Voters in District 1, rather than just three city council members, should decide who represents them on the Council. This is especially important as District 1 confronts developer efforts to build projects all over District 1 and beyond .
Remember the old drive in? The council will vote on whether to develop the former drive-in movie site off of Highway 76 into a tourist mall offering artificial surfing or into a high tech center creating the type of good paying jobs Oceanside needs. Oceanside has one of the lowest jobs to housing ratios in the county. This means we have don’t have enough local, good paying jobs in town. Converting that land to light industrial could solve that problem and also cause a great deal less traffic on an already overcrowded Highway 76.
And remember how hard we fought to make El Corazon parkland? This council is also considering expanding El Corazon’s commercial development rather than designating it permanently as a park. If they sell off parcels of land, there is no revenue stream as was planned to finance park improvements. This was supposed to be the Peoples Park, not the Developers From Out of Town Park.
And remember North River housing development that was defeated by huge numbers of voters? It was the very definition of sprawl and horrible planning, There is absolutely nothing stopping another develope or Integral itself from trying to convert farmland into sprawl housing. Integral will surely be back! The Council also needs rational solutions to retain sand on our beaches and make real efforts at solving homeless issues.
Elected representatives should be voted on and be accountable to the people they serve. In March the City voters overwhelmingly voted to elect our treasurer and clerk. The same should be done for the District 1 seat.
District 1 needs a strong, independent voice to ensure our voices are heard.
Email the city council at council@oceansideca.org. Tell them you absolutely support an election for the District 1 seat.
Nadine Scott, District 1 resident/voter/community advocate