Conflicting special election cost estimates and private lobbying of council members are just two of the lingering questions pertaining to the San Marcos City Council’s decision to appoint a new member for a 2-year term rather than allow voters to decide. After a final Thursday count, City Clerk Phil Scollick had received 24 – count ’em, 24 — applications in various stages of completion. Applicants…
ESCONDIDO, CA. — Stop if you’ve heard this one before: Escondido city manager suddenly, and without warning, resigns. Clay Phillips, the last city manager, pulled that act almost exactly one year ago. He left office on Dec. 18, 2015. His successor, his former assistant, and city manager this year, Graham Mitchell pulled the same plug on Friday afternoon. “After serious reflection and for personal reasons,…
Escondido Mayor, and San Diego County District 3 Supervisor candidate Sam Abed may have gone to his 11th Town Hall meeting looking for a boost Wednesday. All he apparently got was a lengthy brow-beating and not even a lousy T-shirt. Who knows what the Republican mayor believed would come out of this exercise in listening to his constituents. A room packed with residents from the Chaparral…
Escondido Mayor Sam Abed looked over all he had made and saw that it was very good during his State of the City Address. Those sentiments, and presentations of eight civic awards arose at sunrise Wednesday, Feb. 24 at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido Conference Center. Co-sponsored by the Escondido Chamber of Commerce, the event began at 7:30 a.m. with an optional $20…
San Marcos officials today were encouraging residents to get involved and make a difference in their community by applying for open positions on several city commissions and committees. Openings exist on the Community Services Commission, Planning Commission, San Marcos Community Foundation, Student and Neighborhood Relations Committee and Traffic Commission. The deadline to apply for each of these openings is 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec, 22. Appointments…
‘That means 10 more years for the Escondido Research and Technology Center. Let’s hope it develops businesses a little more high tech than a hospital, a power plant, and a brewery.’ Things were pretty mundane for most of Wednesday’s (Nov. 4) Escondido City Council meeting. Everyone had a positive view of Westfield North County’s plans to build a theater complex. Well, Councilman Ed Gallo had…
Former Escondido Police Chief’s Jim Maher’s contentious employment end game finished in a swirl of controversy in 2012 that just got curiouser and curiouser on Monday. Maher had filed a breach-of-contract suit last year contending he was owed $75,000 of a negotiated $150,000 job buyout. On Monday, his attorney told a reporter that the suit had been dropped. Rick Pinckard, Maher’s current attorney — Robert…
Just ahead of a pension vestment that pays him over $200,000 annually, Escondido City Manager Clay Phillips, 58, suddenly resigned on Wednesday. Coincidentally, Phillips’ 3-year city manager contract that made him the highest paid city manager in San Diego County was set to expire next year. Dec, 18 would be his last day on the job, Phillips said. It was unclear if the pension and…