Del Mar OKs California 10/20 By Bianca Kaplanek
DEL MAR — The California 10/20 race through Del Mar, Solana Beach and Encinitas is on the mark to get set and go Feb. 16, 2014, a year later than originally planned but on a date that gives organizers more time to promote the event. Del Mar City Council agreed unanimously at the Sept. 10 meeting to issue a permit for the race that will begin and end at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The course will take runners onto Jimmy Durante Boulevard going south. They’ll turn around at the fire station, then head west on Via de la Valle and go north on Coast Highway 101 until they reach Manchester Avenue in Encinitas. They’ll turn around at the Cardiff Kook statue and return along the same path, entering the fairgrounds at the Solana Gate on Via de la Valle. Peter Douglass, a former Encinitas resident and president of Turnkey Operations, has been working for several months to secure permits from the three cities for the 10-mile race that was originally slated for Feb. 17, 2013. Last month Solana Beach officials said they support the event but asked Douglass if he could put it off for a year because an approximately 2-mile stretch of Highway 101 is currently undergoing major construction that won’t be complete until September or October of 2013. “We obviously don’t want to highlight a city or an area that’s under construction,” said Douglass, who agreed to delay the event a few days after that meeting. The route will include 20 stages, about a half mile apart, with “smaller clubtype bands … primarily there for the entertainment of the runners,” Douglass said. The music will start at about 7:30 a.m. Each band will play for about 45 minutes, starting as the first runner approaches and stopping when the last one goes by. The music will be amplified but only out about 200 feet, or the length of half a foot-
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ball field, he said. The race will be similar to the Austin 10/20, which is managed by Turnkey and held annually in Texas in April. Most recently it drew nearly 8,000 runners, with 10 percent from out of town and one-third who came from at least two hours away. More than 800 local hotel rooms were booked. Douglass said with the extra time to promote the California 10/20 he expects at least 10,000 participants, from Olympic-type runners to walkers. The event calls for temporary shut-downs of all roadways on the course. Del Mar council members had concerns about traffic impacts and the music, especially so early on a Sunday morning. Douglass said he is flexible and agreed to acoustic music on Jimmy Durante Boulevard. He said he will stage a demonstration of the bands before the event so city officials can hear how loud the music will be. “I think it’d be good for the community,” Councilman Mark Filanc said. “It kind of helps bring a little bit more life to town in the down time.” “There’s a lot of detail left to be filled in here,” Councilman Don Mosier said. “As long as we mitigate the sound and traffic impacts to the largest possible extent I think that’ll be fine. “ Turnkey has budgeted $30,000 to be split evenly between the three host cities for nonprofit organizations. Douglass asked council members for recommendations but they were hesitant to offer any suggestions. “That’s a tough one,” Filanc said. “I’m not touching that one. “We’re just asking that he cough up 10 grand to one of our favorite charities,” he said. “Let him pick which one is appropriate.” Douglass will re-present his plans with the new date to Solana Beach and Encinitas council meetings. Last month Encinitas authorized staff to continue working with Turnkey.
Groups weigh in on MiraCosta bond By Jared Whitlock
COAST CITIES — After 25 years of experience in the restaurant industry, Thomas Straight decided he wanted to go back to school to be an echocardiogram technician. Straight enrolled at MiraCosta in hopes of eventually transferring to Grossmont College next fall for a cardiovascular program. In order to do so, he needs to finish his current Biology 101 class and complete an anatomy class next spring. Getting that class, however, is anything but a sure bet, leaving Straight to wonder if he can enter the cardiovascular program when he planned. “From what I hear, that’s one of the harder classes to enroll in; there are so many people trying to sign up that there might not be a spot for me,” said Straight, who has already had a difficult time finding classes at MiraCosta and has to commute to the San Elijo campus from Vista. Due to a shortage of classrooms and labs, Straight’s story is typical of MiraCosta science students hoping to transfer to another program or a four-year university. School trustees said they had frustrated students in mind when they voted last month to place a $497 million bond on the November ballot that would fund renovations and new buildings throughout the school’s three campuses. But critics say the bond is a burden on residents during tough times. “When people are suffering, is it fair to ask for that much money?” asked Bob Bonde, president of the Encinitas Taxpayers Association. Bonde argued MiraCosta is parlaying an actual need for biology and chemistry labs into unnecessary campuswide improvements. “Instead of asking taxpayers for improvements as they need them, MiraCosta is going for the whole pie all at once,” Bonde said. Further, he questioned why MiraCosta prioritized constructing a concert hall and art center over science buildings during the last five years. According to Carlos Lopez, dean of mathematics, sciences and performing arts,
MiraCosta students take part in a biology lab, a difficult class for students to secure. School officials say new and updated facilities are the only way to reduce wait lists plaguing students. Photo by Jared Whitlock
there’s been a surge in demand for biology and chemistry classes in the last five years, largely explaining the shortage of science labs. Compared to other buildings, he said the science labs take longer to come online because they require added infrastructure like eye wash stations, extra plumbing, prep space and gas and electricity for each station. MiraCosta spokeswoman Cheryl Broom said science buildings are a priority, but said more facilities for other disciplines are also necessary to bring down the number of students on wait lists. More than half of the nearly 15,000 students at MiraCosta were placed on a wait list for at least one of their classes before the fall semester began. According to Broom, 906 out of 1,248 classes had a wait list the day before the fall semester. The top three wait listed classes were a biology lab with 591 students on the wait list, English 100 with 477 students on the wait list and elementary algebra with 296 students on the wait list. Broom pushed back against claims that MiraCosta is asking for more than it needs with the $497 million bond. “A lot of time was spent on assessing needs that went into a comprehensive master plan,” Broom said. “The bond wasn’t drawn up out of thin air.” She added that it would be more expensive and could take 50 to 70 years to complete the master plan if it was
broken up into parts and put on a ballot every two to four years. To finance the bond, property taxes in the school’s district would be raised an additional $20 per every $100,000 of a home’s assessed value for around 25 years. All told, including principal and interest, repayment is estimated to cost nearly $1 billion. Chris Cate, vice president of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, said the group is endorsing the bond because MiraCosta justified the cost with “ample planning” and the financing isn’t “exotic.” MiraCosta committed to using current interest bonds, not capital appreciation bonds, a big reason the San Diego County Taxpayers Association backed the bond, according to Cate. In recent years, some California school districts, including Poway, have passed high-interest capital appreciation bonds. In Poway’s case, for example, it will begin paying $807 million in interest in 2032 on a $105 million loan it
took out last year. Drawing criticism from many, the San Diego County Taxpayers Association supported that controversial school bond. But Cate argued the group was misled and will no longer back any capital appreciation bonds. He said MiraCosta’s bond is “nothing like what happened in Poway.” MiraCosta will pay back nearly two times what it borrowed over 25 years, which “isn’t extravagant” and “within a traditional loan,” Cate said. Gary Gonsalves, representing the group Stop Taxing Us, said MiraCosta is another example of a school district overreaching, referring to the San Dieguito and the Del Mar school districts also placing a bond on the November ballot. “We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem,” Gonsalves said. “These districts should learn to live within their means.” Gonsalves’ group and others against the bond are facing an uphill battle. MiraCosta needs 55 percent of voters to approve the bond. In July, a survey showed 65 percent of registered voters in favor of it. “We’ll be outspent by organizations that are for it, but we’ll keep fighting,” Gonsalves said.