The Coast News, April 16, 2021

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THE COAST NEWS

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VOL. 35, N0. 16

APRIL 16, 2021

City pulls housing item off agenda

SAN MARCOS -NEWS Board updates plans for

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scaled-down fair. A3 SANDAG’s contentious pro-union resolution. A5

Despite concerns, staff expects item will be renoticed

CSUSM cutting ties with former state senator. A7 Encinitas 16-year-old signs THE with SD Loyal Soccer. A10

VISTA NEWS

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By Bill Slane

ENCINITAS — A recent inclusionary housing item discussed last month in the Encinitas Planning Commission is now being recommended to be removed from the agenda by city staff. A city official has confirmed the move but said the item is expected to be re-noticed for a future meeting. “When it says ‘off-calendar’ it just means we don’t have a date certain and we’re going to re-notice it for the planning commission,” said Jennifer Gates, principal planner for the project. The item included TURN TO AGENDA ON A17

Judge doesn’t compel schools to reopen faster By Dan Brendel

was presented to the board but none showed interest in joining so early, even before their service has begun. “I think it’s worth us investigating,” said Chair Kristi Becker, of Solana Beach. “I feel that we need to be on our feet a little bit more though. I would be into investigating and maybe gathering some more facts.” Fellow board members Priya Bhat-Patel, councilwoman of Carlsbad, and David Drucker, Del Mar councilman, agreed they had a possible interest in joining in the future. “I would agree that we should continue to explore this,” Drucker said. “I’m also really interested in their first project which is this energy storage. I think this is going to be one of the major components that we should be looking at.” California Community Power is newly formed, with the eight partner programs

REGION — A court declined Monday to comRANCHO pel Oceanside Unified and San Marcos Unified school SFNEWS districts to speed their COVID-related reopening plans, on the basis that compulsion would unjustifiably inhibit the legitimate exercise of their legislative authority. The decision represents the latest development in an ongoing lawsuit, filed in February by activist parents seeking eased COVID-19 restrictions and an accelerated return from virtual to physical classrooms. In an initial hearing last month, Superior Court Judge Cynthia Freeland decided largely in the parents’ favor, as The Coast News reported at the time. Based on constitutional equal protection, she prohibited certain state restrictions and ordered defendant school districts “to reopen their schools for in-person instruction to the greatest extent possible at the earliest practicable time,” according to her temporary ruling. Carlsbad Unified, Vista Unified and San Dieguito Union High school district boards subsequently voted to expand in-person secondary instruction by midApril, or sooner. Freeland heard arguments again April 8, with the parents’ counsel saying Oceanside Unified and San Marcos Unified school districts were continuing to dally, citing the statutory requirement that districts “shall offer in-person instruction to the greatest ex-

TURN TO CLEAN ENERGY ON A9

TURN TO SCHOOLS ON A17

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OCEANSIDE RESIDENT Rodney McGough smiles for a photo on April 13 shortly after Oceanside Police Department vacated and cleaned his homeless encampment, also known as “Camp on Wheels,” along South Oceanside Boulevard. McGough and other homeless people living in the camp were given motel vouchers and referrals for mental health resources. Story on A15. Photo by Joe Orellana

Clean Energy Alliance won’t join JPA before launch By Bill Slane

SOLANA BEACH — The Clean Energy Alliance received a presentation about the potential of joining with California Community Power but opted not to join with just weeks before its own municipal aggregation program officially launches to North County customers. Clean Energy Alliance will launch to customers in Solana Beach, Del Mar and Carlsbad on May 1 but at a meeting last month, the board was given a presentation on the potential partnership with a joint powers authority (JPA) made up of cities in northern California. “The benefits of CC Power to the CEA are it provides economies of scale in regards to procurement of energy and different power supply sources,” said Barbara Boswell, interim chief executive officer for Clean Energy Alliance. “It does enhance negotiating power because of the volume of procurements that would

CLEAN ENERGY ALLIANCE, a municipal aggregation energy program, will launch on May 1, serving customers in Solana Beach, Del Mar and Carlsbad. File photo

be undertaken.” Grish Balachandran, chief executive officer of Silicon Valley Energy, made his pitch to the Clean Energy Alliance board at

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the meeting. “Economies of scale really matter and with the kinds of procurement that are being required by the California Public Utili-

ties Commission, all of us are looking for economies of scale for some of the new purchases we have to make,” Balachandran said. An agreement to join

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