May 15th City Council Recap
Council punts on dealing with homelessness, focusing instead on stop signs, killing UFAC, and fighting the state
Here’s this weeks city council recap, in case you missed it!
💔 In Memory of Emery Chalekian: Mayor Ehlers led a moment of silence for 12-year-old Emery, tragically killed in a crosswalk on April 25th. Her grieving parents addressed the Council, thanking State Senator Blakespear and Mayor Ehlers for their outreach and asking other councilmembers to do the same.
🕊️ No Food For Thought (FFT)—just this heartfelt tribute: forevermissed.com/emery/about
🌳 Urban Forest Committee Under Fire: Volunteer residents from the Urban Forest Advisory Committee (UFAC) presented their work, only to be met with skepticism by Councilmember O’Hara, who questioned their value and suggested dissolving the committee. Other councilmembers defended UFAC’s impact – saving the City money and working on critical issues like the mature tree ordinance.
🥣 FFT: Why challenge dedicated volunteers who are lending their expertise unless you’re trying to silence input on policies you don’t support?
🚗 Safe Parking Lot Renewed, HAP Delayed: Due to a packed agenda (meeting mismanagement perhaps?), full discussion on the City’s Homeless Action Plan (HAP) was postponed. Still, after an outpouring of public support, the Council voted to extend the Safe Parking Lot program with JFS through December. The Sheriff’s Department confirmed they see it as a valuable tool. The Mayor and others called for more law enforcement to manage the few “bad actors”, while Deputy Mayor Lyndes acknowledged that the HAP was a good start and “we can do better.”
🥣 FFT: Critics say the HAP hasn’t “fixed” homelessness – but without it, would things be worse?
🛑 Stop Signs for Saxony: O’Hara requested all-way stop control at Union & Saxony in anticipation of increased traffic from new Clark Street apartments – even though traffic studies say it’s not “warranted.” Residents prefer stop signs over a roundabout as a cheaper and faster solution…for now. Council approved sending this for design by Traffic Engineering.
🥣 FFT: A temporary fix is better than nothing—but will safer, but more expensive, solutions be overlooked time and time again like the fate of the Hygeia roundabout?
🏘️ Local Control vs. State Housing Laws? Councilmembers O’Hara and Shaffer pushed a resolution supporting Our Neighborhood Voices, a ballot initiative aimed at clawing back local control over housing laws. Shaffer said the motivation was to defend Encinitas from state overreach, and O’Hara recognized that he was voted into office for that reason. Mayor Ehlers backed it, citing high density with little affordability as a problem that needs to stop. Deputy Mayor Lyndes opposed, calling it a symbolic “feel good”—pointing out most cities actually support current state laws.
🥣 FFT: Do we need a state ballot initiative to defend local control? Or could we meet housing goals with more affordable units and less density—if we just got more creative? Perhaps the Council should explore solutions with a better chance of success first?
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned, stay engaged, and stay loud.