SAN DIEGO \u2014<\/b> San Diego Coastkeeper continues to hunt for new leadership to fill the shoes of its exited executive director and longtime shepherd, Bruce Reznik. As it does, the environmental group is keeping its focus on important beach and water-related issues central to its namesake. Reznik stepped down in November after an 11-year run because, he said, he couldn\u2019t muster the energy to “fight the battles” any longer, especially in the economic downturn of the last few years. “I needed to step back\u2026and recharge the batteries so I could move forward,” Reznik said. He added that he plans to remain active in the environmental arena. Even as Reznik releases the reigns, he leaves in his wake an environmental organization with a trail of accomplishments \u2014 and one still left with much work ahead of it. He spoke of some of the prominent issues past and future in an interview prior to a public farewell sendoff Jan. 25 in his home community of North Park. SEWAGE SPILLS<\/b> Early in Reznik\u2019s career, the city of San Diego faced an average of about one sewage spill a day. Through a series of policy changes enacted by the city \u2014 at the behest of groups like Coastkeeper, San Diego Surfrider Foundation, residents and other environmental groups, city officials were able to dramatically reduce sewage spills, according to Reznik. URBAN RUNOFF<\/b> Storm water runoff is probably the No. 1 source of pollution to local and regional waterways, according to Reznik. “That\u2019s more of a development issue that really requires outside-of-the-box [thinking],” Reznik said. Issues related to planning and development will prove crucial turning points for the future of San Diego\u2019s environmental stewardship, Reznik said. It\u2019s in these areas where environmental groups will be able take a more pivotal leadership role \u2014 instead of a “reactive” role where “we\u2019re always fighting against trash,” he said. FUTURE LEADERSHIP<\/b> A need exists for the citizenry and for city leaders to meet head-on the host of issues threatening the health and quality of waterways in the beach communities, Reznik said. City leaders should focus on education and development of a “green-collar economy,” including helping to create jobs in mass transit, rainwater recycling,and energy. “There\u2019s an opportunity to get San Diego [to develop] in a sustainable way and, in the end, it comes down to leadership and vision,” Reznik said. As San Diego Coastkeeper searches for Reznik\u2019s replacement, interim Executive Director Gabriel Solmer has stepped in to smooth the transition. Solmer acts as the group\u2019s legal director and said she has no intention of assuming the executive director role permanently. For Solmer, some of the top issues facing San Diego Coastkeeper include sewage and storm water infrastructure, regional water supply, citizen advocacy and education. “We\u2019re really focused on looking for that leader who is going to take us in that direction,” Solmer said. “Now that we want to find that next leader\u2026 it\u2019s not something we want to rush.” Solmer added that it could be a few months before the group\u2019s board of directors selects a new executive director and the next high-profile shepherd of San Diego Coastkeeper. \u2014 Kevin McKay contributed to this story<\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SAN DIEGO \u2014 San Diego Coastkeeper continues to hunt for new leadership to fill the shoes of its exited executive director and longtime shepherd, Bruce Reznik. As it does, the environmental group is keeping its focus on important beach and water-related issues central to its namesake. Reznik stepped down in November after an 11-year run […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":272647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"BATTLES YET TO BE FOUGHT","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-272646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272646","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=272646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}