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A new committee tasked with offering city officials advice on equity issues will have eight community members with widely varying backgrounds and job experiences.
“This is an impressive group of people,” Mayor Catherine Blakespear said of the 16 applicants.
She selected eight of them, saying that number, plus herself and Councilwoman Kellie Shay Hinze, will make up a group of 10 people a size she called both workable and meaningful.
As the city’s mayor, Blakespear has the authority to select the candidates and the council then votes on whether to approve her recommendations. Last week’s vote to approve was unanimous, though councilmen Tony Kranz and Joe Mosca said they wished Blakespear had included applicant Dan Vaughn, the director of St. Andrew’s Interfaith Shelter program and the president of the Olivenhain Town Council.
CARLSBAD
The Carlsbad City Council met in special session Tuesday to discuss the city’s economic and financial update for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2021. The council heard a report and discussed ways to address the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff was asked to bring back information on supporting nonprofits. The council also discussed how to use the excess general fund reserve. The council voted to allocate $10 million to pay down pension liability to the California Public Employees Retirement System, and also transfer $3.5 million to the Infrastructure Replacement Fund. The council also allocated $8.3 million to pay for some of its 2021-22 goals, which include reducing the homeless population by 50 percent within five years.