Last Thursday, the City participated in Take Your Kids to Work Day. The children of City staff were invited to visit multiple locations across the City to see all that goes in to keeping our community safe and running smoothly. The Escondido Federal Credit Union provided a lunch for all participants at Lake Dixon. Thank you to all the departments that participated and helped give the children a memorable day shadowing their parents at work!
Escondido Mother’s Day Historic Home Tour
The 24th Annual Old Escondido Historic Home Tour is on Saturday May 13, from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. This is a self-paced tour and the homes can be visited in any order. Learn more and get tickets at:
http://www.oldescondido.org
Vista Community Clinic Inaugural Pickleball Tournament Fundraiser
Vista Community Clinic (VCC) is thrilled to announce its Inaugural Pickleball Tournament “Dinks and Drinks” Fundraiser, which will take place on Saturday, May 20th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Bobby Riggs Racket and Paddle, 875 Santa Fe Dr., Encinitas.
Pickleball is a fast-paced and exciting sport that has recently gained tremendous popularity. The tournament promises to be an exciting and competitive event that will bring together players of all ages and skill levels, from beginners to seasoned pros. The tournament will feature 50 teams playing in a round-robin format. The top team from each group will move on to the playoffs for prizes.
All funds raised through the tournament will go towards supporting VCC and its mission of providing high-quality healthcare to underserved populations. VCC offers a range of services, including medical, dental, and behavioral health, as well as access to affordable medications.
Registration for the tournament is now open, and players can register online at https://forms.gle/uizKV3etCppCmMA78. At the event, a taco cart, beer, cocktails, and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided free with admission.
For more information about the tournament or to sign up contact Betsy Heightman at betsy@vcc.org.
About Vista Community Clinic
With eleven state-of-the-art locations in North San Diego, Orange, and Riverside Counties, VCC provides affordable, high-quality health care to more than 70,000 community residents. Services offered by VCC include primary care, pediatrics, prenatal and women’s health, optometry, chiropractic care, dental health, podiatry, acupuncture, and behavioral health services. VCC also offers a wide array of community health education programs, which are free and open to all community residents. VCC is recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a Level 3 (highest) Patient-Centered Medical Home, and is the recipient of the HRSA National Quality Leader Seal for exceeding national clinical quality benchmarks. For more information call 760.631.5000 or visit www.vcc.org.
Youth Art Exhibition Inspires Creativity and Expression – Reception May 13
The Carlsbad Oceanside Art League is pleased to announce a call for art for its upcoming youth art exhibition, “Inspire”. It is the 27th annual youth art exhibition and will be showcasing the talents and creativity of young artists from the San Diego County area. The exhibition, titled “Inspire,” will feature a variety of artwork, including paintings, drawings, and mixed media pieces, all created by talented young artists aged 8-18.
The “Inspire” exhibition represents one of the organization’s missions to encourage and support the creative expression of young artists in our community. The exhibition is a testament to the incredible talent and dedication of these young artists, who have poured their hearts and souls into their work. A hosted reception will be on May 13, 2023, between 3 pm to 5pm at the Gallery located at 300 Carlsbad Village Dr. Suite 101. Awards and refreshments will be served and free to the public.
The exhibition not only showcases the artwork but also aims to inspire and encourage other young artists to pursue their passions and develop their talents. By providing a platform for young artists to display their work, we hope to foster a greater appreciation for the arts in our community and to encourage a new generation of artists to follow their dreams.
“We are thrilled to present this year’s ‘Inspire’ exhibition, which showcases the remarkable talent and creativity of young artists in our community,” said Cheryl Ehlers, President at the Carlsbad Oceanside Art League’s, North Coastal Art Gallery “We hope that this exhibition will inspire and encourage other young artists to pursue their passions and develop their skills. We believe that by supporting young artists, we are helping to create a more vibrant and dynamic community.”
Visitors are encouraged to come and enjoy the artwork and to show their support for these young artists who are making such a valuable contribution to our community
For more information about how you can enter the “Inspire” exhibition and the North Coastal Art Gallery/COAL, please visit our website for all the details at northcoastalartgallery.com or contact Charcee Colosia, Youth Art Chair at charlotte.charcee@gmail.com
Rural Healthcare Access
By Assemblymember Marie Waldron
Millions of Californians live in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), many located in rural parts of the state, like in my district. Improving access to healthcare for those living in underserved areas has been a major focus for me in Sacramento.
The California Health Foundation notes that rural residents including tribal lands, are often confronted with serious obstacles when trying to access healthcare. These include provider shortages, hospital closures, higher maternal morbidity and mortality rates, and limited access to treatments for opioid disorders. Several areas in San Diego County located within the 75th Assembly District have been identified as HPSAs, including Campo and Barona/Moreno in East County, and Pala in North County.
Another big problem in rural areas is lack of Medication Assisted Treatments (MAT) for opioid use disorders. Considered the gold standard for treating opioid abuse, access to MAT is often limited because of the general lack of healthcare resources in rural areas and the long driving distances involved that limit effective and timely adherence.
Lack of access to healthcare is often compounded by closure of rural hospitals. Between 2006 and 2023, at least 10 rural hospitals have closed throughout the state. Many existing hospitals are now in financial distress, and more closures may occur.
One solution is more rural clinics. I recently participated in a meeting at the San Ysidro Health Clinic in Campo, one of over 20 San Ysidro clinic and program sites located throughout the county. San Ysidro’s Campo clinic serves residents of the Mountain Empire in southeast San Diego County — a region identified as a Health Professional Shortage Area.
As Vice Chair of the Assembly Health Committee, I will do everything I can to encourage and support healthcare providers like San Ysidro throughout California so that residents of underserved rural communities can receive the care they need.
Assemblymember Marie Waldron, R- Valley Center, represents the 75th Assembly District in the California Legislature, which includes the cities of Poway, Santee, portions of the City of San Diego, and most of rural eastern and northern San Diego County.
First Friday Art Walk May 5th
First Friday Oceanside Art Walk!
May 5th, 4-8pm located at the Library courtyard, Artist Alley and surrounding areas.
2.0, new and improved, you are going to love the changes.
Make sure you put it on your calendar.
Make it an evening, great restaurants nearby within walking distance.
Free parking at the Civic Center next to the Library.
Don’t miss this event!!
Oceanside Names Jury to Advise Coastal Resilience Design Competition
Oceanside, CA, April 28, 2023 — Today, the City of Oceanside named 15 local, state, and national experts to serve as a Jury in its upcoming Coastal Resilience Design Competition. The Competition intends to generate innovative solutions for the retention of sand along Oceanside’s beloved coast, particularly south of the Oceanside Pier where the impacts from rapid coastal erosion are felt most acutely. The Design Competition is a component of the Phase Two: Sand Nourishment & Retention Pilot Project, approved by City Council in January 2023. The Phase 2 Project additionally entails the identification of a localized offshore sand source that can be more readily excavated and placed, fulfilling the beach nourishment component of the two-pronged approach to alleviating eroded beach conditions.
The Design Competition Jury is a key component of the Coastal Resilience Design Competition and consists of 10 voting members, reflecting community, regional and stakeholder interests in the implementation of a pilot sand retention project. Additionally, five non-voting, advisory members will also participate, share, and discuss design and permitting complexities from their perspectives and experience. Each juror applied to participate in this role, and the Jury’s final composition was established to form a balanced and wide-ranging portfolio of expertise and perspectives.
Highlighted Jury members include:
● Dr. Lesley Ewing PE, former Senior Coastal Engineer for the California Coastal Commission
● Dr. Charles Lester, Director, Ocean and Coastal Policy Center, Marine Science Institute, UC Santa Barbara, and former Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission
● Bob Ashton, CEO/President, Save Oceanside Sand (SOS)
● Chris Abad, Director, Oceanside Boardrider’s Club
● Councilmember Dwight Worden, Del Mar City Council and Chair of SANDAG Shoreline Preservation Working Group
“Oceanside has a legitimate sand loss problem. I want to help find a solution that works for Oceanside that is consistent and supportive of the needs of all the cities in the littoral cell. The right solution will create a sandy beach that benefits the region, does not disrupt surf or biotic resources, and does not impede downstream sand flow.”
—Councilmember Dwight Worden, Competition Juror;
Del Mar City Councilmember and Chair of SANDAG Shoreline Preservation Working Group
Non-voting advisory members include representatives from the California Coastal Commission, Surfrider Foundation, and the California State Coastal Conservancy. A full list of the Jury can be found in the Competition’s Design Brief.
“My vision for the Oceanside coast is that it becomes a feeder for the entire littoral cell and an example for other North Coast communities. I believe this Design Competition will help make this vision a reality.”
—Dr. Lesley Ewing, Competition Juror
Former Senior Coastal Engineer for California Coastal Commission
Through a competitive process with community and expert input, designers will develop innovative yet implementable solutions. Teams will be encouraged to explore nature-inspired or nature-based features in their designs, and the City expects their proposals will utilize a mix of interventions that include but are not limited to dunes, cobble berms, headlands, and reefs, to support sand retention and storage. The competition is designed and managed by Resilient Cities Catalyst, a nonprofit organization with experience managing international design competitions and developing resilience projects. GHD, Inc., serves as the prime contractor and consulting firm responsible for the engineering and permitting of the selected pilot project.
“This competition is addressing one of our greatest coastal management challenges and I am looking forward to working with other jurors to identify resilient shoreline strategies that address all of our shared concerns, including maximizing public beach and recreational access, protecting ocean and coastal habitats, maintaining a strong coastal economy and providing affordable housing for all who want to live in Oceanside, built on the recognition, engagement and equitable treatment of all social groups and cultures.”
—Dr. Charles Lester, Competition Juror
Director, Ocean and Coastal Policy Center, Marine Science Institute, UC Santa Barbara, and former Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission
Three design teams will be selected from a pool of experienced firms, and will receive a stipend to participate in the eight-month competition. These design firms will be selected by the City in June 2023. It’s anticipated that the final designs will be reviewed and voted on by the Jury in December, which will be brought to the Oceanside City Council in January 2024 for final approval of the winning design. The winning team will receive an award of at least $100,000 and will continue to work on a final permitted design, bringing the design through to being shovel ready by fall of 2025.
In addition to announcing the Jury, the City of Oceanside is concurrently releasing details on the Competition’s Design Criteria, as well as initial dates for Public Workshops.
Design Criteria
The Oceanside Coastal Resilience Design Competition aims to surface an innovative, multi-benefit, sand retention project for the City of Oceanside’s beaches that provides both local and regional benefits. The Jury will use specific Design Criteria to evaluate the designs. The Criteria are meant to fulfill two core objectives: (1) provide limits to the scope of design for the proposed solution; and (2) generate a set of goals that design teams, and their solutions can be measured against. There are five specific categories that the Criteria address, including 1) physical, 2) financial, 3) environmental, 4) social, and 5) regional aspects of the design.
Project designs will assume that 300,000 cubic yards of beach nourishment sand (i.e. additional sand) will be available initially within the project area, with beach nourishment sand provided every five years for potential ongoing sediment management needs. The design teams can utilize this sand within their designs and propose various sand placement mechanisms within their concepts.
The detailed Design Criteria can be found on the City website in the Design Brief.
“The Design Criteria set the boundaries for the designs, ensuring that the Design Teams can be creative with solutions, while still keeping in mind the most central aspect of the Project: to restore sandy beaches in Oceanside while considering sand supply to other areas of the coastline. Restoring sand beaches and maintaining placed sand shall be essential to meeting many of the additional Design Criteria, such as ensuring the preservation of surf resources and restoring the sandy beach habitat for the beach-goer and the local coastal ecology.”
–Jayme Timberlake, Coastal Zone Administrator, City of Oceanside
Public Workshops
The City will host three public workshops in 2023. At these workshops, citizens will have the opportunity to see the design process in detail, and provide comments that will assist in refining the designs.
Late August—Public Workshop 1—Exploration of Approach
The first public workshop will be an opportunity for teams to gather broad input on initial design approaches. Design Teams will work to gain perspective on community stakeholders’ goals and desires for the coast, and collect directional feedback to inform the designs going forward.
Mid October—Public Workshop 2—Refining the Design
The second public workshop will feature team presentations of more developed designs, with specific components and elements visualized with opportunities for feedback.
Early December—Public Workshop 3—Final Designs and Feedback
The third public workshop will feature final proposed designs. Teams will clearly show how stakeholder input shaped their designs, and why they arrived at the final solutions. Public comment will be gathered and analyzed, and provided to the Jury and City staff as an input to decision making.
“Being an Oceanside resident since 1962, I grew up on the Oceanside beaches, walking, running, swimming, surfing, body surfing, and fishing, grunion runs. Over four generations, our family has enjoyed our Oceanside coast. This is an exciting time in our city’s history, and the Design Competition is an amazing opportunity to restore our shorelines with an approach that not only benefits Oceanside, but will serve as an example for other beach cities to follow.”
—Bob Ashton, Competition Juror
CEO/President, Save Oceanside Sand (S.O.S.)
For more information on this and other coastal management efforts, please visit the City website: https://www.ci.oceanside.ca.us/gov/pw/beach/coastal_management/default.asp
Vista Garden Club’s Flower Show & Plant Sale, May 6-7
FLOWER SHOW – MAY 6-7: JIM PORTER REC. CENTER – Brengle Terrace Park, 1200 Vale Terrace Dr., Vista
Saturday, May 6: Plant/Garden Art Sale opens at noon; Flower Show opens 2- 5 pm
Sunday, May 7: All events open 10 am – 4 pm
For 87 years the Vista Garden Club has presented Our Gift to the Community, our Standard Flower Show! Our Horticulture exhibits are awesome, displaying the bounty of Vista. Be prepared for stunning Floral Designs, interesting Educational Exhibits, and awesome Botanical Arts Photography entries. In addition, we always have a fabulous Plant Sale, with an astounding amount of beautiful and interesting varieties donated and nurtured by our club members. Lastly, but not least, our Garden Art Boutique has many creative hand crafted garden treasures for you to enjoy in your own garden. Join us for this beautiful event!
Contact Carolyn, Membership Chair/webmaster at: carolynvgc@gmail.com or vistagardenclub@gmail.com “
The Vista Garden Club is a group of approximately 100 men and women devoted to gardening in the North San Diego County (Vista) California area. The Club has been in existence since 1930 and through the years has been a focal point for local experts, professionals, and hobbyists to exchange information about the love of gardening. Our knowledge, enthusiasm, and enjoyment are evidenced by the public services we perform.
Visitors are welcome to attend our meetings the first Friday of every month, (excluding May, July, August, and November) at the Gloria McClellan Senior Center (1400 Vale Terrace Dr., Vista) and participate in our fingertip luncheon. The first weekend in May is our Flower Show/Boutique/Plant Sale, members attend a potluck in August, and our Fall Fundraiser in November. NOTE: UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, OUR MEETINGS WILL BE HELD AT THE JIM PORTER RECREATION CENTER, BRENGLE TERRACE PARK since renovations are taking place where we usually meet.
Townsite Drive Complete Streets Project Groundbreaking May 2nd
The City Council hosts the groundbreaking of the Townsite Drive Complete Streets Project on May 2 at 10 am in front of New Haven Youth & Family Services at 216 W. Los Angeles Drive, Vista. The project will transform approximately 1.2 miles of Townsite Drive/W. Los Angeles Drive from East Drive to East Vista Way by constructing sidewalks in missing areas, updating ADA ramps, and constructing ADA-compliant driveways to improve pedestrian access, mobility, and safety. Other amenities are included.
Project Description
The Townsite Complete Streets Project will utilize federal funding through the Active Transportation Program which is administered by Caltrans and the California Transportation Commission (CTC). The program was developed to encourage increased use of active modes of transportation such as biking and walking. The project was awarded to LC Paving and Sealing, Inc. through the competitive bid process for $3,150,284.05.
The project will transform approximately 1.2 miles of Townsite Drive/W. Los Angeles Drive from East Drive to East Vista Way by constructing sidewalks in missing areas, updating ADA ramps, and constructing ADA compliant driveways to improve pedestrian access, mobility, and safety.
Four roundabouts, additional curb extensions, and crosswalks will be constructed to provide traffic calming along this busy residential corridor. The roundabouts which intersect Townsite Drive will be constructed at East Drive, El Pico Court, Avenida De Benito Juarez, and Wellpott Place.
The final signing and striping will include bike lanes, sharrows, and high visibility crosswalks to improve mobility, visibility, and safety.
On N. Santa Fe Ave between W. Orange Street and Bobier Drive, the project will upgrade 10 existing bus stops by constructing new bus shelters and replacing the bus stop sidewalk area to meet ADA requirements. This should provide more comfortable facilities by protecting residents from the elements as they wait for the bus.
Finally, two mid-block pedestrian traffic signals will be installed. The first will be installed 300 feet south of the ARCO gas station, and the second just north of Nevada Ave. The signals will shorten the distance to a safe signalized crossing on these long city blocks. This will provide a more convenient and safer crossing locations along this busy arterial street allowing additional connectivity between Vista Academy, shopping centers, and residential areas.
Work on this project is expected to begin in May 2023 and completed in the summer of 2024.
Take the Mother’s Day Is Sweet Challenge and Win!
Take our returning challenge to shop, eat and play local for Mother’s Day — the Mother’s Day Is Sweet Challenge!
Register and download our scavenger hunt mobile app. Then visit Oceanside businesses during Mothers Day Is Sweet on May 6 through Mother’s Day, May 14, for a chance to win the prizes below! While a Mother’s Day Is Sweet ticket purchase is not required to play, we’ll have special missions during the event, including a flower crown photo op. The first 100 moms to check in at Mother’s Day Is Sweet next Saturday will receive a Flowers by Azalea flower crown!
Register by Wednesday, May 3, and we’ll enter you to win a free Mother’s Day Is Sweet family pack of four tickets.