PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
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MAY 11, 2012
REMEMBERING
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VOL. 26, NO. 18
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Hundreds of people participate in the paddleout May 6, following the death of community icon and NFL legend Junior Seau May 2. There will be a Celebration of Life held at 6:30 p.m. May 11 at Qualcomm Stadium. Speakers, including San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, former Chargers players Dan Fouts, Rodney Harrison and LaDainian Tomlinson will share their stories and memories of the man. The event is open to the public; there is no charge for parking. The parking lot will open at 2 p.m., stadium gates will open at 4:30 p.m. Turnout is expected to be large and the parking lot could close as early as 5 p.m. Photo by Bill Reilly
ON NOTICE The Carlsbad Unified School District trustees vote unanimously to issue layoff warnings to A7 74 teachers.
INSIDE
TWO SECTIONS, 48 PAGES
Arts & Entertainment . A10 Camp Pendleton News . . B12 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . B15 Comics & Puzzles . . . . . B18 Legal Notices . . . . . . . . A15 Lick the Plate . . . . . . . . B2 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . B4 Odd Files . . . . . . . . . . . . B3 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Pet of the Week . . . . . . A17 Small Talk . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A9 Taste of Wine . . . . . . . A17 Who’s News? . . . . . . . . . B4
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Cities launch effort to maintain beaches By Bianca Kaplanek
COAST CITIES — Public comments are now being accepted for a joint shoreline protection project between Encinitas, Solana Beach and the Army Corps of Engineers to help preserve the beach in those two North County cities. Shortly after being elected to their respective city councils in 1992, Jim Bond of Encinitas and Joe Kellejian from Solana Beach began working together to see if the federal government had any desire to become involved in local sand replenishment and protection, Bond said during a May 2 scoping meeting in Encinitas. An identical meeting was held that night in Solana Beach “Initially there was no federal interest,” Bond said. “But eventually, in 1996, it looked like it was going to happen. “We gleefully went into a feasibility study to see if we
could do something to protect and preserve the shoreline for a whole host of good reasons,” he said. “People don’t come to Southern California to see our pristine desert.” The proposed project area is divided into two segments. The first is a 2-mile stretch of beach in Encinitas from the 700 block of Neptune Avenue to Swami’s reef. The second includes the entire 1.7 miles of coastline in Solana Beach. In the last several decades, the shorelines of both cities have experienced accelerated beach and bluff erosion, in part caused by El Niño conditions. Sand delivery from rivers has been significantly reduced due to damming for water storage projects and construction of highways, railroads and streets. The cumulative effects of Encinitas, Solana Beach and the Army Corps of Engineers are seeking input for a 50-year shoreline protection project that would use borrow these natural and manmade sites to add sand to beaches in both cities where natural and manmade events have caused severe events have caused severe erosion along the coastline, including this area south of Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. Photo by Bianca Kaplanek
TURN TO BEACHES ON A20
Reserves figure disputed By Tony Cagala
ENCINITAS — Following a watchdog report on government reserve fund overflows, appearing in the U-T in late April, officials with the City of Encinitas claimed a chart depicting the percentage the city had in their general fund reserves for the Fiscal Year 2010/11 was misleading. The chart, based on the U-T’s interpretation of local government agencies’ financial statements, showed that the City of Encinitas had 4 percent of its expenses in reserve. Matt Clark, a U-T Watchdog reporter who coauthored the report, said that the numbers used in the chart were based on the city's audited financial statements, which follow GASB (Government Accounting Standards Board) standards. In reviewing the city's fund balance, Clark said he used a Standard & Poor's methodology that focuses on "the leastconstrained funds." That is, funds that hadn't been restricted for use. The figure used in the chart ($1,850,582) signifies the amount of unassigned funds for the city, of which the result of having 4 percent reserves to a general fund expense of $47,397,326 is accurate. But, according to the City of Encinitas Interim Finance Director Paul Bussey, the total amount in the general fund reserves from the FY2010/11 budget report is $16.9 million, resulting in a 36 percent expense in reserves for that particular time at the end of the 2011 fiscal year. “When you do a comprehensive annual finance report, which you’re required to do each year…one of the things they request is what your fund balance is,” Bussey said. He added that there are five categories you can put fund balances in. The $1.8 million figure as reported in the U-T article was an amount TURN TO RESERVES ON A23