The Coast News (Page 1)

OPINION &EDITORIAL
A4 DEC. 16, 2011
Hoping for a Christmas miracle
ANDREW
AUDET
Life, Liberty and Leadership
The holiday classic “A
Christmas Carol” is a story about
man’s ability to change. The message
is: We can be better than who
we are, if we are willing to change
what we’ve been.The lead character
Ebenezer Scrooge is joyless and cantankerous.
If he can’t have joy he
doesn’t want others to have it either.
Scrooge’s odyssey begins on
Christmas Eve when he hears the
rattling of chains and is visited by
the ghosts of Christmas past, present
and future. Guiding him along
his journey of self-awareness is the
ghost of Marley his former partner.
The haunting is transformational as
Scrooge is given the gift to see the
reality of what has been, the truth of
what is and the fright of what might
be. Scrooge has the opportunity to
change and he takes it. His jubilant
dance upon learning he has time to
change is a Christmas message to us
all.
I thought of Scrooge when I
read of the city of Encinitas’
response to the Art’s Alive Program.
The privately funded program
makes banners that are displayed
throughout town on public property
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MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER JIM KYDD
MANAGING EDITOR TONY CAGALA
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER CHRIS KYDD
ACCOUNTING BECKY ROLAND
COMMUNITY NEWS EDITOR JEAN GILLETTE
GRAPHIC ARTIST PHYLLIS MITCHELL
PRODUCTION EDITOR CHUCK STEINMAN
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT SARA BURBIDGE
ADVERTISING SALES KRISTA LAFFERTY
LISA HAMEL
and later auctioned. This year the
banners included on one side a portrait
of council member Maggie
Houlihan who passed away this year
and was a supporter of the program.
The art was privately funded by
DEMA and the artists were excited.
Everyone would win. DEMA draws
crowds downtown helping local merchants,
increased tax revenue goes
to the city, artists’ works are displayed
and a well-regarded public
servant is honored with private
funding. “Bah Humbug,” said the
city. The city told DEMA no joy for
you.They took issue with Houlihan’s
portrait.Their action may have been
to prevent Houlihan from becoming
a community icon and haunting current
council members.
2012 is an election year and
newly named Mayor Jerome Stocks
and un-elected council member
Mark Muir seem fearful of
Houlihan’s impact on their political
futures. Putting self before community
is never a good idea when seeking
votes. Actions like this might
sink them. It is not the spirit of
Maggie they should fear but the
ghosts of council’s past, present and
future.
The ghost of council’s past
under Mayor James Bond and
Deputy Mayor Stocks come laden
with debt and cronyism that has
benefited special interests at the
expense of the community. The
ghost of council’s present is behold-
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en to developers who have financed
the campaigns of Bond, Stocks and
Gaspar who turn a deaf ear to residents.
The ghost of council’s future
has the small town of Encinitas
“urbanized” through the up-zoning
of the General Plan allowing 2,000
to 3,000 mixed use residences on El
Camino Real threatening community
character while rewarding campaign
contributors. In the future,
our roads deteriorate, debt is unsustainable
and public pensions bankrupt
the city. Muir alone will collect
a pension near $170,000 annually.
Like Scrooge there is time to
change. Bond and Stocks could
make an immediate appraisal of
Pacific View so that the site can continue
to benefit the public not developers.
The council could have
Planning Director Patrick Murphy
release a redlined copy of the
General Plan Update so taxpayers
can protect property values and
community character. The council
super-majority could begin working
in the best interests of residents,
instead of campaign contributors.
With the right leadership our
future can be better. Our elected
leaders don’t have to be what they
have been.They can shed the chains
of special interests. Their past doesn’t
need to define their future. I am
holding out hope. It’s the season of
joy. Maybe we’ll get “A Miracle on
Vulcan Street” this Christmas season.
Contact a Reporter
CARLSBAD
CHRISTINA MACONE-GREENE
cmaconegrenne@coastnewsgroup.com
DEL MAR / SOLANA BEACH
BIANCA KAPLANEK
bkaplanek@coastnewsgroup.com
ENCINITAS
WEHTAHNAH TUCKER
wtucker@coastnewsgroup.com
OCEANSIDE
PROMISE YEE
pyee@coastnewsgroup.com
RANCHO SANTA FE
PATTY MCCORMAC
pmccormac@coastnewsgroup.com
SAN MARCOS / VISTA
editor@coastnewsgroup.com
CRIME / COURTS
SHELLI DEROBERTIS
sderobertis@coastnewsgroup.com
PHOTOGRAPHER
DANIEL KNIGHTON
dan@pixelperfectimages.net
Contact the Editor
TONY CAGALA
tcagala@coastnewsgroup.com
Views expressed in Opinion &
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COMMUNITY COMMENTARIES
By Byron York
Cathy Gibbons is a one-woman
focus group for Republican attitudes
toward Newt Gingrich. Back
in the ‘90s, Gibbons grew tired of
Gingrich when he was speaker of
the House. But this year, after
watching Gingrich at Republican
presidential debates, she sees him
as a different man — and the best
candidate in the field.
“I’ve heard them talk on the
news about all the baggage, but I
don’t see that anymore,” says
Gibbons, of McCormick, S.C. “He’s
not the same person. They say people
can’t change when they become
adults, but I think Newt has.”
Still, just seconds later,
Gibbons adds, “There are some
things that have bothered me that
have come out in the last couple of
days.” For one, theres Gingrich’s
work for mortgage giant Freddie
Mac. “I just didn’t picture him
doing that,” she says. “He used the
influence he had earned while he
was in the political field, and somehow
we’ve got to get away from
that.”
In a nutshell, that is where
Gingrich stands with many
Republican voters. For them, baggage
from his time as speaker —
the marital affairs, fights with Bill
Clinton, battles in the House — is
old news. They’re OK with it, in
part because they believe Gingrich
has changed. But there is a whole
shelf of new baggage — especially
accusations that he served as a de
facto lobbyist during his post-
House years — that could cause
Gingrich significant problems.
People haven't heard enough yet to
THE COAST NEWS
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Group. Send submissions no longer than 700 words to news@coastnewsgroup.com.
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Voters like Newt, but
wait to see if he’s real
A big parking structure
for Del Mar Village
Last week it was reported
that the Del Mar City Council
adopted the proposed project
description of the Del Mar Village
Specific Plan, which indicated to
increase the development potential
within the study area
(increase square footage from
approx 280,000 to approx
600,000).
That is part of the plan on
which the EIR is to be based.
Does that sound like anything in
the General Plan?
Let’s see — that means to
more than double the existing size
of buildings already in downtown!
And assuming all of the additional
space is retail/services (no restaurants/bars)
that 320,000 feet of
additional space, at the current
required ratio of 1 parking space
/300 sq ft, means an additional
1,067 parking spaces! Think about
that!
But, what if 1/3 of that additional
space is food/drink service
at 1/90 spaces, then the required
additional parking spaces for that
total additional development
would amount to 1896! Think
know what to think.
As the new front-runner in the
Republican race, Gingrich is likely
to come under fierce attack. The
attacks that dredge up old stuff —
for example, the Democratic ethics
charges from 16 years ago — will
likely go nowhere. But the attacks
that focus on Gingrich the
Washington insider and his complex
web of business interests —
those could hurt. It’s not clear how
much, because no matter what the
ads say, voters will probably continue
to like what Gingrich says on the
stump and in the debates. For
example, at Gingrich town hall
meetings, like the one here in
Newberry, voters connect with his
proposals to bring the federal government
into the 21st century. And
people nod when he asks a simple
question: How come credit card
companies are so good at stopping
fraud and Medicaid is so bad? “If
you can move from Medicaid
incompetence to American
Express competence — from the
world that fails to the world that
works — you could save somewhere
between $60 billion and
$110 billion a year,” Gingrich tells
the audience. They love that kind
of thing.
After the Newberry town hall,
at the end of a long day traveling
across South Carolina, Gingrich
retires to a nearby restaurant and
nurses a Guinness as he talks to a
few reporters. He is asked what
accounts for the voters’ perception
that he is a changed man.
“Twelve years out of office,
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
TURN TO VOTERS ON A20
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do not necessarily reflect the views of The Coast News. Letters are subject to
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about that! That is a big parking
structure! And served by a twolane
street with roundabouts!
Does that sound like anything
in the General Plan?
Ralph Peck
DEL MAR
Thank you to The
Coast News
It appears you are the only
newspaper on the ball. The UT
and North County Times
Owners/Editors must be joined at
the hip with Encinitas Council
Stocks/Bond and Gaspar and their
buddies.
“Encinitas City Council is
‘Must See TV’” by Andrew Audet
— another expose of our Council
Trio, and Wehtahnah Tucker’s
“Image of late council member is
causing stir,” explains negative
manipulation of the Banner
Program. Maggie passed away;
what are the naysayers scared of?
What is DEMA’s problem?!
Maybe Houlihan will come
back as the Encinitas City Council
Angel and fly over during council
meetings.
Jo Moran
ENCINITAS