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Three controversial issues in North County were cited June 8 in award nominations handed out annually by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association. The organization will issue its Golden Watchdog Awards and their polar opposites — the Golden Fleece Awards — at a dinner June 16.

Among the organization’s Metro Golden Fleece nominees was the city of Encinitas for density bonus lawsuits, along with the city of El Cajon for problems with sewer billing.

 

Del Mar became the second city in the county to declare its goal of switching exclusively to renewable energy by 2035, according to a climate action approved Monday by the city council.

The document, which follows a similar plan approved by San Diego in December, spells out measures to reduce the city’s carbon emissions. It directs Del Mar to explore ways of purchasing renewable energy directly and aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent by 2020 and by 50 percent by 2035.

Ramona Municipal Water District directors will hold two public hearings at their June 14 meeting — one on sewer rate increases and the other on the draft 2015 Urban Water Management Plan update that is state-mandated.

The hearings will be held in conjunction with the board meeting, which will begin at 2 p.m. in Ramona Community Center, 434 Aqua Lane.

 

Three city of San Diego programs were nominated Wednesday for Golden Watchdog Awards, which are handed out annually by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association. Nominees for the Media Watchdog Award are Ashly McGlone of the Voice of San Diego for “Several Years and $1 Billion Later, San Diego Schools Are Actually in Worse Shape,” a story on the impact of a pair of voter-approved construction bonds on facilities in the San Diego Unified School District; and Lauryn Schroeder of The San Diego Union-Tribune for “How One Firefighter Made $210K in OT,” which details city of San Diego overtime expenses.

As debate continues in San Diego County and around the state over how aggressively to conserve water amid a historic drought, a new study finds that reductions in urban water use have saved significant amounts of electricity and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

The analysis, published by UC Davis, capitalized on the unique circumstances created by California’s drought. It culled statistics that electric utilities and water districts statewide were required to submit because of Gov. Jerry Brown’s unprecedented order for residents and businesses to lower water consumption by an average of 25%.