Crest Drive

On Aug. 15, the Encinitas City Council will hear arguments against City Engineering Department mandates for curb, gutter and pedestrian walkway on Crest Drive, a rural residential subdivision of one-acre lots within old Encinitas.In the proposed single family home, the city originally asked for 8 feet of concrete pavers with curbs 450 feet long and a 5 foot walkway, eliminating 13 feet of natural landscaping and threatening old growth trees and vegetation along Crest Drive. 

All the land adjacent to the pavement would also need to be removed and graded down to the level of the street, thereby widening the street by over 26 feet when both sides are complete. 

The City Engineering Department stated, “ Our goal is to have curb, gutter and sidewalk on every home in Encinitas.”

Excerpt from Coast News article by Kevin Farrell, we recommend reading the whole piece. It ends with this call to action.

"We don’t understand the benefit the city would get from this. With so many people opposed throughout Encinitas, it would be a win, win, for the City to re-evaluate and leave our neighborhoods the way we want, not some Engineers personal preference. We have appealed the engineers finding to our City Council members for a final determination. We are optimistic the Council will assist in helping preserve our trees and vegetation thus maintaining the Community Character we love. 

Please join me at the City Council meeting next Wednesday at 6 p.m. and help support this worthy cause in keeping Encinitas, the way it was. A presence in numbers will help to get our point across." 

This council agenda item triggered the memory of Joni Mitchell's song we posted on Thursday, singing "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."  The lyrics are perfectly apt for Mayor Stocks bragging at his state of the city address last April 18th.  The following clip was first posted after the last council meeting before this break with this introduction.

"Jerome Stocks' perspective on parking lots, traffic, commerce, pot holes, walkable streets, safe routes, etc. at last April's state of the city speech. This speech was directed at a car-centric approach to city planning. Wrong decade, false assumptions and giant omissions."

It's probably no coincidence that Stocks is called out for including tree-lined Crest Drive in his bragging, while city engineers are ginning up rationale to fell these same trees.  The man either has no ethics or no clue what the words coming from his mouth mean.

Photo at Opening from April 21, 2012 article, North County Times, about Crest Drive Petition. 

Related Posts:

• Confessions of a Recovering Engineer
• Redefining Normal
• Tuesday is Dues-day: Tail Wags Dog Planning

Earth Day

Last Wednesday, candidate for council Lisa Shaffer spoke about hearing the 14th Dalai Lama speak recently at UCSD.  I thought of the picture shown here. 

This further inspired me to think about our connection to animals in relation to Earth Day's celebration of all life on earth and our close connection to nature.

Another good one here.

  I found an animal (bird) image that made me think of Teresa Barth when she was sworn into office when re-elected in 2010 (and was passed over minutes later) to became a Mayor in Exile as she so often functions more like a mayor than the mayors and deputy mayors who have served since. This pairing prompted thoughts of wisdom and predator control.

Not all obvious pairings were as serene or uplifting, like the honey badger (viral video seen by more than 42,000,000 viewers). Mayor Jerome Stocks, City Attorney Glenn Sabine, ex- Fire Chief/now Councilmember Mark Muir, Deputy Mayor Kristin Gaspar, Jim Bond and Planner Patrick Murphy.

2011 IN REVIEW: A "Light of Day" Raspberry

This and the next ten or more posts are a look back at last year when Jerome Stocks, then Deputy Mayor, and his pals on the city council were called out by the press, by art lovers across the US, by a judge as well as the plaintiff in a major lawsuit, by the late Maggie Houlihan's friends, family and supporters and by citizen activists. These are just a sampling of the publications, public speakers for this last year. There is much, much more and a new year to come.

As 2011 ends, North County Times editorial dated December 19, 2011 gives a final raspberry to the Encinitas city council majority Stocks, Bond and Gaspar for "fighting a misguided battle against its own residents." Yes, it's a repeat of our previous coverage of this Cummins lawsuit raspberry.

". . . Kevin Cummins was forced to go to court to find out how the city makes decisions on financing and scheduling road repairs is ridiculous. It's frankly disappointing that now the taxpayers have to foot the bill for both sides of this ridiculous litigation, but it's also not fair that Cummins bear the cost of insisting that local government officials obey the law they're sworn to uphold."

More on this lawsuit at Leucadia Blog.

2011 IN REVIEW: Red Cape & Bull Award

Union Tribune Nov. 11, 2011
Columnist Logan Jenkins:

"A brick - the Red Cape and Bull award — to the Encinitas “pro-business” (for lack of a better label) majority — Mayor Jim Bond, Jerome Stocks and Kristin Gaspar — for appointing Mark Muir, the city’s fire chief, to fill the late Maggie Houlihan’s council seat."

"This decision wanted some tact, some humility, some spirit of compromise. None was displayed."

"No one should have been surprised that a weird whirlwind was reaped Wednesday night as more than a hundred Encinitans gathered outside City Hall to protest the Muir appointment. [ . . . ] But he also has a history as an unusually active political player on behalf of Stocks and Bond. The appearance of conflict looms."

As if to prove Jenkins' point regarding tact and spirit of compromise or some modicum of graciousness, Jerome Stocks stoops to bickering with the columnist in the comments section. Classy.

2011 IN REVIEW: A "Fore" Raspberry

"A sour raspberry to the city of Encinitas for relying on homeowners fees to cover financial obligations of the Encinitas Ranch Golf Course. As the economy headed south, fewer people could afford to play golf --- and so income from the golf course is down."

"Some 900 homeowners live in Encinitas Community Facilities District 1, and pay an annual assessment that covers the cost of roads, sewer lines, etc., put in when their homes were built."

"The golf course is supposed to contribute to that fund, to help lower homeowners' obligations. That the golf course is now unable to cover its own obligations, leaving homeowners to pick up the difference, illustrates why it's better to have risk ventures like golf courses owned by private-sector outfits."

Source North County Times, July 11, 2011. Sounds like Stocks' sockpuppet "Coastal Watchdog" in the comments thread chiding the NCT.

2011 IN REVIEW: Surfing Madonna

April 2011 Fools?
The story that put Encinitas on the national media map was the city council majority (Stocks', Bond's and Gaspar's) utter cluelessness with the population's goodwill and city planner Patrick Murphy's "artless" response to the anonymous art gifted the city. This mosaic piece became known as the Surfing Madonna. On April 29, 2011, San Diego Union Tribune's Logan Jenkins gave the city a brick - see here. As expected, the city council majority has not been in any way flexible, sensitive or apologetic to the artist or anyone in the art community.

One of the worst things about the bad publicity that Stocks, Bond and Gaspar engendered nationally is that all of the council members get painted as lobotomized (to use Jenkins' characterization). It made it difficult for Teresa Barth and Maggie Houlihan, who are supportive of the public's desire for artist projects of all kinds in the community. The artist Mark Patterson came forward, extended the olive branch, acted in ways to accommodate dialog, but Stocks especially has made repeated attempts throughout this year to justify this council majority and his own missteps.

Citizens Turn Their Backs on New Mayor & Deputy Mayor

HISTORY UPDATE: see below clips



Outgoing Mayor Bond is rewriting history here (as he is wont to do). This video is his previous description of the tradition pattern of rotation known for over twenty years as the method used to select a new mayor.



First Time Teresa Barth is in line as mayor, December 8, 2009:

San Diego Union Tribune article December 11, 2009 regarding Jerome Stocks:

"Stocks didn't explain his reasoning at the meeting. But in a phone interview yesterday, he said he was sending Barth a message that she had angered the council majority with personal attacks and a lack of leadership since 2006."

Teresa Barth had boycotted closed sessions by the council and the 24-hour notice used to label all closed sessions as special in what one critic describes as and obvious construct to circumvent the law. The city subsequently changed noticing without acknowledging these tactics.

Barth also responded in 2009 to Orpheus Park neighbors by asking the City and her Council colleagues to halt trees being cut down until someone could explain to these citizens why it was necessary. Mayor Dan Gallager reacted to the public and press attention with email blasts against Barth saying,

"I will NEVER vote to appoint into that position anyone who does not have the competency to work through the system to obtain their goals, and instead spends their time fueling Chinese fire drills and planting discord, solely to keep the spotlight on themselves."