Local Government News

June 26, 2010
Retiring city manager to be hired back on contract basis

By Tanya Mannes
San Diego Union-Tribune

ENCINITAS - The Encinitas City Council will hire back retiring City Manager
Phil Cotton on a contract until a permanent replacement is found. The amount
of his compensation will be discussed at a future meeting. Mayor Dan Dalager
said the council hopes to hire someone permanently after the November
election in which he and Councilwoman Teresa Barth are up for re-election.
Cotton will still officially retire July 6.

April 28, 2010
It's a sad day for Happy Meals in Santa Clara County

By Sharon Bernstein
Los Angeles Times

Happy Meal toys and other promotions that come with high-calorie children's meals will soon be banned in parts of Santa Clara County unless the restaurants meet nutritional guidelines approved Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors.

April 24, 2010
Cities feeling the pinch

By Richard Simon
Los Angeles Times

Local governments are laying off workers and cutting services while hoping for federal aid.

October 26, 2009
Court says cities have the right to bar telecommunications towers

By Carol J. Williams
Los Angeles Times

Palos Verdes Estates wins its case against Sprint, citing visual blight in rejecting plans for two structures.

September 22, 2009
San Jose council votes to ban most plastic and paper bags beginning in 2011

By Tracy Seipel
San Jose Mercury News

The San Jose City Council on Tuesday voted to make the city the largest in
the nation to ban most plastic and paper shopping bags - and took steps to
bring other Santa Clara County cities along with them.

September 16, 2009
Report: Slower recovery in state
UCLA forecast sees ‘little or no growth’ exceptions

By Thomas Kupper
UNION-TRIBUNE

The widely followed UCLA Anderson Forecast says California's economy will recover more slowly than the rest of the nation's because of the sorry fiscal condition of state and local governments here.

September 15, 2009
Smoking banned at county parks, with some exceptions

Daily News

The Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to prohibit smoking in county parks, with some exceptions.

July 27, 2009
EPA looks at effects of waste plants on minorities, poor

Los Angeles Times

The agency is reviving a Clinton-era executive order that required federal
agencies to consider the effect of their policies on disadvantaged
communities.

July 24, 2009
MTA changes course, opening carpool lanes to solo drivers -- for a fee

By Dan Weikel
Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Thursday set the tolls that for the first time will allow solo motorists to drive in carpool lanes on two of the region's most congested freeways. Los Angeles' first experiment with so-called congestion-based pricing is slated to begin in late 2010 or early 2011.

July 22, 2009
Oakland voters approve a tax on medical marijuana
Oakland voters resoundingly approved a tax increase on medical marijuana
Tuesday evening, the first such tax of its kind in the nation.

July 17, 2009
L.A. weighs plan to replace computer software with Google service
Frustrated by a slow and antiquated computer system, the city of Los Angeles is weighing a plan to replace its e-mail and records retention software with a service provided by Google, a move that could allow the Internet giant to retain sensitive records transmitted by the police and other municipal agencies.

December 20, 2008
Donald Trump files $100-million lawsuit against Rancho Palos Verdes
Real estate mogul alleges the city is trying 'to stymie everything I do.' City officials and some residents say Trump 'feels rules aren't made for him.'

October 21, 2008
In Seal Beach, change versus charm on the ballot
Measure Z pits those who want to preserve the throwback look of the city's Old Town against those who argue for property rights and progress in the form of development.

October 12, 2008
Tourist tax would pay for sand replacement
ENCINITAS - Encinitas residents on Nov. 4 will have a second chance to vote on a measure that would tax tourists to replace beach sand lost to erosion.

City to regulate surf camps
ENCINITAS --- Beginning surfers won't be clogging the waves and sand along
Encinitas beaches next summer under a new law regulating surf camps that was
enacted by the City Council last week.

October 8, 2008
City limits ground-floor space downtown
ENCINITAS ---- The Encinitas City Council adopted an ordinance Wednesday
night limiting ground-floor uses along nine blocks of South Coast Highway
101 to retail and what it called pedestrian-friendly services.

September 24, 2008
Council puts sidewalk dining on the menu
ENCINITAS ---- The Encinitas City Council moved closer to hammering out a
policy for sidewalk dining Wednesday night, saying it would be open to an
ordinance that included a simple, even-handed permitting process.

September 3, 2008
Coronado puts off decision on Hotel Del expansion plans
CORONADO - The City Council has requested more time to consider changes to proposed expansion plans for the historic Hotel del Coronado.