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We may have a short week due to the Veterans Day holiday, but there is no shortage of news to share, including the latest on two of the City Council’s top priorities, plus other important updates:

• Making Carlsbad a more environmentally sustainable city
• New state grant gives a boost to our traffic safety efforts
• City construction projects near you
• Tracing your family’s roots with new genealogy tool
• Celebrating Native American Heritage Month
• Meet artist Kelsey Overstreet at Pop-up Art event
• Veterans Day city service schedule
• What’s on the agenda for your next City Council meeting
• A very special tribute to the veterans of #TeamCarlsbad

Making Carlsbad a more environmentally sustainable city

We’ve been talking a lot about the importance of reducing speeding, which is the number one cause of injury collisions in Carlsbad. Aside from improving traffic safety, reducing speeding also lowers greenhouse gas emissions from cars, which are by far the largest source of GHGs in Carlsbad.

Reducing GHGs was the topic of a presentation to the City Council Tuesday, as we near the completion of our Climate Action Plan update. Environmental sustainability is one of five major goals in the City Council’s 5-Year Strategic Plan, and the updated Climate Action Plan is a key part of reaching that goal.

• Climate action plans are roadmaps that outline specific activities that a government agency will undertake to reduce GHGs.
• In 2015, Carlsbad became one of the region’s first cities to develop a Climate Action Plan with measurable goals.
• We have already exceeded the original target in the 2015 plan, which was to reduce GHGs to 1990 levels by 2020.
• We are updating the plan based on the latest information about the amount of GHG emissions generated by different sources in Carlsbad. This is called our “GHG inventory.”
• The updated Climate Action Plan will help Carlsbad meet the state’s latest goal, which is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to at least:
• 40% below the 1990 levels by 2030 and
• 85% below 1990 levels by 2045

We have developed a summary of the 22 proposed actions the city can take and invite your feedback through this online survey through Nov. 17.

The full Climate Action Plan update is on track to be ready for public review in mid-2024.

You can stay current on the Climate Action Plan update and other environmental sustainability efforts by signing up for email updates.

Are you recycling right?

There are a lot of ways we can help support Carlsbad’s environmental sustainability, including simple actions we take at home every day.

Next Wednesday is America Recycles Day, which is the perfect time to check in on how Carlsbad is doing on our recycling goals.

Carlsbad residents are currently recycling more than half (56%) of their total waste:

• 37 percent is recycled through the organics recycling program that turns food and yard waste into compost and mulch.
• 19 percent of residential waste is kept out of the landfill through recycling paper, plastic, glass and metal in the blue bins.

Fun facts and quick tips

•  If you can poke your finger through plastic, it’s probably not recyclable.
• Not sure what goes in the green bin? “If it grows, it throws,” meaning anything that was at one time alive can go in the green bin, including paper products with food residue, like pizza boxes.
• If you have too many cardboard boxes to fit in your bin, you can simply flatten them and stack them alongside your bin, as long as the flattened size is no larger than 2 feet by 3 feet.
• You can put used batteries in a Ziploc bag and put them on top of your blue cart on trash day.
• If items in your blue bin have food or other residue, they can’t be recycled and might contaminate other items in your bin. Please rinse items out first.
• Check the sticker on the lid of your waste bin or watch a quick video to make sure you know what goes where.

Learn more about how to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Shred old documents at our upcoming event

In the spirit of recycling, the city is offering another opportunity for residents to shred and recycle sensitive documents. Our registration page lists the available timeslots.

Shred and Recycle It!

Saturday, Nov. 18

9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Carlsbad location provided upon registration

Sign up online

There is no charge because fees residents and businesses pay for trash service cover the cost.

New grant boosts our traffic safety efforts

Our Safer Streets Together program caught the attention of the California Office of Traffic Safety, which awarded the city a $200,000 grant to support our ongoing enforcement and education efforts.

Our Carlsbad Police Department will use the grant to fund more:

• DUI checkpoints and patrols 
• Enforcement operations to crack down on distracted driving (i.e., drivers looking at their cell phones)
• Enforcement operations focused on violations that cause the most crashes, such as speeding and running stop signs
• Community education on traffic safety issues (More bike and e-bike safety classes are set for Dec. 9.)
• Collaborative enforcement efforts with neighboring agencies

City construction projects near you

As I mentioned last week, you can now find information about major city construction projects along with a map of where the work is happening, updated weekly on the city’s website. Check the map to plan ahead and avoid areas where road work might cause traffic delays. 

Remember, the map shows major city construction projects that are planned. Utilities not run by the city, like electric and cable companies, also do construction on city streets, as do some private developers. 

Acclaimed genealogy program right here in Carlsbad

With Thanksgiving around the corner, you may be planning to reunite with family near and far. If you’ve ever been curious about your family roots, Cole Library recently became a member of FamilySearch, a unique online tool explained in this video. 

Cole Library is already home to one of the largest genealogy collections in Southern California, and this new tool makes it even more robust.

To help you get started, we have a beginner’s class on genealogy research on Saturday. No registration required.

Introduction to genealogy class

Saturday, Nov. 11

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Cole Library community room

1250 Carlsbad Village Drive

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month and on Tuesday the Carlsbad City Council issued a proclamation recognizing the history, culture and contributions of Native Americans, including recognizing the Luiseño and the Kumeyaay communities as the original stewards of the land here in Carlsbad.

You can learn more about Native American history, stories and culture at our libraries, which have put together book recommendations in honor of this special month.

Meet artist Kelsey Overstreet at Pop-up event Saturday

If you’re feeling creative this weekend, come meet artist Kelsey Overstreet and make your own art at a hands on event inspired by “Dual Visions,” our latest exhibition at the Cannon Art Gallery.

Pop-Up Art with Kelsey Overstreet

Saturday, Nov. 11

Noon to 2 p.m. 

Cannon Art Gallery

1775 Dove Lane 

The exhibition, which runs through Dec. 16, features abstract art by Overstreet and artist Sijia Chen.

Kelsey explains what inspires her art in this video:

Veterans Day city service schedule

Veterans Day is Saturday, Nov. 11, and city offices will be closed, Friday, Nov. 10, in honor of the holiday. 

Trash pickup: Normal schedule

City offices: Closed

Emergency services: Regular service

Alga Norte Aquatic Center: Closed

Monroe Street Pool (closed for maintenance through mid-to-late November)

City libraries: Closed

Cannon Art Gallery: Closed

City sculpture garden: Closed

Community centers: Closed

Senior Center: Closed

Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park: Closed

No street sweeping on Friday

Transit: Please visit gonctd.com or call 5-1-1

What’s on the agenda for your next City Council meeting

The next City Council meeting will take place Tuesday, Nov. 14, starting at 5 p.m. in the City Council Chamber. A link to the full agenda and staff reports is available on the city’s website. Topics to be discussed include:

• An update on the city’s investments
• Bids for the replacement of the roof on the city-owned building on Las Palmas Drive, which is leased by MiraCosta College for its Technology Career Institute programs
• An agreement that gives the city access to the county’s emergency public notification system
• Appointing a new member to the city’s Housing Commission
• An ordinance to install stop signs in all directions at the intersection of Madison Street and Oak Avenue in the Village
• An update on Carlsbad’s economic and financial conditions in the first quarter of the current fiscal year
• An update on the city’s efforts to reduce homelessness in Carlsbad and a proposed funding plan for next fiscal year, utilizing a mix of city, state and federal funds
• A proposed policy related to City Council travel

The City Council encourages your participation. You can get agendas and staff reports emailed to you directly, and if you want to provide input, you can email council@carlsbadca.gov before the meeting or come in person and fill out a request to speak form.

If you want to watch from home, we have three options:

1. Watch the meeting live on the website
2. Watch a recording of the meeting afterwards
3. Watch live or a replay throughout the week on the city’s cable TV channel, Spectrum channel 24 and AT&T U-verse channel 99

Boards and commission meetings are also livestreamed on the city’s website and available to watch afterward. You can see the meeting schedule on our city calendar.

Carlsbad Behind the Scenes: Veterans of #TeamCarlsbad

Even though our team here at the City of Carlsbad does so many different kinds of work – from accounting and IT, code enforcement, public safety, swimming lessons, building maintenance and more – they have one very important thing in common. They have all chosen a career in public service. So, it should be no surprise that many city employees and their families have also served in the military.

We share photos of these veterans each year with our staff, and I thought you might be interested in seeing the slideshow too.

At a time when we see so much conflict in the world, let’s honor the sacrifices of all veterans by doing what Carlsbad does best – being kind to one another and caring for our community. Not just on Veterans Day, but every day.

Take care, be safe, and I’ll be back next week with more updates.

Scott Chadwick

City Manager