At the MainStreet Oceanside Monthly Morning Meeting, Michelle Geller, Economic Development Manager, announced there would be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the garage that afternoon, and later in the day, a city press release confirmed that the six-level garage indeed was open. Parking will cost $3 for two hours or $5 for all day. No overnight parking will be allowed. Kathy Hamman, MainStreet Office Manager, also noted that no parking passes will be accepted. MainStreet’s Cathy Nykiel warned that motorists must remember their license-plate numbers because they are part of the payment process.
A 52-unit apartment complex called SALT wraps around the parking structure. SALT also boasts a new restaurant, Carte Blanche Owners, Chuck Ross and his son, Ryan, attended the meeting.
Ryan Ross said the restaurant, opening in February, will reflect the French influence in Mexican cuisine. He said he grew up in North County, the entire staff is excited to be here, and he promised the restaurant menu, appearance and service will “blow away the local community.”
There was no special speaker at the meeting, and the general discussion ranged from the railroad quiet zone, also long-awaited, to the problems of homelessness.
In answer to a question about when the quiet zones would become effective, Geller said that the city has completed all work required by the Federal Railroad Administration, but, from the audience, Dick Bartlett, who lives in the area, said there is one additional task still to be completed: to fence off current access onto the gravel rail bed from the northern end of the platform at Oceanside Transit Center.
Improvements at Oceanside rail-and-road intersections means train engineers are not required to sound the vehicle’s horns, but Wright reminded us that train engineers still “have the right to blow the horn – no matter what” and with all the activity downtown, he has the feeling that will happen often. Geller estimated a late February date for the Quiet Zone implementation.
Nudged by the audience, City Councilman Christopher Rodriguez spoke for a while about the issues of homelessness. He said “2020 is going to be a year of less talk and more action.”
Rodriguez said, “A lot will be done about the homeless, including “major, major policies” at the Council level. North County has done less, because of bureaucracy, but “those days are over for Oceanside.” He spoke of everything from providing prepaid transportation to return to their families, to new housing initiatives, noting the lack of affordable housing locally and throughout the state. Less than 220 affordable housing units have been built in Oceanside the past few years.” “Nonprofit organizations have to get involved,” he said, “and developers have to start seeking tax credits now. It’s easier for cities like San Francisco to establish their “political will”, but, we’re going to make some policy changes and establish rules to follow.”
Rodriguez suggested the city take a “silent second” mortgage with zero interest in some cases to facilitate the purchase of new homes by low-income families. He said, “Now there can be a 10-year-wait in the city for affordable housing, and warned that seniors in mobile-home parks, now protected by rent control, could face difficulties as landowners increasingly want to develop their property for other uses.”
Wright said there are a lot of other issues in homelessness besides affordable housing. Rodriguez agreed, saying “since 2014, homeless numbers have skyrocketed.” For one thing, he noted, drug use is no longer a felony and “8 of 10” homeless do not want help. It can’t be required, he said, because it’s not against the law to be homeless so that the many people who want to help “have to be really creative.” Wright agreed that formerly, many dysfunctional people were in jail, not on the streets.
On another matter, Rodriguez endorsed this fall’s experiment with a type of downtown shuttle transit, and Wright said he and Gumaro Escarcega, MainStreet Program Manager, noted the economic benefits of a streetcar system when visiting Kansas City. Wright said he would have liked more data on the economic impact of the shuttle, which ran for only six weeks, but is being evaluated. Wright said local businesses felt a positive impact from the service.
In other business:
— Nykiel said the Sunset Market had a great month, with a lot of volunteer help. She said local Authors’ Night at the market will run from 5 to 8 p.m. on Jan. 16 and the popular Public Safety Night is scheduled for the same time period on Feb. 6th. “It’s a good time to come out and thank the city’s first responders”, Nykiel said.
Also, Nykiel said, the committee for the annual Independence Parade is gearing up this month. A hundred volunteers are needed for the parade itself, she said, but there’s plenty of work to do in the meantime.
— Escarcega showed pictures of Holiday Giving Tree recipients – one for 3-5-year-olds at Balderrama Park and one for 12-14-year-olds in Crown Heights. Escarcega was dressed as Santa at both.
— Hamman announced a program at 6 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Junior Seau Amphitheatre to celebrate California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) championships by both the Oceanside and El Camino High School football teams.
— Wright said Oceanside was selected as a Shop Local Neighborhood Innovator by American Express – one of only 15 MainStreet communities in the country so honored.
— Linda Piña from Carla and Linda’s Walking Food Tours said it will celebrate its fourth anniversary next month and has found a clientele ranging from generation to generation. Piña said they’d like to repeat their first tour, as an anniversary event.
— Terry Woods, from the North County Daily Star online newspaper, reported that a pair – Darren Smith and Jack Cronin – from the AM600 “not Sports” radio show is interviewing all the Mayors in the county and, on the half-hour podcast, Mayor Peter Weiss, “did a great job for Oceanside.” The interview is available on their website,
— Christina Ortega and Elizabeth Roby from Oceanside American Little League baseball passed out flyers seeking sponsors. Roby noted that the local organization, founded in 1953, went to the Little League World Series in 2001 (Trevor Cahill, a pitcher on that team, has played in the major leagues for the past decade). “Numbers have slowly declined,” Roby said. “Signups have lagged, in part because the fields on which the team plays (Ron Ortega Park) is a bit hidden from view, and I hope to turn registration around this year. It runs from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the park.”
— Janene Shepard, aide to City Councilman Ryan Keim, invited people to attend a meeting of the coastal program project team studying tides at 8 a.m. Friday at Buccaneer Beach.
— Visit Oceanside will sponsor a Tourism Council meeting at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 21st at the Veterans Association of North County, 1617 Mission Ave.
— Wright noted there will be a Blood Drive at the Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 30th. Appointments are available by visiting the Blood Bank website at mysdbb.org/schedule. Drop-ins are also welcome. There will be a PBID Formation Workshop for downtown property owners from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12th.
The next Morning Meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 4th at the MainStreet Office, 701 Mission Ave.
