Every hundred years the slumbering residents of Brigadoon awaken for a day to celebrate their unchanging lives, united in the knowledge that if anybody leaves town, their enchanted village will disappear forever.
Last week at the Dove Library, Carlsbad's 2010 state of the city video gave a hundred local residents their annual reassurance that all is well in their village, and they can keep it that way by not leaving town to shop.
Mayor Bud Lewis explained there'd be no questions allowed from the floor because he didn't want the event to become an election forum. You could approach staff and council members individually with your questions after the show.
Mythical cities dislike public discord.
The 17-minute video was an overview of the city's efforts to retain its natural beauty, quality of life and economic stability. It celebrated Carlsbad's commitment to desalination, water recycling and energy conservation.
During a five-minute segment on financial planning, seven charts flashed across the screen at the rate of 8 seconds each, depicting the city's expenses, taxes and revenues. The narrator's brief commentary raised more questions than answers. It was a kind of shell game for viewers to guess what nuggets of information might be uncovered before a chart disappeared from the screen.
We learned, for example, that $10 million was slashed from the general fund and 25 employee positions were eliminated over the last two years. But we weren't told what services were sacrificed, other than the delayed construction of a park, identified by name only, rather than the site for a long-promised community swimming pool.
Viewers were left to conclude that having to wait for a new city park has been the city's only hardship caused by the recession.
There was no mention of Carlsbad's unemployment rate. Or whether anyone cares about how many jobs will be lost with Callaway Golf's announcement of moving its operations to Mexico. Or how much longer taxpayers will be required to bail out the failing golf course. Or what's become of Proposition C, the 2002 voter-approved plan for the city to purchase more open space.
This state of the city report was all about business-friendliness, infrastructure repairs, careful planning and prudent spending. Support for the arts, youth activities, the growing senior population, the community's burgeoning ethnic diversity, and affordable housing went unmentioned.
The only challenge facing the city next year, according to this feel-good video, is to stop a power plant from being built near the beach so developers will be able to descend on Ponto, identified only as the "South Carlsbad Redevelopment Zone."
Are North County's Brigadoon villagers content with their yearly bedtime story? Stay tuned for November's election results.
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