Last week the Carlsbad City Council updated City code regarding “inline and roller skaters” allowing them to basically roll anywhere they want on the upper sea wall and in the Village. Sadly, the new updates did nothing to correct the City’s insanely draconian rules regarding skateboarding.
Inline and roller skaters are free to cruise the upper seawall in Carlsbad, as long as they use caution, according to updated rules introduced Tuesday to the City Council. The lower seawall will remain a pedestrian only zone, with no wheeled forms of transportation allowed. . . . The rule changes also allow inline and roller skaters in the Village area. Skateboards will continue to be banned from the upper and lower seawall, the walkway on Carlsbad Boulevard between Tamarack Avenue and Cannon Road, the Village area and other commercial zones where signs are posted.
Reading this just reminds us how unworthy the City of Carlsbad is of its deep roots in skateboarding heritage. It’s just plain sad. Follow the jump for the completely uninformed justification for not changing the skateboarding rules along with the Rollerbladers. [click to continue…]
The City of Carlsbadistan has apparently gone all high-tech, science fiction in making sure that our city’s 337 miles of paved roads are in good shape.
“We had experts literally drive every road in the city with a truck that had a laser-camera that shows what condition the pavement is in,” said John Maashoff, a city construction manager. “This comprehensive assessment is a great tool we can use for future maintenance plans. Well maintained roads figure heavily into smooth flowing traffic and the overall quality of life in Carlsbad.”
The City says the roads got a score of 81 out of 100 for upkeep. Hey, if it was done with lasers it’s got to be good right? Lasers are rad. Follow the jump for the entire story. [click to continue…]
Carlsbad city officials can’t understand why more low-income homeowners haven’t applied for federal funds earmarked for minor home repairs, from clearing clogged drains to installing assistive devices for seniors and disabled persons.
The city pays $8,500 each year to Community HousingWorks, a San Diego non-profit, to administer the program. In the last three years, only four households have received funding.
At the city council’s March 22 meeting, Councilmember Farrah Douglas asked Debbie Fountain, director of housing and neighborhood services, to explain how the program has been marketed. Fountain told of postings on the city and HousingWorks websites, direct mailers to the barrio neighborhood, and articles and advertisements in community publications. She singled out word-of-mouth as “pretty successful.” Maybe that explains how the two homeowners receiving help last year learned of the program. [click to continue…]
Carlsbad City Council members nearly broke their arms patting themselves on the back after hearing a report on the results of the city’s annual public opinion survey at its February 8 meeting. The only councilmember to give credit where it was due, city employees, was Ann Kulchin, gushing, “This is your report card. As a parent I feel like I’d like to take you all out for an ice cream cone.”
Councilmen Packard confessed to having been one of the 1,000 residents whose opinions were sampled by telephone. After assuring the council he had identified himself to the caller, he crowed, “I did my very best to skew the numbers as high as I could.”
The only slight sprinkle on the evening’s parade of self-congratulations came from resident Diane Nygaard, representing the Preserve Calavera group, who reminded the council of the vote on Proposition C nine years ago to use city funds to acquire more open space. No additional natural lands have been acquired since the measure was passed.
We believe it’s time for a “No Vehicles Over Seven Feet Tall” ordinance. Our free sea wall parking is not a campground.
Now it looks like some action is about to be taken. At it’s meeting tomorrow night (March 8, 2011) the Carlsbad City Council will consider a proposal to prohibit motorhome and other large vehicles from parking on west side of “Carlsbad Boulevard from Redwood Avenue to Cherry Avenue,” according to a story in the North County Times.
The proposed ban would be in place from Memorial Day to Labor Day. . . . Carlsbad’s proposed ordinance would prohibit vehicles that are more than 22 feet long, 7 feet high or 7 feet wide from parking on the west side of Carlsbad Boulevard.
Not only will this allow for more parking, it will also create better views for people who live on Carlsbad Boulevard (and those just driving by). We only wish the ban could be on year around.
After spending nearly 40 minutes trying to get up Elm CVD through all those dragging, lagging Village of Carlsbadistan traffic lights following the Carlsbad Marathon we’re all for any kind of intelligent traffic light upgrade that would speed the flow. The City of Carlsbad is apparently all over it.
Traffic engineers plan to replace the city’s current control system, which is limited to a small number of traffic signals, with a new system over five years. The citywide network will enable staff to observe an entire corridor and adjust signal timing to optimize traffic flow based on real time conditions. . . .“This new technology won’t improve traffic flow by itself, but it will give us a much more advanced and efficient way to make changes as needed to keep cars moving,” said Bilse. “Traffic is a big concern out there. This is a great example of using technology to make a noticeable improvement in the lives of our community members.”
Sounds great aside from the five years part. Follow the jump for more details. [click to continue…]
Labor unions have been credited with the rise of America’s middle class. In the 1950’s about 40 percent of the nation’s workforce were union members. Today that number has dropped to less than 7 percent of private sector workers and about a third of public employees. Economists now warn of a disappearing middle class and the income gap between labor and management employees has widened.
In the five years from 2002 to 2007, 65 percent of all income growth in the U.S. went to the wealthiest 1 percent of the population, according to researchers at UC Berkeley and the Paris School of Economics.
Politicians have jumped on the bandwagon of union bashing for ruining state and local economies. Carlsbad’s new mayor built his successful campaign on a promise to prevent a union takeover on the council that would threaten the city’s future prosperity.
This year’s $1.7 million bailout of Carlsbad’s three-year-old golf course will bring the total amount of annual subsidies since its opening to $5.1 million. Four of the five council members who voted to tap city coffers again this time voted for each of the previous giveaways. Here’s a small sample of what three of them have said to explain their votes to save a failing enterprise.
The most creative justification came from newly re-elected councilman Mark Packard. “We’re not subsidizing,” he claimed, “we’re ‘fronting’ the money. None of us on the council play golf, so we didn’t do this for our own benefit.” For him, keeping the course on life support amounts to a misnamed and selfless act.
In a variation of I’m-from-the-government- and-I’m-here-to-help, Mayor-elect Matt Hall assured his constituents, “The five of us manage the affairs of the city very well and I feel certain it will pay for itself.”
Holding environmentalists largely responsible for the ballooning cost of construction from its $11 million estimate 18 years ago, Retiring Mayor Lewis sadly predicted, “This will pay, maybe not in my lifetime.”
Each year since its August 2007 opening, the number of budgeted rounds of golf has fallen. The number for 2008 was 52,000. This year’s number of actual rounds is projected to be 42,000. That’s a 20 percent decline. Reaching next year’s budgeted goal of 44,000 seems unlikely, given the course’s track record.
Each year Carlsbadistan Rotarians gather in the parking lot of the Village Faire at the corner of Carlsbad Blvd and Carlsbad Village Drive to kick off the holiday season with a Christmas Tree Lighting with some help from Santa Claus, Matt Hall, some singers, and the ubiquitous Carlsbad High School Lancer Dancers. Because nothing says Christmas like choreographed hip-hop jazz dancing on the asphalt.
Follow the jump for a little more on how the Sunday, December 5, 2010 Christmas Tree lighting went. [click to continue…]
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Last week the Carlsbad City Council updated City code regarding “inline and roller skaters” allowing them to basically roll anywhere they want on the upper sea wall and in the Village. Sadly, the new updates did nothing to correct the City’s insanely draconian rules regarding skateboarding.
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The Riehl World: Needy Homeowners?
by Richard J. Riehl on April 7, 2011
The city pays $8,500 each year to Community HousingWorks, a San Diego non-profit, to administer the program. In the last three years, only four households have received funding.
At the city council’s March 22 meeting, Councilmember Farrah Douglas asked Debbie Fountain, director of housing and neighborhood services, to explain how the program has been marketed. Fountain told of postings on the city and HousingWorks websites, direct mailers to the barrio neighborhood, and articles and advertisements in community publications. She singled out word-of-mouth as “pretty successful.” Maybe that explains how the two homeowners receiving help last year learned of the program. [click to continue…]
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