PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
.com MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 35, N0. 37
SEPT. 17, 2021
SAN 22nd DAA MARCOS -NEWS reports big fair revenues
.com
Fire, water officials unveil ‘helo-hydrant.’ A3 SDUHSD hires Texas firm to help fill top position. A5 Winston demands lease termination reversal. A5
Fair brings in nearly $2M more THE VISTA than expected
Carlsbad council pauses homeless ordinance talks. A6 O’side nixes plans for Melrose Drive extension. A7 Encinitas hires firm recently fired by Bay Area city. A7
.com
By Bill Slane
going on with the bus drivers of NCTD or the buses lately," wrote a woman on NCTD's Facebook page. "But it is now summertime, NCTD! Get it together with your drivers and the buses! Seriously! Your customers need the buses to get around these days! Just saying!" Kranz said NCTD isn’t the only transit system suffering from staffing shortages. Reports from across the nation have shown that a lack of staffing has caused public transit delays and cancelations across the nation, as well as a push to hire more drivers as soon as possible. “The workforce is in short supply everywhere, and we’re feeling that impact as well,” said NCTD spokesperson Colleen Windsor. Between January and July, NCTD has had 113 people apply as bus drivers. Of that amount, 42 with-
DEL MAR — After facing financial difficulties through the pandemic, the 22nd District Agricultural Association reported some good news out of the scaled down fair event from this summer. The 22nd DAA, the state agency which overRANCHO sees the Del Mar FairSFNEWS grounds and is otherwise known as the fair board, reported a net revenue nearly $2 million greater than budgeted. However the total still fell well short of the average full-scale San Diego County Fair. The fair board reports a net revenue of $3,862,359 from the Homegrown Fun! event held at the fairgrounds this summer. It is a significant increase from projections thanks mostly to the inclusion of rides at the event. “We were not anticipating to have those at the onset of the budgeting process,” Michael Sadegh, the finance director of the fair board said. “This was forecasted way before the restrictions were taken back in February or March. And as we moved forward we decided to have a few rides and add more to it.” Sadegh says the revenues from rides at the event, which were budgeted at $0, totaled $1.8 million leading to the increase in total net revenue. On the other hand, the board reported fewer ticket sales than anticipated with over $1.8 million in revenue from admissions compared to the budgeted revenue of $2.3 million. “We didn’t have a crystal ball so to speak to forecast all of those so there is a bit of a variance on those categories,” Sadegh said. “But all in all at the end of the day we came out about $1.7 million to the upside
TURN TO NCTD ON A16
TURN TO REVENUES ON A11
AFFoRDABLE HOUSING
Sports Talk: Meet Biden’s high school quarterback. A9 Solana Beach resolution aims to protect rooftop solar. A10 O’side resident remembers 9/11 terrorist attacks. A14 Weekly Crime Report. A16
.com
FOOD & WINE Cheers: Pacific Coast Spirits displays award-winning perseverance. B10 Taste of Wine: Country music stars to perform at Temecula winery. B11
SOLD OUT
ENCINITAS RESIDENTS are angry and disheartened after a home designated for sale to a very-low-income household in the Loden at Olivenhain neighborhood was instead sold to a non-qualified investor with the city’s written approval. The sale is being criticized as both a corporate handout and snub to applicants with limited means. Story on A15.
Bus driver shortage causes slew of canceled trips Transit agency raises wages to boost staff levels By Samantha Nelson
OCEANSIDE — A shortage of bus drivers in North County has caused multiple trip cancelations over the past few months, frustrating residents who rely on public transit to commute to work. Specifically, daily trip cancelations have become more frequent for the North County Transit District’s (NCTD) Breeze bus system. A look at the district’s Twitter account, where trip delays and cancelations are posted for the public to see, shows more than 20 trip cancelations in a 24-hour period between Monday and Tuesday. According to staff metrics, the cancelations are due to a lack of drivers. A report at the July board meeting showed that
NEWS
OVER THE last few months, trip cancellations have become more frequent for the North County Transit District’s Breeze bus system, frustrating both riders and transit officials. Photo courtesy of NCTD
the top cause of delay from March to May was staffing issues. Prior to that, from July 2020 to February 2021, the top cause of delay was mechanical-related issues. According to Tony Kranz, NCTD chairman
and deputy mayor of Encinitas, the transit agency's board began looking at the trip cancelation numbers and staffing issues back in July to figure out exactly how to address the issue. “It makes me cringe ev-
ery time I see a cancelation post,” Kranz said. “It’s really important that we’re not canceling any trips.” Regardless, riders have vented their frustrations on social media. "I don't know what is
YOUR KID IS NOT STUPID... but they may not be processing information normally. If your young learner is struggling, we are the first place to go for help.
Call Encinitas Learning Rx Center today to schedule an assessment.
760-634-6886
1 in 5 kid s from aud suffer it processin ory g. “Th
e work team of p that Lynda and h truly tra rofessionals can er will lose thnsformative. Your do is ch e discover life-limiting labe ild how they ls learn so and they can learn .”
BUILD CONFIDENCE • REDUCE CLASSROOM ANXIETY • IMPROVE SPORTS PERFORMANCE • INCREASE VALUE OF TUTORING • TRAIN YOUR CHILD’S BRAIN