ENCINITAS — With a light agenda on hand, outgoing Mayor Jerome Stocks and retiring Councilman James Bond said their goodbyes at the Council meeting Wednesday night.
Bond, being Encinitas’ longest-serving councilmember, decided not to run for reelection this year. Recognizing Bond’s 20 years of service on the Council, the city gave him a proclamation.
Bond’s resume while on Council includes serving as mayor of the city several times, chairing the San Elijo Joint Powers Authority, being a director of the San Diego County Water Authority, as well as chairing and sitting on other boards.
“You can see by a list of the things I’ve done that I couldn’t hold a job,” Bond joked after receiving the proclamation.
In late August, Bond said he was particularly proud the Encinitas Community Park got the green light before he retired. At Council, he said other important projects came to fruition because of cooperation from the entire Council.
“I didn’t do anything,” Bond said. “We did it.”
“We didn’t always agree, but we worked it out,” he added.
At past Council meetings, Bond noted he preferred to be concise and to the point when possible. Fittingly, those qualities defined his last remarks in Council chambers.
“This is a new experience for me and my wife to be fully retired,” Bond said. “I look forward to it, I enjoyed the path, it’s time to move on, and the city of Encinitas is in good hands with the incoming Council.”
Stocks, Encinitas’ second-longest-serving-councilmember, was also presented with a proclamation for his 12 years with the city.
Prior to be elected to Council, he was the Encinitas Parks and Recreation commissioner. For more than a decade while on Council, he was also chairman of the San Diego Association of Government’s board, a group of elected officials who determine housing, environmental and transportation needs. Stocks said that he plans on returning to the private sector; he’s been an insurance broker since the 1980s.
Often a lightning rod for controversy, Stocks said he knew before starting his tenure on Council that he would have to make “contentious” decisions, something most realize comes with the territory, he said. But lesser known, Stocks said, is the reward of giving back to the community, even if it’s just “small things.”
“We’re a very fortunate city; I believe we’re better now than when we started,” Stocks said.
In other news, with no public speakers and only a few questions from councilmembers, a unanimous vote approved replacing a water main in Ashbury Street from Eucalyptus Avenue to Hygeia Avenue. The steel water main in place doesn’t have corrosion protection, increasing the likelihood of failure. The replacement cost is estimated to be $91,600.
1 comment
Encinitas is now free of that Idiot, Mrs Barth should of been the one getting an Gift in stead of Jerome. She’s the one that had to put up with all his BS and bullying for the last 6 years. That alone deserves an award
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