Encinitas Celebrates Its Activists

With City Council members and staff not following the wishes of the residents — in fact doing the opposite of what residents want — activists are more important than ever. 

A former mayor called our loyal activists “obstructionists.” Nothing could be more wrong. Our activists dedicate their time and energy to exposing the City Council’s improprieties, illegalities and wasteful spending. Their purpose is to get the council to act in the residents’ interests rather than against them.

Here are the names and a little something about activists from each of the city’s five communities.

Olivia Hain. Olivia is a longtime resident of Olivenhain. She loves horses, hates the proposed Goodson project and wants to find a way to relieve traffic congestion on Rancho Santa Fe Road. She doesn’t want to have coffee with Joe Mosca and would like to see him voted off the City Council in 2022. Olivia doesn’t think that Mosca has done anything to benefit Olivenhain residents or look out for their interests. She is afraid of Santa Ana-driven wildfires forcing residents to evacuate on traffic-jammed roads.

Newt N. Sineatus. Newt lives in the part of Encinitas that boasts the most residents of the five communities that make up the city. New Encinitas is like any suburb across the country. Top concerns are good schools for kids and traffic that drives everybody crazy. Newt abhors driving on El Camino Real and wonders why the City Council wants to make it worse. With the virus and online shopping, Newt is concerned about vacant stores and restaurants. Like other activists, he is against excessive population growth and even denser development.

Carr Diff. People say Carr is older than dirt. That’s not really true, but Carr does go back to the days of Vons and Value Fair being where the Seaside Market and other businesses are now. Carr likes Cardiff being a quiet zone for the trains rolling through town. He deplores the bicycling maze between Chesterfield and Solana Beach. Carr sees the San Elijo Lagoon as a great blessing and is very glad it didn’t become a marina. He sees that Mayor Blakespear is protecting the community where she lives while sacrificing the other four.

Nancy Neetus. Nancy loves Old Encinitas and hates seeing the historical homes and businesses replaced by ugly, insensitive new ones. She deplores Pacific Station. One of her favorite slogans is “Bring back the Royal Canton!” Nancy has fought what used to be called DEMA every step of the way. She misses the Community Market and Vern Painter’s Garage. Nancy wants the post office back on Second Street and the long couches back at the La Paloma. She questions the sense of Dietrich’s Drugs becoming an Italian restaurant. Like other activists, Nancy celebrates Prop A and wants it preserved. She says the Pacific View site was donated as a public space for education and should stay that way.

Lulu Cadia. Lulu sees Leucadia as the most neglected and misunderstood community of the five that make up Encinitas. She says Leucadia was originally built and populated as a suburb of the big city, meaning downtown Encinitas. Leucadia is skinny and the roads and tracks are squeezed too close together, while downtown is a bump in the coast. It has level space that Leucadia lacks. Don’t get Lulu started on Streetscape and that colossal imposition on the bluff at the north end. She says both are the worst ideas to ever burden Leucadia. Lulu wants to see honesty and intelligent planning applied in Leucadia.

Residents bless Encinitas activists and are grateful for their perseverance.