by The Editors on November 9, 2010
Personally, we think widening I-5 as a solution to North County traffic congestion is a lot like giving an heroin addict a larger needle to help him kick the horse, but we wanted to point out a couple recent articles that discuss the options from the Department of Transportation’s 10,000 page report. We like how the San Diego Union-Tribune puts it:
After $4.1 billion, nearly 20 years of construction, the condemnation of dozens of houses and businesses, and, for some, years spent commuting through a construction zone, here is what it could all come down to: A car traveling from Oceanside to La Jolla on Interstate 5 in proposed new toll lanes would save 10 minutes over the same car traveling the same 27-mile stretch of highway in 2006. A car traveling the distance in the regular lanes would shave one minute off the clock. . . Will it be worth it?
Our answer? Of course not. But then we’re not the North County Times. They think adding lanes is required:
Doing nothing about Interstate 5 widening —- or hoping that somehow mass transit will save us —- is a pipe dream. . . Indeed, anyone driving south toward San Diego on I-5 in the morning lately knows that it’s often congested from Carlsbad until the recently widened lanes near Cardiff —- so don’t bother with the anti-everything argument. . . Hoping that congestion will force drivers onto the Coaster isn’t a solution.
Well, actually, it is. One only has to look to the most congested streets in the world (Tokyo) to see that traffic congestion actually does force people to use public transportation. And you know what? That makes things better for everyone. That’s why it could be argued that the best solution for North County traffic jams would be to remove a couple lanes from Interstate 5 and add 24/7/365 service on the Coaster.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune and North County Times]
by The Editors on November 8, 2010
On a national level, the 2010 elections will go down in history as a populist revolt against big government. But in three North County cities, the year will be remembered as the one in which voters really, truly paid attention.
To their credit, voters in Carlsbad, Oceanside and Encinitas studied the issues, weighed the pros and cons of each side, and made informed decisions, unswayed by who had the most, and prettiest, campaign signs and mailers.
Call it the election of sense and sensibility.
In the Carlsbad mayor’s race, victor Matt Hall was seriously outgunned by fellow Councilman Keith Blackburn in both signs and mailers, thanks in large part of the police and fire unions, which spent thousands of dollars to protect their inflated pensions. The Friday before the election alone, I received no fewer than five Blackburn mailers, including one, sent by the Carlsbad Police Officers’ Association, that hit a new low in sleaziness. Under the headline, “Matt Hall neglected our families’ safety,” the cops blasted Hall for “talking to reporters” after the Kelly School shootings, while praising Blackburn for “humbling” donning his police uniform and helping out behind the scenes.
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by Bridget Smith on November 1, 2010
As you head to your polling place tomorrow be aware that one particular ballot measure would directly benefit Carlsbadistan residents. Proposition 21 would raise money for California’s state parks and beaches by adding an $18 license registration fee to all vehicles registered in the state of California. In exchange drivers of these vehicles would get free state park day use.
This means that only the tourists would have to pay to park at Tamarack , and residents could go back to their morning surf or beachside stroll without the parking hassle. Hopefully it would also mean cleaner bathrooms, more lifeguards, and better maintained state parks.
Let’s face it, we’re a beach town in a state that relies heavily on tourist revenues to stay fiscally afloat. It is in our best interest to keep our beaches clean, safe, and well maintained. With trying economic times more families are hitting to road to go camping at a state park or spend the day at a local beach. California small businesses that depend on revenue from these visitors would benefit from a more stable funding source for California’s State Parks.
I’m hoping Prop 21 passes, because it’s much easier to schlep three kids, beach chairs, boogie boards, and sand toys from a parking space next to the beach.
Carlsbadistan resident Bridget Smith is the author of The Unauthorized Legoland Guidebook.
by The Editors on October 28, 2010
No better way to explain how tired everyone is getting of all the campaign sign clutter in Carlsbadistan than this message on Aviara.
by Thomas K. Arnold on October 20, 2010
In these days of millionaire politicians and campaign budgets that rival the gross national product of some fair-sized nations, it’s heartening to see some good old-fashioned campaigning going on here in North County.
Most candidates have been stung by the economy and aren’t collecting as much money as they used to. I wouldn’t be surprised if the total price tag for North County elections is less than it was four years ago, when many of the same seats were up for grabs.
Oh, we’re still seeing our share of slick mailers, glossy campaign pamphlets and ubiquitous signs. But we’re also seeing candidates taking to the streets, ringing doorbells and shaking hands with voters—far more than in the past, most observers agree. We’re seeing neighborhood meet-and-greets, barbecues, and candidate appearances at all sorts of community and neighborhood events.
And of all the people running for office, perhaps no one is working harder than Farrah Douglas, the Carlsbad planning commissioner now making her second attempt to land a seat on the city council.
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by Thomas K. Arnold on October 13, 2010
The tragedy could have been a calamity. Had gunman Brendan O’Rourke not been tackled by three heroic construction workers as he was fumbling with his gun, the senseless shootings last Friday at Kelly School in Carlsbad could have gone on—and we might have had one of the worst massacres in history instead of just two little girls being shot in the arm.
Moments after writing this opening line, I felt ashamed. “Just two little girls”—as though that isn’t tragic enough. Two little girls, 6 and 7 years old, happy that it’s Friday, happy that the school week’s coming to an end, probably looking forward to a soccer game Saturday morning and maybe a visit to the pumpkin patch or Legoland in the afternoon. A point in space, in time, and their lives are changed, possibly forever—strapped to a gurney, rushed to a hospital, worked over by doctors. Their physical wounds will heal, but their emotional ones? No one can tell.
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by Richard J. Riehl on October 7, 2010
Supervisor Bill Horn’s second hit piece in two weeks landed in the mailbox the same day my absentee ballot arrived. The incumbent is using fear to keep his job for another eight years, when the new term limits law his scandal-plagued career inspired will prevent him from becoming supervisor for life. Horn’s desperate attack on his opponent, Steve Gronke, is a good example of why voters should disregard all negative campaigning in the weeks leading up to an election. It spurred me to cast my vote a month before the polls open.
In Carlsbad, North County’s Brigadoon, the campaign has been unusually civil up until now, with candidates touting their qualifications, rather than trumpeting the shortcomings of their opponents.
Mayoral candidate Matt Hall’s latest mailer refers to his opponent as “freshman councilman Keith Blackburn,” the “only council member to oppose (pension) reforms.” Well, that’s stretching the truth a bit. Blackburn is in his second year on the council, technically making him a sophomore, and he did not exactly oppose reforms.
Follow the jump for the rest of the story.
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by The Editors on October 5, 2010
Those “no vehicles over seven feet tall” restrictions would come in very handy on a day like today at the Carlsbadistan seawall. . And we thought that Vons shopping cart was an eyesore.
Wonder if this rig has anything to do with this story from the New York Times.
by The Editors on October 5, 2010
For the past couple days this Vons shopping cart has been bumping around on different parts of the Carlsbadistan sea wall.
Note to Vons: Please come retrieve your cart. It has junked up our beach long enough. Thanks!
by The Editors on September 30, 2010
When newspapers write opinion pieces it becomes immediately apparent who really runs their businesses. For instance, today, the San Diego Union-Tribune released their picks for Carlsbad’s mayoral and city council races. For mayor they break it down by Prop G:
If there’s an issue that defines the two [Hall and Blackburn], it is Proposition G, a measure to lock recent pension reforms into the city charter and to prevent any increases in employee retirement benefits without a vote of the people. Hall has co-signed the argument for Prop. G. Blackburn, a former police sergeant, opposes it. That speaks volumes as to which each candidate would put first, the people or the city’s labor unions.
And for City Council they pick Mark Packard (because he’s already on the council) and Farrah Douglas (because she made a respectable showing in her first try for office two years ago). At least we agree with one of their picks.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
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Interstate 5: Will Wider Really Be Better?
by The Editors on November 9, 2010
Personally, we think widening I-5 as a solution to North County traffic congestion is a lot like giving an heroin addict a larger needle to help him kick the horse, but we wanted to point out a couple recent articles that discuss the options from the Department of Transportation’s 10,000 page report. We like how the San Diego Union-Tribune puts it:
Our answer? Of course not. But then we’re not the North County Times. They think adding lanes is required:
Well, actually, it is. One only has to look to the most congested streets in the world (Tokyo) to see that traffic congestion actually does force people to use public transportation. And you know what? That makes things better for everyone. That’s why it could be argued that the best solution for North County traffic jams would be to remove a couple lanes from Interstate 5 and add 24/7/365 service on the Coaster.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune and North County Times]
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