City to hear Children’s Pool proposals In another chapter of the controversy surrounding the fate of the Children’s Pool, the City Council will consider items that include closing the beach during pupping season from Dec. 15 to May 15, seeking a coastal development permit to keep the rope barrier up year-round, seeking private funding to hire a park ranger to patrol and supervise a city-sanctioned volunteer docent program at the pool, and banning dogs on the beach 24 hours per day year round. The public is invited to attend and participate during the public comment portion of the hearing, which will take place May 17 at 6 p.m. in the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St. BirdStock swoops into Bird Rock Following its decision to cancel this year’s Taste of Bird Rock event, the annual community party that became too successful for its own good, the Bird Rock Community Council is drafting plans for a local event called BirdStock that council President Joe Parker said will encourage fellowship and fundraising. The event, planned for Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. at Bird Rock Elementary School and the adjoining park as a dedication of the Waverly Gate project completed in late 2009, “will be nothing close to the size or scale of Taste of Bird Rock,” Parker said. To celebrate the project, which provided a separate, handicap-accessible entrance to the park from Waverly Avenue, attendees will be invited to purchase dedication tiles to decorate the wall along the park’s entrance and enjoy live entertainment from 4 to 7 p.m. The money generated will benefit the elementary school. Parker described the event as a “summer community picnic that will allow all of us to come together to participate in a smaller-scale fundraiser to support the school and engage in the same type fellowship as has been traditional to Taste of Bird Rock.” School board forum set today With budget cuts encroaching on local schools in 2011, residents are invited to meet the candidates running for school board and submit questions about their plans once in office. Candidates include budget analyst Scott Barnett, school psychologist Michelle Crisci and incumbent John de Beck. Organized by the La Jolla Cluster Association, the forum will be moderated by the League of Women Voters and will take place today, Thursday, May 13 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at La Jolla High School, 750 Nautilus St. Residents and faculty are invited to attend and submit questions in advance at lajollacluster.com. La Jolla Elementary announces registration Parents of students in grades K-5 who will be new to La Jolla Elementary School for the 2010-11 school year should enroll their children at the school office. The office is open daily for registration until June 16. Construction resumes at UCSD Two major projects on the University of California, San Diego campus that have been on hold since December 2008 will soon start up again, thanks to recent State of California bond sales. Construction of the Engineering Building Unit IV structure and the Rady School of Management expansion was frozen indefinitely due to the state’s poor cash position, but with the sale of $5.9 billion in general-obligation bonds in March and $271 million in lease-revenue bonds in April, the state has released the funding that was originally committed. LJCPA appeals sidewalk café approval Following the city’s approval of a project that seeks a neighborhood use permit for a new restaurant’s sidewalk café at 909 Prospect St., the La Jolla Community Planning Association (LJCPA) plans to appeal the decision on the grounds that it violates the local planned district ordinance (PDO). The CPA, which recommended against the proposal last month, cited the PDO’s requirement of an 8-foot sidewalk clearance. Oved Haskal, the project applicant who hopes to open a café and bar called Aroma and Barfly, requested 6-foot clearance. Several trustees voiced concern not about the restaurant, which has garnered favorable reviews in local polls, but about the potential threat to the strength of the PDO and the precedent it would set for other projects to violate its standards.