We must renegotiat eour agreement to remove the "hold harmless" agreement we now have with the State Government.
How would you like to be required to pay a $100,000 cash "deductible" to settle an injury or death claim on property you do not own? Encinitas may be required to, and here's why.
Talk to any of the long time residents and they'll tell you that back in the days before Encinitas became a city the state of California did a lousy job taking of care of our beaches. Trash, litter, broken bottles, and a lack of lifeguard service were common complaints from beach goers at that time.
Our new city wanted to fix these problems, but the state bureaucracy kept getting in the way; so on June 14, 1989 by unanimous vote of the city council, the then fairly new city of Encinitas entered into a 20-year agreement with the fairly old and clever State of California. In it, the city agreed to be responsible for providing the care, maintenance, development, and control of the coast, from Moonlight Beach to Leucadia State Beach. It was felt that this agreement would reduce some of the state level bureaucratic roadblocks and speed up approval of the "Moonlight Beach Master Plan", which provided for much
needed improvements in facilities, lifeguard service, access, and maintenance at Encinitas area beaches. The city was able to get the "Moonlight Beach Master Plan" approved in only 5 or 6 years, and the people of Encinitas have enjoyed the vastly improved beaches. Many people today think that Moonlight Beach is a city beach. They are wrong. The sign at Moonlight confirms it is a State beach; we just rent it... with a catch...
There are 31 legal paragraphs in the agreement between the city and the state. Paragraphs 14 and 15 are especially troubling in light of the recent tragic death that occurred near moonlight beach. To paraphrase: Paragraph 14 says in part "city agrees, at its sole expense, to maintain liability insurance, insuring against claims for injuries to persons occurring in, upon, or about the beach". Paragraph 15 goes on to say in part: "City shall hold harmless, and defend State against any and all claims or liability costs associated with use of the beach"...
Carlsbad, our older, bigger, wealthier, and some say wiser neighbor-to-the-north has no such arrangement regarding its beaches. The state of California pays for all improvements and services, and assumes all liability for Carlsbad's beaches.
To summarize, Encinitas took on a huge liability risk for a property that it does not own and really does not control. The state has consistently refused to take steps to shore up our eroding shoreline, and has refused to permit us or anyone else to do so either; as a result, the risk of someone getting injured on local beaches due to bluff failure increases with each high tide and rain storm.
Paragraph 19 of our agreement with the state allows for termination by either party with 180 days notice. For the protection of Encinitas, I call upon our current city council to revisit at least the liability portion of this agreement as soon as possible, and eliminate this unreasonable situation.
Jerome Stocks
former Encinitas Parks and Recreation Commissioner and Encinitas resident
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