What is the reason?
What is the real reason for downtown Del Mar revitalization? It must have been a top/down desire of the City because there was no outcry for revitalization from the residents. It is money!
It all began several years ago when Councilmen Hilliard and Earnest gave a report to the City that the City was going broke — we were destitute (even though the city has the highest reserves in the County, has bought the Shores Property, built a new sewer pump station w/basketball half court, a new lifeguard station, is rebuilding a bridge, etc.) And the only place to get more revenue was from the commercial area.
So, they started by spending a lot of time (1.5 years) and money (we were broke) on the newest ideas from the League of Calif Cities — Horizontal Zoning and Form-based Code development. As usual, Govment plans died!
But, lo and behold, we had more money, so at the encouragement of the Govment sector of Del Mar residents, the city has taken on a very-expedited task of preparing an onerous specific plan to put more controls on commercial development, if developers will use the incentives offered to fundamentally change Del Mar forever!
Del Mar takes in enough money — we just need to stop spending it on unneeded Government planning.
Ralph Peck,
Del Mar
Council protocol
From Encinitas Patch, regarding direction to staff, at the June 27 Encinitas Council Meeting, to create a draft document outlining administrative policy re subcommittee protocol:
“Councilmembers will have an opportunity to review the draft of guidelines before they are added to the city’s administrative policy. If any councilmember has an issue with those drafted guidelines, he or she can request that the topic be added a future city council agenda.”
If, at Council Direction, staff prepares a draft of guidelines, to be added to the city’s administrative policy, to be “reviewed by Council,” then that constitutes a serial meeting. An agenda item, must be set, before Council, as a whole, can approve the new written guidelines. In other words, staff cannot come back to council with a draft, for approval, without coming back to the public, at an open City Council Meeting. Why don’t City Attorney Glenn Sabine and our bullying Mayor Jerome Stocks, get this! Likewise, with respect to Leucadia’s chronic flooding problems, the city manager and mayor must set an agenda item, before Council can review and approve staff’s response to be returned to the Grand Jury.
Council, the city manager and city attorney must educate themselves on the letter of the law in the Brown Act. Staff cannot come up with a written draft document, to be approved by Council, amending Encinitas administrative policy, without first allowing for open discussion at a noticed City Council Meeting. A quorum of council, and staff, including the city manager, cannot communicate, can’t illegally hold serial meetings, which are unnoticed, and which eliminate the opportunity for public discussion, before Council’s final approval of written subcommittee protocol to be included in administrative policy.
Perhaps some on Council feel that public process is “cumbersome,” but Council must abide by California open meeting law.
Lynn Marr,
Leucadia
