North County Climate Action Plans: A Tale of Two Cities

A funeral was held last month at the site of Iceland’s Okjökull glacier. A century ago it covered nearly six square miles, measuring 164 ft. deep. Today, it’s less than one square mile, 49 feet thick. The shrinking sheet of ice can no longer be called a glacier. A tombstone plaque was placed at the site. 

A Letter to the Future

This monument is to acknowledge that we know

what is happening and what needs to be done.

Only you know if we did it.

August 19, 2019

A month later, an estimated 4 million young people filled streets in cities around the world, demanding attention to climate change. Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish activist, addressed the UN Climate Change Summit with these words: “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and yet all you can talk about is money. You are failing us."

What’s North San Diego County doing about it? I searched the city websites of San Marcos and Carlsbad to find out. 

San Marcos adopted its 147-page Climate Action Plan (CAP) in 2013. It tells what the city will do to comply with the Governor's 2005 Executive Order to reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, by 40 percent in 2030, and 80 percent in 2050. There have been no progress reports posted on the city’s website in the past five years.

Two years after San Marcos created its CAP, Carlsbad adopted its own 242-page plan. City Manager Scott Chadwick’s 2017 and 2018 annual reports are posted on the city’s website. The city put teeth into its plan for new business developments, adding the following two ordinances to its Municipal Code.

Electric vehicles

ORDINANCE NO. CS-349

The electric vehicle ordinance requires of new nonresidential projects:

• 10 percent of parking spaces, or a minimum of one space, must be electric vehicle capable.
• 50 percent of the electric vehicle capable spaces, or a minimum of one space, must be equipped with electric vehicle charging stations.

Transportation demand management

ORDINANCE NO. CS-350

All new nonresidential development projects where employees generate a minimum of 110 average daily trips are subject to the ordinance, which requires development of a Transportation Demand Management plan, outlining facility improvements, programs, incentives, education, marketing and outreach for a development project for review and approval by the city.

San Marcos chose not to amend its Municipal Code, but to add to the city’s General Plan measures to bring down GHG emissions, including the following:

Increase overall City fleet fuel efficiency by replacing gasoline vehicles with hybrids.

Work with individual departments with vehicle fleets and equipment to develop fuel saving policies and programs.

Implement programs and provide incentives to reduce annual vehicle miles traveled associated with City employee commutes.

Participate in SANDAG’s free iCommute program to develop and implement a customized commuter benefit program for City employees.

Implement improvements to smooth traffic flow, reduce idling, eliminate bottlenecks, and encourage efficient driving techniques.

Conduct education campaigns to promote fuel-efficient driving (“eco-driving”) practices such as reduced idling, slower driving speeds, gentle acceleration, and proper tire inflation.

San Marcos held several community workshops in May, open to all residents, to create a “2019 CAP Update.” A questionnaire was used to solicit opinions on various emissions reduction measures, many of which were already included in the 2013 plan.

Here’s a sample of the questionnaire used to solicit attendee opinions.

From the list of proposed strategies, below, please indicate up to five strategies that you support the most.

Here are just four on the list of 25 choices:

☐ Require EV charging stations at new multi-family and non-residential developments.

☐ Synchronize traffic signals along major corridors to reduce vehicle idling.

☐ Install roundabouts to improve efficiency of vehicle travel in the City.

☐ Install new bike lanes and upgrade existing ones in the City as stipulated in the General Plan. .

The questionnaire suggests those who don’t believe in the urgency of climate change, like the guy in the White House, together with those who do, had an equal say in the meetings. It seems the popularity of emissions reduction strategies, not climate science, will guide the city’s climate plan update.

San Marcos gets the credit for government transparency. It lists on its website all 50 major commercial, industrial, residential and mixed use development projects underway, together with maps and descriptions of the projects, the names of developer applicants, and the phone numbers of city staff for more detailed information.

Carlsbad could learn from that. The city’s website is not at all user-friendly for finding development projects. More transparency could have helped when a billionaire developer tried to put a shopping mall on the banks of the city’s pristine Agua Hedionda Lagoon a few years ago.

It appears San Marcos and Carlsbad could learn from each other. But the challenge to us all is reflected in a Washington Post survey, cited by Pulitzer Prize winning, environmental journalist, Elizabeth Kolbert, in her September 30, 2019 New Yorker article. Although more people are concerned about global warming, fewer than half said they would support a $2/month surcharge on their electricity bills, only a third would support a ten-cent-per-gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax.

Looks like bad news for the shrinking glaciers.

Who Owns the Mayor of San Marcos?

According to her 2018 campaign disclosure statement, mayoral candidate Rebecca Jones received $50,965 in donations from 180 individuals. Only 53 have San Marcos addresses. Seven of ten of her cash supporters were, like me, not eligible to vote in the election.

Jones’s opponent, Chris Orlando, raised $29,000 in donations from 139 individuals, 94 of whom have San Marcos addresses.

I was disappointed to learn that our new home in San Marcos, although within city limits, is located in the San Diego County unincorporated area of Lake San Marcos. We cannot vote in city elections, even though we are functionally subservient to the city.

As the November election draws near, I’ve resolved not to vote for any county, state or national candidate before I follow the money to find out who gave them the cash to run their campaigns. Thanks to federal and state law requiring candidates to file public disclosure statements, you can find out who owns an elected official’s loyalty.

Here’s an example of how that works at the federal level. According to the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, Incoming first-term members of Congress are instructed to spend upwards of four hours per day raising money, which is time taken away from the legislative responsibilities of being an elected official.

Without a vote, but with the power of the pen, I’m following the money of San Marcos elected officials, beginning with Mayor Jones.

Addresses and occupations of donors are required on the California Fair Political Practices Commission Form 460. If a total of $100 or more is received from a single contributor during a calendar year, the name, street address, city, state and zip code of the contributor must be included. Self-employed donors must give the name of their businesses.

Missing from Mayor Jones’s disclosure statement, posted on the city’s website, were both the addresses of donors and the businesses or occupations of those listing “self-employed,” as required by law.

The city’s communications manager, Robin Rocker, told me the addresses had, in fact, been redacted by the city, which is allowed by California’s TITLE 9. POLITICAL REFORM  ACT of 2016, and which reads, in part: The data made available on the Internet shall not contain the street name and building number of the persons or entity representatives listed on the electronically filed forms...The local filing officer shall make a complete, unredacted copy of any statement…including any street names, building numbers…to any person upon request.

The act does not prohibit posting on the Internet a donor’s city of residence. Carlsbad, unlike San Marcos, lists each donor's city of residence.

The act also does not allow self-employed donors to withhold the names of their businesses.

San Marcos city officials have chosen to deny the public’s access on the Internet to find out where a candidate lives and what self-employed candidates do for a living.  

Upon my request, the communications manager gave me Mayor Jones’s and Candidate Orlando’s unredacted campaign statements that list the addresses of donors. But the occupations of the self-employed, as required by law, were withheld. I had to resort to Google searches to find that information.  

Here’s what I discovered from Jones’s unredacted campaign statements: John Franklin, a Vista resident, is President of Pacific Political, Inc. a company that provides “political consultation and management to Republican candidates across America.”

A total of $750 came from three donors, S E Triandafilidis, Stephen Triandafilidis and John Triandafilidis, each kicking in $250, the maximum allowed an individual. All three gave the same address, 3535 Princeton Drive NE Albuquerque, NM 87107. All say they are “self-employed,” with no businesses named.

A Google search of Corporation Wiki, a business directory site which aggregates business and employee information from the public record, reveals that Stephen Triandafilidis is Manager for Lvp Acquisitions, LLC, and has been associated with fifteen companies. John Triandafilidis is Manager of Bases Loaded LLC, associated with twenty-eight companies. I could find no information at all about S E Triandafilidis.

So, who owns the mayor of San Marcos? I’m guessing it’s not the 53 local residents who gave cash to her campaign.

My Do-It-Yourself Obituary

Early this morning, in a pause in our conversation, Karen turned to me and declared, “Today we are going to write our obituaries.”

“I feel fine,” I assured her, “But don’t you think you should call the body snatchers first?”

Five years ago, we joined BioGift Anatomical and Surgical Education Center, a firm in Portland, Oregon that accepts body donations for medical research. All expenses are covered, from transportation, to the return of cremated remains.

Here’s just a sample of the medical research BioGift supports:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease)
• Bipolar disorder
• Huntington’s disease
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Osteoporosis
• Parkinson’s disease
• Schizophrenia

Karen and I were inspired to do this upon the passing of a dear friend. In his final days, he told us he took comfort from being able to help others, while freeing his family from funeral expenses.

Upon signing up with BioGift, Karen and I were each issued an ID card, carrying the telephone number to call for a pick up if neither of us is there. Last year, Karen’s card went missing in packing our belongings for the move to our new home in this 55+ retirement community,. To my relief, her call today would be for a replacement card, not a pick up.

“But why write our obituaries today?” I asked my always-prepared love of my life.

“Well, I didn’t want you to have to do it for me. It will be too hard for you because you’ll be so sad.”

That made me feel a little guilty, since I hadn’t given a thought to her feelings if I’m the first to go. I agreed to write my obituary.

Where to begin? As a nonfiction writer, I did my research. I found a sample on the internet, providing this outline: death announcement, biographical information, list of survivors and predeceased family members, scheduled services, and memorials.    

The death announcement had to include my middle name, as well as the places and dates of my birth and death, with a photo optional. 

Our neighbor Ron is 102, plays the piano in our community dining hall at Sunday Champaign Brunches, attends the Chateau’s balance classes, and says his secret to a long life is to keep breathing. I figure my daily 24-Hour Fitness workouts, and following Ron’s advice, should keep me as healthy as he is. So, I’m listing my projected date with death as November 13, 2046.

As for the photo, I’ll choose one of the few that were taken when I had hair.

Karen is a novelist who doesn’t believe in outlines. Which explains the whimsy of her obit’s opening line: “Karen Truesdell Riehl has yet to die, but many of us are still hoping.”

My biographical information about education and jobs will be easy enough, as will the listing of my lifetime achievements. A pretty good athlete during my school years, I’ve discovered that when memory fails, the older I get, the better I was.

Things get a bit more complicated when it comes to listing my survivors. Today I’ll need to include Karen, my four children, and Karen’s four children, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren. By 2046 the list is likely to get a lot longer.

As for memorials, in recent years, my college alma mater has developed a special fondness for me. They send frequent reminders of the great education I had there and how I could help them stay great. Since I haven’t been a major contributor in this life, they’re hoping I’ll be more generous in the next.

As for funeral services, Karen says she’d prefer to have hers before she goes, so that she can hear some nice things said about her before she’s not around to hear them. That sounds good to me.

By noon we decided not to write our own obits, after all, just to look forward to receiving Karen’s BioGift replacement ID card and reaffirming our decisions to donate our bodies to medical science.