsible for the impact of those consequences on the greater good of the community.” 

 It is high time we called out this self-serving kind of attitude. It won’t be easy because we’re surrounded by it thanks to corporate media and billions being spent to keep this punishing status quo. Media is another of the BIG BOYS, who win with this game while the rest of us continue to lose. Adults are talking to each other again. We can tell them we want the keys to the house and car back.

Bike Sightings

May as National Bike Month means we'll keep up the ongoing coverage of our changing ways and increased biking. All of these various sightings show Councilwoman Teresa Barth's consistently biking, as evidence of this unique red bike showing up all around town.

Here is the bike rack at the Encinitas Public Libarary.  Walking Biking the talk.

This shot above shows the Shaffer sign on Teresa Barth's bike.  Lisa Shaffer is also a bike advocate and bike rider.  The following photo was on her website.

According to Mary: The General Plan (Stones)

Occupy ERAC

Not occupy Iraq -the biggest disaster of the new century, costing more than 2 trillion dollars, massive loss of life and the destruction of a country.  No, just go to a meeting at city hall tonight at 6 pm.

ERAC (erase at this blog) is the arm of the General Plan update created by the deputy mayor and the majority council . It's made up largely of developers, real estate heavy supporters and  is quickly becoming central to the General Plan Update process. 

Although there are genuinely engaged individuals throughout this arm, we believe that all of us must be vigilant to see that no one world view is heard while other views are silenced.  There is a great tendency to monetize every single discussion at ERAC and this stifles values conversations and untested future planning into possibly irrelevant constraints of the current fiscal standards. Decisions based only on bottom line arguments limit Encinitas.

As many eyes and ideas as possible need to scrutinize this hasty council-shaped arm for temporary use and the other contributors to the General Plan Update process.  Distrust is high and secrecy feeds distrust.  So, go witness. 

Big Cheese Stands Alone - Again

This time Mayor Stocks as Puppet Master just didn't work out for him at the meeting last night.  It started with his usual rudeness with Lynn Braun when she spoke a moment or two beyond her buzzer during oral communications.

Recall the last half year or so when Stocks and Gaspar have used insistence on "rules and processes" to deny people, to attack people and to try to hand the mayoral position to Gaspar in a process-breaking manner? The ongoing hypocrisy of it is increasingly exaggerated as Stocks plays around with Roberts Rules, council policies and social rules of civility most every meeting.

To go back to the meeting as it unfolded, after Oral Communications Stocks leaped ahead to say he had removed the agenda item regarding Peder Norby's contract and he is going to appoint a subcommittee.

Whoa! not so fast there, buddy. The minions rebel. Good Times. Public speaker Lisa Shaffer correction of minutes, consent item #1, is simple and straightforward. But the bully in him takes over and it gets worse. It's like he just can't stop himself even as he makes things up. Must suck to be him. Even his deliberate mispronunciation of her name is loaded with venom. Oh yes, totally a lie about what has been done for some years now. Here are just a few examples from 2011 randomly selected after checking back more than a year. People do have their name and a brief statement of their topic.  Well, of course they do because oral communications is where a topic not on an agenda is introduced.  His action minutes rationale makes no sense, as Teresa Barth (more politely) points out.

 Rarely do we see the council majority so out of step with Stocks.  Kristin Gaspar's face was priceless.

"You're not the boss of me," she seemed to be saying.

Stocks Promotes Poison, Scorched Earth

Willfully neglected land bordering the railroad tracks along Leucadia's Vulcan Ave. and Highway 101 corridor invited invasive noxious weeds that thrive in harsh, barren condition. At last year's Environmental Workplan "Lite" presentation (after stripping the Commission of it's expertise and advocacy), Maggie Houlihan asked Russell Levan to give an update on his spring volunteer effort to eradicate goathead thorns.

Poisonous Behavior, Contempt for Citizens

Stocks simply has to play the bully with Russell Levan's magnanimous efforts (see EYNU post today) by negating them and that's his favorite poison. But there is more, because he's spewing dangerously false nonsense from his gardener . . er neighbor across the street . . .  and misrepresenting the harmlessness of spraying herbicides. This is the Leucadia railroad corridor where, by the way, he has a child at Paul Ecke Central School who plays outside within a stone's throw of the spray zone he's championing. Seriously.

Reality Check, Healthy Soil
First, here's a look at the puncture vine up close. It is a menace, no argument and it thrives on scorched earth, where residents who try to place mulch on this bare dusty earth can be ticketed.

Let’s face it, the soil surface wants to be covered. You can either choose what the cover will be or Nature will do it herself and you might not like the results.

Forget about eradicating every weed, work on the soil and the weed war will be over. In the meantime, keep mulching.

Here is another basic reality of how life within an ecosystem works via Wikipedia and the ecological principals are verifiable in organic studies and reports or anyone's back yard where growing healthy soils is the goal.

In smaller areas, puncture vine is best controlled with manual removal using a hoe to cut the plant off at its taproot. While this is effective, removing the entire plant by gripping the taproot, stem or trunk and pulling upward to remove the taproot is far more effective. This requires monitoring the area and removing the weed throughout the preceding time (late spring and early summer in many temperate areas). This will greatly reduce the prevalence of the weed the following year. Mowing is not an effective method of eradication, because the plant grows flat against the ground.

Another avenue of physical eradication is to crowd out the opportunistic weed by providing good competition from favorable plants. Aerating compacted sites and planting competitive desirable plants including broad-leaved grasses such as St Augustine can reduce the impact of puncture vine by reducing resources available to the weed.

So, we have prisoners along the corridor working off their community service time by raking away any life on the surface of the earth, clearing away mulch and inexplicably not directed to focus on eradicating goathead thorns down to its tap root. Clueless.

 Poison the Earth, Scorch the Earth

Of course there are seeds galore with this plant.  It is a survivor. But spraying simple salt water isn't going to accomplish anything except  killing the soil. A coastal area as ours already has a great deal of salt which stays in the soil.  It's crazy talk to say we should find a truck and spray some more, because this isn't going to bring the results Stocks is prophesying based on hearsay anyway.

Did this supposedly educated man say that RoundUp is safe?  This is  a jaw dropping and dangerous lie given a decade of research and public education to the contrary.  Monsanto is a menace to the entire globe and only corporate lackey's are saying otherwise.

Today's article is a good one here, featuring a CA republican lobbying on behalf a a giant Pesticide Company. There probably isn't a day where there isn't something revealed around the globe that Monsanto, Dow or other Corporate Chemical Giant is reprehensibly doing.

Here's a classic full length film Monsanto, hands down the worst, most dangerous with chemical agriculture out of control.

Best viewed at YouTube here.
There are countless metaphors for this story of a noxious menace stopping us from biking and walking safely or the direction to poison our common property and open lands and to discourage community, volunteering and citizen participation.  All these metaphorical references are begging to be shared, but that won't be happening today.

We Write Letters, Blog, Participate & Protest Too

Our Mayor, this council majority and City Staff are increasing being confronted by a citizenry wanting more leadership, accuracy and accountability. There are many different viewpoints and criticisms that all converge on one theme, distrust.

Prior to 5/7/12 Workshop
Olivier Canler wrote the following letter for his Patch blog:

Over the last two weeks, all five Encinitas communities had a chance to attend a community open house and listen to the city planners tell us what is driving the need for additional multi-family housing, and what growth will look like in the future.

The meetings were pretty well attended with roughly 50 to 60 people at each one, except New Encinitas where roughly 160 people showed up at Park Dale Lane Elementary.

Each meeting started with an introduction from Gus Vina, the new city manager, followed by a presentation by Michael Strong, associate city planner, who told the audience where the “required” number of 1,300 multi-family units is coming from and why we need to comply with the state housing mandate. Following, was a presentation by Patrick Murphy, director of the planning department, that detailed what could be expected at the two upcoming workshops (May 7th and Mat 14th at the Encinitas Community Center from 6 to 8pm). This is when the residents will give their input as to where these 1,300 high-density apartment units should go.

The most entertaining part of the presentation was witnessing the city planners and Peder Norby attempt to answer some of the tough questions asked by the public. Unfortunately, questions were submitted on 3x5 cards and answered by staff with no opportunity for the public to engage in a discussion on some of the most contentious items of the presentations.  The format of this Q&A was regrettable and did not allow for a dialogue, but it may have been the best format for the organizers to avoid having the discussions degenerate into an all-out verbal fight.

Judging from the questions, the public was not enthusiastic about the plan for growth. Some questions were very community specific, but most of them revolved around city-wide issues that could be summarized in a few bullet points:

1.  The population forecast presented by the State Department of Finance is way too aggressive and does not account for the latest population trends in California. It also does not take into account the 2010 US population census, which SANDAG itself proclaimed to be the “gold standard”. Since 2008, the net migration has been negative with more people leaving than arriving, and the birth rate has been declining since the onset of the recession. Both of these factors should continue for the foreseeable future according to a SANDAG demographer. Marginal growth is coming from the aging baby boomers.

2. The State, through the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), is concerned about showing the ability to offer housing for all ranges of incomes. That sounds like an honorable idea, but unfortunately not a likely outcome in Encinitas. According to the HCD logic high density (30+ units per acre) is the only way to yield affordable housing. Since there is no mandate to control rent and affordability, these high density units will be available at market rate which, given current conditions, would garner a rent of $1,500 for a one bedroom apartment and $2,000 for a two bedroom apartment. Not exactly what you would call affordable.  In the end, we are planning for luxury condos and apartments. Let’s not pretend we are planning for affordable housing, we are really planning for high-density dwelling units.

3. Very little information was presented as to how these new potential housing developments will impact our city infrastructure. How will public safety, schools, water needs, traffic, and pollution be affected by this plan? This is short-sighted planning at best.

4. The city planners were very skilled at not accepting any blame for the failure of the first round of planning in which El Camino Real and Encinitas Blvd were targeted for most of the growth. They projected the blame on the public that attended the city workshops in 2011, mentioning that there was very adequate representation from Encinitas residents. They failed to mention that New Encinitas residents were unaware of the plan, and therefore the recipients of the growth.

What will these workshops accomplish? They will most likely result in communities turning against one another and neighbors putting this unwanted growth in someone else’s backyard.

All this for what purpose? Just to make sure we comply with Regional Housing Need Assessment (RHNA) guidelines so that we won’t have to fear potential litigation from builder/developers associations and low-income advocates? The city has not had a compliant housing element for two decades, with no monetary or legal penalties imposed, so why the urgency to push compliance through now?

We need to preserve our quality of life and community characters and not support a dubious allocation process.

We like our communities just the way they are: Olivenhain with its rural charm, New Encinitas with its highly functional suburban feel with good amenities, Old Encinitas with its beautiful coast and its many landmarks, Cardiff with it beautiful views and its small community charm, and Leucadia with it funkiness and patch work zoning.

Ultimately, this will be resolved in November with your choice of candidate.

Proceed cautiously during the general election. A lot is at stake for the character of our communities.


At the 5/7/12 Workshop 
Oliver and Brian Burke were cheerfully handing out the flyer below and chatting with people participating in the event.  Protesting and participating aren't mutually exclusive or necessarily antagonistic or accusatory as some agitators project, even though the goals and methods of various critiques vary. (Click on Document to Enlarge)

Seen at City Hall Monday

Councilwoman Barth's Bike at City Hall on Monday shows she's been good at her word to try and bike to work each day. Congratulations.

Myths Encinitas

Being a young woman, a mother, nurturing, married to a health professional means a woman plays a role as a public-friendly, health conscious community servant.  Mythical gender fantasies and stereotypical roles are assumptions born out of a media/ad culture. Don't you believe it.  Encinitas' very own poster girl for Myths Encinitas is Kristin Gaspar.

When it comes to family health and quality of life and community common good issues, follow the money. With the possible exception of her own personal home (unknown), if there is no way to subsidize funding or there is no direct benefit to the crony club of financial backers, political players Ms. Gaspar will find a way reject a proposal, idea, ordinance or code recommendation. Bike lanes, walking routes connecting the whole community, public health or farmer's markets all are scrutinized even when there is no direct cost to the city.

Gaspar and her mentor (who is said to live in Oceanside, not Encinitas) are making arguments outside of reality and measurable facts. Myths Encinitas is a growing phenomenon amongst the council majority and, by extension, the planning staff. Compare the things said by Gaspar and her friend claim alongside that of Carlsbad, beloved of the Council Majority in their example of big rich growth.  Even this city has the political will to recognize a healthy, happy citizen (visitor & tourist) community is worth planning and paying to achieve. They understand that even for businesses 'sustainable' means thriving, prospering, staying alive, not dying - not alien takeover - or commercial threat. Seriously, what is the opposite of sustainablility but death and ruin? It makes no sense to demonize quality, health, prosperity and community or say it costs too much unless one is directed to do so.  The cost is far too high to refuse to address and budget for a sustainable future.

On a really serious note directly related to dangerous gender politics, Myths Encinitas Gaspar is doing a serious disservice to the women of all ages in Encinitas. Women across this country are under attack and losing choices, health care, support and safety in their own homes.  Shockingly the House just passed a version of the Violence Against Women Act  that would let domestic abusers know their victims called for help. The politically driven war on women is a time when those women who hold offices from those in the highest seats of power down to the local level could choose to speak and act on behalf of half the population in a crucially supportive way or choose to support a few powerful men with money.

Credit Card Art, Dude

Whether you were able to attend the first annual art show yesterday at the Sr. Center or not, this artist from Venice Beach deserves a look. 

"Just because it's legal doesnt make it right." - Artist Cain Motter on the gluttony of credit companies.

Source: Common Dreams

We're Not Blocking Traffic, We Are Traffic

In a car-centric viewpoint bicycles are considered obstacles rather than a legal means of transportation considered part of vehicular traffic.  For those of us who enjoy factoids those that follow are a treat. We know Councilwoman Barth is fact friendly as she is purported to be a record breaker on the dais for giving the most concise deliberations of any council person. Not only a master of concision (word for the day meaning an economy in writing and speaking achieved by expressing a great deal in a few words), she is an avowed bike rider for pleasure and function. Today's picture at the Cardiff Library. Barth is a longtime Friend of the Cardiff Library.

In honor of May as bike month, a bunch of facts. Even though so many public gatherings, news stories can be relatively fact-free, there are large numbers of people who still base decisions and life choices on facts, rational thought and critical analysis. This post is for you. And for those of us not biking in any regular way yet, the education is part of the process.

Cars are involved in 250,000 deaths and..

                ..10,000,000 injuries a year

Bicycles exceed ownership of autos worldwide 2:1

approximately 800,000,000 to 400,000,000

Bike production beats car production 3:1

Number of bicycles that fit in one car parking space: 14

Number of bicycles that fit into one car road space: 8

Average bicycle speed on urban streets: 10-15 mph

Average bus speed for urban mass transit: 13 mph

Average car speed in downtown urban areas: 20 mph

In a major city area, you would move 8 times the number of

people on an urban road with bicycles than with cars, and they

would arrive at their destination at about the same time as if

they were driving

1 mile of highway consumes 25 acres of land

It costs $ 10,000 to construct a mile of urban railway

It costs $100,000 to construct a mile of urban highway

40-50% of US land is devoted to roads and parking for autos,

accounting for nearly 600,000 square miles of earth, now under

asphalt

Autos use approximately half of all the oil consumed in the US

20% of the world's citizens have the means to buy a car,

85% of the world's citizens have the means to buy a bicycle

American motorists spends 1 Billion hours/year stuck in traffic,

wasting 2 Billion gallons of gasoline,

(costing 10-30 Billion US Dollars)

Motorists make about 1,000 round trips under 5 miles a year

The most dangerous time to ride a bike in the city is between

3:00 and 6:00 pm

5 miles is an easy ride on a bicycle, even with baskets and

bags attached

40% of cyclists are commuters

Motor transportation is the single largest contributor to air

pollution in the US, accounting for:

   49% of total hydro-carbon emissions

   85% of carbon-monoxide emissions

   47% of nitrogen oxide emissions and

    9% of particulate emissions (rust, rubber, and dust)

In cities motor vehicles are the primary source of air pollution,

emitting carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide particulates including lead,

asbestos from brake linings, and tire particles and hydrocarbons

According to Mary: State of the City Address 2012

Ootsie Feeling Stocks

Three years ago Jerome Stocks had to share officially his "ootsie" feeling about one of the members selected for the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) because she had been a paid real estate representative in a re-zoning case.  Here's his description.

 

Conflict of interest questions now?  Pfft! Not so you'd notice.  In January the city council selected the members of this artificial arm, ERAC, publicized as a redress for the oversights of the previous several years of workshops having missed gathering the opinions of some citizens.  Well, that's the ostensible reason when it's pretty clear this is a handpicked group of council majority friends, funding sources and those representing the commercial status quo. The group was never presented publicly, never was described with any kind of criteria beyond "stakeholders" and is on it's own timeline and agenda running parallel to GPAC and open houses and workshops.  

Stocks and Gaspar have several times pushed to find out when ERAC will be reporting to the council, making it clear this arm is their preferred arm over all the other arms. 

So, we are yet again left with conjecture or taking the council majority's word for things.  Said another way taking Stocks' word rather than taking stock.  Here is what we can know.  ERAC members include donors to Stocks and Gaspar's election campaigns.  Some of these men were part of the "ugly baby" demonstration evening last Sept and it was obvious the advance work to organize.  And one of Stocks' bestest friends spoke and continues to speak as an un-appointed member of ERAC even as an un-appointed spokesperson to the newspapers. It's not illegal to support the mayor.  It's what is said that can become problematic and secret speech opens a real can of suspicious concoctions and feeds "us and them" divisions. Ootsie anyone?  Here's a peek at the last meeting.

To be clear, there is no way of really recognizing the genuinely engaged residents dedicated to looking out for their neighborhoods, the whole community and those are single minded in ensuring personal or corporate financial gain above any other criteria.  Without being allowed to have had from the outset: a conversation, presentations, open interviews or recorded statements it remains best guess.  Our thanks to those who go to these meetings, who watch and share and who record for us all to see.  So far, we haven't gotten much up on the blog. This was just a peek and enough of a look to question the unofficial agendas in the room (especially in the corner by the door, amirite?). 

But, the past has plenty of examples that taught Encinitas citizens to be very vigilant. Watch, listen, film and confront cronyism, favoritism or the kinds of things that can institutionalize exclusion through our General Plan Update, those policies that favor a proscribed population in class, race and systematically marginalize other residents.

This happens when only one segment alone is heard and represented. We can still clearly call out, to protest and revise the flaws in massive growth strategies, resource scarcity and inferior development.  That's what citizens do. 

Update: As yet, no definition for ootsie is available.

May Day

With a firm belief that collective bargaining is vital part of a democratic republic, today's May Day news about the city's negotiations moving now into further research with an independent 3rd party is appropriate for this day of labor rights.

Let's not forget that there are hundreds of city workers, with only a fraction like former city manager Phil Cotton or former fire chief / current city council member Mark Muir who belong to the over $100,000 club.  Yet again, not just a black and white issue. So much is hidden and so much needs to be learned.  Civil liberties matter for all 99% of us.

Real humanity, justice and rights are all hard work and not just a cliched sound bite. More San Diego May Day news here.

Once Learned, Never Forgotten

The familiar expression goes, "it's like riding a bike, you never forget." May is national bike month. So, everybody on board and remember how it works, when you are the engine of your own vehicle and felt the joy of it. Hard sell in a car-centric culture, despite a remarkably bike-friendly population like Encinitas.

If the sheer joy of self-propulsion doesn't do it, maybe the simple logic of math and spatial context will inspire you. In the shrieks of outrage and doom over traffic increases on I-5 highway or El Camino Real or our other community roadways in the next 40 years, imagine the gradual easement that might happen with the several alternatives to the status quo of individuals in big metal machines. Choices other than our big metal (fossil fuel or hybrid or electrical) machines may gradually seem like a  a far better way to go.  We can't really know what we might feel 20, 30 or 40 years from now.

It easier to picture less crowded roadways with images of less crowded roadways. Nobody has to take anyone's vehicles away. Time will show favored means of travel will include public transit where one can read, work, talk, or doze while someone else drives; one can hop on a bike and save hundreds of thousands of dollars over time or just walk someplace because we'll have this fantastically walkable city full of trails all connected to places where we want to go. And we may find these the high point of our day, being out on our bike on our way to or from work, school, errands or whatever.  Millions worldwide happen to have found this to be true. Go figure.

Right now, this very year, there would be thousand more individuals on public transit, bikes and walking if these were available options.  They are not readily available options.  Public transit is remarkably inconvenient and unreliable right now and roadways continue to be built for cars rather than circulation for all forms of travel.


Stands to reason that things may slow down in the next decade or two, because there is a growing desire for this, the Encinitas population (the largest portion) is aging and there are fewer and fewer reasons to race without incentive. Pure conjecture, but as reliable as SANDAG's population forecast for 2050.  amirite?

Teresa Barth (Our Mayor in Exile) is already a bike-riding city official.  She's shown here all dressed up for the 4th of July parade for Cardiff's 100th anniversary parade last year.  She'll be riding her trusty red beach cruiser bike as usual this May, national bike month.