The San Diego-based watch-dog news group inewsource

has filed a lawsuit to compel the North County Transit District to release documents inews-ource considers public under the California Public Records Act.

NCTD declined to comment on the lawsuit, but justified in a previous email from one of its

law firms. It said the documents in question are considered “per-sonnel records” and are exempt from disclosure under a provision of state law.

inewsource is seeking the results of a leadership assess-ment, which the district paid UCSD Rady School of Management more than $30,000 to conduct earlier this year.

NCTD runs the coun-ty’s COASTER, BREEZE, SPRINTER and LIFT transit

services, and uses San Diego county’s tax base to support its operations. For the past 13 months, inewsource has pub-lished a series of stories in an ongoing investigation detailing the district’s holes in security, misallocation of funding, ques-tionable contracting, high employee turnover, lawsuits, audits and peer criticism.

In February, inews-

Encinitas retiree Lee Sterling is among Aristides de Sousa Mendes’ legacies.

His may not be a household name, but Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the former Portuguese Consul in Bordeaux, is credited with rescuing 30,000 people from the Nazi terror by issuing them visas to live in neutral Portugal. After the Germans invaded France in 1940, he signed as many visas as he could before Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar removed him from office in disgrace.

Sterling was about 4 years old when Sousa Mendes on a visit to Bayonne, France, issued visas to him and his

Hard to imagine attending a school whose front yard

stretches out from a beach in Southern California, all the way to Hawaii. That was the reality for children attending Pacific View Elementary School from

1953 to 2003, enjoying a tidy half-century of salt-water bliss. Of course being in grade school, few realized they were in bliss, or standing on what would become the focus of a future war of words between two factions of city government and the citizens of Encinitas.

On one side were those who

The Encinitas Library may soon book free access to

social workers.The library has been exploring

a partnership with San Diego State University that would involve students at its School of Social Work, and an assis-tant branch manager recently returned from a training session at the San Jose Public Library to learn more about their Social Workers in the Library pro-gram, now in its fifth year of offering free consultations with volunteers from the National Association of Social Workers.

Officials hope a program can begin here by mid summer.

“We look for the best prac-tice and then we think about what’s going to work in our community,” said Susan Moore, deputy director of the San Diego County Library. “We’re looking to bring interns into the library to help provide real connections

See INEWSOURCE page 13

See LIBRARY page 14See LEE STERLING page 12

See PACIFIC VIEW page 14

North CouNty traNsit ageNCy sued over maNagemeNt review

Encinitas resident serves as testimony to righteous gentile

Library to offer access to sociaL workersBy Tom Roebuckfor the Seaside Courier

By Donald H. HarrisonSan Diego Jewish World

By Brad Racinoinewsource

Pacific ViEw ElEmEntary: a disastEr narrowly aVErtEd?By Chris Ahrens

for theCommentary

Seaside Courier

April 2014 On the Internet at www.SEASIDECOurIEr.com Volume 1 – Number 5

Drivers speeding through an Encinitas neighborhood

used as a shortcut will be forced to slow down in coming months – and neighbors in the area couldn’t be happier.

The Encinitas City Council has unanimously approved installing speed “cushions” – smaller, softer speed bumps – along Urania and Brittany avenues and Normandy Road, as well as a raised cross-walk at the corner of Urania Avenue and Sparta Drive. The project will cost $128,000.

“Many of us have been taking our lives in our hands just to back out of our driveway,” said Kym McQuiston, a real estate agent who lives on Urania Avenue. “This has been a long time coming, I’m so excited it’s hard to speak.”

The issue stems from motorists who use Urania as a detour to avoid morning rush-hour traffic on Interstate 5 between La Costa Avenue and Leucadia Boulevard. Neighbors said cars travel at very high speeds through the neighborhood, endangering pedestrians, which include chil-dren walking with their parents

to Capri Elementary School and an adjacent preschool.

“I would never let my child in a million years walk down that street,” McQuiston told the council.

Jared Coates, who recently moved to the neighborhood, echoed McQuiston’s concerns.

“There’s a lot of people going really fast,” he said.

A group of neighbors have been working for three years to galvanize support for the traf-fic-calming plan, which slowly worked its way through the plan-ning process. The city conducted a survey last year on the issue and 84 of 120 residents surveyed were in support of the project, with only nine voting against it.

Council members applauded the community for their persis-tence on the issue.

“You have been in it for the long haul for several years,” said Councilmember Kristin Gaspar, who uses the street to drop her daughter off at the preschool.

So much for that idea.The Encinitas City Council

has opted against spending roughly $100,000 for a study to find out whether residents would support raising the city’s sales tax.

The possibility of boosting the sales tax was introduced during the Feb. 12th council meeting, with Deputy Mayor Mark Muir and Council Member Kristin Gaspar saying they weren’t inter-ested. A month later, the council passed a motion, by the same 3-to-2-vote coalition, directing City Manager Gus Vina to pre-pare a proposed contract to begin a public engagement campaign for a tax increase. But at a March 26 meeting, the council switched gears and ditched the idea.

For now.Encinitas collects an 8 percent

sales tax, taking in about $11.7 million each year. City analysts project that a rate of 8.5 cents per dollar could bring an additional $5 million into city coffers annu-ally. A more modest quarter-cent tax-raise proposal would rake in comparably less.

Four out of five council mem-

bers would have to approve putting a tax increase on the ballot. Muir and Gaspar warned the others that neither of them would provide that fourth vote.

Gaspar had earlier expressed her view for a greater need for “prioritization” in spending deci-sions, saying, “We need to get our own house in order. Raising taxes needs to be a last resort. Are we doing everything we can

internally?”Added Muir: “My standards

for voting for a tax increase are pretty high.”

Nearby cities Solana Beach, Del Mar, Carlsbad and Oceanside have an 8 percent sales tax, as does San Diego. Only East County’s El Cajon, collecting 9 percent sales tax, has a higher rate than the proposed 8.5 per-cent for Encinitas.

Neighborhood dealt traffic relief

COMMENTARY

By Aaron Burginfor the Seaside Courier

Encinitas shelves talk of raising sales taxesBy B.J. Colemanfor the Seaside Courier

2 SEASIDECOURIER.COM — APRIL 2014LOCAL News

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The 31st Annual Encinitas Street Fair rolls into town on April 26 & 27.

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on South Coast Highway, between D and J streets, and features an abundance of food, music and good times. Organizers anticipate more than 450 vendors, two live entertainment stages, a kids zone and a beer garden.

The Encinitas Fire Department kicks off the festivities April 26 with its annual Pancake Breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the 7-Eleven parking lot on D Street.

The city suggests that folks park at City Hall, the Moonlight Beach lot, or the Coaster station lots at Vulcan and D and E streets.

The 22nd Annual Oceanside Days of Art will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 26 and 27 at the corner of Coast Highway 101 and Pier View Way in downtown Oceanside.

Sponsored by the Oceanside Cultural Arts Foundation, the Oceanside Days of Art is a juried festival featuring more than 100 artists from throughout Southern California selling a variety of unique artwork including paintings, sculptures, stained glass, ceramics, fine jewelry, photography and more.

The event is free and includes live entertainment, children’s and adult’s hands on art activities, street chalk artists and plenty of food.

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NORTH COUNTY NEWS BRIEFS

Encinitas Street Fair returns

Oceanside art festival

Weidner’s Gardens changes hands

Weidner’s Gardens has been sold to two longtime employees.New owners Kalim Owens and Oliver Storm introduced custom-

ers to a redesigned business during a grand re-opening in March. “We’re here to stay and we’re not going away,” Owens said.Former owner Evelyn Weidner was on hand for the celebration at

the longtime nursery at 695 Normandy Road in Encinitas.“Weidner’s Gardens in Encinitas is one nursery that is here to

stay,” Weidner said.

Carlsbad streets get a faceliftCarlsbad will resur-

face a number of major roadways and bike lanes over the next few months. Among the major roads due for improvement:

Carlsbad Boulevard, from Cannon Road to the southern city limit

La Costa Avenue, from Interstate 5 to El Camino Real

Palomar Airport Road, west of Avenida Encinas

Avenida Encinas, from Embarcadero to Poinsettia Lane.

The streets will go through a “slurry seal” process. The first step in the process is to fill cracks and prepare the streets for their new surface. Then work crews will apply a new slurry seal, a combi-nation of asphalt emulsion and aggregate. This protective layer helps keep the pavement from oxi-

dizing, weathering and cracking.In addition to getting a fresh coat

of slurry seal, Carlsbad Boulevard will be re-striped to widen bicycle lanes and create a buffer zone that will enhance safety for cyclists sharing the road with other vehi-cles. The work is scheduled to be completed before summer.

A number of residential streets are part of this year’s program as well.

This year’s streets were chosen

based on their age and pave-ment condition. Routine and regular maintenance is what keeps Carlsbad’s streets in top condition.

“The City of Carlsbad takes pride in maintaining our streets to keep them smooth and safe,” said Jon Schauble, a Public Works Department associate engineer who oversees pavement manage-ment. “Taking good care of city streets is part of our commitment to creating a world-class experience for everyone who visits Carlsbad.”

Businesses and residents near the affected streets will be informed before work begins. The project will include traffic control and safety signage.

The $1.4 million contract for the slurry seal project was awarded to American Asphalt South. The project is funded through the city’s Capital Improvement Program budget, and the money comes from local fees paid by trash haulers.

Best of North County celebratedSan Diego Magazine’s

4th annual Best of North County Party will be held on April 25, 2014 at the Park Hyatt Aviara in Carlsbad. The event celebrates the Best of North County winners as published in the April issue and features the region’s top res-taurants, breweries, wineries and

live entertainment. “This is one of our biggest

and most anticipated parties of the year,” says Jim Fitzpatrick, publisher and CEO of San Diego Magazine. “With so much to cel-ebrate in North County, this will be the ultimate way to sample the best food, beer, wine and local

entertainment in the region.” Tickets are $75. The event is

open those 21 years and older and includes unlimited samplings. For further information, visit www.sandiegomagazine.com/noco2014.

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ENCINITAS SCHOOl SECURES ARTS GRANT

Park Dale Lane Elementary School in Encinitas has secured a $200,000 grant to improve its arts program.

The grant comes from Collaborations: Teachers and Artists (CoTA), a nonprofit pro-fessional organization that pairs teaching artists with elementary school teachers.

The money will pay for profes-sional development workshops and one-on-one collaborations between artists and teachers over three years. CoTA artists will train classroom teachers and parents in arts-infused instruc-tional methodologies that are aligned with critical thinking and 21st century learning skills.

“The goals and methodology of CoTA are designed to enhance creativity, problem solving, student engagement, and com-munication and are precisely in line with the new Common Core standards,” said Dennis Doyle, executive director of CoTA.

“This initiative will enable teachers to infuse their class-rooms with arts-rich learning strategies and projects long after the professional development has ended,” he said.

Park Dale Lane Principal Jodi Greenberger said, “Integrating the arts to enhance our cur-riculum is at the very core of our school, and this partnership with CoTA is an incredible oppor-tunity for our students, staff and community that will build on our existing skill set around arts integration. While we have varied experiences with the arts, there is also so much more to learn and we cannot wait!»

During the selection process, each applicant was required to demonstrate endorsement for the program from the principal and support from at least 80 percent of the faculty.

CoTA artists, who include everything from puppeteers,

dancers, and photographers to literary artists and actors, col-laborate with individual teachers for three ten-week sessions over the course of three years. During year one, teachers learn how arts integration can enhance and extend student learning in other curricular areas and how to engage multiple intelligences while collaborating with a CoTA artist. In year two, teachers con-tinue to connect arts standards to the California Common Core State Standards while assuming a larger role in directing their class project. By the third year, teachers take the lead while an artist provides coaching and support.

SPRINTER NOW OFFERING WI-FI

Passengers riding the SPRINTER light-rail system can now connect to free Wi-Fi while on board the trains. Service, though, may be spotty.

NCTD Chief Technical Officer, Ryan Cashin says that the con-nectivity should be reliable since the SPRINTER travels primar-ily along city streets. However, connection speeds may vary

depending on the number of pas-sengers using the network at one time and what they are using it for.

“The free Wi-Fi service is only intended for light internet usage such as checking email and browsing the Internet. In order to provide a good experience for all of our passengers, we request users refrain from streaming music or video or downloading large files. The system is just not designed for heavy-volume usage,” Cashin said.

More information about the free Wi-Fi service and the accept-able use policy are available at GoNCTD.com/wi-fi-policy.

Kaiser expands in North County

Kaiser Permanente has opened a new medical office building in Oceanside that will provide care to North County residents. The 21,531 square-foot, multi-service facility houses 12 provider offices including pediatric and primary care as well as a pharmacy, lab and radiology.

Kaiser has approxi-mately157,000 members in North County,.

The new building is at 1302 Rocky Point Drive.

4 SEASIDECOURIER.COM — APRIL 2014News BRIeFs

Becky Gauthier has been named principal of Solana Santa Fe School and Matthew Frumovitz has taken over as principal at Solana Highlands School, the Solana Beach School District has announced.

Gauthier has served as interim principal at Solana Santa Fe since Dec. 2. Frumovitz had previously served as assis-tant principal at Carmel Creek and Solana Highlands schools and took over as interim prin-cipal at Solana Highlands on Jan. 6.

Del Mar Fairgrounds board member Adam Day has been named by Gov. Jerry Brown today to the California State University Board of Trustees.

Day, 44, is the assistant tribal manager for the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. Previously, the Alpine resident was general manager at NCG Porter Novelli and vice president at the Flannery Group.

The Republican also served on staffs for county Supervisor Dianne Jacob, Supervisor Greg Cox, former Supervisor George Bailey and Senator Pete Wilson.

This position requires Senate confirmation. The compensation is $100 per diem.

Tri-City Hospital Foundation will hold its first major fundraising event of the year, Fashion That Heals, on May 17 at the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa. Festivities will include a high-end trunk show, a champagne luncheon and a fashion show featuring Tri-City Medical Center and foundation staff.

The fundraiser is key to the Foundation’s philanthropic efforts that included more than $1 million in grants last year.

Grant recipients included the medical center’s women’s health program, NICU and orthopae-dic program, among others. A $340,000 grant funded state-of-the-art digital mammography equipment for early breast cancer detection. A $250,000 grant allowed Tri-City Medical Center to acquire a wireless system to remotely and continuously monitor patient vital signs after a surgery.

For further information on the Foundation or the event, visit tric-ityhospitalfoundation.org or call (760) 940-3370.

miracosta college professor releases new cd

NORTH COUNTY NEWS BRIEFS

MiraCosta College piano and vocal jazz professor Matthew Falker has released his debut CD. “Playpen” features jazz stan-dards such as “Almost Like Being in Love,” “Centerpiece” and “The Very Thought of You.”

“It was time to put everything I’ve been doing for the past few years down on a CD,” Falker said when asked why he decided to record a CD now. “I also hope to get more exposure, connect with more people and get more gigs.”

While this is Falker’s first CD, he has played and sung on about 10 CDs recorded by others in the past. Falker, 42, began playing the piano when he was 4 and has been performing since he was 21. He directs vocal jazz ensembles and teaches theory and piano classes at the Oceanside Campus.

Falker earned his undergrad-uate degree in jazz piano from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo and his gradu-ate degree in jazz voice from the University of Southern California. He has performed throughout the western United States and Canada, including

the Monterey Jazz Festival. He also is the founder and director of the Oceanside Jazz Festival held annually at MiraCosta College.

Falker also plays keyboards for the Los Angeles Chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, and he serves as the minister of music at the Word of God Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Falker said the next phase of his musical evolution will focus on exploring the fusion between jazz and gospel.

adam day aPPointEd to uniVErsity board

tri-city foundation fundraisEr

scholarhips available

Friends of the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Library is offering five $1,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors who reside in Zip codes 92007 or 92024.

Applicants must include a maximum 500-word essay dis-cussing how their own library experiences have affected them, their reasons and plans for pursu-ing higher education in 2014, and their special interests and extra-curricular activities. In addition, applications must contain two letters of recommendation from non-family members, a copy of a public library card, proof of resi-dence in zip code 92007 or 92024, and a copy of their current high school ID card.

Applications are available at the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Library, in downloadable form on the Friends

of the Cardiff by the Sea website (www.friendscardifflibrary.org/), and at school counselor’s offices.

The original application and supporting documents should be sent to: Scholarship Panel, Friends of the Cardiff by the Sea Library, P.O. Box 657, Cardiff by the Sea, 92007, or hand delivered to the Cardiff Library.

All applications, with all sup-porting documentation, must be received not later than 6 p.m. on April 28 at the library.

A panel of judges selected from the community will evaluate the applications, essays and sup-porting materials. The top five candidates will be notified by May 30.

For the past nine years, the Friends have provided scholar-ships to students from Cardiff, Encinitas, Leucadia and Olivenhain. This year’s winners will be honored on June 7 at the library.

For further information or questions, contact scholarship chair Jenny Paschal at car-difflibrary92007@yahoo.com, 760-815-5602, or jennypas@att.net.

nEw PrinciPals in solana bEachsElEctEd

SEASIDECOURIER.COM — APRIL 2014 5News BRIeFs

Safety, Stability and a path to self sufficiencyCOMMENTARY

By Alice JacobsonSeaside Courier

While we all may be created equal, not all are given

the same opportunities that are central to the promise of the American Dream.

What happens when one’s per-sonal financial trajectory moves in the opposite direction, and instead of ascending, you find yourself clutching the bottom rung of the American Dream? Where does one look for help when the dream is out of reach? More families than we suspect in our community could be facing this circumstance now or possi-bly in the future. I think we’ve turned a blind eye.

I turned to the Community Resource Center (CRC), to get a local perspective and I met with Paul Thompson, the recently appointed CEO. Paul is no stranger to North County; he lives in Carlsbad and has watched the CRC grow over the past years.

We talked about how the CRC is one of the strongest organiza-tions in North County dealing with the poor. It first opened its doors in 1979 with the goal of addressing a need for food and shelter and a centralized resource for other basic needs. This past year, the CRC served

11,000 people (2,900 household).When I asked Paul what

brought him personally to “believe” in the need to help the

poor, he told me that at the “age of 8 or 9” he “came face to face” with real poverty and remem-bered how much it enraged him that the poor were so mistreated and ignored. Even more infuri-ating was there was no apparent plan or willingness to address the roots of poverty.

Later, he worked for World Vision. Its president, Ted Engstrom, would mentor Paul for 12 years. He told me he learned a great deal about leadership, self-responsibility, integrity and compassion. This, plus a wealth of working expe-rience, has contributed to what

might be called his new vision for addressing some of the causes of poverty he saw as a child. Some of those causes being a lack of skills and self-sufficiency.

While Paul intends to continue to support and will advocate for delivering services in an ethical and sustainable way, he says he always is looking for ways to push the envelope, think outside the box. He sees great potential for shifting focus on the poor from providing ‘hand outs” to help in teaching skills that in turn will add dignity and pro-mote self sufficiency. One way is to start to identify options that already exist. One such oppor-tunity is social enterprise. The Resource Center’s Thrift Stores is an example of that.

The Thrift Store can be a place where people learn new skills such as merchandising, inventory control, marketing and sales. Or, potentially, uti-lizing furniture donations, by converting a warehouse to a

shop where furniture can be refurbished and skills in woodwork-ing, upholstery repair and the like are pos-sible. The object is development – a `hand up.’ The skills that are acquired through this kind of experience

foster employability. When one is employed, a sense of economic independence is achieved and that is the ticket to self-reliance and personal dignity.

In short, moving from a ‘hand out’ paradigm to a ‘hand up’ one can be very empowering.

I started out wanting to know more about the poor in our com-munity, I was concerned that we’ve turned our heads away from the harsh reality some members of our community face.

I came away inspired by the vision of one of our newest com-munity leaders

There is a Jewish thought called ‘The Bread of Shame.’ In a nutshell it means receiving with-out earning. “A handout, purely as a donation -- is `the bread of shame.’ It does not satisfy, but distresses.” This is the root of social enterprise opportunities. A law that can guide us all as we think about strengthening our community.

the community resource center is

one of the strongest organizations

in north county dealing with the

poor.

6 SEASIDECOURIER.COM — APRIL 2014OPINION

Painkillers: A Prescription for Disaster

An early red flag that pre-scription painkillers were

ravaging military veterans came in 2011 when researchers found vets dying of narcotic overdoses at more than twice the national average.

That same year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named painkiller abuse a national epidemic, and the White House launched a campaign to reverse a trend that saw prescription abuse become America’s fastest-growing drug problem.

Meanwhile, at Department of Veterans Affairs, prescrip-tions for widely used and highly addictive painkillers, or opioids, surged a staggering 270 per-cent while its patient pool had increased just 41 percent in the preceding war-weary decade.

Ominously, there’s growing belief that prescription opiates are a gateway drug that’s spur-ring resurgence in heroin -- another opioid drug -- use from coast to coast.

“You know, we make the deci-sions we make as a nation, but let’s not deny that when we approved FDA approved drugs like OxyContin, and then we passed them out with great exu-berance,” Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin told public radio last January, “we are setting folks up to become addicted to opiates.”

While painkiller abuse and addiction aren’t confined to veterans, as a group they are particularly vulnerable to depen-dency and misuse.

More than half the veterans the VA treats complain of pain, and vets also suffering Post Traumatic Stress or depression are not only more likely to be prescribed narcotic painkillers then their peers, but are also more prone to over-medicate with other drugs.

Often former service members enter the VA healthcare system with the baggage of prescription drug abuse.

A 2011 Army report concluded that at least 25 to 35 percent of the troops being treated at medi-cal units were addicted to drugs, over-medicated, abused prescrip-tion medication, self medicated, and/or abused illegal drugs, according to medical providers interviewed.

Those numbers are believed to fairly represent the general trend in the other military branches as well. It’s a trend VA medical centers nationwide are now struggling to curb, including the San Diego Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

James Michelsen is a primary care doctor at the San Diego VA. Every day he fights to treat pain in veterans while also trying to reduce painkiller prescriptions

and their risks. Michelsen has his work cut out

for him. Roughly 13,000 of the 76,000

veterans treated at the San Diego VA were prescribed opioid painkillers in the past three months, according to the healthcare system, with nearly 5,000 veterans filling recurring prescriptions.

Michelsen uses the word “chal-lenging” to describe convincing these veterans that non-drug alternatives will better control their pain in the long run.

Complicating this is a medical culture that long endorsed opi-oids before finally questioning their efficacy in recent years.

“If you look back 10 to 15 years, pain experts really believed that we were under-treating pain and that patients were being left in pain and that opiates weren’t being used enough and they really encouraged their use,” Michelsen said.

“With 10 years of experience of using more and more opiates, the pain world has been able to look back and collect data,” Michelsen said. “And what they’ve really found is the use of higher-dose opiates many times causes more harm than good.”

Armed with this information, San Diego and other VA medi-cal centers are attempting to counter the perception that pain-killers are magic-bullet cures.

“The misconception is opiates cure pain. They don’t. For most they will take the edge off of pain, but they are not a cure to pain,” said Melissa Christopher, a doctor of pharmacy at the San Diego VA, where she’s runs the VA’s Opiate Safety Initiative for California, Nevada and Hawaii. The initiative educates doctors and patients about the painkillers.

“When opiates are used, they are not as effective as physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and exercise for specific

pain conditions,” Christopher said. “We want our veterans to live life in high definition and not be fogged by opiates. We want them to maintain control over their pain and transition to a better quality of life. That’s the new message we’re delivering to our veterans.”

That message might be slowly taking hold.

“We are starting to turn the tide,” Michelsen said. “This year for the first time we’ve seen a downturn in the number of opiate prescriptions.”

He said that painkiller pre-scriptions at the San Diego VA have dropped a modest 1 percent -- from 18.2 to 17.2 percent -- in the last year.

“And that is telling,” added Christopher, “considering that we are seeing more patients then ever. There is hope that we can turn this around.

* * *Rick Rogers is a San Diego-

based reporter who has covered defense and military issues for decades. He can be reached at Rick.W.Rogers@gmail.com

COMMENTARY

By Rick Rogersfor the Seaside Courier

SEASIDECOURIER.COM — APRIL 2014 7OPINION

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north county cities combine to work together in attracting business

Carlsbad will have a new city manager on April 14.

Steven R. Sarkozy, who spent 13 years as city manager in Bellevue, Wash., has been tapped for Carlsbad’s top administrative position. He will earn a salary of $260,000 annually.

The City Council approved his appointment on March 11.

“Since leaving Bellevue, I have cast a wide net, looking at cities throughout the country as well as opportunities in the private sector,” said Sarkozy. “The City of Carlsbad offers an unmatched combination of progressive lead-ership, outstanding services, financial health and a talented staff passionate about public ser-vice. Most importantly, the City Council is united in its vision for the future, and I am excited to be a part of helping to bring that vision to life.”

Bellevue is a Seattle suburb with a population of 128,000. During his tenure in that Pacific Northwest city, Sarkozy was rec-ognized by the Harvard University

Seaside Courier

sponsored “Innovations in Local Government Award,” as well as awards for neighborhood investment, e-government and intergovernmental cooperation. Sarkozy also led the develop-ment of the city’s Environmental Stewardship Initiative, a com-munity wide program focusing on energy conservation, transit oriented development and elec-tric vehicles.

Carlsbad officials praised Sarkozy’s extensive experience and progressive management style.

“Steve’s experience and track record of excellence are

Carlsbad and Oceanside will team up with Vista, San

Marcos and Escondido in a coop-erative effort aimed at branding North County as a region in an effort at attracting businesses to the area.

Under the “Business Retention and Business Attraction Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding,” the cities agree that it is more beneficial for them to collaborate on efforts retain and attract businesses. The “Five Cities,” as they are unoffi-cially referred to, also agree that competing against each other is not only counterproductive, but it could harm the North San Diego County region’s economic development by driving some businesses away.

“Each of the five cities along the state Route 78 corridor is strong economically, and it makes no sense for us to work against each other’s interests,” said Carlsbad’s Economic Development Manager Christina Vincent. “Locating a business or creating a job in North County is a plus for every-

one, and it’s been demonstrated that it’s better to work together to improve our economy, rather than pit one city against another. Attracting and retaining a busi-ness in any of the five cities is a win for the region.”

The agreement states that by thinking and acting region-

Seaside Courier

simply unmatched,” said City of Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall. “He is not afraid of audacious goals, and he knows how to get things done through collaboration and partnerships.”

“We are lucky to get someone of Steve’s caliber at this critical time,” said Mayor Pro Tem Mark Packard. “When you look at the projects we have on tap, from reimagining our entire coastal corridor to revitalizing the Village and solidifying our position as a thriving economic hub, Steve has what it takes to implement our vision of becoming a world class city.”

“Steve has shown tremendous skill at working with technology businesses and growing high paying jobs, while reinvesting in neighborhoods,” said Council Member Keith Blackburn. “His knowledge in these key areas will be invaluable to Carlsbad.”

“For Carlsbad to reach its potential, employees, manag-ers and the Council must work together as a team to serve this community,” said Council Member Lorraine Wood. “I am confident Steve will quickly earn the respect of our staff by encour-aging an environment where people feel empowered and cre-

ative ideas flow freely.”Prior to moving to Bellevue,

Sarkozy was the city manager of Roseville, Minn., from 1989 to 2000. Before that, he was city manager of Geneva, N.Y., from 1984 to 1989. Other experience includes working as the assis-tant city manager for the City of Wyoming, Mich., and assistant to the city manager for the Village of Beverly Hills, Mich. He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Ohio.

Since leaving Bellevue in 2013, Sarkozy has worked as a consul-tant for a number of private firms, including a social equity invest-ment firm with an international portfolio focused on creating sus-tainable communities in third world countries.

Sarkozy succeeds Kevin Crawford, who left Carlsbad after 28 years to become the president and CEO of the United Way of San Diego County. He had served as interim city manager since November 2013.

ally, city officials will eliminate unnecessary duplication, which will help achieve economies of scale while leveraging their col-lective resources. This will help create a business environment that is more attractive for private investment.

The cities are also committed to attracting prospects to the state Route 78 corridor, and they agree that if one of them cannot meet the needs of a particular prospect, that city will communicate with

its neighbors to try to meet the company’s needs elsewhere along the state Route 78 corridor.

The agreement also lists proto-cols that encourage the five cities to think and act regionally, such as committing to sharing as much information with each other as possible. They also agree to avoid luring businesses from neigh-boring cities, and that if one of them learns that a business has decided to move, the business will be referred to a neighbor in an effort to keep it in the region.

The agreement has a term of five years, and cities can with-draw at any time. And although the memorandum does not represent a financial arrange-ment, the cities recognize that implementing an effective eco-nomic development strategy will require ongoing collaboration and investment.

“locating a business or creating a job in north county is a plus for everyone.”

“he is not afraid of audacious goals, and he knows how to get things done through collaboration and partnerships.”-Carlsbad Mayor, Matt Hall

-Christina Vincent

8 SEASIDECOURIER.COM — APRIL 2014LOCAL News

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We welcome your input on the community!Submissions can be sent by e-mail to editor@seasidecourier.com.

Thank you for your interest in the Seaside Courier.

STUDENT PROFIlE

Jessica WilliamsSeaside Courier

As vice-president of her school’s speech and debate

club, Jessica Williams is invested in sharing the power of public speaking with others. So when she was figuring out the right project for her Girl Scout Gold Award, focusing on public speak-ing seemed like a good fit.

“For the project, you’re sup-posed to choose something you’re really passionate about... so I wanted to work with kids on learning speech and debate skills because public speaking is something I think is really impor-tant,” Jessica said. “For kids to be able to speak their minds, they’re gonna have to use it later in high school, and it’s important beyond that, with, like, working and stuff.”

Jessica, 16, is a junior at Torrey Pines High School and started her project as a long-term program at the Solana Beach Library, working with students from Earl Warren Middle School. The Gold Award is the Girl Scouts’ highest honor, and after submit-ting her proposal and having it approved by committee, Jessica began her program in January. She gathered volunteers from her school’s club to help guide the middle school students, and at the beginning of each week,

she emails her fellow volunteers to check availability for the week. Before meeting with their young charges in the middle of each week, Jessica plans activities and lessons for the hour-long session. About two dozen students from the middle school signed up to participate, and each Wednesday, about 10 to 15 show up.

Some of the activities include practicing speeches and receiv-ing feedback from Jessica and the other high school students on speaking with more confidence, effective use of hand gestures when speaking, eye contact and how to make a good impression on an audience. There are games to help with practicing these skills, like a version of “Clue” in which speeches have to be given by the “victim” and the “accused.” She spends about three hours each week working on the proj-ect, which will continue through the end of the school year and is designed to continue in the com-munity even after Jessica has graduated and moved on.

“It’s been really fun to work with the kids and do something I really am passionate about,” she said. “One of our girls got third at a speech competition and it was really nice to know I gave her the opportunity to be part of the com-petition and succeed. To be part of the process was a really good feeling.”

miracosta collEgE sEEking alumni for anniVErsary ProjEct

To commemorate its 80th anni-versary, MiraCosta College

is reaching out to the local com-munity in search of alumni volunteers to be interviewed and videotaped for a series called, “Alumni Remember.” The edited videos will be approximately two minutes long and will be posted to the college’s 80th anniversary website and YouTube.

The college is seeking several alumni who have attended and/or graduated from MiraCosta College in any decade, from the school’s beginning in the 1930s to recent graduates. Each alumni interviewed will be asked about their time at MiraCosta College, memories of particular instruc-tors and/or the ways things have changed. The videos will be shot this spring and posted online in July.

Past alumni videos may be viewed online at http://www.miracosta.edu/80. To volunteer for an interview, contact Cheryl Broom, director of public rela-tions, cbroom@miracosta.edu or call 760.795.6612.

Seaside Courier

SEASIDECOURIER.COM — APRIL 2014 9eDUCATION

Tigger is a 12-pound, neu-tered, male Maine Coon cat.

This 3-year-old ball of fur is big, but he’s not huge. Maine Coons, though, tend to be larger than your average kitty.

When Tigger wants attention, he’ll walk up and give you a soft, polite meow. He’s very friendly with people and other cats.

Tigger’s adoption fee of $100 includes his medical exam, up to

date vaccinations, neuter, and registered microchip.

If you are interested in Tigger or other pets, call 760-753-6413, log on to SDpets.org, or visit Rancho Coastal Humane Society at 389 Requeza St. in Encinitas. Adoption kennels and the cattery are open Wednesday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

LOCAL NewsPet of the Month:A big ball of fur By Rick Schmitt

SuperintendentSDUHS District

letter from the superintendent

The San Dieguito Union High School District (SDUHSD)

has always been firmly commit-ted to safeguarding our students and staff. In January 2013, SDUHSD administration along with our San Dieguito Faculty Association (SDFA) and our California School Employees Association (CSEA) outlined some additional measures and considerations the district was taking to heighten this commit-ment. In this month’s message, I would like to share an update on the safety measures SDUHSD has taken since then to maintain our campuses as safe places to learn and work.

Safety measures in place or in progress:

● Installation of Lock Blok & School Safe door lockdown devices at all school sites (ensures doors can be locked from inside the classroom) ● Improved signage directing visitor traffic ● Improved visitor badging / identification ● Enhanced emergency supplies ● Window treatments and blind installation in classrooms not affected by Proposition AA construction ● Access points at school sites have been limited during school hours

● Regular & required “Safety Walks” by site administration & teacher representatives ● Additional staff trainings by local law enforcement & other agencies ● Revised & updated Site Safety Plans & all emergency proce-dures including lockdown drills.

In the next few weeks, the team that identified the measures noted above will reconvene to consider our next steps. As the 2014-15 budget is devel-oped, these new measures will be taken into account. Long-term facility safety improvements have been added as part of our Prop AA Bond projects includ-ing ideal specifications district wide and unique features at each and all schools.

We recognize that the key to safer schools is a very long-term proposition and requires a commit-

ment from SDUHSD, students and the community that goes beyond the physical facilities of a school site. In the interim, however, we will continue to limit access to our campuses during school hours; to require all visi-tors to check in at the office when they arrive at a school site; to remind everyone to be vigilant and report anything “out of the ordinary” that they witness or hear about at school.

As the issues of school secu-rity evolve, we encourage your input and cooperation while we work together to safeguard and protect our students. Nothing is more important than the physi-cal and emotional health of the young people who come to us each day and the safety and emotional well being of the staff in whose care they are entrusted.

we recognize that the key to safer schools is a very long-term proposition and requires commitment.

10 SEASIDECOURIER.COM — APRIL 2014

NEW COUNCIlMAN IN CARlSBAD

Carlsbad has a new city councilman.

The City Council has selected Planning Commissioner Michael Schumacher to fill a seat vacated by Farrah Douglas after she stepped down unexpectedly in February. The seat is up for elec-tion in November, and the council opted to name a replacement rather than spend up to $500,000 for a special election.

Schumacher has a long his-tory with the city, serving on the Planning Commission for four years and on the Carlsbad Design Review Board prior to that. Council members said they based their decision largely on his experience.

Thirty-eight people applied for the post.

“I am honored and humbled that the Council has asked me to fill the seat on an interim assignment,” Schumacher said. “Over the last dozen years, I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to gain an understanding of how our City operates. This has come, in part, through my current involvement on the Planning Commission

Seaside Courierand the Agricultural Mitigation Conversion Committee, and my past service on the Design Review Board.”

Schumacher owns a Carlsbad asset management consulting firm, Enact Partners, LLC, that helps private real estate clients manage their real estate hold-ings. With a masters degree that focused on Tax Increment Financing from Central Michigan University, Schumacher is known as an expert in land-use issues, real estate investment and com-mercial finance, a career path he told the Council would be valu-able as a city leader.

Douglas was elected to a four-year term on the council in November of 2010. She cited “pressing personal and family commitments” in her decision to step down.

“Farrah made a significant contribution during her time as a council member, including helping the city be more busi-ness-friendly, working to make the desalination project a reality and initiating efforts to bring an institution of higher education to Carlsbad,” Mayor Matthew Hall said at the time. “We will ben-efit from her time here for many years to come.”

LOCAL News

Out of the Woods Pick of the MonthApril 25 - Reader on Tap at the Birch North Park Theatre featuring Transfer, Dead Feather Moon, Schitzophonics, The Creepy Creeps and Low Volts. $25-$40. 5 – 10 p.m.

This killer event combines two of the best things about San Diego – music and craft beer Tickets include from some fantastic up-and-coming local brewer-ies including Butcher’s Brewing, Green Flash, Saint Archer and more. And the perfect match for great beer is great music, of course. Transfer have long been local hit-makers with their ambi-ent indie rock. One real highlight here is North County alt-country band Dead Feather Moon, which is poised to do big things with their upcoming sophomore record. www.ReaderOnTap.com

Music Calendar

MiraCosta College president leaving for los Angeles

April 4, 12, 18, 19, & 26 – Jazz Appreciation Month series at the Museum of Making Music. $20 - $25. 7 p.m.

If you haven’t visited MoMM, this series of shows is just one more reason to go see the treasures that await. The lineups are a mixture of solo artists, duos, and full bands. Visit April 26 to get some serious appreciation for the saxophone with the Ben Schachter Group. Or stop in April 18 for the CD release of one of the best-known jazz guitarists around, Peter Sprague. www.MuseumofMakingMusic.org

April 12 – Joshua White and Gilbert Castellanos at Schulman Auditorium at Carlsbad City Library. Free. 4 – 5:30 p.m.

Two talented jazz musicians take part in this unique event that is both performance and musical conversation. Castellanos is a trumpet virtuoso who won the 2013 San Diego Music Award for Best Artist. White has his own chops on piano. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about jazz and experience this long-celebrated genre, this is the evening to do it with the perfect gentlemen to lead the way.

April 26 - Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers with J.D. McPherson at Belly Up Tavern. $20-$35. 9 p.m.

With a vintage look that matches their `70s country-rock sound, Nick Bluhm and The Gramblers are not to be missed. The group is a rising star on the scene with no-nonsense rock appeal and Bluhm’s sultry vocals to thank. Bluhm’s romantic imagery is heightened when she shares the stage with husband Tim Bluhm of The Mother Hips. Opening this one is J.D. McPherson who blends classic 50s rock with soul and rockabilly. Put your dancing shoes on for this one. www.BellyUp.com

April 26 & 27 - 31st Annual Encinitas Street Fair- Free. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This two-day event features a diverse range of musical acts including one we’ve got our eye on – Mango Melody. You can

catch them both days of the Fair from noon to 1 p.m. on the Encinitas Music Stage. The sweet brother-sister team has a laid-back fun-loving style with guitar and vocals at the forefront. Their tune “The Beach Song” will fit right in with the festivities of the street fair. And while you’re there make sure to check out the other music acts and vendors lining the streets. www.Encinitas101.com

Dr. Francisco Rodriguez is leaving his post as super-

intendent/president of the MiraCosta Community College District to take over as chancellor at the Los Angeles Community College District.

“MiraCosta is a great college with even better people. I have no doubt that the college’s out-standing reputation for academic excellence, responsive student services, and robust financial standing will attract superb candidates to serve as the next superintendent/president – someone who will build on the college’s strong foundation and bold vision to serve students and this region,” said Rodriguez. The Los Angeles Community College District serves more than 130,000 students at its nine campuses and is the larg-est community college district in the United States, cover-ing an area of more than 880 square miles. He will begin his assignment on June 1. “I am drawn to this extraordinary leadership opportunity because of its complexity as an urban dis-

Seaside Courier

trict and the needs of its student population,” said Dr. Rodriguez. Rodriguez has been at the helm of MiraCosta College since January 2009. Under his leadership enrollment has increased by more than 25 percent, the number of military veterans and active-duty students has doubled, the MiraCosta College Foundation has seen its endowment increase from $3.8 million to more than $6

million, and course offer-ings and online classes have greatly expanded.

Rodriguez began his community college career in 1997 at Woodland Community College in the Yuba Community College District, where he served as associate dean of Instruction and Student Services, and executive dean (now titled president). In 2003, he was appointed president of Cosumnes River College in Sacramento and served in that capacity for six years. “We congratulate Dr. Rodriguez on being selected for this tremendous lead-ership opportunity at Los Angeles and wish him

our very best in his new role,” said MiraCosta College Board of Trustees President David Broad. “We thank him for his incredible leadership in driving us forward to increasing access and success for students, while maintaining financial discipline. The Board of Trustees and the college leader-ship will be working together to ensue smooth transition to keep the great progress of the college moving forward.”

letter from the superintendent

Dr. Francisco RodriguezF

SEASIDECOURIER.COM — APRIL 2014 11

family. Sterling at the time was too young to understand what was happening. It was only in 2012 when, as a matter of curi-osity, after Googling his original family name, “Serebriany,” and his grandmother’s family name, “Asinsky,” that he found his own name on a list of refugees who had been issued life-saving visas by Sousa Mendes.

Learning that he was a member of a large group of refugees that also included Margret and H.A. Rey – creators of the Curious George children’s stories about a mischievous monkey – Sterling was prompted to contact and then become active in the Sousa Mendes Foundation. Today, he serves as a lecturer in Southern California for the Foundation, which recently produced a movie, Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story, telling the story of how Sousa Mendes was motivated by the courage of an Orthodox rabbi, Chaim Kruger, to defy the Portuguese government’s direc-tives and to save as many Jews and other French nationals as he could. Sterling screens the movie and lectures thereafter, with the fee paid for his appearances going to support the work of the Sousa Mendes Foundation.

Sterling said he knew that his family had come to the United States from Belgium via France, Spain and Portugal, but his parents never discussed the cir-cumstances of their travels. He said he has interesting snatches of memory that, now that he has

learned to story of Mendes Sousa, he can put into the context of his life and world events.

“I remember as a baby having a nanny and my mother having a cook, but that was not the kind of life we had in America,” Sterling said. “It was a struggle initially for my father.”

The Germans invaded the Benelux countries – Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg – in May 1940. Then living in Brussels, Belgium, “I remember going to the window to look to see what all these big sounds were and my father pulling me away from the window,” Sterling said. “I remember pulling apart those long maroon drapes in the living room to see what was going on outside.”

He doesn’t remember what he saw out there, only “the drapes and my father pulling me away from the window.”

The family escaped to France, only slightly before that country fell to the Nazis in June 1940. “I remember one night on our travels, we were in a café and there were bombs bursting out-side,” Sterling said. “One of my cousins and I were put under a tavern table and surrounded by other tables to protect us. I can remember being there with my cousin Monique and looking at the fireplace that was going. It was exciting.”

With the family working their way to the south of France, “I remember that we lived in a castle with some other refugee

families,” Sterling said. “I don’t know how many days or weeks we were there, but it was several.

One night, he said, “I remember looking up in the sky and seeing parachutists and our having to leave.”

The parachutists were the Germans. The Serebriany – Alinsky family fled to Bayonne. There his father, Hersh Serebriany, wrote a letter, which later came into Sterling’s posses-sion because it had been saved by relatives.

“Unfortunately each day is another heartache,” Sterling quoted from the letter. “The news is disastrous. Any day now we expect the Germans at our front door. We decide to go towards and Spanish border… with three cars we arrived at Bayonne… With much ado and tragic moment, we finally receive our Spanish and Portuguese visas and on the road we go.”

Sterling explained that once Portugal granted a visa, Spain automatically issued a vista to transit its territory en route to Portugal.

The family made its way to the Figueira da Foz, a city on Portugal’s Atlantic coast. They arrived, by Sterling’s estimate, either at the end of June or the beginning of July, and stayed there until Jan. 27, 1941, when they boarded a ship en route to the United States.

In 2013, Sterling and his wife retraced his family’s jour-ney. “I had been interviewed on

Portuguese TV and I also had been in a magazine, similar to Time magazine. An older lady saw us from across the street and she spoke only Portuguese, so she was talking to a journalist there who was translating for us, and I asked if she remembered the movie theater on top of the building. She remembered and she pointed out where the build-ing had been.”

An exciting moment came when he was approached by a Portuguese high school teacher who had visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial on a trip to Israel with other teachers. Hearing from the news reports that Sterling was in Figuera de Foz, she went to the library and made a copy of a photo that showed the home in which he and his family had lived. Then along with her father and a transla-tor, she led them to the site. “Unfortunately the house was abandoned and kind of a wreck,” Sterling said. They could not go inside.

Since his fortunate experience on Google, Sterling has made a study of the Sousa Mendes.

“I think he was a very religious person, whose faith meant a lot to him, even though he had a mis-tress with whom he had a child,” Sterling said. “I think he deeply felt the need to what is right, in what he felt was God’s eyes.”

Meeting Rabbi Kruger was a turning point for Sousa Mendes. He admired the rabbi and his four daughters and

offered the family visas to travel to Portugal. Instead of snapping them up, the rabbi declined, explaining that he could not abandon his people — his fellow Jews.

“And that triggered a moment of reflection, as a matter of fact Sousa Mendes took ill, and he came out of the discussion with the decision to issue as many visas as he could,” Sterling related.

Sterling noted that the movie Disobedience took some liberties with the story, for exam-ple having Rabbi Kruger eating dinner at the home of Sousa Mendes. This would not have been possible for an Orthodox rabbi, as the Sousa Mendes family had no familiarity with kosher custom.

Having recovered some of his family history, Sterling has made it a point to pass along what he knows. ”I have become much more open with my family about our history and about my feel-ings,” he said. “I was much more closed than I am today.”

* * *Don Harrison is editor of

San Diego Jewish World, which can be accessed online at SDJewishWorld.com. This story was reprinted with permission from San Diego Jewish World. Lee Sterling can be contacted at jddu73@gmail.com

Lee Sterling, from page 1

LeTTeRs TO THe eDITOR

A great local paperI never write letters to the

editor...unless I am inspired. I have to say what an impressive newspaper the Seaside Courier is: Your reporters know how to investigate a story and then write the good, old-fashioned way, with a well-thought-out lead, nut graph, etc...I am actually a bit giddy that a quality, small-town newspaper still exists, and that you aren’t using your position as a means to climb some social ladder. You ask the tough ques-tions and aren’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers to tell the truth. I am encouraged. I thought all

letters to the Editorjournalists worth their salt had gone into PR!

As a former newspaper reporter, I just wanted to give you my kudos on a job very well done. Keep it up. You have an avid fan. I now look forward to seeing the Seaside Courier in my mailbox, and read through every story at dinnertime!-Robyn Moormeister-CarterEncinitas

Arts venue neededIn response to Robert

Gattinella’s commentary (re: Say No to a Higher Sales Tax) I

maintain that he is completely wrong stating that purchasing the old schoolhouse for a civic venue would only benefit a small number of people. This is com-plete nonsense. I am a writer, actor, artist, long time Encinitas resident and the creative director of Theatre Arts West, an equity theatre group seeking a perma-nent venue. Our long-term goal has been to make Encinitas a the-atre arts tourist destination. One needs to look no further than the art festivals in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, the LA Times Book Festival and others to see what sort of income those bring

into the host communities. Citizens of this city would

understand that completely, and would much, much rather see something built on the old school site that benefits the community as a whole, than some sort of housing/commercial development that only benefits a handful of individuals whose only goal is to exploit what may seem to be an easy target.

I would hope the Encinitas City Council realizes the poten-tial there is in turning this into a cultural destination. I would gladly pay this miniscule tax in order to transform Encinitas in

a direction that would benefit everyone.-Ed CoonceEncinitas

Letters to the editor can be emailed to Editor@SeasideCourier.com and should be no longer than 250 words. Comments must remain civil and personal attacks will not be toler-ated. We reserve the right to edit letters for length and grammar.

12 SEASIDECOURIER.COM — APRIL 2014

Hyper-local community advertising makes sense. Seaside Courier has a circulation of 33,000, mailed to over 27,000 homes and businesses in Encinitas and Carlsbad, cover-ing Del Mar, Solana Beach, Leucadia, Encini-tas, Cardiff, Carlsbad and Oceanside. Where else can you reach an audience looking for content related to their home, neigh-borhood and community in a community newspaper direct-mailed to over 27,000 addresses in our circulation area? An ad-ditional 6,000 copies are distributed from Del Mar to Oceanside at convenient high-traffic rack locations. We make it easy for you to reach this vibrant market in one targeted package. With community newspaper publishing experience since 1995, Mission Publishing Group offers hyper-local news with a combined circu-lation among our four newspapers e x c e e d i n g 100,000 print-ed copies and over 200,000 print and e-readers each month.

GET NOTICEDReach over 75,000 readers monthly. Advertise and

breath new life into your business. Start today, it’s easy! 760-456-7075We’ve got you coveRed!

27,000coPIeSdIRectMAILed

ource received a phone call from a source who said NCTD had recently completed a “Leadership Assessment Program” for some of its staff. inewsource verified the information through documents showing NCTD paid $31,200 to put more than a dozen of its senior managers through a one-day class at the Rady School. The school compiled a report for NCTD, detailing the strengths and weaknesses of each manager.

The source said the results of the study validated the previ-ous inewsource reporting about NCTD’s “vacuum” of knowl-edge — the result of a high turnover rate among upper management and an alleged cul-ture of intimidation inside the agency. According to multiple sources, this vacuum is to blame for much of the NCTD’s recent safety, compliance, budgetary and operational deficiencies.

On Feb. 5, 2014, inews-ource filed a California Public Records Act request with NCTD for the Rady study, and a few days later, received a reply from Byll Shelton, the agency’s insurance & risk management specialist, stating:

“We have determined that although such records exist, they are exempt from disclosure pursu-ant to Government Code section 6254(c) as they constitute a part of employees’ personnel files, the disclosure of which would consti-tute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”

NCTD has used the ‘person-nel exemption’ to withhold

a document before. In July 2013, NCTD denied an inews-ource request for the resume of its Executive Director Matthew Tucker, claiming an exemption under the same Government Code — section 6254(c).inews-ource‘s lawyer got involved and NCTD released the resume.

In the case of the leadership assessment, inewsource‘s lawyer, Guylyn Cummins, sent a detailed response to NCTD on Feb. 19, citing case law supporting dis-closure of the Rady study.

NCTD denied the appeal through one of its seven law firms kept on-call, citing their own case law.

On March 17, inewsource filed its claim with San Diego County Superior Court.

Once the court assigns a judge to the case, inewsource’s legal representation will book the first available hearing date. The pro-cess is expected to take at least a few weeks.

* * *This story was reprinted with

permission from inewsource. The original story and related articles can be found at inewsource.org.See ATKINS page 15

inewssource, from page 1

LOCAL News

once the court assigns a judge to the case, inewsource’s legal representation will book the first available hearing date.

North County’s own tapped as Assembly SpeakerBy Jeremy OgulSeaside Courier

When Toni Atkins officially becomes speaker of the

California Assembly later this spring, it will mark the first time someone from San Diego County will lead the chamber and the first time it will be led by a lesbian.

The former San Diego City Councilmember has served in the Assembly since 2009. She repre-sents the 78th District, which stretches from Solana Beach south to the border. She says the top issues under her leadership will include water, affordable housing for veterans and low-income residents, high-speed rail and establishing fiscally respon-sible practices that will include `rainy day’ reserves.

The Seaside Courier recently sat down with Atkins for an interview that touched on several subjects.

Water securityNo issue looms larger on

Atkins’s agenda than water infrastructure and water secu-rity. State lawmakers were close to putting an $11 billion water bond on the ballot a few years ago but decided it had little chance of passing in the midst of the Great

Recession. Now that the economy has

recovered, Atkins and her col-leagues want to take another shot at crafting a water bond that can pass voter muster.

“Californians still don’t have the appetite for $11 billion,” Atkins said, so the goal this time around will be to put together a less expensive bond that still meets the various and disparate needs of communities all over the state.

“Water is not a Democrat or Republican issue,” she said. “It’s a geographic issue.”

She added she is proud of San Diego’s efforts over the last 15 years to diversify its water

supply and reduce consumption. She noted the region has reduced its per capita consumption by 27 percent since 2007 even as the population has increased.

Housing for veteransVoters in June will be asked to

consider Proposition 41, which would allow the state to sell $600 million in bonds for affordable, multifamily rental housing for veterans.

Voters in 2008 approved $900 million in bond sales to support the CalVet Home Ownership program, but the state has spent

SEASIDECOURIER.COM — APRIL 2014 13

believed the old Pacific View site should be auctioned to the high-est bidder in order to aid the local school district financially. On the other side stood those who said the property was a gift to the children of future generations. I guess I was somewhere in the middle – being someone who gets buyer’s remorse at the 99 Cent Store, I understand financially difficulties. Being a senior citizen, I also get legacy.

Immediate cash aside; what do we leave our children?

I knew life was changing in North County decades ago when I saw a billboard in Leucadia read-ing: “Utah: Uncrowded, Clean air.” Small crowds and clean air – isn’t that why most of us fled the big cities for North County in the first place?

Over the years we have seen avocado groves become con-dominium projects, the back countries of Encinitas and Del Mar become their own cities, and quaint nooks like Miracles Café, the Pony Lady, Noah’s Ark, and Poverty Point give way to a whirlwind of roundabouts and talking streetlights that guide you through the Swami’s “funnel” to what’s left of nature.

I neither blame nor thank anyone for this. And I certainly can’t fault anyone for coming here, as the permanent migra-tion of snowbirds correlates with more of us being crammed into smaller and smaller corners of our blessed community, where solitude requires a long walk

down the stairs and an increas-ingly longer walk up the beach, or a trip to Utah.

I listened in March as the citizens of Encinitas approached the Encinitas School Board and the Encinitas City Council. Passionate pleas to turn Pacific View into an art center were com-monly echoed amid the lone voice of longtime Encinitas resident Garth Murphy who called for an organic farm on the property.

Regardless of what side of the property line folks stood on, I hoped that all local residents who had not done so would drive to 608 Third St. and take in what we have in Pacific View. Step for-ward, gaze over the cliff, inhale deeply and let yourself dream. Think of what this final acre (2.8 acres to be exact) could be. I, like Murphy, see a garden of such purity and intrigue it would not only grow clean food, but also bring people from around the world to quietly contemplate the wonders of the mighty Pacific.

In the end, the city and school

board reached a surprise settle-ment that scuttled a planned auc-tion. Encinitas will pay $10 mil-lion for property and promised to keep it as a public space for-ever. Of course, what that public space will encom-pass remains

unknown. And the city still doesn’t know how exactly it will pay for the site. Nor, for that matter, does the school district know what it will do with its new-found money.

But for now, at least, we can rest assured that Pacific View Elementary won’t be plowed over to make way for even more development.

In the next 50 years, whatever problems Encinitas now faces will be gone. So will most of those who were entrusted with the fate of this city. Nobody will know their names any more than we know the names of those who built Pacific View Elementary School a half-century ago. There will, no doubt, be far more people living here than there are now. They will look at photos of our time and place and wonder at all the open space we enjoyed. They may not know how the Encinitas Union School District or the City Council voted, but we can hope they will be living with a beauti-ful reminder of those votes.

to resources and support.”In San Jose, social work-

ers are available at the main library on the first and fourth Mondays of every month and provide counseling on a variety of topics, including employment, homelessness, family problems, mental and physical health and immigration. An appointment and registration are required, but drop-ins are accommodated if time allows.

“In somebody’s life, at some point, somebody is going to face a situation that they have no experience in dealing with and they’re going to need the advice of a social worker,” said Deborah Estreicher, a librarian at the San Jose Public Library.

Estreicher said the program in San Jose has been successful and libraries in other areas are planning similar projects.

“This is operating through volunteers, we don’t have any public funds involved other than my salary, and I’m just so thank-ful that we have these wonderful social workers that are willing to give up their time to the com-munity,” Estreicher said.

The Social Workers in the Library program in Encinitas is still in the planning stage, and officials hope to have it running by August.

The scope of services offered by libraries has been growing in recent years, and the Encinitas branch hosted more than 1,000 programs last year. More than just a place to borrow books,

libraries feature live music, movie screenings, computer classes, seminars on a variety of topics and health fairs. Health and fitness programs are among the top four that are requested by San Diego County Library customers, Moore said.

The public nature of librar-ies, where everyone is welcome, makes them a natural place to offer mental health services to those that need it, Moore said. Some inner-city libraries draw large numbers of homeless people, and accommodating them is an issue for libraries across the country. Encinitas’ social worker program will include help for the homeless, but it will also offer assistance in other areas.

“I would not say that Social Workers in the Library is a homeless issue,” Moore said. “I would say mental health concerns across the spectrum of all ages and socioeconomic divisions.”

Library staff continues to work on the details of how the program will work in Encinitas and how the library will provide information and services to the thousands of people that visit the library.

“We serve so many different people, we serve so many differ-ent ages. Last year we saw half a million people come through the doors,” Moore said. “We endeavor to be all things to all people.”

Pacific View, from page 1 Library, from page 1

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Atkins, from page 13

almost none of that because demand for home loans among veterans has been so low.

Many veterans are not ready to buy a house, either because they are suffering from ongoing war-related health problems or because they simply don’t have the money for a down payment.

“What they need is rental hous-ing,” Atkins said. “They’re not ready to buy a home, but we have this pot of money that voters have supported.”

Proposition 41 would allow the state to take a chunk of the money designated for home ownership and use it instead to build affordable apartments for veterans.

“I would say it’s a no-brainer, except there is no such thing as a no-brainer,” she said.

Affordable housing

With the elimination of rede-velopment agencies in 2011, cities lost one of their most effective tools in combating the high cost of living for low-income residents, Atkins said.

“It was about the only money we had left to build affordable housing,” she said.

Now, with the pipe about to run dry from two other initia-tives — Proposition 46 of 2002 and Proposition 1C of 2006 — it is more important than ever to find a new way to help cities build affordable housing, she said.

Assembly leaders are keep-ing an eye on a Senate bill that

would authorize a new system of redevelopment agencies, and there also is talk of using cap and trade revenue to fund affordable housing, she said.

Atkins said there is a need for more than simply streamlining the development process, like Mayor Kevin Faulconer has pro-posed in San Diego.

“Land is still incredibly expen-sive here,” Atkins said. “People like to say if you get rid of all the regulation in California, housing would be much more affordable, except we live in California, and you know, people want to live along the coast in California, so land is very expensive.”

High-speed railAmong the other major debates

Atkins anticipates is what to do about high-speed rail, the cost of which has soared since voters approved the first bond sale in 2010. A growing chorus of critics is calling it a boondoggle.

“It’s a visionary project that the governor had long ago, and it’s a good vision, and I believe many in California really support the vision, but they also want to know they can afford it,” Atkins said.

Fiscal responsibilityAtkins expects the Assembly to

help pass a budget on time for the

fourth straight year. She attrib-uted that success to a process that requires a simple major-ity to approve a state spending plan, rather than the former two-thirds majority.

“That’s really a partnership between the citizens who voted to allow us to have a majority vote and a partnership between the legislature who understood you’ve given us this wonderful tool; we need to use it wisely. We need to get the job done,” she said.

Sacramento is united in its commitment to establish strong reserves for the next time rev-enues take a nosedive, Atkins said.

On being the first Assembly Speaker from San Diego

While she is excited to take on her new leadership role, Atkins is quick to point out that other notable San Diegans have come before her.

San Diego native Jim Mills, for example, served as presi-dent pro tempore of the state Senate from 1971 to 1980. Lynn Schenk was chief of staff to Gov. Gray Davis from 1998 to 2003.

Several others chaired key committees and sponsored influential legislation, includ-ing Denise Moreno Ducheny, Lucy Killea, Christine Kehoe, Dede Alpert and Steve Peace.

“We have some very powerful San Diegans who’ve been quite effective,” Atkins said.

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