Last Wednesday’s Encinitas City Council meeting lasted four-and-a-half hours. Between public outcry over a racist post, debates about homelessness funding, safety concerns at a school crossing, and a city work plan missing key issues like affordable housing and flooding, the night raised as many questions as it answered.
And Encinitas Action sat through it all so you didn’t have to!
Council Meeting Recap – March 11, 2026
💬 Quote of the Night “Get these people to work, so they don’t need free food in the city!” — A public commenter on homelessness. At a City Council meeting. In 2026. 🤯
Special Meeting @ 4:45 PM — FY 2026-27 Work Plan
Council reviewed its draft annual work plan across 6 focus areas: public health & safety, city services, mobility, open space & environment, community character & economic vitality, and general plan/responsible development. Sounds comprehensive. Look closer.
- 🚨 Public Health & Safety: zero mention of a Safe Parking Program or homelessness services.
- 🏠 Responsible Development: no line item for affordable housing supply, despite the a legal obligation.
- 💧 City Services & Infrastructure: no plan for chronic drainage and flooding.
- 🌮 Food For Thought (FFT): If safe parking, housing affordability and flood management didn’t make the list, what exactly IS the council’s plan for our most vulnerable people and streets?
⚡ Regular Meeting @ 6PM
🎤 Oral Communications — The Room Had a Lot to Say
- 🥁 Seven residents — including the founder of the African Dance Community — called for the removal of a newly installed city committee member after his racially bigoted social media post. No action taken. Yet.
- 🚨 ICE at a preschool. Federal agents were spotted at a local preschool and in the Sheriff’s parking lot. Community leaders urged council to formally support local law enforcement’s community trust-building efforts and push back on federal overreach.
- · 📱 Brown Act alert: Urban Forestry Advisory Committee Chairman Brad Lefkowits reminded officials that “liking” posts on social media about items coming before the council can constitute a Brown Act violation, and he brought several examples. “To be clear, it took me all of three minutes to find those. I’m sure there’s a lot more if you dig deeper.”
- 🌿 Cannabis & vaping visibility: Advocates asked for stricter rules on billboards and storefronts. Kids are walking by these every day.
- 🚗 Clark Avenue development: A neighbor asked the city to keep the Pueblo road barrier in place to protect against new cut-through traffic. Simple ask. Still pending.
- 🌮 FFT: Council continues its silence on both the racist post AND the ICE preschool incident. At what point does silence become a policy statement?
📋 AB 1708 Letter of Support for Homelessness Funding: State funding to help cities under 300,000 residents address homelessness. Some residents worried about strings attached; others argued developers should carry the load. Vote: Ehlers, Lyndes, Shaffer ✅ | San Antonio ❌ | O’Hara 🤷 (abstained)
🌮 FFT: Should the city pursue every available resource to help unhoused people, even if that source is the state?
🌱 Encinitas Environment Day MOU 🔄 Delayed: Cost estimates ranged from <$3K to ~$10K. Suggestions to combine it with Arbor Day or Cyclovia. Volunteer organizers must return March 25th with actual costs and attendance data.
🛣️ $5M Paving Contract – Vote: ✅ Unanimous: Eagle Paving wins a $5 million contract to repave city streets. Budget only stretched to cover 4 of 5 optional segments. One neighborhood stays bumpy. 🤷
🏘️ Community Development Block Grant FY 2026-27: ~$272,698 in federal funds (pending HUD approval) for youth services, senior services, homelessness prevention, fair housing, and affordable housing rehab. 4 of 5 applicants funded: CRC, Meals on Wheels, Senior Meal Delivery, and Boys & Girls Club. Interfaith Shelter Network cut for overlap with existing services. Public comment included pushing to redirect funding from organizations that have successfully served the community for years. Appalling isn’t too strong a word. Vote: ✅ Unanimous
🌮 FFT: CDBG funds are one of the few direct tools cities have for low-income and unhoused people. Why are we making it harder to use them?
🏗️ Facilities Condition Assessment: Outside firm flagged immediate repair needs at city facilities, including City Hall, Cottonwood Park, and Glen Park Scout House, plus short-term and near-term work citywide. Recommendation? Address immediate needs and raise annual maintenance budget from $1M →$2.5M and then →$4.6M in 3 years. The problem? Finding the 💰💰💰.
📊 General Plan Annual Report – Vote: ✅ Unanimous: State-required progress report. Some highlights:
- 🏠 Housing (RHNA): Above-moderate income units at 295% of target. Very low income? 29%. Low income? 21%. The people who need housing most are the most left behind.
- 🌳 Trees: 100+ planted but 80 eliminated. O’Hara was right to flag it.
- 🏕️ Homelessness: Buena Creek Navigation Center served 72. SD Rescue Mission approved with two outreach specialists. City programs supported 454 individuals. Homeless Action Plan being updated.
- 🏖️ Environment: San Elijo Lagoon dredging complete. Mature Tree and Native Plant Ordinance underway.
- 🛝 Parks: L-7 underway. Scotts Valley Park done. Glen Park, Orpheus Park, Wiro Park playgrounds in progress.
- 🌮 FFT: We’re hitting 295% of our above-moderate housing targets and barely 20% for low-income. Is this a housing plan — or a luxury development pipeline?
🚸 Councilmember Initiated Item: Park Dale Lane & Village Park Way Intersection Safety: Crossing guards and parents say they fear for their lives at this school crossing. It was skipped in a 2023 state-funded pedestrian upgrade and has been a known hazard ever since. One advocate has lobbied for over a year — emphasizing that dangerous driving happens around the clock, not just at school drop-off. Passed well after 10 PM following extensive pontification from the dais. Staff directed to study the problem, propose professional solutions, and consider both short-term fixes (signage) and longer-term infrastructure upgrades. Vote: ✅ 5-0
🌮 FFT: This intersection has been flagged for years. What took so long — and how many other safety hazards are sitting in the backlog right now?
🚧 City Manager Update: Leucadia Streetscape will be completed late Summer 2026. Mark your calendars — and your patience. 🗓️
The next council meeting is this Wednesday, March 18, when they’ll appoint nine applicants to the newly created Business Commission, consider levying fines for false fire alarm responses, review the city’s Midyear Budget Status Report and conduct the initial budget planning workshop.
Don’t fret, we’ll dish up another readable recap for you afterward!