Cardiffian Matriarch - Dorthea Patricia Smith

This remarkable woman is remembered in a piece submitted by her family to Encinitas Patch, including this vibrant picture by Michelle Haymoz.

Encinitas history is writ large in this memorial to Dorthea Patricia Smith and well worth reading.

"Dorothea Patricia Smith: A Creative Life. She encouraged us to live boldly, paint large, make music, and put our hands in dirt. To stretch the envelope into another space. To reject crawling into a hole with work. To paint big pictures of color and put them up on your walls. To get out and do things, have picnics, enjoy all the seasons, go exploring. Most importantly, to dream big."

Her love of architectural was especially fascinating with her sharp perception of utility and flow. Dorthea and her husband Milton had four children.  In looking through the archives here it seems we have posted a video clip that included her daughter Tricia speaking out against the proposed developer's agreement for the agricultural property owned by the Brown family of flower growers.  The Smith Family, Dorthea's parents, grew flowers too.

"Her parents grew gladiolas commercially on rented land throughout Cardiff and Encinitas. Flowers remained popular during the Depression for weddings and funerals, and when the flower crop was good and the demand high at the Los Angeles flower market the family frequently sold out every last organic flower. However, the year Dorothea was planning to attend college at UCLA, 1935, a devastating freeze wiped out the flower crop. She stayed home to work and help the family, and consequently did not attend college."

This adds a textural background to the video clip of her daughter's points five years ago at city hall.  Given her mother's keen design interests, the construction business and the family legacy in the flower fields, she speaks with real authenticity about quality in development the landowners and how they should not be pitied for their changing circumstances.  They have extracted a great deal and have enjoyed many breaks and benefits.  The arguments are as current today as they were in 2007.

It was just last week we highlighted another Cardiffian, Chalmers Johnson, though this one was known by a tiny proportion within his community and by a larger group outside Encinitas.

Can't believe we are still protesting this . . .

Joni Mitchell wrote "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot" 42 years ago. It could have been written today for our council majority and their backers. Two generations of protest on behalf of the quality of life. Is anyone listening? (They aren't.)

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
Put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

ERAC = The Big Lie

What makes ERAC, Element Review Advisory Committee, the big lie is the premise that this is a citizen participation group.  This is a hand picked group to bring the council majority the alternatives to housing and land use preferred by the financial backers they represent.

This is business under the guise of public participation. And the formation of this group has nothing to do with the legislative directives to update the General Plan to reflect the sustainability criteria for economic, resource, climate and other future stresses on our community.

This is politics.  Everything Jerome Stocks does is about politics of winning.  And governing?  You must spend many hours reviewing city council minutes and archived videos to find actions in support of the public good versus someone's profits or personal property rights. The entire offensive move of blowing up the General Plan Update is fairly obvious if you track the history. From the consultant interview committee, to the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) selection and presence at the many public workshops, there are layers of half-truths and flip-flopping declarations.

From the very beginning Stocks has maintained his position of plausible deniability by staying far away from involvement at the local level and uttering next to nothing of his deeply embedded position within the SANDAG plans as a member, then as chair, when at the end of each city council meeting he'd give glib, condescending or unsubstantial reports if he reported at all.

"Plausible Deniability - A condition in which a subject can safely and believably deny knowledge of any particular truth that may exist because the subject is deliberately made unaware of said truth so as to benefit or shield the subject from any responsibility associated through the knowledge of such truth."

Three months ago Mayor Stocks made it clear he is looking at ERAC for the alternatives that best serve his interests.  Despite any previous language of just another arm or citizen outreach, the group was designed to serve the council majority.

As with the original inflammatory rhetoric Stocks used last September to blow up the General Plan Update, his arguments are specious.  There is no logic.  Any complaints could have, should have been handled within the contracted process.  Citizens were given false choices when there were solutions at hand.  The need for ERAC was and is a lie.  Everything about it is a lie.  Citizens who have dutifully attended every meeting and schooled themselves know it is a lie.  ERAC is Encinitas newest, biggest lie created for political capital.

This week the ERAC facilitator Peder Norby's contract is on the agenda.  Norby is a vitally important scapegoat for Stocks et al.  Whether Peder Norby is your best friend or he eats kittens for breakfast, he is clearly serving the agenda laid out by those in charge.  He should go. 

We all still have our facts, our research, our issues and our feelings for our community.  We need to find the real answers and solutions, but to trust the mayor or the council majority to provide this is a big mistake.  They made the problem, they can't fix it.  And, they don't intend to fix it anyway.  Do we have a park yet on the Hall property?

Note: The big lie does not mean that there are no citizens sitting in earnest on this committee.  This is by no means mean as personal attack on individuals.  Even Stocks best friends my believe they are right in their opinions.  What is critical is the silencing of any dissent outside of the majority favored views and goals.  That isn't citizen participation, it's manufactured consent and it's a big lie. 

In Perpetuity

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." Inigo Montoya, Princess Bride

perpetuity n. forever.  perpetuity noun boundlessness, ceaselessness, constant progression, continuance, continuation, continued existence, continuous time, endless duration, endless time, endlessness, eternity, everlasting, forever, incessancy, infinite duration, infiniteness, infinity, perenniality, permanence, perpetuation, perpetuitas, time without end, unintermitted continuance, uninterrupted existence

Referring here to the news at NCT that Ecke Ranch, 67 acres, which was to be held as agricultural land in perpetuity is being sold.  Well, there is a yearlong deadline to close the deal with Leichtag Foundation.

"We see the purchase of this property as a way to ensure the land's use as unique space that inspires the community," said James Farley, Leichtag Foundation's president and chief executive officer."

"While we don't yet know the details of the site's long-term use, we believe the kind of uses that will be explored include urban farming, service learning, expansion of the San Diego Botanic Garden, educational and cultural programs, and support of a strong Jewish community in North County."

"Farley said the purchase ensures that the property won't be used for development of residential subdivisions, commercial office parks, or shopping centers."

This a really big story, if only that the Ecke Family has been a part of the town's history for over a hundred years.  That's no small thing.  Caution shall be maintained before we bust out any celebration over the public relations ideas being published today. Looking forward to finding out more details, you can count on this blog publishing whatever comes our way. Still and all, we all remember proposition A and maybe you've forgotten about "The Common" from a few years ago?  One never knows what is behind the surface on very big land deals and our city leaders. 

A Vision for a New Common

We Don't Trust Them

Update: Coast New Article too.

This statement by Cardiff resident George Hejduk is lifted from The NCT article on Tuesday night's itty-bitty special public hearing of the Ecke Proposal to divide almost 40 acres into three smaller parcels.

"Ecke Ranch owners repeatedly have tried to change the agricultural zoning on their land in the two decades since they agreed to preserve it for agriculture in perpetuity, he said. They lobbied city officials and got a measure on the ballot in 2005 that was "soundly defeated" by voters, Hejduk recalled."

Okay, this from the Ecke Ranch attorney is supposed to reassure the thousands of us who just fell free of the turnip truck we rode in on here.

"They got shot down," she agreed. "That is a very good reason why they will not be trying it again."

And this from NCT article, the Ecke attorney adds,

"She repeatedly stressed during Tuesday's special hearing that the only proposal before the city is a minor subdivision request. The agricultural zoning isn't proposed to change, she noted."

In a previous NCT article, Mayor Stocks' and/ or his BFF Andreen's sock puppets* in the press, like Coastal Watchdog  stressed in the comments section of the article how small and inconsequential this land use request was. Yes, the sneering is the giveaway.

Sorry if they believe that logical failure will suffice as a ruse.  Hidden in plain sight by making something small and innocuous looking is a classic deception.

“If you think you're too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito.”

What is the reality?  What is behind the deal?  There is no answer in this post or in the press.  There are (gratefully) a few protesting citizens even though there aren't investigative journalists uncovering much of anything in Encinitas.  Even so . . . small is a start.

It would be a good idea to fire an email off to these planners to remind them we aren't required to trust Paul Ecke III, the planners or the mayor - just because they say this is small.  No, we don't need to trust because those in control insist we must. Small works with distrust too, so send an email, or a letter to the editor. What harm is there in asking what's going on here? 

• Planning Dept - planning@encinitasca.gov
• Mayor Stocks - jstocks@encinitasca.gov

*sock puppet A phony name made up by a user in order to masquerade as someone else on the Internet. Sock puppets can make controversial comments or without revealing their identity. The term comes from a pretend person made by placing a sock over one's hand.

sock puppet image credit

Tuesday is Dues-day: Developer's Agreement

Tuesday is Dues-day.  The dues?  Paying attention . . . Yes, by simply schooling yourself on how our local governance is organized, who are the players, what are the screw-ups, where is the money and what things get reported you can legitimately call yourself a citizen, an advocate for democracy.

Today's citizen tip was mined out of the early treasure trove of video archives circa 2007.  We owe a debt of thanks to Sheila Cameron and any other local activists and public servants in the early days of Encinitas local government for pushing videotaping of meetings.  This tape was one of the first videos, as videotaping meetings began in September of 2007.

Developer Agreement

Let's put it this way, we are the 99% and the large land owners and developers are the 1% - in the relative measure that is Encinitas.  More than four years of video recordings make the position of the council majority's serving the 1% over the 99% fairly obvious.  But, don't take anyone's word for this.  Watch the actions of our council members, listen to the public speakers and judge for yourself.  Take your time, talk to friends, talk to neighbors and talk to the candidates for city council; Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz.  They have been dues-paying citizens for years.

Acronyms and planning terms abound:

IOD - Irrevocable offer of Dedication. When an agency requires a developer or landowner to give certain things to the agency, often as a component of development, such as land for open space or for a sidewalk, an entire street, a streetlight, a pipeline or other infrastructure, etc., the property is granted through an IOD.

CEQA – California Environmental Quality Act

Upzoning -A change in the zoning classification of a property from one of lower use to one that is of higher use; for example, a change from residential to commercial use.

There are three more clips from this November 2007 meeting with well articulated dissent from the public.  These citizens bring a wealth of information to us via their public speeches in 3 minute intervals.  All will be posted this week because it may be very timely.  The super majority on the council are positioning a new advisory group, ERAC, heavily seated with developer, realtor and commercial interests, to be scrutinizing the General Plan update.

Paul Ecke III is scheduled with the Planning Commission regarding his agriculturally zoned land. More details will be forthcoming because . . . forewarned is forearmed. 

Previous Dues-day citizen tips: Mayoral Rotation, SANDAG Growth Forecast 2050
Cross-posted at Our Mayor Stocks blog and Encinitas You Need Us blog

Update, Today's details:
City of Encinitas Planning and Building Department

NOTICE OF PENDING ACTION ON ADMINISTRATIVE APPLICATION AND COASTAL DEVELOPMENT PERMIT

The Planning and Building Department of the City of Encinitas is currently reviewing the following Administrative Application request for a project located within the Coastal Zone of the City of Encinitas:

CASE NUMBER: 11-113 TPM/CDP FILING DATE: 7/18/11 APPLICANT: Paul Ecke Ranch

LOCATION: 810 Ecke Ranch Road

PUBLIC HEARING: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 5:00 p.m., to be held at the Planning and Building Department, Lilac Room, 505 South Vulcan Ave, Encinitas.

Union Tribune article, Hearing set on Ecke Ranch Plan

Tuesday is Dues-day: SANDAG Forecast 2050

Today is Dues-day, introduced last week, featuring Mayor Rotation. 

The dues?  Paying attention . . . Yes, by simply schooling yourself on how our local governance is organized, who are the players, what are the screw-ups, where is the money and what things get reported you can legitimately call yourself a citizen, an advocate for democracy.

For most people local politics only becomes a reality when you are afraid for your home, your property or your neighborhood. Fears can be physical, financial and cultural.  Fears can be great motivators, as so many activists' stories of initial involvement attest.  Fears can also be manipulated with lies, so some video evidence might help set some records straight.


First, SANDAG is the acronym for San Diego Association of Governments.

In October 2009 a demographer from SANDAG gave a comprehensive presentation of the region's Forecast 2050 land use strategy.  This plan was and is the driver for all of the land use controversy going on now across all of Encinitas and with newborn activist ferociousness in New Encinitas.  It doesn't help that misinformation is throwing fuel on this fire to distract people's passions toward the wrong targets. The clip below should clarify some of this deliberate confusion.



SANDAG is essentially a shadow regional government made up of area mayors, council members, county supervisors and policy planners. Although many members were voted into their community offices, they are appointed amongst their councils to hold a seat on SANDAG, like Jerome Stocks was in Encinitas. Stocks has been appointed by his council cronies for 6 years. He now chairs SANDAG, ironically through simple rotation method.

SANDAG planning is behind this Dues-day Citizen Tip.  Mayor Jerome Stocks, the Encinitas city planning staff, the city manager, the city attorney and the rest of the city council are all aware of these facts and this background.  There is no confusion, only super majority council misdirection, drama and blaming about who or what is directing land use, housing and traffic elements in the General Plan Update.

Cross Posted at Encinitas You Need Us Blog.

Nurseryman Hall Is Gone

Today the North County Times includes the obituary article for Robert Hall with a photo from the Hall family.

"Robert Hall, one of the big names in the region's flower-growing industry and the former owner of a 43-acre property that's slated to become an Encinitas city park, died of cancer Dec. 20 in Leucadia."

"Known for his ability to capitalize on innovations in the nursery business and put them into large-scale production, Hall at one time had more than 80 acres growing under plastic in Encinitas."

Warm wishes to the man's family and friends in their loss. Though this isn't actually a post about Robert Hall or the mess our mayor Stocks or the city has made of the park plans following purchase of Hall's property in 2001 for $17.2 million. No, this is about our imaginations, our visions regarding Encinitas precious agricultural acres - a swath that runs through the heart of the five communities - and our sustainable future, our homes, our foods, our land use and economy. For the late Hall and so many of his fellow nursery owners hit hard by globalized business flooding the US economy with cheap imports, many have chosen upzoning of Agricultural land as the only land use option.

Editor's Picks

Alternatives that retain, but rethink the Agricultural land use are available all over the world. In response to climate change, peak oil, unemployment, food security and food safety; localized food production is increasingly pursued as a serious community investment. The following video from Civil Eats shows one Wisconsin town's approach to historic unused local greenhouses.

"It all seems like such a waste of resources and energy and a sad reminder of the pace our economy has slowed to. In the face of this hardship, ideas such as The Greenhouse Project in Central Wisconsin offer respite. A group of passionate people, working on a volunteer basis towards providing “opportunities for participation, education, cooperation, and action to support a local food economy in Central Wisconsin” have banded together and successfully started renovations on a dilapidated 38,000 square foot property in downtown Stevens Point. The vision is to create a self-sustaining, multi-faceted production and education center, where rural farming techniques can coalesce with a thriving urban community ready to learn about them."

Will Allen and Growing Power mentioned in the video clip - visit blog for this dynamic man and his impact in Wisconsin.

Greenhouses, Greenhorns and Green Houses (oh my)

And the concept in the video of teaching people how to farm, how to grow food directs me to this fantastic group of organized young farmers called The Greenhorns. What they wouldn't give to have access to Encinitas greenhouses and possible eco-communities for farmers-in-training on agricultural land! Tiny homes densely clustered next to agricultural training facilities is even a tourist enticement. This is a density that is growing in popularity and would make some sense for other infill areas around this community. Do we ever hear ideas like this from our city council chambers? From our local press? From critics of the ongoing GPU land use element draft? If not developer-led housing and big box commercial land use, what?

Lastly, a short trailer about Transition 2.0. movie soon to be released. Transition is an international movement wherein communities are rethinking the way they view their communities and the future.

Isn't this what a General Plan Update asks of us, to envision our future? All over Encinitas people are up in arms over the draft GPU. What we are not hearing are alternative plans, other ideas. The strength of local businesses, co-ops over the vulnerability of relying on multi-national chains like Walmart? Let's get those facts out into the open. If we throw into the mix the whole range of unsustainable current systems failing all around us, these alternative examples in imagining our future are food for thought. They are presented for that purpose and to encourage us to look beyond the short term to the future for the next several generations. And, they are encouraging despite the unmistakeable challenges.