The highlights you need to know!
Public Safety ⛑️
- 👮♂️ Sheriff’s Report: Assaults & crimes against persons ↓12%, property crimes ↓30% vs. 2024. Huge props to Captain Watts & team 🙌 His top focus? 🚦Roadway Safety + Vision Zero.
- 🚒 Fire Report: 5,237 calls so far this year — 72% medical 🚑 — all with stellar response times. Plus 1,700+ permit reviews & 773 inspections 🔥
Mobility Upgrades 🚦
- 🚧 El Portal Roundabout: Guardrails ❌ not approved. City staff to return with safer, smarter barrier options.
- 🚶♀️ La Costa Pedestrian Path: Budget boost ✅ ahead of grant award. Unanimous support!
🌎 EcoFest & Environment Day
- Deferred 🤔 Councilmember O’Hara questioned city funding for a partner nonprofit. Staff to explore merging EcoFest + Sustainable Solutions Fair 🌱 Lyndes voted no.
💭FFT: Do you support reducing opportunities to celebrate sustainability and environmental stewardship?
📡 Wireless Facilities (5G)
Concerns over health impacts ⚡ from Councilmember Shaffer + public. Council voted to pause and hold a public workshop.
👧👦 Youth Commision x 2
- Youth Commission Alternates: Youth said “no need” for alternates — Council narrowly agreed 3–2 (O’Hara & San Antonio opposed).
💭 FFT (Food for Thought): Why oppose youth-led recommendations?
- Youth Commission Work Plan: Approved with creative touches — intergenerational videos 🎬 + financial literacy folded into community engagement 💡
🌳 Habitat Stewardship Program
Expanding 🌿 from Cottonwood Creek & Oakcrest Park → Indian Head Canyon. Love to see it ❤️
🏛️ City Hall Shuffle
Welcome Deputy City Manager Mike James (from Pismo Beach, with El Cajon & Lemon Grove creds) 👏
AND — Council voted unanimously to cut ties with City Attorney Tarquin Presziosi
💭FFT: Between the attorney exit & multiple vacancies, Encinitas City Hall is looking thin. Is the City losing too much knowledge at once? 🤔