Ann wrote on Jun 28, 2007 7:52 AM:The council can vote among themselves to put this question on the 2008 ballot so what's stopping them. Just do it and stop the bickering.

Breathing Citizen wrote on Jun 28, 2007 8:49 AM:My satisfaction with City government and services definitely DOES include whether the City provides a clean and healthy environment and recreational opportunities, which DOES include a ban on smoking on the beach. What [does] the... Council fear in asking a question?

JP wrote on Jun 28, 2007 11:46 AM:Now we will never know how many of the 300 people polled enjoy smoking at the beach. Gee, thanks Jerome.

John E wrote on Jun 28, 2007 12:00 PM:I hope this survey is going to be $10K well-spent, but somehow I fear it may be a waste of money.

bonddi wrote on Jun 28, 2007 12:40 PM:I was one of the 300 polled in 2005 -- and expressed satisfaction with the Council's goverance but that is not my opinion currently. Since then, I have become invovled in trying to get information about traffic calming from the Council - what a nightmare. Also, I think smoking should be banned on beaches even though I smoke! If you can't stop smoking for a couple hours then don't go to the beach -- less people and more parking.

Smacks of pre-election polling wrote on Jun 28, 2007 1:50 PM:I don't support the survey in the first place, but since it's been approved, why on earth couldn't the smoking issue have been addressed? Especially since the city wouldn't have even had to pay for the cost of the additional question. The actions of the council majority really are befuddling!

HH wrote on Jun 28, 2007 2:46 PM:Ban smoking at Encinitas beaches already. I'm sick and tired of seeing the butts in the sand and water and everywhere else. Since you can't trust people not to toss their butts anywhere they please, just ban it outright.

Butts everywhere wrote on Jun 28, 2007 4:12 PM:If smoker's were interested in keeping the right to smoke in public they should pick up their butts and be respectfull of other people in their vicinity when they smoke. But they do not! So ban the smokers from the public places like beaches. Next time you go to the beach look at the parking lot, beach and pathways for trash and butts ... they are everywhere!!!! I am sick and tired of picking up after other people in this town. And if they do pass a law we need law enforcement to ticket those that break the laws. The Sheriff's dept does a horrible job at enforcing the existing laws ... like speeders, people talking on cell phones while they drive without hands free devices, or even showing up to the scene of an accident (they will not unless there is an injury and ambulance needed), let alone get them to write a police report for crimes committed!!!

Alf wrote on Jun 28, 2007 6:21 PM:Well, "Butts everywhere", I carry an almost empty water bottle as a portable ashtray. Part of the problem is of the lack of ashtrays, the other part are smokers who are jerks. The trash cans that only have plastic bags are not safe ashtrays. Many places I go there are ashtrays and, Lo and Behold!!, very few if any butts on the ground. The mistaken notion that having no ashtrays will magically stop smokers is false, just as having no trash cans will keep people from getting rid of their trash, yeah, right. I smoke, I do so with as much courtesy as I can and I do not litter. I do not, however, tolerate anti-smokers who "get in my face". Why? Because I do not get in their face, unless the faintest odor of cigarettes offends them in which case, too bad. Still an unashamed Libertarian, Alf.

To butts wrote on Jun 28, 2007 7:17 PM:That's a littering offense and nothing more. Fine the litterers. If I stand with two feet in an inch of water and light up, the police can't stop me since federal waters and air qulaity are not the county's nor the city's jurisdiction. And the federal government does not have a smoking ban on the Pacific Ocean... yet.

To To Butts wrote on Jun 28, 2007 8:40 PM:go for it and see how comfortable you feel when you come back in from the water. We know people like you and we know how to deal with you.

Democracy rules! wrote on Jun 28, 2007 9:39 PM:Good for Stocks! Put it on the ballot and let the people decide! Smoking should be banned in ALL outdoor public areas, not just the beach, and WE THE PEOPLE should be the ones to place this restriction on ourselves!

Teacher wrote on Jun 28, 2007 9:48 PM:Barth, who served on a subcommittee with Stocks to develop the survey, said..."I see it not as a political issue but rather as a quality-of-life issue" Newby Barth, please learn the job more quickly. This is as political as it gets. And the issue of whether or not to ask a question on a survey cannot be a quality of life issue, it's just a question. A political policy question.

whatstheharm wrote on Jul 3, 2007 8:50 AM:stocks wants to scare Encinitas by asking for a smoking ban in all places (in order to get rid if what the community really wants, THE BEACH smoking ban!) that is why he refuses to change the question! he is a bully and trying to trick Encinitas!

flip-stocks-flop wrote on Oct 5, 2007 4:49 PM:Democracy update: Stocks is now voting to draft a ban ordinance, after he and Rich Shea did a survey on the subject. Didn't he say, "I will never vote to have a survey that takes a pulse of the public on pet political projects and issues."?