Controversial two-term Republican Escondido Mayor Sam Abed has drawn a formidable opponent in the form of retired Marine Corps Col. Paul “Mac” McNamara. “I’m running for Mayor of Escondido because I believe we can get Escondido back on track,” McNamara said. “As a retired Marine Colonel, and a private sector executive who turned around struggling businesses, I know how to manage large organizations and get…
Two hot-button Escondido issues got all pumped up Tuesday, Nov. 28 as opponents of the controversial Escondido City Council decision to privatize the public library filed suit to stop the plans while the ATF was continuing to investigate last week’s suspicious fire at the abandoned Escondido Country Club clubhouse. Legal shoe drops on Abed’s library privatization effort Despite mass protests by residents, the Escondido City…
In a bizarre, and weirdly coincidental incident early Wednesday, the abandoned clubhouse at the embattled, highly controversial, Escondido Country Club burned to the ground. Karma, natural disaster, accident or even arson, the shuttered clubhouse at the property that has been the center of years of development controversy burned, baby, burned to the ground beginning just before 5:30 a.m., Escondido fire Battalion Chief Art Holcomb said. The…
As per her usual interest in Escondido city government on behalf of the residents of the city that table grape vines left behind, “A Blue View for Escondido” citizen watchdog Margaret McCown Liles takes you to the scene of the latest flareup of civic consternation. For more visit Liles’ blog and kudos as usual…. Mayor Sam Abed’s Town Hall had a pretty good turnout on May 17….
Golf ghosts. From Poway to San Ramon, the legacy of Escondido Country Club played through this week. Not coincidentally, the controversial Michael Schlesinger was at the center of the storm(s). Schlesinger bought Poway’s bankrupt StoneRidge Country Club in December. He wants to poll residents about allowing him to develop some of the property. Schlesinger proposes giving the golf course and perhaps other features to the…
So, it seems the Escondido Country Club saga has a new chapter, with New Urban West the protagonist who will come to the aide of the golf course in distress. Last October the City Council had settled their lawsuit with Stuck in the Rough (SITR). Their settlement included the provision that while SITR would remain the owner of the golf course, another developer “will act as…
Escondido Country Club & Community Homeowner Association members appeared this month to be on board and in approval of the recently announced agreement to have a new developer take the lead in the controversial redevelopment of the 110-acre property. “ECCHO’S Board of Directors recently learned that New Urban West, a respected community developer, entered into an agreement with Michael Schlesinger and Stuck in the Rough…
Escondido Public Library’s Holiday Food for Fines Program Begins Maybe you’re not quite like Jerry Seinfeld who faced 20 years of library fines for not having returned Tropic of Cancer to the New York Public Library. However, you got this overdue book fine and got to make good….So? If it’s less than $20, you can dismiss the fine and maybe do some good by way…
With each side spinning a victorious tale Wednesday, a long-simmering and sometimes outright smelly dispute over the re-development of the once-proud Escondido Golf Course property seems to have been settled. Controversial property owner of said former 110-acre golf course site, Stuck in the Rough, L.L.C. reached and agreement with the Escondido City Council to drop its lawsuit against the city over the property’s zoning. Stuck…