Do we have enough time and the right weather to squeeze summer 2010 into a few days? June gloom is something San Diegans, especially coastal La Jollans, get used to, but this past July was one gray, cool blur. Community policeman Alan Alvarez reported at the University City Community Association’s July board meeting that police agreed Independence Day 2010 at the beach was peaceful compared to years past when the heat was on and the alcohol flowed at the local beaches. When asked about Kate Sessions Park, Alvarez agreed that there were issues there on July Fourth. At the Fourth of July U.C. Celebration at Standley Park, by the time the park was awash in music at the 5 p.m. concert with the Y3K dance band, people were freezing. What gives? San Diego weather is back now that August is ready to exit. The night skies are subject to earlier sunsets. School bells are ringing to remind us that cold and foggy or warm and wonderful, unofficial summer is finished as of Labor Day. White shark sightings emptied La Jolla beaches several days ago. What gives? September is the most beautiful beach month to a lot of locals who enjoy dipping their toes into the ocean after all the tourists have left us. At sunrise, surfers hang out at open car trunks while putting finishing touches on their boards and themselves. By sunset, all eyes are glued on the possibility of a green flash with cameras posed and fire pits sending up flames and smoke. La Jolla Shores is a little bit of heaven in September. Torrey Pines Beach is truly inviting. Cars creep along looking for parking places so as to have their occupants get a chance to see the perfect sunset. La Jolla Cove, stretching from the cave shop to the north to the Children’s Pool to the south, provides perfect views of the Pacific that would make the French Riviera rage with jealousy. September also ushers in that heavy campaign season heading for the Nov. 2 election this year. Thank God the first Tuesday in November is the 2nd and not the 9th; at least the commercials will be over early. This year’s election for California governor is seeing some ma$$ive spending by Meg Whitman and some serious silence by Jerry Brown, both hoping to be governor of California when the fiscal nightmare rivals the scariest horror film. Why would these two candidates want to take on the almost impossible task of overseeing Sacramento and its politics as usual? Are Brown and Whitman just plain idealistic? Voters are hoping for concrete solutions, not political mudslinging. What gives? Locally, San Diegans will be dealing with sound bytes about Proposition D. Remember those photo ops with Councilwoman Donna Frye and Mayor Jerry Sanders on the same side of the issue initiated by Ms. Frye, once a worthy opponent of Sanders in the race for mayor, which he won in 2005. So, Prop D is our homework for September, October, and the first two days of November. Prop D is considered a financial reform plan with a half-cent sales tax increase, according to the proponents. It is a complicated ballot measure with 10 reforms having to be met before the sales tax kicks in. The city auditor becomes “the decider” rather than the City Council. Among the 10 reforms are: implementing managed competition, reducing pension costs, reducing retiree healthcare liability, and privatizing, as in the example of Miramar Landfill. Richard Rider wasted no time in filing a lawsuit against Prop D. According to Liam Dillon of voiceofsandiego.org, part of the lawsuit reads this way: “What resulted was the subject Prop D, a Frankenstein Proposition that was charged into life as City Ordinance #0-19886. Unless the Court acts either to void it or substantially modify it, it will appear on the ballot as Proposition D where, if it is approved by voters, its monstrously unconstitutional and illegal provisions will likely precipitate numerous lawsuits that will haunt our local courts for many years.” Prop D challenges single-subject rules, maintaining council legislative authority, and providing clear reform criteria because it has several subjects, gives decision making to the city auditor and the reform is fuzzy. If the sales tax revenues go into the general fund and aren’t strictly marked for police and fire, could the funds go to pension increases? Does the City Council have the will to push for real reforms? Will the sunsets in September be subject to June gloom revisited?