🏛️ Council Meeting Recap – June 10, 2026
💬 Quote of the Night:
· Ehlers: “It’s one bird in the hand,” referencing that one applicant withdrew, leaving only one other application for Parks & Rec Commission seat
· O’Hara: “Is it? Not if the bird poops in your hand. Or the bird in the hand flies away.”
⚡ REGULAR MEETING
Presentations
🌟 Suzie Perry received the 2026 Senior Citizen Service Award. Chair of Head Start, founder of the Operation School Bell Program in Solana Beach — providing resources to students in need. Works as hard retired as she did when she was paid. Legend. 👏
🏄 The late Don Hansen, an Encinitas surfing icon, was honored with a proclamation. A true local treasure. 🌊
🎤 Oral Communications — Buckle Up
🚨 Deputy Mayor O’Hara opens with a campaign critique. Deputy Mayor O’Hara used the first public speaker slot of the evening to criticize the messaging of two candidates running for local office. When he ran over his time, Mayor Ehlers called a point of order — and O’Hara talked right over the gavel and the mayor. 🎤🔥
o 🌮 Food For Thought: Under California Government Code §8314, elected officials can’t use publicly funded resources — including paid staff time during a council meeting — as a platform for political campaign messaging. O’Hara used council time to critique opponents’ campaigns. Is this a violation, and who holds him accountable?
🚲 Bike safety double standard, called out. Resident Fabian Gonell connected the dots: council delayed bike safety funding for school districts over a missing effectiveness report — then approved $33,000 to the 101 Main Street and the Chamber of Commerce on consent, with zero accounting, zero supporting documents, and zero year-end reports for three years. He filed public records requests to confirm it. He was right.
🌮 Food For Thought: A kids’ bike safety program gets held hostage over a missing report. Meanwhile $33K flows to groups with no accountability for three straight years — approved without discussion. Accountability for some, but not others.
🎈 Other quick hits:
o Support for moving the Leucadia Farmers’ Market to Oak Crest Middle School;
o The Encinitas History Society announced “Independence Saturdays” at the 1883 Old School House starting June 19-20 honoring Black American history;
o A commissioner voiced frustration that council keeps tabling commission work plans, leaving committees stuck; and
o Appreciation expressed for the city’s Pride Month recognition. 🏳️🌈
📋 Consent Calendar — All Pulled, ✅ All Passed Unanimously. Four items got pulled for public comment but sailed through:
· 🛡️ Workers’ Comp TPA Agreement ($244K, 5 years): Resident Sheila Cameron recommended regular audits and public availability of workers’ comp spending.
· 🚸 Hardware Agreement (up to $580K over 4 years): Ex-Mayor Sheila Cameron raised “sign pollution” concerns along Encinitas and Leucadia Blvd. Traffic engineer confirmed signs are required for safety.
· 🏠 Short-Term Rental Monitoring (Granicus, $120,600/5 years): A resident asked for better staff training on STR code enforcement given recent changes.
· 🎨 Encinitas Friends of the Arts MOU: A resident asked for more city resources — financial and promotional — for local arts programming.
🏞️ Parks & Rec Fee Adjustments ✅ Vote: Unanimous. Consumer Price Index-based fee adjustments, generating about $12,500 for FY26-27. O’Hara recused himself. No speakers. Done.
🌳 Parks & Rec Commissioner Appointment ✅ Vote: 3-1. Two applicants, one withdrew. Ehlers moved to appoint Megan Humphreys. O’Hara countered with a motion to seek more applicants — nobody seconded it. Passed 3-1, O’Hara dissenting. Again. 🤷
🚦 Park Dale Lane & Village Park Way Safety: Vote: Mostly Approved ✅ 4-0. Staff returned with a menu of fixes — some funded, some shelved. Approved near-term items include an all-way stop at Village Park Way/Gatepost ($10-15K), lane narrowing, pedestrian refuge islands, speed radar signs, advance warning signage, and sight distance improvements — totaling roughly $45K-$170K. A long-term traffic signal at Village Park Way/Park Dale Lane ($400-600K) is also on the table.
What got cut: Curb bulb-outs and vertical traffic calming (raised crosswalks/speed cushions) — both rejected for lack of Fire Department support, since the corridor handles 200+ emergency responses annually and serves as a secondary evacuation route. Several speakers pushed back, wanting to see the actual data behind that call.
O’Hara then waxed on that he had initiated this item and he had personally stood at the intersection because he cares about kids — seemingly responding to comments from the audience that viewers at home couldn’t see or hear. 🎭
Vote: 4-0 (Lyndes absent). Detailed design returns to council for final approval since it exceeds $100K.
🏠 Affordable Housing Certification Extension ✅ Vote: 4-0. Council agreed to a 1-year extension to the certification program for affordable units. Four councilmembers (Lyndes absent) took far longer than necessary to arrive at the only sensible answer.
🏕️ Encampment Resolution Funding Grant (Round 5) ✅ Vote: Unanimous. The city is applying for state ERF funding to address unsheltered homelessness near the Encinitas Transit Center and Community Park — targeting 100 individuals over 4 years, with 20 expected to achieve permanent housing. Shaffer voiced support, citing SD Rescue Mission’s track record.
Then it got messy. O’Hara grilled Homeless Program Coordinator Dr. Crystal Pugh on details from the written report — the kind of questions normally asked before a public meeting. Dr. Pugh answered calmly and directly. O’Hara wasn’t satisfied.
Here’s the real story: both Ehlers and O’Hara voiced strong opposition to the “Housing First” model — the evidence-based approach required by the state grant and proven most effective at achieving “Functional Zero” (housing more people than enter homelessness each month). Rather than reject the grant, the motion directs staff to keep the required Housing First compliance — but scrub the actual phrase “Housing First” from the application. Ehlers committed to bring the edited version back before end of June.
Vote: Unanimous YES — to comply with a policy two of them just called a failure, as long as nobody has to say its name. 🙃
· 🌮 Food For Thought: What are the best strategies for residents to challenge elected officials who reject well-documented empirical evidence on policies that directly affect our most vulnerable neighbors?
🗳️ November Election Resolutions ✅ Vote: 4-0. No referendums or initiatives this cycle — no added cost to Encinitas. Routine. Passed 4-0 (Lyndes absent).
📅 Quick Updates
· 🌳 Quail Gardens park input meeting coming soon.
· 🎨 Commission for the Arts has an unscheduled vacancy — apply by June 18. 🛹
· The skate committee applications? Application period closed and will be on next week’s council agenda
And the mayor adjourned at 10:59 PM — one minute early, and visibly thrilled about it. ⏰🎉
Join Encinitas Action’s Juneteenth party Sunday!
Finally, tomorrow (Sunday) you’re invited to our free Juneteenth celebration right here in downtown Encinitas from 1 to 5pm, with a live performance from the West African Dance Company. Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when people in Galveston, Texas were informed of the end of slavery, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It’s a day of reflection, joy, and community, and it deserves a celebration in our city.
We’ll be excited to see you at our free celebration at 710 S Coast Highway 101 (the former Charlie’s Electric Bike location). Food and drink available for a reasonable cost.
See you tomorrow,
–Encinitas Action