The Coast News, Oct. 19, 2012

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OCT. 19, 2012

Polo likely to remain By Bianca Kaplanek

THISWEEK The City of Solana Beach has OKs a contract to PAL Engineering, Inc. for improvements on Highland and Lomas B3 Santa Fe drives.

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CITY HALL SATIRE Bernard Minster (at podium) addresses resident Garth Murphy (not pictured), portraying Mayor Jerome Stocks, at a mock Encinitas City Council meeting that was attended by about 35 people Wednesday night outside of City Hall. Residents staged their own tongue-in-cheek meeting to protest the actual Council meeting being canceled. A handful of residents at the gathering said the Council meeting was canceled so that Stocks could avoid further fallout from posting campaign signs early, what some residents are calling, “Signgate.” According to City Manager Gus Vina the scheduled Oct. 17 meeting was canceled because there weren’t enough business items to be placed on the agenda. The decision to cancel a meeting does not require Council action, he said. Photo by Jared Whitlock

City won’t issue penalty for early signs By Jared Whitlock

ENCINITAS — A group of residents are calling it “Signgate.” Whatever the name, punishments aren’t forthcoming. Campaign signs from five Council candidates went up before they legally should have, violating municipal code. The city, however, will not conduct an administrative hearing or reprimand any of the candidates, despite calls from some citizens to take action. A video taken by a local resident that was later posted on YouTube kicked off the campaign sign controversy. In the video, two incumbent council members vying for reelection, Mayor Jerome Stocks and Councilman Mark Muir, were captured planting their own campaign signs 26 hours before Oct. 7, the opening day for campaign signs. Campaign signs advocating for candidates Lisa Shaffer and Tony Kranz were also spotted before the deadline. In earlier interviews, both candidates maintained their signs were placed without their knowledge. Candidate Bryan Ziegler also had signs out early because he wasn’t aware of the Oct. 7 start date,

Campaign signs supporting various candidates hang along Encinitas Boulevard. Some residents at last week’s Council meeting said that Mayor Jerome Stocks and Councilman Mark Muir should be punished for a video showing them posting their own campaign signs early. But the city will not discipline any of the five Council candidates for their campaign signs being out prior to Oct. 7. Photo by Jared Whitlock

Patrick Murphy, the city’s planning he said last week. To deal with those who break munici- and building director, said none of those pal code, the city can issue a fine, charge a options will be pursued, as candidates are misdemeanor, hold an administrative now “in compliance with the code.” hearing on the matter or enforce the code TURN TO SIGNS ON A20 with a lawsuit.

SAN DIEGO — The sport of kings will likely continue at its current location east of the Del Mar Fairgrounds for at least three more years. Following an Oct. 16 meeting with representatives from San Diego’s real estate assets division, Steve Lewandowski, community relations director for the polo club, said both sides agreed to a 36-month lease and the city will hold off on releasing a request for proposals for a possible new tenant at the 80-acre site on the corner of Via de la Valle and El Camino Real. “We didn’t ink anything today,” said Lewandowski, who has been a match announcer for the past 22 years.“But we’re very optimistic everything is resolved. They want us and we want to be there.” Polo began locally in 1906 in Coronado and has been part of San Diego history longer than the Padres or Chargers. It moved to its current location in 1987 with a 25-year lease, which expired and converted to a month-to-month agreement this past March. Because the property hadn’t been out to bid for more than two decades, city officials felt doing so was “appropriate to see what other proposals might surface,” said Darren Pudgil, a spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders. But an RFP was never issued, primarily because of an ongoing project to widen El Camino Real. Meanwhile, the polo club has been in limbo, hesitant to invest in upgrades or new equipment without the guarantee of a permanent home. Lewandowski said the club also was recently forced to TURN TO POLO FIELD ON A20

Paid for by Shaffer for Council 2012, FPPC # 1340286


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