PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92025 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
INLAND EDITION
VISTA, SAN MARCOS, ESCONDIDO
VOL. 2, N0. 20
Students at a San Diego County school observe one of nature’s cycles through an ECO-CYCLE kit. The kits are from the Escondido-based nonprofit ECOLIFE. Photo by Mike Ready
Kits bring environmental awareness into classrooms By Tony Cagala
ESCONDIDO — The half-dozen or so fish swam blissfully unaware that they’ve been intertwined in a symbiotic relationship with the rows of small leafy green plants sprouting just above them. But for anyone observing the aquarium, one of nature’s cycles was on full display — the swimming fish and their waste providing nutrients enough for the seeds to sprout and grow, and the plants’ roots filtering the water, providing oxygen enough for the fish to breathe.
Apart from fish food and electricity, nothing else was needed for the process to occur in this way. “It’s a self-sufficient little loop,” said Morgan Bailey, Ph.D., operations director at ECOLIFE, the Escondido-based nonprofit that has been putting together these aquaponics kits they’re calling the ECO-CYCLE. The idea behind the kits initially was to try and reach as many people as possible, explained Mike Ready, ECOLIFE’s aquaponics program manager.
Even as aquaponics has been around for a very long time, Ready said they realized it would be difficult to convert people that were already involved in the traditional methods of farming. Aquaponics is a way of showing a different model of doing things, said Bailey. And so the nonprofit turned to students around the nation with the idea that the younger minds could view the world and their interactions with the environment differently to form a new foundation
of solutions to some of the larger issues facing the next generations. So far, more than 400 kits have been installed in classrooms around the country, with about 375 of them in San Diego County schools, according to Bailey. ECOLIFE is donating some of the kits to local schools, including within the Vista Unified School District and in Escondido. Starting next week, Vista will receive teacher training and 15 kits for use TURN TO KITS ON 14
Tentative agreement reached in mobile home accord By Steve Puterski
VISTA — Negotiations to extend the city’s Mobile Home Park Accord have reached a tentative agreement, according to city Councilman Cody Campbell. The first-term council member said the process started “bumpy,” but over the past year the city and park owners have worked to find a fair and reasonable solution. The accord, which was signed in 1996 by the city and park owners, is a pseudo rent controlled agreement after numerous residents filed numerous complaints. It is not a city ordinance and expires in December. “The difficulty in the process is there’s always a lot of miscommunication,” Campbell said. “It drives a lot of emotion in the process. Fortunately, they saw a response from us.” Homeowners, however, own their mobile home, but not the land it lays on. Park owners, meanwhile, charge rent for the space, which
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The Green Valley Mobile Home Park is one of several in Vista expected to sign a new Mobile Home Park Accord before the 1996 agreement expires in December. Photo by Steve Puterski
allows park owners to maintain their facilities. Although the agreement is voluntary and near completion, there are two changes. The deal will allow for some rent increases with the sale of a unit, sharing capital replacement
costs and also rate increases tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Campbell, though, said the two sides were miles apart when negotiations began, but have found common ground. He said neither side wanted to go
through the ballot process, similar to what occurred in Oceanside several years ago, creating a city ordinance. One issue for Campbell, though, is the out-ofTURN TO ACCORD ON 14
SEPT. 25, 2015
Although the Board of Supervisors agreed to pay $310,000 to settle claims filed against District 3 Supervisor Dave Roberts, seen here during his 2012 swearing in ceremony, the county’s legal expenses associated with allegations have not yet ended. File photo by Bianca Kaplanek
Despite Roberts’ settlement, legal costs continue for county By Bianca Kaplanek
REGION — Although the Board of Supervisors agreed to pay $310,000 to settle claims filed against District 3 Supervisor Dave Roberts by three former staff members, the county’s legal expenses associated with allegations have not yet ended. The county continues to provide defense counsel to at least one claimant, who is being sued by another staffer whose attorney said he has no plans to drop the case. “They say it’s going to cost over $1 million to defend so we have to settle,” Harold Meza’s lawyer, Dan Gilleon, said. “It’s a very, very convenient analysis. But they’re doing the polar opposite in terms of Harold Meza.” Between April and June, Glynnis Vaughn, Diane Porter and Lindsey Masukawa resigned from Roberts’ office and subsequently filed claims, a move which is the precursor to a lawsuit, seeking nearly $1.1 million in compensation. They accused their former boss of, among other things, misusing county resources, creating a hostile work environment, having an unprofessional relationship, though not sexual, with Meza, campaigning on county time and bribery. The other four supervisors previously rejected
severance payments to Vaughn and Porter based on Roberts’ commitment to settle the matter without the use of county funds. But after “careful consideration,” according to a statement released Sept. 5, they “determined that it is in the best interest of taxpayers to settle (the) claims.” They also stated that if lawsuits were filed the county would be required to pay for Roberts’ defense at a cost of possibly more than $1 million. “In addition, we believe it is unlikely we would prevail on all three claims,” they said in the statement. In June Meza filed a lawsuit against Vaughn and Porter, accusing them of creating a hostile work environment by “embarking on a smear campaign,” spreading “despicable rumors,” calling him names and allegedly criticizing his job performance, saying “no one knows what you do” and “no one trusts you.” The allegations of the inappropriate relationship stem from a work trip during which Roberts and Meza were assigned to the same room by the water authority, which hosted the visit. Roberts, a gay married man with six adopted foster children, said everyTURN TO ROBERTS ON 8