PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 26, NO. 13
APRIL 6, 2012
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Pension funds may be short
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By Bianca Kaplanek
occurred in the 200 block of Walsh Street. A 17-year-old suspect was arrested. It was determined that the stabbing was gang-related. The shooting on March 11 was also fatal. The victim was 17-year-old Antonio Carachuri-Perez. The crime occurred in the 400 block of Grant Street. A 16-year-old juvenile suspect was arrested. The shooting was also gangrelated. “We do not tolerate gang activity,” Young said. “Our outlook is to know who is involved and develop a strategy to prevent them from doing anything to harm innocent folks who are not involved but become victims. We can’t have that.” Efforts to deter crime are coordinated among numerous city departments. Code
DEL MAR — Facing a potential shortfall of approximately $16.5 million in its pension fund in the coming years, Del Mar is taking small steps now to help solve the problem. “Our effort is to anticipate a problem and make sure that we don’t fall off the cliff,” Councilman Terry Sinnott said. “We need to ensure that our obligations to our employees and our ability to attract good folks is maintained and, bottom line, to maintain the long-term financial health of the city.” In June 2011, City Council expanded the Finance Committee from seven members to nine to create a subcommittee to analyze the city’s long-term pension obligations and provide solutions. At the April 2 meeting, council members authorized staff to spend 40 hours reviewing the findings of the finance subcommittee, which were presented by James Eckmann, the subcommittee chairman, and identify possible solutions. Sinnott said the findings were not a final analysis, but rather “a description of something that is very important that we need to begin analyzing and coming up with a Del Mar solution.” Del Mar’s miscellaneous employees, firefighters and lifeguards participate in the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, better known as CalPERS. The city contributes varying amounts annually, which represent about 27 percent of the city’s payroll. The statewide average is 17.6 percent. Miscellaneous employees, or essentially all city staff members, use a retirement formula of 3 percent at 60. That means someone who retires after 25 years with a salary of $80,000 is paid $60,000 when he or she stops working. City employees con-
TURN TO CRIMES ON A22
TURN TO PENSIONS ON A15
FROM THE ASHES Encinitas artist Alexandre Safonov pays tribute to the human spirit in the face of B1 adversity.
INSIDE TWO SECTIONS, 56 PAGES
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ONCE UPON A GARDEN The Flower Fields in Carlsbad play host to Faeries, flowers and more during the Once Upon a Garden event March 31. In addition to the bountiful colors, Solana Beach artist Gerry Kirk sculpted a surfing gnome out of sand.Above: The Animal Cracker Conspiracy leads the faerie parade. See more photos on page A16. Photo by Daniel Knighton
City has zero tolerance for violent crimes By Promise Yee
OCEANSIDE — Most afternoons the apartmentlined streets of the Crown Heights neighborhood are busy with young moms pushing strollers and kids playing ball at the community resource center, but police Lt. Joe Young warns nothing good happens late at night or in the early morning. “If kids are out and about unsupervised they are vulnerable and easy targets,” Young said. Recently there have been two shootings and a stabbing in the neighborhood. Two of the crimes were fatal. The first shooting occurred on Division Street on March 2. Irving Jimenez, 20, was injured. The crime is under investigation. On March 3, Samuel Quintana Zamudio, age 25, The Crown Heights neighborhood has seen three violent crimes in fatally stabbed. The crime March. Photo by Promise Yee