Oceanside Councilman Unhappy : Reconstruction Voted for Access Road to Harbor

Another attempt at building a roadway across the San Luis Rey River was approved Wednesday by the City Council, over the objections of Councilman Walter Gilbert.

The sand berm at the mouth of the river provides direct access from the city via Pacific Street to the Oceanside Small Craft Harbor and its waterfront businesses. But Gilbert believes that spending thousands of dollars to repair the access road that the river washes out almost every year is “throwing away money.”

He estimates that $50,000 in public and private funds have been spent or committed in the last year to repair the Pacific Street route to the harbor, an amount that would be better spent on filling in potholes and repaving the city’s bumpier streets.

“When a politician is hell-bent on spending money, he’ll spend the money,” Gilbert said in frustration when it became apparent that he was the only council member opposed to rebuilding the sand berm and paving the crossing. “We could pave 16 city blocks with that money!”

By a 4-1 vote, Gilbert dissenting, the council allotted $21,300 for the repair job. The city expects to receive $4,000 of that amount from the state Coastal Commission, which is scheduled to vote today on the grant to pave the temporary road.

When Gilbert pointed out that the next rainy season would again cause the river to wash out the sand berm and the road, Mayor Larry Bagley retorted that the expenditure was not a waste of money but, rather, was an investment in the marina businesses and the harbor.