Homeless, RV parking and alcohol issues fielded Republican mayoral candidate and current District 5 City Councilman Carl DeMaio was the guest speaker at the Pacific Beach Town Council’s (PBTC) monthly general meeting June 20, speaking briefly about his overall vision for the city if he is elected mayor. DeMaio, who will face off with Democratic U.S. Congressman Bob Filner in a runoff election in November, then spent the majority of his allotted 45 minutes addressing the concerns of the PBTC’s membership. The questions and topics were selected by the PBTC members previously. The main concerns of PBTC members were the homeless in Pacific Beach, oversize vehicles parked in residential neighborhoods, alcohol-related crime and possible acquisition of a conditional-use permit (CUP) to control the number of alcohol licenses being issued locally by California’s Alcoholic Beverage Control. The first issue DeMaio addressed was the homeless situation in Pacific Beach, which he described as both a “human issue” and a “moral issue.” His position on it would be to take a “tough-love” approach to balance helping the people who want to be helped by existing city programs like PATH, but also to take a no-tolerance policy if members of the homeless population are caught breaking the law. “The top complaint we get from tourists who visit PB are the homeless, so we would like to break that cycle,” DeMaio said. Overall, DeMaio said he advocates strong intervention, balanced with the strict no-nonsense enforcement. He also spoke about parking concerns involving oversize vehicles like motorhomes, large trucks and vans that take up space in residential neighborhoods on an indefinite basis. “If I win this November, I will make sure we have an oversize-vehicle ordinance within six weeks of taking office,” he said. “This is a property-rights issue. When people buy a home, they buy it based on the neighborhood and don’t expect a [mobile] house to show up overnight.” His plan is to charge oversize-vehicle owners for a 72-hour permit that can be purchased online and to strictly enforce the policy. The final topics of the evening were the alcohol-related crime and CUP issues. DeMaio said he is against issuing a CUP for the Pacific Beach area. “We shouldn’t punish the businesses that are doing it right, but we should create a hot list of the bad operators for the police to keep track of,” he said. “If the bars on the hot list can clean up their act, then they can eventually get off that list.” DeMaio said the city’s current financial woes are key to cracking down on alcohol-related crime. “By fixing our financial situation, it will allow us to increase hiring and expand the police force” to respond to the needs of residents, he said. Filner will be the guest speaker at the next PBTC monthly general meeting on July 18 and is expected to address the same topics.
