Encinitas Mayor Bruce Ehlers, who was elected to his post in November, will give two State of the City addresses this month — one at a ticketed event hosted by the city’s Chamber of Commerce and the other during a City Council meeting one week later.
Ehlers and the city’s deputy mayor — Councilmember Joy Lyndes — will both attend the annual Encinitas Chamber of Commerce event on March 20, and Ehlers will give a roughly 25-minute, live speech at that event, he said.
The other three council members — Jim O’Hara, Marco San Antonio and Luke Shaffer — will only attend the chamber’s informal social “mixer,” which occurs moments before the formal State of the City dinner event begins. They’ll exit before the main event starts, Ehlers said.
“That is a big change,” he said.
In recent years, all of the council members have attended the chamber’s dinner event, each one sitting at different tables, and the city has later broadcast the State of the City address on its public access TV channel and posted the video on the city’s website. Former mayor Tony Kranz, who gave the last two State of the City addresses, expanded on the policy of his predecessor — former Mayor Catherine Blakespear — of pre-recording the main speech. Kranz had all four council members contribute their own video recordings, each one mentioning improvements and issues in their individual council districts.
They’re doing things differently this year in response to concerns about compliance with state open public meeting laws, Ehlers said Thursday. Under state law, three or more council members can’t attend a given event without it being declared a public meeting that falls under public noticing requirements where public comment must be permitted.
“So, the same speech will be given a week later at a council meeting,” he said, adding that he will allow council members to speak after he gives his address at that March 26 meeting.
The chamber’s annual event is set for 5:30 to 8 p.m. March 20 at the city’s Community & Senior Center. Tickets for members cost $55 and nonmembers pay $65. They’re available on the chamber’s website at local.encinitaschamber.com/events.
Ehlers said he’s planning to give a “back-to-basics” address, emphasizing that the city needs to focus on improving its infrastructure, including roadway pavement and drainage systems, rather than “vanity and beautification projects” in the next few years.
“It’ll be a little bit about accomplishments, but a lot more about where we are going,” he said.
The chamber’s event is typically a sell-out, with some 250 people attending. In addition to the mayor, officials with the Chamber of Commerce, Visit Encinitas, and the Main Street Associations will speak, the chamber notes on its website.
