Editorial

Looking forward

By Hutton Marshall, SDUN Editor

San Diego residents saw an eventful year in 2013. In years to come, we’ll probably look back and shake our heads, smiling slightly from embarrassment at the political circus that shook our city by the collar for the middle months of the year.

But undeniably, after all that we’ve been through in the last few years — the recession that hit California so hard, a City Hall that took its time opening up to its citizens and to its neighborhoods, and of course the political turmoil of the past year — I dare to say that we’ve come out better for it. We’re planning for the future in a way that finally sounds more like building a foundation and less like disaster preparedness.

So with a healthy dose of cautious optimism, here are a few things Uptowners have to look forward to in 2014 and beyond.

A New Mayor

There were three different San Diegans sitting behind that big, old desk in the mayor’s office during the last two years. San Diego deserves more stability in the office of its chief executive. On February 11, San Diego voters will hopefully get that stability — until the next election in three years at least.

Since Councilmembers David Alvarez and Kevin Faulconer made it into the runoff election late last year, the race seems unexpectedly calm and professional, aside from that recent spat about who was more Grinch-like. While both men have starkly different political ideologies, both seem eager to be viewed as a steady leader for San Diego.

The Community Plan Updates

Uptown, North Park and Golden Hill will all update their community plans this year, given that everything stays on schedule. For those unfamiliar with this lengthy, dense process, the community plan is what dictates land use, development, and some public policy implementation in these communities. They state what can be built, where it can be built, and what it can look like, in addition to a smorgasbord of other details specific to the community. This is the first time any of these three communities have done this in more than 15 years.

Right now, they’re still in the phase of putting the drafts together for the three updates. The City’s planning department does this with input from the community planning boards. After that, the City Council will vote whether or not to adopt it into San Diego’s General Plan, its “constitution for development” according to the City.

The outcomes of these plans are contentious issues for many — as they should be — because these plan updates will shape the future of these communities to a large degree. This little blurb couldn’t possibly delve into all that will be covered, so check out San Diego’s planning department at sandiego.gov/planning for all the information you could ever want on these plan updates.

The Balboa Park Centennial

This one is still over a year away, but Balboa Park’s 100th anniversary of the International Exposition of 1915 will surely surpass epic proportions. There have been rumors of an entire month’s worth of celebration — we’ll see how that fits into the city’s budget — but the event celebrates a landmark event in San Diego’s formation, when it celebrated itself as a major U.S. port, gaining access to the Atlantic Ocean and European trade with the opening of the Panama Canal.

There has been talk of kicking off festivities on New Year’s Eve 2014, so I’m using that as my excuse to include this in next year’s preview.

Now that we’ve covered a few things to expect, here are a few more lofty hopefuls of mine:

Breaking ground on the Mission Hills-Hillcrest Library

There’s a section on the Friends of Mission Hills website titled “Mission Hills-Hillcrest Library Project.” The section was regularly updated from 2003 to 2005, community meetings were held and the project was slated for completion in 2008 — but then funding sources became less steady as the recession began to take hold, and that page on the website has remained dormant since then. But now, the kindling seems to be sparking again. The hefty $120 million infrastructure bond expected to pass in January has in it $4 million for the Mission Hills-Hillcrest Library. Coupled with the $10.2 million already pledged from private donors, this puts the project $2.3 million away from completion. Besides that, the city has long owned the property for the site of the library, which will be on the corner of Washington and Front streets. If the San Diego Library Foundation and Friends of the Mission Hills Library can secure that last piece of funding through donations, given the lengthy amount of planning that’s already taken place, maybe we can break ground in 2014.

Open Data Policy

Last September, the City Council’s Rules and Economic Development Committee unanimously voted in favor of creating the City’s first open data policy. While the city already has staff overseeing public records requests, as well as ensuring minutes and agendas are up to date, a policy to develop the city’s website to make it more data-rich and openly accessible is much needed.

Mayor Bob Filner’s administration was notoriously closed off. That’s changed with Interim Mayor Todd Gloria, but an open data policy goes beyond responsiveness. It’s about changing the way the city uses online technology to create a space for citizens to access and analyze city data. Rules and Economic Development Committee Chair Mark Kersey has called this access to civic information the right of citizens. I hope this is an indication that the City Council will ensure this is adopted in the coming year.

Hutton Marshall crowned King of Uptown

After significant contributions to humanity, literature, and the art of men’s fashion, the residents of Uptown communities will unanimously elected San Diego Uptown News Editor Hutton Marshall to the newly created position, King of Uptown. As Uptown King, Hutton Marshall will enjoy all his meals for free at Uptown restaurants, he will partake in free tastings at all of Uptown’s fine breweries, and fellow SDCNN Editor Morgan M. Hurley will acknowledge his supreme brilliance on an hourly basis.

Happy New Year, readers!

Carta al editor

Orchids for mentioning the word “pedestrian” one time in each of four successive articles about the $352 million plan for developing bike ways, their estimated maintenance cost of $4 million a year, and the unstated cost (in another piece) of expanding the number of bike corrals.

Onions for mentioning the word “pedestrian” one time in each of the last four articles (though one was in a quotation) without saying anything about pedestrian safety or pedestrian rights amid the expanding number of bicyclists.

I write as one who has been struck twice by rogue bicyclists: once in the leg by a cyclist running a red light on University Ave. in Hillcrest while I was walking on a marked crosswalk with the pedestrian signal on, and once in the lower back by the handle of a bicycle whose rider was illegally riding on a North Park sidewalk. I’m over eighty, and I don’t relish in the odds of being struck again and again with an increasing number of bicyclists new to the rules supposedly governing their actions.

In regard to the bike corrals, I amused myself for a few months checking the much-touted corral at the now-defunct Linkery [in North Park] on Saturdays during the lunch hour, since I take the Number Two bus line around that time. After 24 Saturday observations between 12 and 1:30 p.m., I saw no bikes in the corral on 17 of the days, I saw one bike using it on six days, and on one day I saw two bikes using the corral. In other words, two-thirds of the time there were no bikes using this particular six-bike corral at the peak lunch period. And this broke city is going to buy more of them? Are actual use studies being made?

What I would like to see in the Uptown News is an article telling me what the planners are doing with regard to enforcing the law and guaranteeing pedestrian rights and pedestrian safety. (I’ll bet it would be a very short article!) Almost every day of the week you can see some bicyclist riding his bike through a knot of pedestrians waiting for the bus on the corner of University and Fifth Avenues. Is there any provision for licensing, for training to make sure every bicyclist knows what the laws are, or any adult supervision here?

Bottom line: In the midst of all the hoopla, what plans are in place to guarantee the safety of the elderly, the handicapped, those waiting for buses or crossing the street with the pedestrian light? Or are we just expected to pay up and shut up in exchange for the privilege of being crowded off the sidewalks or struck in the crosswalks by rogue bicyclists with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement?

William A. Koelsch via email

Colina de los banqueros

Editorial

Interim Mayor Todd Gloria’s January Update

Dear Friends,

As we begin 2014 with resolutions, renewal, and hope for great things in the months ahead, I am happy to report the City’s forecast looks bright.

Late last year, I released the City’s Five-Year Financial Outlook. The financial forecast for Fiscal Years 2015 through 2019 includes critical information as the City Council and members of the public begin to formulate priorities for the FY 2015 budget, which will be considered in Spring 2014. The Outlook projects a one-year baseline budget deficit of approximately $19 million for FY 15, followed by surpluses through FY 19. I fully expect we will be able to overcome the projected FY 15 deficit without sacrificing needed services, thanks in part to higher than anticipated property tax revenues. With smart decision-making, the City of San Diego will have a balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2015. This is good news.

That being said, as Interim Mayor and Council President, my primary focus in 2014 will be on our City’s infrastructure. The City currently has a backlog of deferred capital projects with a price tag of at least $898 million. These capital projects include sidewalks, streets, streetlights, fire stations, storm drains, parks, and libraries. This month, my Council colleagues and I will be voting on a $120 million infrastructure bond that includes over $43 million earmarked for street resurfacing. The passage of this proposed bond at Council would be a step in the right direction. However, to be America’s Finest City and remain economically competitive, we must continue to work together to develop solutions on how we will pay for the remaining infrastructure upgrades.

Councilmember Mark Kersey, Chair of the City Council’s Infrastructure Committee, has done an excellent job leading this charge. Last year, he kicked off a series of community workshops to solicit input from residents on what kinds of improvements they would like to see in their neighborhoods. I look forward to continuing to work with and support Councilmember Kersey in this role. If you tweet, you can follow the City’s infrastructure conversation on Twitter – #RebuildSD.

While we start 2014 with good news about the City’s financial outlook, I am up to the challenge of addressing our infrastructure needs, and welcome your input on what infrastructure improvements make sense for San Diego. Please email me at [email protected].

Finally, I invite you to join me at the State of the City Address on January 15 at 6:00 p.m. at the Balboa Theatre Downtown. Come and learn about the progress we’ve made so far, and what we can accomplish together in this new year.

I hope your 2014 is filled with great health and good fortune. As always, thank you for the opportunity to serve.

Sincerely,

Todd Gloria
Interim Mayor