www.encinitaschamber.com
Volume 5, Issue 10
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INSIDE The business community gathered for the September Sundowner hosted by the Holiday Inn Express
October 2009
Group celebrates 30 years ENCINITAS — The Community Resource Center celebrated 30 years of helping the most vulnerable members of society on Sept. 26 at its annual gala. The formal affair highlighted the organization’s accomplishments and continued work in the community. Despite a crushing financial blow delivered in July when the state legislature took away $200,000 from the group’s domestic violence shelter funding, the mood was optimistic. In fact, several clients of the shelter Carol’s House gave written testimonials about the importance of the transi-
tion from a cycle of violence to safety and self-sufficiency. “Thank you for giving me and my kids our lives back,” one client, who asked not to be identified, said. Executive Director Laurin Pause said the financial setback came at a time when the demand for services is on the rise. “This (Carol’s House) is a high-profile program for the state,” she said. “This was considered untouchable. For it to have been lineitemed out of the budget was such a shock that our mouth’s dropped open.” According to Pause, six domestic
violence shelters in the state have closed due to government budget cuts. The silver lining for Carol’s House is that the programs do not rely solely on government funding. “We physically own Carol’s House,” Pause said, “but we have to staff it and support the programs that help these women become self-sufficient.” Carol’s House opened in 2004. Carol Cianfarani was the impetus for funding the domestic violence shelter that doubled the capacity of the existing shelter for women and their ❚ see Celebrates on 12
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ENCINITAS — City Council will revisit its Visitor Center contract with the Chamber of Commerce during its Oct. 21 meeting, according to an item on the agenda. In 2005, the city entered into a three-year agreement with the chamber to operate the Visitor Center in the amount of $91,500 per year. A month-to-month extension was granted in June 2008. A subsequent one-year contract was signed May 1 of this year in the amount of $80,500. The chamber under the new CEO Marshall Weinreb recently released a report detailing financial inconsistencies under the watch of the previous CEO Gary Tucker and Marketing Director Mike Andreen. Some council members after reviewing the report, including Mayor Maggie Houlihan, considered the Visitor Center contract breeched by the previous administration. Houlihan cited several chamber violations of the contract with the city to operate the center. “We will get to the bottom of this,” Weinreb said. Confirmation of this item will be available on the city Web site a week prior to the council meeting and in the Oct. 16 edition of The Coast News. Interested parties are urged to attend, as public input will be taken at this time. City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Oct. 21 at City Council Chambers, 505 S. Vulcan Ave. Council agenda items this far out are subject to change.
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Ahead of what many predict to be a severe flu season, the U.S. Chamber has released guidelines for businesses that want to stay in the clear PAGE 10
MiraCosta wants to help professionals sharpen their skills with a series of business workshops this month PAGE 2
Employers’ health care costs are expected to rise again next year — but not as much as they have in the recent past PAGE 10
Dancers performed traditional routines dressed in traditional part as part of the Oktoberfest entertainment. See more photos on page 11. Courtesy photo RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED P.O. Box 232550 Encinitas, CA 92023
Courtesy photo
Visitor Center contract put on council agenda
Chamber CEO Marshall Weinreb talks about his first 2 months and pays tribute to some of his favorite parts of Encinitas
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
Encinitas Mayor Maggie Houlihan and Community Resource Center Executive Director Laurin Pause at the organization’s gala Sept. 26.
OKTOBERFEST Annual event a smash hit
T
he 15th annual Oktoberfest was a success in more ways than one. The Sheriff’s Department estimated the crowds at between 30,000 and 35,000 people. There were 153 vendors off all kinds, coming from as far away as Las Vegas, to be a part of the family fun. The dancers and the band entertained all day and gave everyone a taste of what good old German style fun and celebration is supposed to be. Of course, what would an Oktoberfest be without authentic German food and beer? Tip Top Meats’ huge tent was filled with hardworking men and women who provided much of the wonderful German food and Spaten Beer poured their spectacular beer. There were plenty of oppor-
tunities for children to have a good time in the Fun Zone and there were also eight booths representing animal shelters and pet adoption agencies. Those booths were packed all day with children and parents admiring the animals and even adopting some. All in all, it was a great day for the city of Encinitas and the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce. Chamber CEO Marshall Weinreb credited the many volunteers with the event’s success. “Events of this magnitude do not succeed by luck; it takes a concerted effort by many to allow it to have a chance to work,” Weinreb said. He went on to say that the event went off ❚
see Oktoberfest on 11
Numbers give hope that flagging economy might find new wind By Martin Regalia Although it may be some time before we get the official word from the National Bureau of Economic Research, the U.S. economy finally appears to have turned the corner, and an end to the recession is in sight. The S&P 500 broke the 1,000 level, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 9,000, housing sales and starts have increased of late and prices are stabilizing, and credit market spreads are down significantly from the levels seen six months ago. While we are still experiencing job losses, they, too, are down sharply from the peaks of a few months ago. And the recently released GDP report showed a much smaller decline than in the previous two quarters. While these are all positive signals pointing to an end to the downturn in the third quarter of this year, we still expect the recovery to be somewhat subpar and the unemployment rate to remain elevated through much of next year. Let’s take a closer look at some of the numbers. But in the newfound spirit of optimism, we’ll cover the best first and save the negatives for later. Rate of decline is slowing The economy continued to contract through the first half of the year, but the pace of decline has slowed dramatically. Real GDP declined at a 1 percent annual rate in the second quarter of 2009, a clear improvement from the first quarter’s revised 6.4 percent drop and a 5.4 percent drop at the end of last year. This ❚ see Numbers on 12