Law firm to tackle initiative report
Ernesto Lopez
February 20, 2013 •
Filed under Coastline, Encinitas, Politics
Encinitas city planners have selected Costa Mesa law firm Rutan & Tucker to conduct a report on possible effects of the Right to Vote Initiative, as asked for by the City Council on Feb.13, the planning department confirmed.
Specifically, the City Council asked for the report to highlight the initiative’s fiscal impact and effect on land use, among other points.
Diane Langager, a principal planner for the city, said the firm is working on a tight deadline. The City Council is looking to have the analysis in its hands by Feb. 27, although the time could be extended if needed.
“City manager (Gus Vina) can give direction to take more time if need be,” Langager explained.
With two choices at hand, the City Council is due to convene in mid-March to deliberate on the Right to Vote Initiative and make a decision.
The ballot initiative would impose a citywide height limit of two stories or 30 feet for all buildings and structures, among other major amendments to zoning. It earned special election status after its supporters managed to collect 8,347 signatures, of which a threshold of 5,668 were verified to meet criteria for such a ballot. The registrar of voters verified a total of 6,850 signatures.
The council will either adopt the ordinance as is or immediately order a special election. If the council declines to adopt the measure, the initiative would likely go up for a vote either June 4 or July 1.
The special election could cost the city between $350,000 and $400,000, according to Encinitas City Clerk Kathy Hollywood.
Mayor Teresa Barth said at the Feb. 13 City Council meeting that requesting an analysis was the “prudent” thing to do.
“I would prefer to do this right, rather than quickly, because this is of critical importance to our community,” she said.
Although initiative spokesman Bruce Ehlers urged the council to adopt the initiative on the spot instead of going to a vote since it has strong backing, he expected it to order a report.
“We were completely expecting they would want a report,” Ehlers told the North Coast Current on Feb. 18.
About the council’s next decision on the initiative, Ehlers said, “It is their choice if they want to spend $350,000 on a special election; they could potentially save the money.”
Encinitas Right to Vote, the grassroots community group that collected the signatures, explains on its website that the initiative seeks to “protect community character and protect Encinitas from future intrusive development that will compromise quality of life.”
Ernesto Lopez is a San Diego freelance writer
Let’s look at the timetable of this contract:
on 01/25/13 staff and city manager send Request for Proposal to the law firm of Rutan & Tucker.
on 02/03/113: City Manager Gus Vina signs contract retaining Rutan & Tucker. Contract does not specify contingency if council does not order report.
At the 02/13/13 city council approves ordering a report on the Encinitas Right-to-Vote initiative.
What’s wrong with this picture? It appears Gus Vina and staff jumped the gun on this one, playing fast and furious. Let’s see how much this law firm will cost the city.
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Rutan and Tucker is now analyzing our voting rights. I knew many of these guys when I lived in Newport. They could throw some wild office parties, and were good at picking judges. Most of the firms lawyers came from UCLA law school and were top of the class types .I even was asked to be an expert in some cases involving construction issues. Now R&T is deciding what? Are we out of order for taking a stand on limits? BS, where have the leaders gone ,are they inept or afraid of decision making? . BTW tell Kathy H and Vina provide us with a cost breakdown on the special election ,$400,000.00 really.
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