Por Hutton Marshall | Editor<\/p>\n
Tomorrow, March 2, residents of Hillcrest, Bankers Hill, Mission Hills, University Heights and Five Points\/Middletown\u2014which has a nice ring to it\u2014will vote in seven new board members for the all-volunteer Uptown Community Planning Group, more commonly known as the Uptown Planners.<\/p>\n
Update: The candidates elected were Jennifer Pesqueira, Ken Tablang, Michael Brennan, Mat Wahlstrom, Kyle Heiskala, Dana Hook and Jay Newington. The will be seated at the April 7 Uptown Planners meeting, where the board will elect its new chair.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n With much of the 17-person board up for grabs, and the departure of the long-seated board chair Leo Wilson, the dynamics\u00a0of the city advisory board will surely change significantly. With a community plan update underway, and the SANDAG bike corridor looming in 2016, Uptown Planners will likely weigh in often about urban development and bicycle infrastructure. Here is a quick glance at the eight\u00a0candidates running for the board this year.<\/p>\n – Neil Ferrier<\/strong>, Jennifer Pesqueira<\/strong> y Ken Tablang<\/strong> were elected in 2011 and are running for second four-year terms.<\/p>\n – Michael Brennan<\/strong> sits on the city’s newly established Bicycle Advisory Committee<\/a>, the Hillcrest Business Association’s board of directors, the Uptown Community Parking District and the Hillcrest Community Development Corporation.\u00a0Brennan has worked as a landscape architect in San Diego for over a decade. On the HBA, he has supported\u00a0initiatives increasing bicycle infrastructure.<\/p>\n – mat wahlstr\u00f6m<\/strong> owns Roberts Electric Services in Hillcrest and ran unsuccessfully for a spot on the board last year. He previously told me<\/a> that he supports a community plan that would maintain density levels in Hillcrest. According to sdurban.com<\/a>, he has been critical of increasing bicycle infrastructure. He is also known as an outspoken critic<\/a> of the HBA’s current leadership.<\/p>\n – Kyle Heiskala<\/strong>, a Hillcrest resident, is one of two candidates endorsed by Paul Jamason, who runs sdurban.com<\/a> and advocates for\u00a0smart growth, transit and bicycle\u00a0infrastructure. (Jamasaon has also endorsed Brennan.) Heiskala\u00a0often tweets about\u00a0bicycle infrastructure<\/a>\u00a0y\u00a0sustainability<\/a>\u00a0issues.<\/p>\n – Dana Hook<\/strong> is an engineer familiar with transportation issues, according to wstinternational.org<\/a>. Esta<\/a> appears to be her Twitter profile.<\/p>\n – Other candidates include Jay Newington<\/strong> y Chris Cole<\/strong>. Both helped found organizations created by Wilson, although that doesn’t mean their community planning ideologies will be similar.<\/p>\n