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Well, here is my last update of 2022 – number 51, but who’s counting?
Speaking of numbers, at this time of year we tend to see lots of top 10 and “best of” lists making the rounds, reflecting on major milestones and accomplishments. Today I will share some of the city’s along with these updates:
- More traffic safety projects ready for public review
- A new e-bike in the family? Read this first
- Major goal achieved for city homeless program
- Understanding crime data
- City budget gets (inter)national recognition
- Drought update and a peek at a neighbor’s yard
- Show off Carlsbad nature to your out-of-town guests
- Everything you need for a safe, sustainable holiday
- A big thank you, from me to you
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A year in review
In 2022, the City Council created its first ever 5-Year Strategic Plan. I know plans can sound boring, and too many get put on a shelf to collect dust. This plan was created to be the exact opposite, on both fronts. It is top of mind when I look back on the year for several reasons:
Built on community values: The City Council started its planning process with the Carlsbad Community Vision, a set of nine core values important to our future quality of life. From those nine, they focused on five key areas: quality of life and safety, community character, environmental sustainability, economic vitality, and organizational excellence and fiscal health.
Early and meaningful input: The planning process kicked off with the launch of a new online public engagement portal, a reflection of the City Council’s goal of getting early and meaningful input from the community on issues affecting their lives. We received thousands of comments and ideas, which you can see directly reflected in the final plan.
Actionable and measurable: While the strategic plan establishes visionary goals, it was designed with built-in accountability to turn these goals into measurable actions. Each year’s city budget now doubles as the strategic plan’s implementation roadmap, with specific programs and actions identified along with how they will be funded and measured.
This plan is the final piece of a transition many years in the making. Carlsbad is entering a new stage of life, where the focus is shifting from building a great city to maintaining what has been created. When cities enter this stage, their needs tend to change along with their sources of funding. The City Council’s 5-Year Strategic Plan aligns the big picture vision from our community with the city’s day-to-day core services and annual budget priorities.
Carlsbad top 20
You can see this alignment in action when reviewing some of the major milestones and accomplishments from the past 12 months. These are not in any particular order, and this certainly isn’t everything, but I think it gives you an idea of what we’ve been up to.
- Named Top 10 digital city nationwide
- Won Award of Excellence for our annual budget and comprehensive financial report
- Launched a new job readiness room as part of a regional economic development partnership
- Completed the rebuilding of Fire Station 2 and secured a site for a new temporary fire station along the coast
- Opened Carlsbad’s third dog park at Poinsettia Community Park and an expansion of Calavera Hills Community Park
- Developed a new program to encourage preservation of historic properties
- Launched several new environmental sustainability initiatives including organics recycling and reducing single-use plastics
- Celebrated the first year of the Clean Energy Alliance, providing more renewable energy choices to our residents and businesses
- Launched a new home energy assessment program
- Won several awards for public engagement and communication, including e-bike safety public service announcements and our housing plan community input process
- Transitioned 62 people experiencing homelessness in Carlsbad to permanent housing
- Secured funding for the expansion of our only homeless shelter to provide more services and meet the needs of women and families
- Developed a cost-effective option to replace our aging City Hall
- Became the first city in the region to pass catalytic converter laws, addressing an alarming trend in thefts
- Launched a citizens committee to kick off an update to our award-winning growth management plan
- Worked with the community to develop updated design standards for the Village and Barrio
- Won a Golden Watchdog award from the San Diego County Taxpayers Association for creating a digital resource to protect our lagoons and ocean from polluted runoff
- Completed the master plan for Veterans Memorial Park, which will be unlike any other park in Carlsbad, offering sweeping ocean views, spaces for quiet contemplation, a nature inspired playground, our first bike track and more
- Became the first city in the region to pass laws specific to e-bikes, allowing our Police Department to more effectively address reckless and unsafe riding
- Declared a local traffic safety emergency and mobilized city resources for increased public education, dozens of road projects and increased enforcement
Related information
Strategic plan
Community vision
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More traffic safety projects proceeding
The Traffic & Mobility Commission will kick off the New Year with several important items on the Jan. 3 agenda:
- Criteria for how transportation projects should be prioritized for implementation
- Reconfiguring El Fuerte Street from Faraday to Loker from five vehicle lanes to three, while making more room for people biking and walking to and from work and Bressi Ranch.
- Restriping major east-west corridors to create more space for walking and biking.
- Semiannual update on all city transportation projects, including an update on projects related to the traffic safety emergency.
City boards and commissions provide an opportunity for community members to learn about projects and provide input before they go to City Council.
The agenda will be available online by Friday, Dec. 30. You are welcome to email your comments before the meeting or provide comments in person. You can also watch the meeting on the city’s website livestream. Instructions for all will be on the agenda.
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A new e-bike in the family? Read this first
Is a new bike or e-bike in your family’s future this holiday season? Before heading out, be sure riders know how to be safe and legal:
Getting ready
- Chose routes with bike lanes when possible.
- If you’re riding at night, use front and rear lights.
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Always wear a well-fitting helmet, even if you’re just headed out around your own neighborhood. The city was proud to partner with Scripps Health on this video showing how to make sure your helmet fits properly. Scripps sees many tragic injuries in the emergency room that could have been prevented by proper helmet use.
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On the road
- Ride in the same direction as traffic and stay in the bike lane if one is available.
- Follow all traffic signs and signals. Come to a complete stop at red lights and stop signs.
- Stow your phone and any other distractions.
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If you’re riding an e-bike, be sure to follow the Carlsbad-specific rules for e-bike safety. You can even print out this special holiday edition and wrap it up with the new bike.
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City secures grant to help expand Carlsbad’s only homeless shelter
The City of Carlsbad has secured a $2 million grant from the County of San Diego to expand Carlsbad’s only homeless shelter to be able to serve women and those with children for the first time in the shelter’s 30-year history.
- The La Posada de Guadalupe emergency shelter is operated by the nonprofit Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego through a long-running partnership with the city.
- It opened in the early 1990s to provide a place where migrant farmworkers could find safe shelter. The city helped identify a location for the shelter and contributed money to help develop and operate it.
- Over the years, the city has continued to support the shelter through a federal grant program the city administers.
- The shelter provides medical screenings, drug and alcohol counseling, language instruction, money management classes and other tools to help shelter residents find jobs and permanent housing.
- In May 2022, the City Council approved a separate grant to allow the shelter to hire two more staff with clinical expertise. This will allow the shelter to expand some of its services even before the new space is complete.
- Construction on the second-floor expansion is expected to begin next year.
Many thanks to the County of San Diego for awarding Carlsbad this grant. It will make a significant difference in our overall efforts to reduce homelessness in our city.
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Understanding crime data
A recent USAFacts.org article reported inaccurate information about property crime in Carlsbad, causing some understandable concern in the community. (The article has since been corrected). While this instance appears to be a case of bad data, understanding crime statistics and comparisons among cities can be difficult.
Different levels of service
Crime statistics come from crime reports submitted by law enforcement agencies. The Carlsbad Police Department takes a “No call is too small” approach to serving our community. This means Carlsbad officers may respond to and document more calls for service than other jurisdictions. As a result, Carlsbad may have a higher number of crime reports compared to surrounding cities while not actually having a higher incidence of crime.
Different sources
It can also be confusing to know what source to look to for accurate data. Here are three:
FBI: Since 1930, participating local, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies have voluntarily provided the crime statistics to the federal government through the Uniform Crime Reporting Program. The FBI manages this program and releases the statistics to the public.
SANDAG: The San Diego Association of Governments further analyzes this crime data and releases its findings through a separate report.
ARJIS: The Automated Regional Justice Information System includes more than 60 local, state and federal agencies throughout San Diego and Imperial counties. ARJIS data can be accessed by public safety personnel. ARJIS makes crime maps available to the public as well.
All these data sets are intended to inform law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve of crime statistics, with the goal of preventing crime.
Related information
FBI crime data
SANDAG crime data
How to prevent crime
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City budget gets (inter)national recognition
This week, the City of Carlsbad once again earned a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. This is the 16th consecutive year the city has received the award and the 21st time overall.
- This latest honor is for our fiscal year 2022-23 budget, which city staff prepared and the City Council approved in June.
- To qualify for the award, a government agency must meet nationally recognized guidelines, including creating a budget that serves as a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide and a communication tool.
I know the topic of city finances isn’t for everyone, but I do encourage you to take a look at the city budget sometime. It provides a comprehensive overview of where our money comes from and how it will be spent. Every year we work to make the document even easier to read, using plain language and graphics. It’s an important part of our commitment to transparency and community engagement.
Great job to our city finance team and staff in all departments who work so hard each year to develop the budget.
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An update on the statewide drought
December rains provided some relief, but California is still experiencing an historic drought. You may have seen in the news that the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California declared a drought emergency last week.
- The Metropolitan Water District provides water to the San Diego County Water Authority, which, in turn, distributes it to cities like Carlsbad.
- It’s too early to know if mandatory requirements may affect our region, but we are of course closely monitoring the situation.
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One reason we may avoid mandatory cutbacks is the significant investment our region has made in developing locally controlled sources of water, which makes us less dependent on water from the MWD.
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However, in our climate, water conservation is always going to be very important, which is why we are asking all Carlsbad residents to look for ways to make permanent changes that reduce water use. This could be swapping out old appliances with more efficient ones, installing pressure flow regulators on faucets or investing in a smart irrigation system. Find more resources to save water.
How your neighbors conserve
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During the last major drought we launched Carlsbad Conserves, a program to encourage water wise landscaping. In fact, you can still see Carlsbad Conserves yard signs around town from that campaign.
Well, we’ve brought it back and are now recognizing a new crop of residents who want to show off their water-wise gardens (yes, pun intended – just a little “last update of the year” humor).
Watch how this Carlsbad couple reduced water use by more than one-third by transforming their landscape to include:
- California sagebrush
- White sage
- Verbena
BeWaterWise.com has a lengthy list of more drought tolerant, native plants, along with tips to help these plants thrive.
If you have a drought tolerant front yard, stop by any of our three Carlsbad City Library locations to pick up a Carlsbad Conserves yard sign. And if you want to show off your green thumb help inspire other residents, email us and you may be the star of our next video!
P.S. The popular water conservation calendars are back for 2023, featuring illustrations of drought tolerant plants by North County students. Pick up a calendar while supplies last.
- All 3 Carlsbad libraries
- City Hall
- Pine Community Center
- Senior Center
- Kruger House (at Holiday Park)
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News of another neighbor, this one with feathers | |
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One of the fun things about living in Carlsbad is showing off our city to out-of-town friends and family. If you’re entertaining guests over the holidays, wow them with your ornithological knowledge by sharing these fun facts about the snowy plover.
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This cute little guy is one of the many threatened species that the City of Carlsbad is helping to preserve through our Habitat Management Plan.
- The western snowy plover is a small shorebird, about the size of a sparrow, that breeds from Texas and Oklahoma west to California and up the coastline to Oregon and Washington.
- In 1993, it was listed as a threatened species. Its habitats in California, Oregon and Washington have been listed as critical.
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The City of Carlsbad’s Habitat Management Plan was created to guide sustainable development and permanently protect 47 rare plant and animal species like the snowy plover within the city.
- Since the plan was adopted in 2004, 6,195 acres of natural land have been preserved as habitat for plants and wildlife.
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Carlsbad has 67 miles of city trails and 51 miles of open-space trails where you can observe some of these protected species. (One of the best places to see the snowy plover is the Batiquitos Lagoon Trail.)
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To plan your hike – including where to park, degree of difficulty and what wildlife you might see along the way – use our GoHike Carlsbad app.
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Everything you need for a safe and sustainable holiday
I have been sharing lots of tips and resources to help you have a safe and sustainable holiday season. In case you missed any, here is a recap, along with links for all the details:
And finally, here is our holiday city service schedule. Note that there is no delay in trash pick-up following the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
That about wraps things up for our 51st edition of 2022. I want to sincerely thank you for reading these updates throughout the year and encouraging your friends and family to also follow along. I truly believe that Carlsbad is a very special place, and that starts with having an engaged and caring community.
Please accept my warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday, and I look forward to returning with the latest updates and news the first week of the New Year.
Scott Chadwick
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CarlsbadConnects app is an easy way to report things that need repair or attention around town, like potholes, sidewalk cracks, traffic light outages, graffiti and code enforcement issues. Submit service requests anonymously or create a free account where you can track progress and see what other people have reported.
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