Pacific Beach rejects the Block Party, the City Council bans smoking on the beach and District 2 finally elects a new councilman ” theses were just a few of the big stories that made the headlines in 2006.
January
“¢ After more than five months without a City Council representative, District 2’s tumultuous era of investigation and trial of former councilman Michael Zucchet ended with the swearing in of Kevin Faulconer. Faulconer defeated Lorena Gonzalez by fewer than 800 votes.

“¢ The city’s first homicide of the year occurred on the boardwalk Jan. 8, when Jonathan Lefler-Panela, 25, was stabbed to death during a fight. The suspect, David Sullivan, 26, fled but later turned himself in to police.
The fight started when the two men exchanged angry words while visiting Sam’s by the Sea restaurant, 4135 Ocean Blvd. The two were separated, but the fight resumed outside, and Lefler-Panela was stabbed.
Sullivan is currently in custody at the San Diego Central Jail, and his bail is set at $5 million. His trial is scheduled to begin in March.

febrero
“¢ Residents, community leaders and elected representatives came together to protest the proposed opening of a detox center in Pacific Beach.
Following the loss of its downtown lease, Volunteers of America (VOA) settled on a 25,000-square-foot medical office at 3565 Del Ray St. near East Mission Bay Drive. The City Council voted 6-2 to block VOA’s move to Pacific Beach a few days after the protest. Following the vote, Councilman Kevin Faulconer pledged to find VOA a new home in downtown.
VOA is currently working with Centre City Development Corp. (CCDC) to secure funding for a new location downtown.

March
“¢ Mayor Jerry Sanders and Councilman Kevin Faulconer held a press conference on March 9 to announce that the city was going to repair some areas of crumbling seawall along the boardwalk.
“The sorry condition of this seawall has been a symbol of what has been going on in the city for the last couple of years in terms of neglecting our infrastructure,” Faulconer said.
Parts of the seawall with exposed rebar were patched up, but there are still stretches of broken concrete and exposed metal. Larger repair projects for the seawall were proposed for the future to the tune of millions of dollars, but with the city’s current financial crisis, nothing is really expected to begin anytime soon.

“¢ For the first time, the city denied issuing a special events permit by refusing to allow the PB Street Fair (formerly the PB Block Party) to hold its planned April event.
The event was cancelled following a huge outcry by residents due to the problems associated with previous events, such as public drunkenness, excessive litter, traffic and noise.
In response, organizers renamed the event and promised a toned-down version, but members of all three major community groups refused to support the PB Street Fair, which the city took into consideration when issuing the denial.

April
“¢ After 27 years as head baseball coach at Mission Bay High School, Dennis Pugh announced was leaving at the end of the season to head CSU San Marcos’ baseball program.
As head coach, his record stands at 612-193, with eight CIF championships and 18 Western League titles. He also led the Buccaneers varsity football team to two CIF championships. His win-loss record gives him one of the best winning-percentages among San Diego coaches, and several of his former players are playing in respected college programs and on minor league teams. One player from his 1979 team, Joel Skinner, played nine seasons with the Cleveland Indians.

“¢ The new state-of-the-art Pacific Beach Lifeguard Station at the foot of Grand Avenue stood vacant due to a myriad of problems that plagued the project almost since groundbreaking more than two years before.
The ongoing construction was labeled the reason for the shuttering of two nearby businesses, TD Hays and the High Tide Café.
The contractor was eventually banned from the site on April 17 and from future city projects for one year. Lifeguards moved into their new station a few weeks later.

May
“¢ Despite the fact that the city siphons somewhere between $17 million and $22 million from Mission Bay Park revenues each year, Mayor Jerry Sanders pledged to return $2 million, to be spent on the bay. While half of the $2 million is earmarked to replace the lifeguards’ sinking boat dock, only $100,000 of the remaining money will be used for Mission Bay Park maintenance and improvements. The remaining $900,000 will be shared between six other parks, including Balboa Park and Mission Trails Park.

June
“¢ The City Council voted 8-0 on June 19 to ban smoking on all beaches. While supporters of the ban claimed the ban would have health benefits, the real issue was litter, since many smokers simply toss their cigarette butts in the sand.
A maximum fine of $250 was proposed for first offense once the law goes into effect. City officials said police wouldn’t enforce the law until proper signage was posted at the beach at a cost of $20,000.
A quick trip down the boardwalk six months later yielded no signs informing beachgoers not smoke in the sand could be found.

“¢ An 18-year-old man driving while under the influence struck and killed a pedestrian crossing Garnet Avenue near Haines on June 24.
Police stopped the driver, Daniel Scott Hall, on Interstate 5 near SeaWorld Drive after a motorist followed the car. His blood-alcohol level was .23, nearly three times the legal limit.
Court testimony showed that the victim, 25-year-old college student Christopher McCallister, was struck so hard that his arm went through the windshield. A judge sentenced Hall to seven years in prison.

July
“¢ Six men were arraigned July 10 following a raid by federal agents at eight marijuana dispensaries located in Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach and La Jolla. Agents also served search warrants at the homes of a number of suspects. Along with marijuana, agents found several guns and undisclosed amounts of cocaine, hashish and ecstasy.

“¢ One of Garnet Avenue’s longest-running businesses, New Seed Vitamin, shut its doors July 31 after 32 years. Owners Kevin and Sonja Franc said they were ready to retire, but they also cited the changing vitamins market, and face of Pacific Beach, for their decision.
“As soon as vitamins went mainstream, that was the beginning of the end for our type of store,” Kevin said.

August
“¢ A large crowd of dog owners showed up at a public workshop regarding possible development of Fiesta Island to tell the city: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
“¢ The workshop was organized so citizens could voice their ideas regarding the implementation of the Mission Bay Master Plan, which calls for three possible redevelopment plans. None of the plans addressed the demand for leash-free areas for dogs.

“¢ SeaWorld announced Aug. 20 that is canceling its nightly fireworks display in response to a notice of intent to file a lawsuit by San Diego Coastkeeper.
Coastkeeper wanted the Clean Water Act enforced and SeaWorld to have the proper permits to allow fireworks to be launched over the bay.
Bruce Reznick from Coastkeeper said fireworks could release dangerous chemicals, such as cadmium, arsenic, chromium, mercury, lead and zinc, into the bay.
“SeaWorld may be doing everything they can to minimize the impact of the fireworks on Mission Bay, and the best way to know that for sure is to get a permit,” he said.
It was estimated that it would take three to six months for a scientific review before SeaWorld could request a permit from the water board.

September
“¢ On Sept. 5, the Mission Bay Park Committee (MBPC) reported that a 2000 city-commissioned survey revealed 750 more acres of parkland than reflected in a 1994 report.
The extra acreage is actually located within the San Diego River. Because the city charter says no more than 25 percent of the bay’s parkland can be developed and leased, the extra acreage allowed for more development than permitted by law.
According to a MBPC representative, the former head of the city’s problem-plagued Real Estate Assets department, Will Griffith, did not include nonprofits as part of the 25 percent development rule, which also allowed for more development than allowed by law.

October
“¢ Two women were sexually assaulted during an early morning home-invasion robbery in Mission Beach Oct. 15. The city was shocked by the horrific nature of the crimes, and the police representatives pledged to use every department resource to capture the suspects.
Three men and two juveniles were arrested within a few days of the attack.
Charged with robbery and sexual assault charges are Willie Watkins, 30, Donald Dunate Smith, 19, and Antonio Washington, 19. The two juveniles’ names have not been released.
Bail has been set at $1 million for two of the adults. The preliminary hearings are expected to resume in 2007.

November
“¢ The city released a four-year study announcing that the old Mission Bay landfill poses no health risks to the surrounding environment.
The former landfill covered approximately 120 acres of South Shores Park near SeaWorld from 1953 to 1959. Both municipal and industrial waste were buried before the landfill closed.
December
“¢ After beating Santana High School, Mission Bay High School’s varsity football team moved on to the Division IV CIF Championships at Qualcomm Stadium Dec. 4.
The Buccaneers took on the Santa Fe Christian Eagles, who capitalized on several mistakes, beating the Bucs 34-21.