Year 2021 promises to be a very active year in Del Mar and well beyond. Many of our challenges, not unique to our small corner of earth, are often intertwined with much larger issues and jurisdictions.

The Sandpiper wants to stimulate conversations within our community about these issues with an emphasis on larger frameworks, including history and actions that affect us directly and indirectly. We believe there are many core values that are embraced by most of us but sometimes get lost too easily in the noise of campaigns and the formalities of governmental processes. Del Mar has always attracted very educated and accomplished citizens who choose to move here because of its unique small-town character. Finding ways to draw on that talent has been and continues to be central to our progressive development. We want these pages to be a forum for a variety of ideas and solutions to be discussed with civility from the impact of the pandemic, the stability of our bluffs, housing mandates and short -term rental impacts, climate action, the nuclear waste threat, the future of the fairgrounds to name just a few of the many daunting items that our community will be grappling with this year into the future.

Our plan is to address one issue per issue in a frame that attempts to set a base line, beginning with an outline of an issue with some history and facts, but no solution offered. We will then solicit a variety of ideas and opinions on that issue in subsequent publications and online. The city’s civil discourse rules will be our guide. We look forward to a spirited infusion of ideas and potential solutions.