The Coast News, June 14, 2013

JUNE 14, 2013
OCEANSIDE
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needs: fix the potholes on
Industry Street; fix the street
lights near the residential
train wreck at 415 Grant St.
so that its property manager
can’t blame the crime that
hovers around that complex
on the city; reopen Marshall
Street pool so that we can
get kids off the streets and
into the pool.
I also suggested (as
someone who has gone
through it) that our city
should not make new businesses
pay the huge business
startup fees all at once, all
up front — that future new
businesses could be allowed
to pay these fees in increments
as they get up and
running, say over two years
or so.
When it came time for
council members to speak,
only Councilwoman Esther
Sanchez said she was against
Oceanside giving out startup
loans. All four of the others
said — to varying degrees —
that they would support it.
Kern initially seconded
Councilman Jack Feller’s
motion to approve, saying
that while he was “on the
fence,” he thought it might
overall be a good idea.
But as the discussion
continued, Kern changed his
mind, saying (paraphrasing
here) that the city is, in fact,
not set up to administer
small business loans.
When the vote came
down, Mayor Jim Wood and
Kern joined Sanchez.
It was defeated 3-2.
At least three council
members admitted that my
Introducing...
idea that deferring business
start-up fees was something
that should be considered.
And what about the potholes?
City Manager Peter
Weiss said all of Industry
Street needs to undergo
major rebuilding, but that
other major thoroughfares
like El Camino and College
Boulevard will first get the
grease first.
He says the potholes are
getting addressed.
Regarding 415 Grant
St., he says the city does
replace streetlights as they
get shot out, and that the city
is now protecting streetlights
in difficult neighborhoods
with bulletproof Plexiglas.
Mr.Weiss also explained
that he is happy to lease out
the Marshall Street pool for
$1/year to any responsible
group willing to run it.
But he explained that
the pool’s old pumping
equipment is simply not
energy efficient and its huge
energy bill has chased away
potential operators.
He says the city should
tap into a grant to upgrade
the pool’s inefficient pumps.
“It’s not the cost of personnel
(lifeguards), it’s the chemicals
and the energy
expense,” that keeps tenants
and the city of Oceanside
from reopening the pool.
My city council listened
and the city manger took
time to explain.
And I promise I won’t
show up at every meeting.
Oceanside born and raised, Ken
Leighton writes columns for The
Coast News, the San Diego Reader
and is an Oceanside business owner.
FLOURIDE
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the entire body is being dosed.
Could fluoride be contributing
to increases in cancer,
bone disease, arthritis,
Alzheimer’s, etc.? Topically
applied to teeth, short-term
maybe, but only pharmaceutical
grade, not industrial toxic
THE COAST NEWS
runoff, and not systemic, and
definitely not long term. No
way!
I absolutely care — as a
health-conscious person, as a
conservationist, as an organic
gardener, as a realtor who values
the properties I sell and
the one I own, as someone
who takes my civic duty seriously,
as an American and
defender of our beautiful
coastal quality of life, and if
nothing else, as a rate payer.
My city council and elected
representatives are obligated
to explain this. Must we tear
this town apart with more lawsuits
because “Sacra-
Demento” refuses to listen to
the will of the people and our
new city council is just more
A27
of the same old, same old? Is
fluoridation right for us?
Absolutely not.
Dr. David Kennedy, one
of the world’s top experts on
this subject, will speak at 2
p.m. at the Vista Library June
23. Free to the public. Get
yourself informed.
Celia Kiewit is an
Encinitas resident.