History of how we kept Cardiff

With the 1985 incorporation, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Old Encinitas, Leucadia and Olivenhain were brought together as the city of Encinitas.
The campaign promise was that each community would maintain its individuality and since Cardiff-by-the-Sea was unique in the fact that it had its own zip code, library and Chamber of Commerce and a beguiling name, residents and businesses were pleased.
However, almost immediately mail was misdirected, phone numbers were listed as Encinitas and freeway signs came down but the final blow was when the Rand McNally Road Atlas removed our name.
Thinking a simple letter pointing out their omission would solve the problem, I wrote but the answer came back from Janet Pawlowski, public relations, stating “ … since it (Cardiff-by-the-Sea) has been incorporated into Encinitas, thereby officially ceasing to exist, it will not be shown on any Rand McNally publication.”
This was not taken lightly by Cardiff residents and the late Mike McCune, Cardiff Chamber of Commerce president, and Cardiff businesses — especially the ones with Cardiff in their names — launched a letter writing campaign expressing their dismay. It included the late Sen. William Cravern; Supervisor Susan Golding; City Manager Warren Shaffer; Ann Carli, director of MiraCosta College San Elijo Campus; 500 elementary school children under the direction of Superintendent Joe Fazio; and Cardiff Town Council board member, the late Ed Obermeyer.
Marty Wisckol, The Coast Dispatch, the L.A. Times and Channel 10 picked up on it and we appeared on the evening news. The late Bill Grey, an Oceanside barber, wrote the Cardiff song and a home movie called “The Untown” was produced by Moonlight Productions.
In the spring of 1989, in the words of the late Neil Ball, newspaper columnist, “The mighty Rand McNally caved in” and in the 1990 publication our name once again appeared between Encinitas and Solana Beach. I like to think the school children warmed his heart. However, since the retirement of Andrew McNally, we have been placed in the insert of the area but do appear on other publications by the famous mapmaker.
We have kept our post office, our zip code and on Sept. 20, 2007 (92007) the Cardiff Chamber of Commerce initiated the publication of a special first class postage stamp commemorating that code plus we have built a new library, soon to be expanded. After my visit to our unofficial Twin Towne of Cardiff, Wales, the Cardiff Chamber adopted Cardi the whale, a happy little fellow whose “I” is dotted with a heart, as our mascot in keeping with the Red Welsh Dragon.
Be they second generation or newcomers, Cardiff-by-the-Sea residents have a fierce community attachment, they come together for all causes to preserve, protect and use the full name (lower case b and t, hyphenated, both used by the post office and MiraCosta College) of our jewel by the sea , the place we so proudly call home.