Jerry Hall is helping Pacific Beach clean up its act ” literally.
Bothered by graffiti, gum on the sidewalk and other eyesores blighting the beaches, boardwalk and streets of the seaside community, Hall formed and acts as chairperson of the Safe and Beautiful Committee. The subcommittee of the Pacific Beach Town Council (PBTC) holds monthly cleanup events and is also working on longer-term beautification projects like painting area utility boxes with picturesque murals and enlisting the help to paint over graffiti tags.
“That’s an ambitious project, but hopefully we can do it without getting punched in the nose,” Hall joked.
His ambition and determination to improve the community have earned him citywide recognition. Two years ago, he received the Channel 10 News Leadership Award for his work on the word-murals project at Pacific Beach Middle School.
Hall also has numerous local supporters.
“Jerry Hall is an enthusiastic, dedicated volunteer and community member and it’s been a pleasure to work with someone so sincere about improving the quality of life in Pacific Beach the past two years,” PBTC president Ruby Houck said.
Hall’s enthusiasm, perhaps his most defining trait, can be a curse as often as it is a blessing. And he is not without critics.
After being named Outstanding Volunteer of the Year, he said he was asked to step down from Discover Pacific Beach’s board of directors after serving 90 days. Hall said that though the board gave him a standing ovation after presenting his ambitious business plans, they advised him to address one topic at a time.
“Pacific Beach is not a one-thing-at-a-time community,” Hall said.
Acknowledging that he can be scattered, Hall said his seemingly boundless energy results from a sincere desire to improve the community he loves.
“I’m seen by some as a real pain, but when you look at my intentions and outcomes and the spirit of the work, I’m trying to build a unified community,” he said.
That process is often frustrating to Hall and puts him in unfamiliar territory.
“As an entrepreneur, you have to make decisions immediately,” he said. A self-employed designer of business websites, Hall’s profession allows, in fact demands, that he act quickly and fluidly.
Pushing a community plan through the proper hoops and putting it in action, however, can take months, if not years.
“There is a certain bureaucracy to it,” Hall said. “You have to take time to learn the game.”
He took a crash course, becoming one of the community’s most visible volunteers on the PBTC.
He continued his education as one of the 14 members of Councilman Kevin Faulconer’s Beach Alcohol Task Force.
“I tried to stay in the middle of the road on that one as long as I could,” Hall said of Pacific Beach’s most volatile issue.
“I want people to drink, I want people to have a great time. I’m not against alcohol ” I’m against alcohol-related crime,” he said.
The 2005 PB Block Party was the event that ultimately turned him from an alert community member into an active one, he said.
“I never got involved in local politics because there’s a lot of divisiveness,” he said.
That divisiveness and bureaucracy hamstring the efforts of volunteers, according to Hall.
“A lot of volunteerism is stifled by the system,” he said. “In an ideal world, you want to give volunteers the tools.”
Balancing his vision for an ideal world with realistic expectations is a concept that Hall is becoming more comfortable with.
“The idealistic part of me thinks it takes every resident in Pacific Beach to make a community, from the gang-bangers to the people who live in the house on the hill.”
He believes the more realistic approach, however, is “trying to get consensus and working with the majority.”
To that end, Hall is working to create the Vision Committee, a subcommittee of the PBTC that would focus on cleaning and beautification projects and developing the relationship between the town council and the Pacific Beach Business Improvement District. Once that committee is established, “My work will be done,” Hall said jokingly.
As he scales back his volunteering efforts to focus on his passion project, www.iLoveSchools.com ” a website that matches school teachers who need supplies with donors ” Hall hopes that more residents will volunteer their time and talents. He would especially like to see more young people get involved.
“It’s their community too, even if they’re just passing through,” he said of the area’s sizeable population of twenty- and thirtysomethings.
“This isn’t about me. It’s about our community,” Hall said. “Are we going to leave a legacy or leave a dump? Are we working together or are we at war with each other?”
Developing a spirit of cooperation, instead of competition, is what will eventually move Pacific Beach forward, Hall said.
“If you look at volunteering as a competition, nobody wins. If you look at it as a team exercise, everyone wins.”