Please join us in celebrating our rights to vote by listening to Carlsbad city council candidates Cori Schumacher, Ann Tanner, Brandon Rowley, and Bill Fowler discuss the issues at hand and why they should be elected at 4pm on Saturday, October 29, 2016 at Poinsettia Park. All candidates were invited but two declined to come. We organized this event to bring awareness to the grassy bowl area at Poinsettia park. The City of Carlsbad has approved a reckless plan that overbuilds Poinsettia Park.  It adds Pickleball Courts, a Speed Soccer Arena, an elaborate playground and a Dog Park in the middle of the whole park. Nearby residents and those who use the park were not consulted or even able to give input (there was a survey online that only 386 people participated in but most residents say they were never notified of this).  The City has NOT sufficiently gauged the desires of the neighboring residents and is misappropriating the funds (they have spent 200,000 in the planning phase so far). No traffic, noise or environmental studies have been conducted.  Residents will be impacted as there is ALREADY a parking shortage that will only get worse with these changes.  Also, the noise will dramatically increase with the new activities (barking, fighting, pickleball racket).  Many cities are currently being sued by residents over dog park and pickleball court noise. Finally, the proposed dog park is planned for the center of the park in the “grassy bowl.”  This will consume that the last area where you can just relax is the true sense of open space.  People of all ages cherish this area because every other area is already designated for a specific ctivity. Parks and rec says they aim to create and preserve open space and unstructured play for children but this is NOT accomplishing their goal. We demand the City reconsider the plan for the park and consider deleting an amenity or two from its plan. Even dog owners who use the park (currently its illegal) don’t want a dog park because they or their dogs prefer grass and don’t like wood chips, don’t like being fenced in and enjoy the open space of the park. Couldn’t we just have dog- friendly hours at the park? Let’s come up with a better solution by including local residents in the park rehabilitation plan. Please help us raise awareness and keep the city council in check with the money they are spending in the name of the people. Don’t let Irvine’s Great Park fiasco happen in Carlsbad.