The large crowd of people mingling at the Catamaran Resort Tuesday evening, March 13, was a testament to community interest in District 2 City Councilman Kevin Faulconer’s plans for beach-area issues.
The event marked Faulconer’s second State of the District address and was attended by Mayor Jerry Sanders, City Attorney Michael Aguirre and Chief of Police William Lansdowne. He discussed the district’s achievements and goals for the future before a crowd of nearly 100 people.
“You wonder why you do these things sometimes, if anybody’s going to come,” Faulconer said to the group. “But I’m delighted that we have so many people here from so many different places.”
Faulconer devoted a significant amount of his speech to the city’s fiscal health. He repeatedly mentioned improvements in budget analysis and department audits to better monitor the money going through City Hall.
“It is critical that we continue to expose these problems and missteps of the past so we can correct them and never, ever repeat them,” Faulconer said. “The picture down at City Hall is daunting. I don’t want to sugarcoat it to you, and I won’t tonight.”
Faulconer also talked about Sanders’ business processing re-engineering, which has eliminated unnecessary positions to streamline city services. The initiative has saved the city $7.4 million in annual savings to date by cutting 88 positions “without having to affect the service level of those departments,” he said.
“In my mind, [business processing re-engineering] is really a fancy term for common sense,” Faulconer said.
Among the recurring themes from last year’s address was the poor condition of city streets.
“Our streets are still in some of the worst conditions that I’ve ever seen,” he said. “But I was proud along with my colleagues that we were able to have funding of an extra $10 million for one of my pet peeves, which is street repair.”
Faulconer explained that two years ago, the city was paving only 25 miles of streets per year. This year, however, the city plans on paving 101 miles.
“While that’s a step in the right direction, there are still so many miles more that we need to go,” he said.
Other community issues discussed included aging community plans, which largely serve to shape development that defines a community’s character. He said the documents are “some of the most important” the city has, adding that they are long overdue for a makeover.
According to Faulconer, the Pacific Beach plan is 32 years old, the peninsula plan 20 and the Ocean Beach plan 24.
“The biggest challenge that we have in updating these plans is finding the money and resources necessary to conduct the studies,” Faulconer said, explaining that each update costs $1 million to complete.
He said he plans to combine the efforts of three community updates into one study to reduce costs.
On peninsula issues, Faulconer noted that the reconvened North Bay/Peninsula Traffic Task Force succeeded in adding an additional left-turn lane at the Rosecrans Street and Midway Drive intersection. He said the task force is also committed to gaining the missing ramps for the Interstate 5 and 8 connection. Currently, vehicles traveling out of Ocean Beach do not have direct access to I-5 north; the same goes for southbound vehicles on I-5 heading to Ocean Beach. The only peninsula exits are SeaWorld Drive or Rosecrans Street, and the latter adds unnecessary congestion to the already crowded Midway area. However, any connection would require state funding and many years to complete.
The beach smoking ban arrived in Ocean Beach last year, which Faulconer cited as a success. He thanked the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association and the Surfrider Foundation for installing and maintaining smokeless ash cans along Newport Avenue. To date, the ban is considered a self-enforcing measure, though signage has yet to be posted along the boardwalk.
Finally, Faulconer touched on the Beach Alcohol Task Force, which he convened to discuss alcohol concerns across beach communities. The task force has met six times since its inception and discussed liquor licenses, the relationship between the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the city in issuing licenses, and house parties. Following an upcoming March 26 meeting, the group will begin brainstorming solutions to problems for the city to consider.
Faulconer ended the address on a positive note.
“As we start my second year I just want to say thank you,” he said to residents. “You are the ones that, in my opinion, really make the district what it is, which is the absolute best place, best neighborhoods to live in San Diego. It’s not what happens in City Hall, it’s what all of you do here in this room.”