{"id":245512,"date":"2012-10-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-26T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/filner-speaks-at-bankers-hill-residents-meeting\/"},"modified":"2012-10-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-26T07:00:00","slug":"filner-speaks-at-bankers-hill-residents-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/filner-speaks-at-bankers-hill-residents-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Filner speaks at Bankers Hill Residents meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayoral candidate answers questions about Balboa Park, campaign finance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por Morgan M. Hurley | Asistente de edici\u00f3n SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Filner
Congressmember Bob Filner (Courtesy office of Bob Filner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Bankers Hill Residents Group held a special meeting Tuesday, Oct. 23 to host Congressmember and 2012 mayoral candidate Bob Filner. The candidate addressed a small group of area residents in a town hall-like setting at the top floor lounge of Inn at the Park, located at 525 Spruce St.<\/p>\n

In his opening remarks, Filner identified reasons why he deserves their vote for mayor, citing his long history of prior city leadership and two decades of experience in the federal legislature, in comparison to his opponent, Councilmember Carl DeMaio.<\/p>\n

Filner also outlined ways he would stimulate local small businesses. \u201cI can mandate that every public building be solar powered in five years. Imagine the demand that creates for photovoltaic and solar panels,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s all small business and that is what we need to promote here in San Diego.\u201d<\/p>\n

He emphasized that issues regarding commerce along the international border are also important. \u201cWe\u2019ve lost $6 billion per year because our border is so inefficient after 9\/11 \u2026 but we can change that,\u201d he said. \u201cI represented the border for a long time. I know the policies that need to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Filner then reminded the group he is being touted as the \u201ceducation mayor\u201d due to his background not only as a professor, but also as a San Diego Unified School Board member and a parent who raised children through the local public school system. \u201cI know how this system works,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The forum was then opened up to questions, which covered a wide variety of topics ranging from the pedestrianization of Balboa Park and its Centennial Committee, enhancing the quality of life for residents, campaign funding caps, and homeless veterans.<\/p>\n

Developer Doug Manchester was also a recurring topic for attendees, notably his purchase and use of the U-T San Diego, his involvement in the Navy Administration complex project at the west end of Broadway in Downtown and his desire to bring a stadium to the 10th Avenue Terminal, among others.<\/p>\n

The first question regarded the \u201cJacobs Plan\u201d for Balboa Park and how, as mayor, the candidate would help facilitate a restoration of pedestrian use in time for the Centennial in 2015. It was presented by Ben Baltic, facilitator of the event, but came from another resident who was unable to attend.<\/p>\n

Saying he firmly opposes the council-approved Plaza de Panama project, Filner explained his stance on the subject regarding parking versus pedestrians in the park.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the councilman for Balboa Park when I represented this area,\u201d Filner said. \u201cWe wrote the plan 20 years ago that, if it was implemented, would have solved this issue and solved it without destroying the topography [and] the geography of the park without $40 million worth of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

He told the group about that alternative idea, which would involve parking around the perimeter of the park and bring people in through the use of trams. He also suggested closing the park to cars on weekends as an alternative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are lots of things you can do but I think this [Plaza de Panama project] is the wrong one,\u201d he said. \u201cIf it passes the court I\u2019ll have to implement it.\u201d As the project is currently being held up in litigation brought by Save Our Heritage Organisation, Filner then encouraged the residents to join the Balboa Park Centennial Committee and speak their minds about the current plan and alternatives.<\/p>\n

One resident voiced concern over what she referred to as one-sided editorial content coming from U-T San Diego and how difficult it was to hear both sides of the race. \u201cWhere can we get alternative news?\u201d the woman asked. Several ideas from other attendees were put forth.<\/p>\n

Filner then presented his ideas on a public financing ordinance, a plan that would cap campaign spending, shorten the length of campaigns and \u201clevel the playing field,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis money is obscene and it destroys the democratic process,\u201d he said, adding that his name recognition and his history in San Diego that will get him elected in the end, not the amount of money donated to each side of the campaign.<\/p>\n

In closing, the candidate spoke directly to the individuals in attendance before leaving for a debate with DeMaio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to listen to you when I\u2019m there,\u201d he said. \u201cYou people are the experts. You can tell me where the crosswalks need to go \u2013 I don\u2019t need a traffic engineer; you are right here \u2013 we should listen to the experts and do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mayoral candidate answers questions about Balboa Park, campaign finance By Morgan M. Hurley | SDUN Assistant Editor The Bankers Hill Residents Group held a special meeting Tuesday, Oct. 23 to host Congressmember and 2012 mayoral candidate Bob Filner. The candidate addressed a small group of area residents in a town hall-like setting at the top […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Filner speaks at Bankers Hill Residents meeting","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}