ENCINITAS — Under pressure from a Brown Act complaint over its emergency response to recent immigration arrests, the Encinitas City Council on Wednesday rescinded its actions from Aug. 20 but unanimously adopted a new package of similar measures, including sending letters protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics.
The City Council adopted staff’s recommendation on Sept. 17 to “rescind any and all actions” from that emergency item in response to a “cure and correct” letter from Cardiff resident Garvin Walsh, who accused the council of improperly invoking the Brown Act’s “immediate need” exception and failing to provide proper notice.
“As a result (of the council’s action), members of the public were denied notice and the opportunity to be heard, in violation of the Brown Act’s fundamental guarantee of public participation,” Walsh wrote.
The emergency item was adopted during an Aug. 20 meeting after ICE agents arrested the parent of an Encinitas student near Park Dale Lane Elementary School earlier that day, sparking protests outside City Hall. The item was not on the posted agenda, but when asked by the council, City Attorney Tarquin Preziosi said the action qualified as an emergency.
Walsh submitted a series of letters, warning the council that it must undo its decision by Sept. 26 to avoid potential litigation. In response to the complaint, Leslie Devaney, special counsel for the city of Encinitas, defended the council’s actions, saying the ICE arrests last month created “panic and fear” in the community that met the legal threshold for an emergency designation.
But Devaney also advised the council to re-notice the issue to address the Brown Act claims. Walsh rejected the city’s position as “ambiguous” and “contradictory.”
After a discussion and impassioned public comments on Wednesday night, the City Council unanimously rescinded the emergency item but adopted a suite of actions aimed at better understanding ICE actions in Encinitas as well as providing resources to residents. Those items included:
- Launch a “Know Your Rights” campaign in collaboration with the sheriff and community groups in both English and Spanish;
- Submit a Freedom of Information Act request to document ICE operations in Encinitas;
- Explore establishing safe zones such as schools, churches, citywide or alternatives;
- Explore joining lawsuits with other municipalities like Long Beach and Santa Ana, challenging the legality of ICE operations;
- Explore forming a community communications group, such as a text chain;
- Send letters to appropriate federal agencies protesting the fear-inducing tactics and to request federal partners to be present to respond to questions from the city and community;
- Explore and seek out alternative legal mechanisms available to the city, and
- Explore and develop a memorandum of understanding-like structure with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, involving the city and possibly other cities. This would include requesting holding statements and locations of holdings, if possible.
The city has already submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the federal government regarding ICE operations in Encinitas and has launched a “Know Your Rights” campaign. The City Council had previously sought to explore methods of preventing federal agents from wearing masks or gaiters to disguise their faces, but the topic was removed from consideration.
Mayor Bruce Ehlers said he believed the city “acted properly” on Aug. 20 and would prevail in court, but supported rescinding the item “out of an abundance of caution” to eliminate legal risk and “cure this legal threat absolutely.”
Walsh, addressing the council on Wednesday night, called the city’s claim that it complied with the Brown Act “a fiction” and said the decision to rescind the action confirmed his position. He described the Aug. 20 meeting as “a setup.”
“A lot of people who were here in the room knew (the emergency item) was coming and people like myself, sitting at home, didn’t know about that,” Walsh said. “And so you didn’t get to hear from the community a more sober view than the crazies who were here screaming and yelling.”
At times, City Hall was tense as speakers from across the political spectrum filled the chambers. At one point, Ehlers threatened to remove interrupters to maintain order.
Several residents backed the federal arrests and urged the council to focus on local matters. Others condemned ICE actions as harmful to children and families, particularly near schools.
Lisa Montes, an organizer with Somos TIAS (Take Inspired Action Siempre), said she speaks as the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants who fled their country in search of safety and a better life in the United States.
“I really believe that our children and our families need to be protected,” Montes said. “Everyone in this country — I don’t care if you’re undocumented — has a constitutional right. Every person has due process rights.”
Resident Nicola Rancin, a trauma therapist, said operations near schools risk traumatizing children and criticized Walsh’s remarks, labeling residents “crazies,” as a form of gaslighting.
Councilmember Jim O’Hara said the council made the best decision it could with the limited information available on Aug. 20, but acknowledged that members have since been absorbing information like “drinking from the firehose.”
“We don’t want our residents living in fear,” O’Hara said. “We also understand that there is a larger presence involved at this time.”
Councilmember Luke Shaffer said safety and security remain the city’s top priority, but the approach matters.
Shaffer described federal agents “coming to a screeching halt” early in the morning to make arrests as an “intense scenario” that undermines public trust.
“It does not increase the feeling of safety,” he said, “and actually deteriorates the community as a whole.”
Capt. Shane Watts of the North Coastal Sheriff’s Station reiterated that deputies would respond to 911 calls in future incidents to verify enforcement activity.
Two days after the Aug. 20 arrest, ICE agents detained two more men on Aug. 22 near the same location in front of a group of protesters. All three arrests were confirmed as “targeted enforcement operations” of individuals under final orders of removal, according to ICE officials.
Councilmember Marco San Antonio said he supported most of the council’s Aug. 20 actions, but raised concerns about jeopardizing federal funding, noting that it is “important to what we do in the city.”
Deputy Mayor Joy Lyndes, who introduced the original motion, said she welcomed continued dialogue and wanted to pursue better communication with federal agencies to help families locate relatives who are detained.
“Because we’ve heard a lot about how people can’t find people,” she said.
