Leslie Wade, founding executive director of the East Village Association (EVA), stepped down Dec. 7 after more than 14 years of service. Wade, who said EVA is the longest account she has ever served, has practiced public affairs with Wade Communications for 16 years.
“The answer [for stepping down] is simple: 14 and a half years,” said Wade. “Managing and advocating for the East Village Association was never my full-time job, though sometimes it seemed like it wanted to be.”
According to Wade, the EVA, which began in 1992 as the Centre City East Association (CCEA), was created by property owners, merchants and proactive residents in hopes of redeveloping the neighborhood. The organization, she said, was founded in accordance with the Centre City Development Corporation’s (CCDC) expansion of boundaries to include Little Italy, the East Village and Cortez Hill, which were previously outside of the downtown redevelopment zone.
Though the majority of the East Village’s buildings were occupied in 1992, the neighborhood was still suffering the consequences of the 1980s’ relocation of major homeless facilities into the neighborhood, which Wade said was, at the time, “San Diego’s own skid row.” As a result of the rundown nature of the district, the CCEA pushed for new development in the downtown area, street lights and trees, and a cap on the number of social services to coexist with other providers.
“CCEA [was] also the first private sector group to lobby for the Padres ballpark in East Village, spending more than eight years in public hearings, community meetings and planning sessions,” said Wade. “With the ballpark on the horizon, I helped lead the campaign to rebrand the neighborhood as the ‘East Village,’ the name local architect and visionary Wayne Buss had given it. CCDC was very supportive, and the name took.”
The East Village neighborhood, which has transformed into a bustling district of residents and business owners, now houses 70 percent of downtown’s new condominiums, according to Mitchell Berner, new association manager of the EVA. The organization is now focusing on creating a model to facilitate the participation of East Village residents.
“The fact that it is blossoming into a real residential neighborhood means that everyone who lives there needs to have a model,” said Berner. “As residents and business people, the EVA is the focal point of that advocacy.”
Under his new position at the EVA, Berner said he will continue to represent the neighborhood’s best interest. The residential owners of the district do not want the East Village to be a dumping ground, he said, and the organization’s first priority for 2007 is to create a business improvement district. By the end of 2007, Berner hopes to have the owners of businesses vote – “not only with their pocketbooks.”
One aspect of downtown that locals take for granted, said Berner, is what he calls the “unique boutique” aspect”something that needs to be acknowledged and nurtured.
“I just am so excited when I come downtown, because East Village has so much of the boutique – theater, entertainment, restaurants,” said Berner.
As a resident of East Village who has worked as a consultant in the neighborhood for three years, Berner said that as new association manager of the EVA, he must go backward before he moves forward.
“We know what we’ve been for the last 14 years,” he said. “What do we need to become?” n