Climate change denial, outdoor dining rats (?), and a mayor who thinks homelessness data is “not for us to solve.” Buckle up.
🏛️ Council Meeting Recap – May 27, 2026
💬 Quote of the Night: “The longer we wait, the more we pay.” J.P. Bruner, Environmental Commissioner, regarding the Climate Action Plan discussion.
⚡ SPECIAL MEETING: Climate Action Plan Update: Still Not Done
The city has been updating its Climate Action Plan (CAP) since 2022. It’s still not done. Tonight’s special meeting was supposed to present new cost-benefit analyses. Instead, it revealed a council with five different opinions on whether climate change is even worth addressing.
The range:
• 🌱 Lyndes: Strong CAP supporter; wants “co-benefits” (trees, air quality, quality of life) counted in the analysis
• 🌱 Shaffer: Support spending the $600K earmarked for green measures, but not sold on every item in the plan
• 😐 Ehlers: Generally supportive but wants cost-benefit analysis to drive cuts — and doesn’t want to count co-benefits
• 🤷 San Antonio: Climate change is real, but China pollutes, so… why bother?
• 🚩 O’Hara: Called the CAP a “political document” and wants to replace it with a vague “environmental plan”
Public speakers included outright climate deniers, people who think the city shouldn’t act even if climate change is real, and legitimate critics who noted the cost-benefit analysis ignores every benefit except carbon reduction.
Oh — and the councilmembers who enthusiastically voted to spike development fees last week with zero concern for housing costs were suddenly very worried that CAP requirements on new development would make housing expensive. Hmmm. 🙄
Outcome: Another special meeting scheduled. Updates on co-benefits and the latest climate science coming. The CAP update that was initiated four years ago rolls on.
🌮 Food For Thought: If the city adjusts traffic signals to improve flow and wants to count the reduced emissions from less idling — is it fair to charge the entire cost of that signal work to the CAP? Or is that cooking the books on the cost-benefit analysis?
⚡ REGULAR MEETING
🎉 Presentations — The Good Stuff
🎤Oral Communications — Quick Hits
• 🚲 CyclingSavvy — strong community support for this kids’ e-bike and road safety program. More on this below.
• 🏠 CRC hate, again — the same voices calling the Community Resource Center a bad neighbor while it actively serves hundreds of Encinitas residents. 😤
• 👻 AB 2047 (Blakespear) — support voiced for the ghost gun safety bill targeting 3D-printed untraceable weapons.
• 🎨 Santa Fe Drive graffiti — multiple spots hit this week. One speaker called it “gangs marking their territory.” For the record: no known gangs in Encinitas. Unless you count 12-year-olds on e-bikes. 😂
📋 Consent Items Pulled
• 8E — Letter of Opposition to SB 866 ✅ 4-1 (Lyndes dissenting) SB 866 would require cities to collect more data on the unhoused population for housing reports — with no additional funding. Staff flagged the unfunded workload. A couple of public commenters used the item as an opportunity to express their feelings about homeless people generally. Mayor Ehlers on homelessness data collection: “Not for us to solve.”
• 🌮 Food For Thought: The city will spend hours debating $33K handouts to business groups that didn’t ask — but data collection that could help house people is “not for us to solve?” What exactly IS ours to solve?
• 8H — Crossing Guard Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): Tabled ✅ Unanimous. MOUs with EUSD and SDUHSD for next year’s crossing guard program. Council wants location-specific data before approving. Reasonable ask — but worth noting this is the second children’s safety program tabled in two weeks. The crossing guards return with data. The bike safety program is still pending. Kids are waiting.
🍽️ Outdoor Dining Extended to July 2027 ✅ Unanimous. The temporary outdoor dining program — a COVID-era lifeline for local restaurants — gets another extension. The owner of Roxy noted it saved them during the pandemic and floated an idea: valet parking using the City Hall lot ($20-25/car, revenue split with the city) to offset the 47 parking spots consumed by dining areas. Creative; worth exploring.
Mayor Ehlers voiced concerns on the hygiene and aesthetic of the current structures, guessing there are probably rats living underneath the temporary structures. Appetizing! 🐀
🌳 Commission Work Plans Pass. ✅ Unanimous. Senior Citizen Commission, Arts Commission and Parks & Rec Commission all presented work plans to council and all passed. One additional item discussed – the name of proposed park for L-7 and verdict was to keep the name “Quail Gardens Park.”
🚒 Fire Marshal Reclassification ✅ Unanimous. Fire prevention staff reclassified as “safety” employees for retirement purposes — consistent with state law and peer cities. Right thing to do, and necessary to remain competitive in hiring. No drama.
📊 Quick Updates
• 🚂 At-Grade Crossings community meeting drew 100+ residents in Leucadia. Engineering staff handled tough questions well. Momentum is real.
• 🚗 Sheriff’s May traffic blitz: 52 cell phone citations, 52 speeding, 27 stop sign violations. Put. The. Phone. Down. 📵
The Climate Action Plan update is still not done. The bike safety and school crossing guards are still pending. Budget adoption is June 17. Let’s see what gets finished.
Until next time — when today’s agenda becomes tomorrow’s agenda,
—Encinitas Action
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