By Tori Hahn

Leo Wilson has made his way to head of the Uptown Planners — yet again without the public’s input.

The Bankers Hill resident was elected chair, for the third time, in the group’s meeting April 6 at Joyce Beers Community Center, in a strangely similar chain of events to his first return to the board in 2013.

Wilson served as chair of Uptown Planners for seven years from 2005 to 2012. And when a vacant seat on the board needed to be filled in 2013, all but one board member voted to approve Wilson’s nomination.

That same meeting, chair Beth Jaworski stepped down from her position and, in a move that didn’t come as a shock even then, Wilson took her place. All without a public vote.

Fast forward to 2016. Wilson ran for a seat on the Uptown Planners during the March 1 annual elections. He did not win, although he fell only one vote short of tying for the final position on the board.

On April 5, the first order of business at the meeting was filling the vacant seat of Kyle Heiskala, who resigned just before the group’s elections on March 1 to run for the District 1 City Council seat. After the board quibbled over bylaw rules, they ruled two candidates were ineligible to serve.

About 50 attendees and the board then heard brief speeches from nominees Josh Clark (Mission Hills), David Lundin (Hillcrest) and Wilson. The board voted 9-5 to appoint Wilson to the vacant seat.

Immediately after, board members made nominations for candidates to succeed termed-out chair J. Demetrios Mellos III, who was not present at the meeting. Those nominated to succeed Mellos as chair were Tom Mullaney and, again, Leo Wilson.

In a bizarre speech following his nomination, Mullaney claimed he was not the best man for the job, highlighted Wilson’s experience with the Community Planners Committee and, finally, declined his nomination.

The board swiftly voted 10-2-2 to elect Wilson, promoting him from member of the public, to board member, to chairman — all within the hour.

The whole process — hauntingly similar to an Uptown Planners meeting three years prior — elicited groans and sarcastic laughs from a large number of people in the audience.

Hillcrest architect Ian Epley vocalized his frustrations with the vote during the time allotted for public comment.

“I think the community feels that the chair has come on twice as a vacancy vote in the past and that … the fix is in,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do [about it] in the community.”

Wilson, no stranger to controversy, took the criticism in stride. He said he hoped to be a facilitator on the board, which he noted was “polarized a bit.” A minority of the board supports growth, taller building heights and density, which are hot-button issues — particularly in Hillcrest, University Heights and Mission Hills. The majority, however, would prefer to keep developers at bay.

Meanwhile, the remaining officer positions were filled smoothly and unanimously. Mullaney, who has sat on the board for two years, was elected vice chair.

Board treasurer Roy Dahl and secretary Michael Brennan, who have both been board members since 2015, were each reelected to their positions.

In other news, the Uptown Planners heard from three separate speakers about ongoing projects to improve road and pedestrian safety in the city.

Middletown residents Beckie Webster and Matthew Ramon spoke against San Diego Airport Authority’s plan to eliminate parking in order to widen India Street to four lanes between Washington and Laurel streets.

The pair discussed the loss of parking, increased traffic and heightened risk to pedestrians that would result from the plan. Webster, who refused to leave without resolution about the project, settled for a motion that Uptown Planners request the authority to discuss its project at the next meeting in May.

Linda Culp, a planner for SANDAG, presented an update on the Uptown bikeways project — a plan to create 12 miles of bikeways in order to construct “low stress” areas for both motorists and cyclists.

The proposal will reconstruct dangerous streets like University Avenue by adding bike lanes, raised medians and diagonal parking spaces. According to Culp, the project has already counted an additional 55 net parking spaces between Downtown, Bankers Hill and Hillcrest.

Gary Pence, senior traffic engineer with the city, discussed a “road diet” project for Sixth Avenue from Laurel to Elm streets that would introduce marked crosswalks, flashing beacons and buffered bike lanes to minimize car accidents and increase pedestrian safety.

Pence said the project will be implemented in the next three to four months.

Uptown Planners will next meet Tuesday, May 3 in the Joyce Beers Community Center.

—Tori Hahn is an intern with SDCNN and a senior majoring in journalism at San Diego State University.