Out with the old… New and returning board members were sworn in and Tony Crisafi was elected as the new board president. The new vice president is Robert Whittemore, the secretary is now Dan Allen and Jim Fitzgerald will remain as treasurer. District 1 City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner praised both the outgoing and incoming trustees. “I know how much passion and energy you put into this,” she said. Outgoing President Joe LaCava was also singled out for doing a tremendous job shepherding the organization, and received a standing ovation from the crowd as he officially stepped down. Preparing to be prepared Officials from the San Diego Police Department, Lifeguard Services and Department of Homeland Security were on hand to brief CPA members on disaster preparedness and evacuation plans for La Jolla in light of the recent earthquake in Japan and the tsunami-watch it generated for local beaches. Lifeguard Sgt. John Sandmeyer pointed out that La Jolla Shores is a potential “inundation area” for a tsunami. He said a significant event would be an eight-meter surge, which would translate to a wall of water nearly 100 feet high once it hit the shallow part of the continental shelf. The officials distributed pamphlets outlining steps to take and showing basic evacuation maps from La Jolla. Even without a tsunami, these would also be the same plans and evacuation routes that would be used in the event of a hurricane or “100-year flood,” officials said. More information is available online at www.sandiego. gov/ohs/. Drivers, park it yourselves Trustees disapproved of a plan to add four valet parking spots at 1298 Prospect St. The parking places would be primarily to service the new Eddie V’s, a national chain restaurant opening soon. Retailers expressed concerns that using more parking for valet would take up too many regular spots in an already-tough parking situation along Prospect Street. Restaurant owners countered, saying the problems with parking in the area are not due to valet parking, and that increased valet spaces could actually ease the troubled situation. The trustees eventually turned down the plan, although some trustees said the plan seemed reasonable and that the status quo parking situation along Prospect Street needed to be addressed. CPA: doors always open The Whitney mixed-use project will be heard by the City Council on May 3. The plan has generated allegations of CPA members violating California’s open-meeting law, also called the Brown Act. Attorneys for the city have responded to the allegations in a letter to Bob Whitney’s attorneys, saying there was no wrong doing. Nevertheless, they are meeting with the CPA to discuss board policies and procedures and the CPA itself is forming an ad hoc committee to look at their policies and to address any inconsistencies. New President Tony Crisafi is in the process of assembling the committee, after which the CPA will announce the dates of meetings, which will be open to public and will include public input.