Discover Pacific Beach (DPB) has named Sara Berns as its new executive director. She takes over from former DPB executive director Andy Hanshaw, who resigned July 5 to take a position as director of the San Diego Bicycle Coalition. Hanshaw had been leading DPB for the last two years but he said he wanted to pursue his passion in cycling. Berns, who has been serving as the program manager for DPB the last three years, said the experience will help her transition into the director position. “It’s definitely challenging but I’ve already been with the organization, so I’m very familiar with this group of work,” she said. DPB is a nonprofit group funded by the city’s Business Improvement District. It was started in 1997 as one of the first BIDs in San Diego. There are now 17 BIDs across the city. DPB is made up of several branches, including the DPB board, a Design and Improvement Committee, a Hospitality Task Force, a Promotions Committee and the PB Community Advisory Committee. Berns has the responsibility of organizing all the individual groups that make up DPB and meshing them into one cohesive unit. “The goal of the organization right now is helping businesses that are struggling and promoting people to come down to the Pacific Beach area,” she said. “We also address issues like tree trimming, the sidewalks and trash.” Berns believes having patience, an open mind and a sympathetic ear are essential in running such an organization smoothly. “It takes a lot of flexibility,” Berns said. “We have a lot of members and everyone has their ideas. We work with a pretty small budget on a large scale. Listening and taking everyone’s opinions into consideration is important. We work with all the community groups and really try to look at the community as a whole, even though our priority is the businesses.” DPB is a leading force for several community events, including its signature piece, Pacific Beachfest, which is slated to take place this year on Saturday, Oct. 1. DPB also hosts two restaurant walks every year and helps run the Pacific Beach Holiday Parade. DPB also hosts a monthly sundowner mixer and actively contributes to community-themed projects such as the newly-created Tuesday PB Farmers Market. For more information, visit www.pacificbeach.org.