Blakespear Looks Forward to Goodson Groundbreaking

Hacked communication: 

Randy, I know you’ve been into building your colossal apartment house for a long time and have put a lot of money into it, but I have to urge you to accept that now is just not the right time for us to approve it. The opposition group is very strong and really have their ducks in a row. There’s unusually high awareness in the larger community simply because of the enormous size of your project. Add to that its awkward location and the many problems it poses. I mean, gee whiz, you can’t ignore putting thousands of people’s lives in danger!

But the overriding problem is the timing. Two other council members and I have elections coming up. What do you think the chances are of any of us winning if we vote to approve a project — that’s your project, Randy — that’s a blatant, opportunistic manipulation of state laws and local ordinances and, consequently, is on very shaky legal grounds?

Plus, the optics aren’t good. The massive building doesn’t fit its location physically or conceptually as part of the community. On top of that, while claiming to benefit low income people, you’ve shoehorned those tiny units into the worst locations in the building. And, Randy, even I have to say that your claim of doing Olivenhain and Encinitas a favor by plopping your colossus on the corner of Rancho Santa Fe Road and Encinitas Boulevard is transparently silly and offensive. And by the way, you don’t own half the width of Rancho Santa Fe Road. That claim is absurd.

Randy, you know I supported SB9 and SB10, and I opposed and tried to kill Prop A — including suing my constituents. I pushed Measures T and U through when I knew they were unpopular and wouldn’t pass. I force-fed approval of the Housing Element. I support and continue to torture residents with things like the Cycle Trap, Leucadia Streetscape and that huge, oddly named imposition on the north Leucadia bluffs. I’ve betrayed residents in virtually every way possible — even worse than Barth, Shaffer, Kranz and Mosca. People compare Stocks favorably with me for cripe’s sake!

So all this is to say that for you to expect me to vote for your overwhelming apartment house now is a bridge way too far. I must ask you to back off. I must ask you to delay. The primary for my state Senate election is in June 2022. The general election is that November. If I win the Senate seat, I’ll still have local influence that, combined with my newfound state power, will let me get your project greenlighted. I’ll be able to say I regret its unprecedented height and mass and the evacuation dangers it poses, but that it does help fulfill our housing mandate, including those tiny affordable units. After you make some sleight-of-hand adjustments, I can say it complies with state laws and local ordinances. I can say my hands are tied, I must abide by the law. I can take advantage of the fact that voters have short memories.

Randy, the council never uses common sense to guide its decisions, so it’s ironic I’m asking you to use yours now. Be patient, you’ll get what you want. I’ll be at your groundbreaking with a gold shovel.