by The Editors on April 30, 2010
The hunt for a new Carlsbadistan Police Chief has ended according news released by the City of Carlsbad today.
Gary W. Morrison, who worked previously with the Long Beach Police Department, reportedly has 22 years of law enforcement experience.
Gary Morrison is a proven leader with high standards and a commitment to public service that make him a great fit for the City of Carlsbad Police Department and the Carlsbad community,” said Hildabrand. “His collaborative style and direct experience in virtually every aspect of law enforcement make him a tremendous asset to our organization.”
We have to agree he sounds well-qualified to represent the CPD. Me and Louie are going to follow the jump for all the details.
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by The Editors on April 28, 2010
Last night at the Carlsbad City Council meeting Carlsbad Village Association executive director Robin Young and other Carlsbad Skatepark, Museum and Action Arts Center proponents presented their plans for the space currently occupied by the City Yard on Oak Ave. near State St. according to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times.
During Tuesday’s meeting, council members listened to the skateboarding proposal and asked questions, but did not endorse the idea. . . Councilman Mark Packard said he hoped that the group understood it would be several years before the land would be available. Project supporters said they knew this. . . “At first, we went ‘Oh, darn,’ and then we thought it gives us more time to raise the funds,” Young said. . . During her presentation, she had stressed that project supporters expect to fund their center through donations and grants. No city investment is needed, Young emphasized.
It seems the City Council was not all that interested in the project currently but as City Manger Lisa Hidabrand is quoted as saying, “Now’s a good time to plan, and we’ll be happy to work with the community to plan what’s out there.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but we’ll take it.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on April 25, 2010
On Tuesday, April 27, 2010, proponents of the Carlsbad Skatepark, Museum and Action Arts Center will present their plans (which include the skatepark shown above) for the old City Yard on Oak Avenue near State Street to the Carlsbad City Council.
The San Diego Union-Tribune outlines the group’s plans and discusses just how deeply skateboarding history runs in Carlsbad in a story titled Skateboarding legacy focus of Carlsbad plans.
Since January, the Carlsbad Village Association and a group of downtown business owners have been working on plans for a Skateboarding Museum and Action Arts Center. They say it would offer a much-needed outlet for local skaters and draw tourism to the city. . . “The (term) ‘skate park’ was actually coined in Carlsbad,” said Robin Young, the association’s executive director. “We thought, ‘What a perfect opportunity to pay homage to that rich history.’ ” . . . The association proposes building the center on land occupied by a city maintenance yard at Oak Avenue and State Street that is slated for redevelopment. Organizers envision a skateboarding museum, a skate park and an interactive, urban arts center.
Those in support of skateboarding in general and in Carlsbad specifically are encouraged to attend the City Council meeting on Tuesday evening at 6 PM. For more information click the links below and please vote in our poll in the right hand column of this page.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune, CSMAAC, and facebook]
by The Editors on April 8, 2010
In another example of how much easier it is to get permits for something that is already built, the Carlsbadistan Planning Commission last night (April 7, 2010) agreed four to one to grant the proper permits for the construction of the $750,000 seawall built last summer at Terramar, according to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times.
The commission’s vote was 4-1, with Commissioner Bill Dominguez opposed and Commissioners Marty Montgomery and Michael Schumacher absent. The four commissioners who voted in favor of granting the permits mentioned both public safety and bluff conditions north of the new wall as reasons for their decision. . . “I don’t have any problem at all approving this … it really is a major public safety issue,” Commissioner Hap L’Heureux said, commenting that the public staircase invites people into an area where people are likely to end up right next to bluffs.
As much as we think people should ask before building gigantic walls on the coastline, the Goetz wall is about as nice a wall as can be imagined. If it causes all the sand to disappear (as opponents suggest) then we’ll all know last night’s decision was a bad one.
[Link: North County Times]
by Richard J. Riehl on March 26, 2010
If you walk the seawall late at night along Carlsbad Boulevard, you may hear voices in the distance sounding the alarm: “To arms! To arms! The unions are coming! The unions are coming!”
The familiar warning cry began with a Feb. 20 headline in the North County Times: “City’s unions expected to play active role in mayoral election.”
From the day City Councilman Keith Blackburn declared his candidacy for mayor, tongues have been wagging about how police and firefighters unions have announced their intent to do whatever they can to put the former police officer in the seat that Bud Lewis occupied for a quarter of a century.
Unlike in Oceanside, labor unions have not played a major role in Carlsbad City Council politics. With more union involvement, will North County’s model municipality of political civility be in danger of being sucked into the all-consuming black hole of partisanship that plagues its northern neighbor?
Follow the jump for the rest of the story. . .
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by The Editors on February 24, 2010
Barbara Henry explores the issues surrounding the City of Carlsbadistan’s employee pensions and how the recently announced mayorial candidate stand on the issues in a story in the North County Times.
Councilman Keith Blackburn and Councilman Matt Hall —- have opposing viewpoints on the pension issue.
Hall, whose candidacy is backed by the city’s current longtime mayor, has said the city needs to rethink its annual pension expenditures before they come to dominate the city’s budget. Blackburn, a former Carlsbad police officer expected to be endorsed by the city’s labor groups, has said the city needs to proceed cautiously and not be among the first in the state to try to restructure its system.
Seems everyone agrees on the old cliché: if you want to keep good employees you need to pay them. It’s exactly how that is done that gets sticky.
[Link: North County Times]
by Thomas K. Arnold on February 24, 2010
They just don’t give up.
The public safety unions, fighting to protect their overly generous pensions and health benefits, have just suffered a savage defeat in Oceanside with the failure of the recall campaign against Councilman Jerry Kern.
It was a classic union bait-and-switch to disguise the real issue: They riled up a group of senior citizens who felt Kern was rude and didn’t pay them the attention they deserved. They got them to launch a recall movement. And then they pumped huge amounts of money into the anti-Kern campaign in the hopes of getting a more sympathetic soul in council chambers —- a sympathetic soul who would turn a blind eye to the financial disaster these pensions and benefits pose to cities and states throughout our country.
Common sense, you see, invariably wins out. And the unions know their days of looting government treasuries are numbered, in light of the recession and gaping budget deficits.
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by The Editors on February 19, 2010
Keith Blackburn, the former Carlsbad Police officer and current Carlsbadistan City Councilman has announced that he will be running for Mayor according to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times.
As he announced his mayoral bid Thursday, Blackburn said his candidacy would focus on economic development, open space land purchases and the long-discussed Alga Norte park project. . . He also said that he wants to purchase open space land for preservation now while local real estate prices are more affordable and he wants to get the swim complex planned for the future Alga Norte park open as soon as possible, even if it means dipping into the city’s substantial reserves to cover its daily operations expenses. . . “We can run that pool for 10 years … before we have to tap into our general fund,” he said.
If he promises to get the Alga Norte skateboard park and pool running ASAP, then he has our vote for certain.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on February 12, 2010
Jon Wantz, 28, of Carlsbadistan is running for City Council in the next election and The Coast News was good enough to profile him today.
“I think people are ready to see something a little different,” Wantz said. . . As Wantz gets his campaign off the ground, he’s focusing on two main issues to improve the city: creating an open and responsive local government and increasing occupancy rate in a city that has nearly reached build-out of the general plan. . . Wantz said he advocates for a more responsive government after having witnessed the current council feign interest in what residents want without following through. He specifically points to the Alga Norte Park project — which many residents asked for and have still not received — as a prime example of unresponsive representation.
Yes, Carlsbadistan could use a little more of what Jon Wantz is talking about.
[Link: The Coast News]
by Richard J. Riehl on February 11, 2010
From the urgency of its actions, you’d think the Friends of Aviara had just discovered a Super Walmart was about to open its doors on the shores of the Batiquitos Lagoon.
The La Costa neighborhood group is suing Carlsbad’s City Council for approving a planning document that would bring affordable senior housing to their backyard. The lawsuit is a pre-emptive strike on a proposal the City Council has never discussed, much less approved.
What the council did approve at its Dec. 22 meeting was a revision of the city’s general plan that references Pontebello, a proposed project that would add 76 low- and moderate-income units to its housing plan, helping the city meet the state’s affordable housing law.
Senior Planner Scott Donnell explained that if the city failed to obtain state certification for its housing plan it could lose millions in future state and county government grants. Carlsbad would also be exposed to lawsuits halting development until the state steps in to mandate the number and locations of affordable housing units.
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