PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
.com MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 31, N0. 35
SEPT. 1, 2017
SAN MARCOS -NEWS
District .com elections process moves .com forward
Cannabis supporters seek ballot measure
THE VISTA NEWS
By Aaron Burgin
ENCINITAS — A pro-cannabis group in San Diego has targeted Encinitas, among several other county cities, as ground zero for the battle to legalize the retail sale, wholesale distribution, manufacturing and cultivation of the plant. The Association of Cannabis Professionals on Aug. 22 filed a notice of intent to circulate a petition in Encinitas to collect signatures for a proposed initiative that would authorize the aforementioned activities. Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, Chula Vista and Santee have also been hit with the same initiative. The group has until Feb. 20, 2018, to collect signatures of 10 percent of the city’s 41,000 registered voters to put the item on the next regular election ballot, or 15 percent of the electorate to force a special election. The Coast News reached out to the group’s executive director, Dallin Young, for comment, and will update the story once it is received. The proposed initiative would allow for the following: • One cannabis retailer per 15,000 residents per-
By Aaron Burgin
Encinitas officials said Wednesday they were not prepared to declare that the city is definitely transitioning to district elections, but voted to start the 90RANCHO day process of crafting the SFNEWS possible new voting map. The city is the latest in North County to take the procedural step in the wake of a series of legal demand letters from Malibu-based law firm Shenkman and Hughes that alleges the city’s current citywide, or at-large, voting process dilutes Latino voting power. The council unanimously voted in favor of staff’s recommendation, which authorizes City Manager Karen Brust to hire a demographic contractor to help the city draw proposed district maps and allocated $150,000 to pay for other legal and professional services needed to complete the process. The vote starts a 90-day period in which the city will host public workshops and five public hearings that will help the city craft the voting districts. During this period, the city is shielded from any lawsuits, thanks to a provision of the state voting rights act known as
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Story on Page A8. High-flyer Patricia Blomsness enjoys indoor skydiving fun with the assistance of instructor Rocco Murray at the recently opened iFly Indoor Skydiving in Oceanside. Courtesy photo
Popular lifeguard chief fired By Bianca Kaplanek
DEL MAR — After a months-long investigation into allegations of workplace misconduct and misuse of public funds, the city of Del Mar’s popular community services director and chief lifeguard Pat Vergne, was fired Aug. 23. “I was surprised the way it came out,” Vergne, a 35-year Del Mar employee, said. “There’s always two TURN TO CANNABIS ON A23 sides to a story.” According to a press MAYOR’S MINUTE: Peti- release issued less than 20 tion complicates pot debate minutes after Vergne said he met with city officials in Encinitas. Page A4
and received the news, the investigation conc luded that between 2015 and 2 0 1 7 , C o m m u - Pat Vergne. nity Ser- Courtesy phto vices Department staff cost the city nearly $200,000. Vergne and his employee Liza Rogers are accused of waiving or discounting permit fees totaling more
than $150,000, submitting $43,000 worth of false claims for pay and overtime, hiring and paying a part-time city employee an extra $23,000 as an outside contractor to do work he was already doing as part of his regular job and making more than $4,500 in personal purchases using a city of Del Mar credit card. Vergne doesn’t deny many of the allegations, saying that if his actions were questionable someone would have confronted him. “When we built the Powerhouse it was ... de-
signed to bring the community together, and as it grew over the years we started to rent it out a little bit more,” Vergne said. “I had been given flexibility in the rental rates. “It was simply that was my task,” he added. “Or at least I thought that was my task, to bring the beach community, the parks, everyone together. And when we needed something — fixing the interior — then the nonprofits would give money to the city so it was a winTURN TO LIFEGUARD ON A20
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