If District 2 voters can make it through June 6 without succumbing to voter fatigue, then they’ll not have to pick another City Council representative for four years. In the third such election in seven months, incumbent Kevin Faulconer is running virtually unopposed, though challenger Kennan Kaeder’s name will remain on the ballot despite his announced withdrawal from the race in April for health reasons.
Faulconer said he will continue to campaign with signs and door-to-door canvassing, albeit at a “lower level” than anticipated.
“I think with all the turmoil we’ve had in this council district, people are ready to give somebody a chance to do the job,” he said of the lack of strong opposition. “People are ready to take a breather for a while.”
Faulconer won an abbreviated term for the council seat left vacant by former Councilman Michael Zucchet, who resigned last July amid convictions of fraud and wire-tapping. He and opponent Lorena Gonzalez advanced from a pool of 18 candidates in November to face each other in a January run-off. Faulconer took the close race with 722 more votes than Gonzalez.
In the short time since his Jan. 23 inauguration, Faulconer has been hard at work addressing the deferred concerns of District 2 residents. Because there was no council representation from July to January, the issues at hand continue to run the gamut.
Among his proudest accomplishments are restoring the Mission Bay Ordinance to keep some funds generated by Mission Bay Park in the park; working with Mayor Jerry Sanders to repairs protruding rebar and crumbling concrete along the Mission Bay sea wall; keeping the “drunk tank,” or county detoxification center, from moving to Pacific Beach; and addressing badly needed street repairs.
As the former Mission Bay Park Committee chairman, Faulconer has close ties to the regional park that brings in $22 million annually from lessee revenue. The councilman successfully pushed to keep $2 million for parks this year, though he said he advocates retaining the entire sum for neglected park operations, improvements and wetlands restoration.
Other park issues include green space for downtown and Point Loma. In February, Faulconer and Sanders authored a last-minute amendment to downtown’s Community Plan update under which developers can build bigger for increased fees. The money will be used to plug a $100 million hole in the plan’s budget deficit for parks. The public park at Liberty Station, formerly the Naval Training Center, is also a top priority.
“I’m going to push extremely hard to ensure that the 46-acre park at Liberty Station comes in on time,” he said. “Many people on the peninsula have been waiting for that park.”
Alcohol issues have also received a lot of attention from Faulconer since January. He voted against moving the Volunteers of America detox center to Del Rey Street, instead taking responsibility for finding them a new home and extending the organization’s lease on its current Island Avenue location. Though Faulconer meets biweekly with Volunteers and regularly with the mayor and Centre City Development Corporation, he said there has still been no narrowing of potential sites.
Faulconer said he plans to meet with the Pacific Beach Business Improvement District and ABC to discuss alcohol compliance issues and neighborhood enforcement. He said he is also awaiting results from the police department’s three-year plan to reduce debauchery on the Fourth of July.
“This is really an important year to see how the police department has done to make it a safer and more enjoyable experience for everybody,” Faulconer said.
He also cited the absence of the Pacific Beach Street Fair as a welcome break for the community from excessive partying.
In the coming months and with the promise of a full term on the City Council, Faulconer said he would like to begin identifying solutions for long-term problems, such as infrastructure and park maintenance. At Faulconer’s urging, the mayor proposed a modification to the fiscal year 2007 budget to reintroduce funding for Parks and Recreation Department staff, specifically one of Ocean Beach’s assistant directors.
Faulconer said he recognized the significance of those jobs after witnessing the Ocean Beach community rally to save one of their own last fall. Robb Athletic Field assistant director Rogelio "Yogi" Najera was to be transferred due to budget cuts until residents raised enough money to keep him through July.
“That’s when you know something is truly important,” Faulconer said of last year’s effort.
Najera can now rest assured that he and the community will not have to face the same situation in one month, as the council voted to approve the funding on Tuesday, May 30.
Faulconer has refused to take a city pension and has advocated a stringent approach to spending. He said the votes on budgeting funds have been the hardest, but some of the most important, as city funding affects all District 2 locales.
“I don’t think anybody would send City Hall more money because they haven’t spent it wisely in the past,” he said of making due with what little the city has. “You can’t spend more than you have.”