The 45-day period for public review and comment on the Environmental Impact Report element of the General Plan Update began January 13 and continues through February 27, 2012.

A Planning Commission Workshop was held January 24 and a City Council workshop was held February 1. Additional public meetings are anticipated during the spring and summer, after the comment period has ended.

Escondido residents will be asked to approve an update to the city’s General Plan in the November 2012 election. The General Plan is a document that guides a city’s development for a period of approximately 20 years. It is a “blueprint” for the community that reflects the vision of its residents. The General Plan is the result of more than two years of work by a citizens committee and city staff.

Learn more on the EDC General Plan Update background page.

Escondido officials have released a second version of a proposed Charter for the city. The revised version changes the section on “Fair and Open Competition” to remove reference to project labor agreements. The section now reads “The City will promote fair and open competition for all City construction projects so that all contractors and workers, whether union or non-union, are treated equally in the bidding and awarding of City construction contracts.” The previous attempt to eliminate all project labor agreements is prevented by state legislation passed in 2011. The new version repeats a section saying the city “shall not require payment of the prevailing wage schedule” unless it is “legally required,” and another section requiring union members to authorize the city to withhold dues each year, rather than once upon initial employment. Whether cities can avoid paying prevailing wages is before the courts.

The city also proposes public hearings on the Charter proposal on Wednesday, April 18 and on Wednesday, May 23, 2012.

Read the version 2 draft document. 

Read coverage in North County Times. 

Democratic voter registration efforts have paid off. At the end of 2011 there were nearly 7,000 more Democrats registered in San Diego County than Republicans. That number had increased from a lead of just 332 voters in May, 2011. The registrar of voters reported 519,248 Democrats and 512,270 Republicans registered. In Escondido, there were 24,115 Republicans and 15,106 Democrats. Still a lot of work to do!

Read the entire story in North County Times. 

Proponents of a change to Charter City status have acknowledged another failure in their effort to bring the proposal before voters — they have missed deadlines for public hearings and must move the vote to the November general election. This is a crucial change. It means a broader political range and a higher number of voters will decide the issue. Supporters also signal a change in strategy. They will base their argument in favor of the proposal on predicted savings from avoiding the so-called ‘prevailing wage’ on construction projects. A Vista case challenging the state’s right to set prevailing wages is before the courts.

Read more in North County Times. 

Escondido Mayor Sam Abed is quoted as saying “the ballpark is dead” after the California Supreme Court ruled against redevelopment agencies. The ruling eliminates the source of funding Escondido officials had planned to use for a Triple-A ballpark proposed by Padres owner Jeff Moorad. City officials will now proceed with plans to develop land acquired for the ballpark for commercial or industrial use. Moorad says he will probably sell the baseball team to another city.

Read the story in North County Times.
Read the story in The San Diego Union-Tribune. 

In a move that almost certainly means Escondido cannot use redevelopment funds for a proposed Triple-A ballpark, the California Supreme Court has ruled that the state acted legally when it abolished redevelopment agencies. It also ruled invalid a second law that allowed some agencies to continue if they shared funding. The ruling is described as “the worst possible outcome” for redevelopment agencies.

Read details in the Los Angeles Times.
Read details in the San Jose Mercury News.
Read details in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Read details in the Sacramento Bee.

Logan Jenkins, columnist for The San Diego Union-Tribune who was an editor for the Escondido Times-Advocate, has used his first column after returning from surgery to discuss district elections for the city. His observations are worth reading. Among them: “No matter how much innocence it professes, Escondido’s been spoiling for a showdown with Latino activists for years.” He notes that Mayor Sam Abed cannot see the distinction between attacks on illegal Latinos and the rest of their legal families. He mentions the huge costs other cities have borne in fighting lawsuits forcing district elections and says Abed seems all too willing to repeat that history. He notes that Olga Diaz won without districts, and says “dividing the city into districts would not be the end of the world.”

His conclusion: “The real damage would be to the city’s image if it spent millions arguing its color blindness — and lost.”

Read the entire essay. 

Attorney James M. Finberg, left, and Cesar Diaz, legislative director for the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California.

Follow this issue on the EDC District Elections background page.

1/31/12 UPDATE: The city has asked that the suit be dismissed because the plaintiff, a union, does not have legal standing to sue. A hearing has been set for March 16 in Vista Superior Court.

Read the City’s response.

A lawsuit has been filed in Vista Superior Court that would force the City of Escondido to change to district elections for its City Council offices and could, if successful, be in effect for the November 2012 election, according to the attorney who filed the suit.

James M. Finberg, an attorney who represents the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, delivered the suit to City Hall Tuesday, December 20. Afterwards, he told a group of district-election supporters that the current Escondido system of at-large elections “violates state and federal voting rights laws” by discriminating against Latino voters and “impairs their ability to participate in the political process, to elect candidates of their choice and to influence the outcome of elections and the affairs of Escondido.”

See video of the announcement on the EDC YouTube Channel.
See coverage en Español from Univision.
Read coverage in North County Times.
Read coverage in The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Read the lawsuit as filed.

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