The Encinitas City Council will discuss bringing back red-light cameras at its Wednesday, Sept. 9, meeting. The agenda item comes more than a year after 12-year-old Emery Chalekian was killed crossing Encinitas Boulevard.

The discussion, listed as an action item on the meeting agenda, marks the first time the full council will weigh in on cameras since the city's Mobility and Traffic Safety Commission voted 5-1 on Feb. 9 to recommend the council direct staff to study camera locations under SB 720. Commissioner Ron Medak cast the lone dissenting vote. That recommendation sat off the council calendar for months before staff were directed to schedule it after the council's July break.

Mayor Bruce Ehlers and the four council members will take up the item at 6 p.m. at City Council Chambers, 505 S. Vulcan Ave.

Red-light cameras under SB 720

Agenda item 12A asks the council to review and direct staff on whether to pursue cameras under SB 720, the Safer Streets Act signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2025. The law, which took effect Jan. 1, treats red-light violations as civil penalties. Fines start at $100 for a first offense if the driver has not been ticketed in the previous three years, rising to $500 for repeat violations. No points are added to a driver's license.

Encinitas ended its previous camera program in May 2020 after the council declined to renew its contract with Redflex, the camera operator, The Coast News reported. Council members at the time cited the $490 ticket cost and concerns that most violations involved slow right turns on red. The annual program cost was about $209,000.

A 2018 city staff report found collisions dropped 45% at El Camino Real and Encinitas Boulevard and 32% at El Camino Real and Olivenhain Road after cameras were installed. Neighboring Del Mar and Solana Beach each operate three cameras.

Bridget Chalekian, Emery's mother, urged the commission in February to act. "She did everything right. She followed the law. She trusted the system that is supposed to protect pedestrians, and that system failed her," Chalekian said at the Feb. 9 commission meeting, as reported by inewsource. Safe Streets Encinitas, an advocacy group formed after Emery's death, has pushed for cameras at public meetings, with members wearing yellow shirts, Emery's favorite color.

$3.09 million state funding veto

Also on the consent calendar, item 10F asks the council to ratify a letter requesting the governor line-item veto $3,090,000 in state funding earmarked for Santa Fe Drive Corridor Improvements under the Budget Act of 2023. The agenda does not explain why the city sought the veto, and the staff report was not publicly available as of publication.

Holiday Village & Market at Moonlight Beach

Item 10E, also on consent, would authorize the city manager to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce to host the Encinitas Holiday Village & Market on Friday, Dec. 4, at the west half of the Moonlight Beach Parking Lot. The event is described as enhancing the city's Heritage Tree Lighting.

Consent calendar items pass in a single vote unless a council member or resident pulls one for separate discussion.

The council's next regular meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 16. Residents can submit written comments to [email protected] with the agenda item number in the subject line, register to speak virtually at publiccomment.encinitasca.gov, or request to speak in person starting 30 minutes before the meeting. Each speaker gets three minutes.