encinitasaction
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Luke Shaffer briefly addresses his felony charges at City Council meeting
Councilmember Shaffer finally addressed the criminal charges filed against him:🚫 Not guilty.🛡️ Claims the accusations are false.💼 Says he won’t be deterred from serving. 🧑💼 Public comment? 🔥🔥🔥 A third: Cited past behavior—including a rifle comment and a previous assault on teens on ebikes—as a pattern. Time to go.
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90-Minute Council Meeting Delivers Maximum Drama
Wednesday night’s City Council meeting was short—but it didn’t lack fireworks. 💥 🗣️ Opening Act: Civility & Chaos Mayor Ehlers opened with a classroom-style reminder:🧑🏫 Be respectful, address the Council as a whole, and keep personal attacks out of it. 🎤 Councilmember San Antonio then jumped in, condemning the assassination of Charlie Kirk and criticizing the “angry tone” of August 20 public…
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Roy’s Market: Sooner or later your favorite store
Back in the mid ’40s, Gerard Roy emigrated from Quebec to New Orleans, then on to Encinitas. After he got here, he figured that Leucadia needed its own market, so he rented a classic building that might look familiar – it now houses Bing Surf Shop and Duck Foot Brewery. He called it simply Roy’s…
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Nine Hour Meeting: Encinitas Council Goes Spicy 🌶️ from Housing to Traffic Calming
August 27 was a long night with meetings spanning nine hours. Things continue to be spicy 🌶️ at City Hall! 🏛️ Special Meeting on REACH Codes: Council unanimously decided to keep local building rules that go above and beyond state code — covering fire safety, EV chargers, water-saving graywater systems , and energy efficiency . 🏛️ Regular…
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City Council Recap: ICE Emergency, Campaign Finance, Van Lifers and more
Emergency Item: ICE at Park Dale: City Hall overflowed after news broke of ICE detaining a man near Park Dale Elementary in front of school kids, including the man’s daughter. 200+ showed up to the Council meeting and nearly 40 residents spoke out, describing the trauma inflicted on kids who witnessed it. Deputy Mayor Lyndes…
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Let’s Talk About Greenways
These can really help us to create safer streets and more connected communities. We’ve seen their success in towns across the country and hope we can continue to incorporate this model into the plans for our city What are your thoughts?
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Encinitas City Council Scorecard
🤠 Encinitas City Council Scorecard (First Six Months in the Saddle – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) January – June 2025 🤠 The Good — Tip Your Hat 🛏️ Retained Homeless Action Plan: Maintained previous plans to improve outcomes for unhoused residents, with an added emphasis on municipal code enforcement. 🏳️🌈 Continued Pride Recognition:Upheld the tradition of…
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City Council Meeting Recap: Aloha Shirts but No Action?
Pleas for Safety Fall On Deaf Ears, Climate Action Goals At Risk, and Tightening Screws on Unhoused 🚨 Aloha Shirts, But No Action?Encinitas City Council returned from summer break with leis around their necks—but left urgency at the door. 🌺 While Council showed up in Hawaiian shirts, 15 speakers—including the grieving parents of Emery Chelakian—showed up…
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Encinitas Beauties in the Grape Day Parade
Exactly a century ago, an octet of proud young Encinitans traveled to Escondido to show their Grape Day Parade celebrants how we roll on the coast. Proudly displaying the Encinitas flag is 16-year-old Irene Rupe, who was last seen in Encinitas Time Machine hot-rodding her jalopy on Ponto Beach in the late ‘40s. Thanks to…
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Understanding the Point in Time Count
Originally posted on our social media on May 30, 2025. The Point in Time Count by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness (RTFH) is in, and our Homeless Action Plan (HAP) is working!
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Planning Commission Work Plan, Budget & Fees, Panhandling, and Another Monologue
Council is in the home stretch before their summer recess. Here’s what happened at their meetings last Wednesday. 📋Planning Commission Workplan — Code Rewrites In, Affordability Out: Council approved the Planning Commission’s workplan—with two big edits: Deputy Mayor Lyndes was the only “no” vote, warning that ignoring affordable housing could backfire. Mayor Ehlers argued housing…
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Homeless Action Plan Update, June 4, 2025 Meeting
In this week’s special council meeting, the city’s Homeless Action Plan (HAP)was discussed. Ultimately the council voted unanimously to keep the HAP—with sharper tools, stricter enforcement, and a side of neighborly love. Will it deliver? Stay tuned.
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Benefits of Public Transit
Did you know that you can travel (almost) anywhere using NTC? This transit system connects to the Amtrak and many other local transit services to make transportation in our community easy, accessible, and sustainable! Plus, you can take it straight to a San Diego Padres game
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Budgets, Santa Fe Drive project, fast-tracking Fire Station 6, and another DOGE attempt – Encinitas Style!
What a Council meeting! Here is this week’s Council Meeting recap in case you missed it. 💰 FY25-26 City Budget Introduction: How is budget planning going? First, the City Manager Jennifer Campbell praised Staff for presenting a balanced budget. City is in a stronger financial position than expected because $5 million additional revenue will result from…
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Moment of Nostalgia: Encinitas A&W
Several classic landmarks from Encinitas past are missed, but none more so than the A&W Drive In on the southeast corner of Coast Highway 101 and Encinitas Blvd. (formerly San Marcos Rd., but that’s another story). Located on a small hill that was flattened to create Moonlight Plaza where Leucadia Pizzeria now stands, in the ‘60s and…
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Budget Battles, Bike Lane Drama, Permit Parking & the Never-Ending Roundabout Rumble
We listened to all 8 hours of the Council Meetings this week, so you don’t have to! (If you fell asleep, we forgive you!) Our big takeaways: Budget Planning: How should the City prioritize public safety, infrastructure, and services when there’s more money—but not enough for everything? Sharrow Debate: Cyclists can legally ride these roads.…
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Dr. Timothy Leary at La Paloma
On August 18, 1979, counterculture icon and psychedelics advocate Dr. Timothy Leary gave a fascinating illustrated lecture at La Paloma Theatre. He introduced his “Global Runway” theory to illustrate how humans are destined to emigrate and populate other planets. The illustration projected on La Paloma’s screen showed the planet Earth circled by an arrow, starting…
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Success! The City Council Supports the CRC!
In April, the Encinitas City Council finally and officially showed support for the Community Resource Center (CRC), rather than blaming them for attracting unruly unhoused people to Encinitas. In a unanimous 4-0 vote, they approved the CRC’s $30,000 grant application without the restrictions that were previously proposed. An enthusiastic crowd of Encinitans stood and waved signs when CRC supporters spoke, vigorously…
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City Council Meeting Recap: Strong Support for the CRC
The City Council unanimously supports CRC! At Wednesday’s meeting, the Encinitas City Council finally and officially showed support for the Community Resource Center (CRC), rather than blaming them for attracting unruly unhoused people to Encinitas. In a unanimous 4-0 vote, they approved the CRC’s $30,000 grant application without the restrictions that were previously proposed.
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Budget Game, Mayor’s “Vision”, Arbor Day, and Sugarsweet Farm
💰 $8.5M Up for Grabs – Who Gets It?: At the first FY25-26 budget workshop, City staff reported our finances are in good shape with higher revenue than forecasted. With $8.5 million of unallocated general funds to spend, Mayor Ehlers laid out his spending priorities: The Hygeia roundabout? Snubbed again. Councilmembers Shaffer and O’Hara recommended a…
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Once Upon a Time, gas was 26 cents a gallon
On November 16, 1961, our cozy coastal village of 3000 folks took a Mercury rocketship into the future when the Vulcan Square Shopping Center opened between D and E Streets above Vulcan Avenue. With Kennedy-era bravado, the Coast Dispatch reported that “Area residents are shaking their heads in wonder to see what was a tree shaded hillside…
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City Council Meeting Recap: March 19, 2025
Celebrating Local Legends: Encinitas honored outgoing Commissioners and gave a shoutout to Round Table Pizza for 50 years of serving the community! In public comment period, CRC CEO John Van Cleef pushed back against claims that the CRC attracts unhoused individuals, citing hard facts to debunk that myth. The City’s political consultant briefed the council…
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City Council Meeting Recap: Homelessness, Safety, and Speed
More Pickleball “Noise”: During Oral Communications, Bobby Riggs’ neighbors complained about pickleball noise, booze-fueled parties, and parking chaos and demanded action. HUD Grants – Homeless Outreach Under Fire: Council unanimously agreed to accept the draft Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) plan and make it available for public comment between March 14 and April 12 and then…
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Council Meeting Recap: Budget Surplus, Active Transportation Award, New Park, Wildfire Prep & Housing Reform Aspirations
Award for Active Transportation: The San Diego chapter of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) awarded the city for their active transportation project work. Thanks to all the city staff and previous council members who supported active transportation improvements over the last decade. City Budget: Pretty Good! At a Special Meeting, the City Council heard…
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Golden Lotus Temple
This majestic Golden Lotus Temple once graced the bluff top at the Self-Realization Fellowship Encinitas Hermitage and Meditation Gardens {also known as Swami’s). Built in 1938 by SRF founder Paramahansa Yogananda, it collapsed due to bluff erosion in 1942 – one of the earliest casualties of a natural process that plagues our city to this…
