District 2 Council candidates in the June 7 primary election squared off against each other along with fielding audience questions at an Ocean Beach/Point Loma community town hall meeting at the Masonic Center on May 31.
Half of them did anyway.
Challengers Lori Saldaña, Mandy Havlik, and Dr. Linda Lukacs showed up. Incumbent Dr. Jennifer Campbell, Dr. Joel Day, and Daniel Smiechowski did not.
Candidates attending debated what’s best to be done about homelessness, vehicle habitation, palm trees being cut down, crime and safety, street vending, and Midway’s 30-foot height limit.
There was one thing all three candidates agreed upon: Enforcement, lacking at present, is the key to resolving the Peninsula’s pressing problems and concerns.
Homelessness was the first question posed to candidates who gave two-minute responses.
“Our homelessness crisis is an ever-worsening situation,” said Lukacs, a dentist, registered nurse, Realtor, educator, and businesswoman residing in OB. “We need a short- and long-term approach. Short term is a transitional, temporary approach to get these individuals off of the sidewalks, canyons, and parks and into a structured hygienic supportive area. And by long-term, I mean those programs that will address the root causes – drug addiction and mental illness.”
“This is a humanitarian disaster unfolding before our eyes,” said Saldaña, a former California Assemblymember who chaired the state Housing and Community Development Committee. “As your council member, I will declare an emergency in this district and begin working with emergency responders. People need medical and mental health care. They need humanitarian assistance. I think a campus, I call them recuperative care centers, with medical, social workers and wrap-around services is an excellent idea. And we need to do that in an emergency, disaster-based approach.”
“Homelessness has impacted every community throughout our city and state,” said Havlik, a community activist, member of the Peninsula Community Planning Board, and founding member of Kate’s Trees environmental conservation group. “The County is really responsible for a lot of the enforcement that comes from homelessness. I’d like to divert the funding for that to go to non-governmental organizations to reach out to these unhoused people to provide them with services and offer them shelter. We have a bureaucracy that wants to create a one-size-fits-all (process) addressing homelessness.”
All three candidates addressed the City’s recently passed sidewalk vending ordinance.
“Let’s give them the skills they need to take that business model, that they’re doing as a vendor, and turn it into a legal business,” said Saldana, a business teacher. “Put them (vendors) in consignment shops like we have on Newport where a lot of people can get together, share space, and have a legitimate business. We need to give them steps to be successful entrepreneurs.”
“The vendors’ ordinance is giving away public spaces for very little money with vendor permits recently reduced from over $200 to only $38,” said Havlik. “How are we going to adequately fund the enforcement of that? Veterans Square has been taken over by a swap meet. Time and again our City sells our community out, gives away public spaces, and doesn’t properly enforce those spaces. I’m very concerned about the lack of enforcement that we already have in our communities.”
“It’s a good start, finally, there’s something on the books,” said Lukacs. “This ordinance will only work if it’s enforced, otherwise it’s going to be a free-for-all, which it is currently. The $38 permit fee is laughable. These folks are taking away from those who are trying to run a business the right way and it needs to be addressed.”
All three candidates supported overturning the voter-approved removal of the 30-foot height limit for Sports Arena redevelopment in the Midway District.
“We were asked to vote on something (Measure E) that didn’t have any information connected to it,” said Lukacs. “There’s no plan, no rationale. It’s just this broad-based, do you support lifting this height limitation. Voting on something like that is irresponsible when you don’t have all the information.”
“I voted against Measure E, I knew it was illegal,” said Saldana. “I knew they hadn’t done a full CEQUA (California Environmental Quality Act) review. I’m not a fan of ballot measures or the way we often certify them. I was not surprised when it was overturned by the court.”
“I am a firm defender of the 30-foot coastal height limit,” said Havlik. “We need to do better when it comes to sustainable development policies. Nobody’s arguing that Midway doesn’t need to be revitalized. But we can do it within the 30-foot height limit. The community is concerned about the density. Sports Arena redevelopment is bringing 30,000-plus units to that area. Ballot Measure E was illegal because they didn’t complete the environmental impact report.”
The two highest vote-getters in the June primary will move on to oppose each other in the Nov. 6 general election.
