In May, Peninsulan Michael Winn called for formation of a new town council, claiming it could be formed quickly and serve all the diverse interests of the community while providing greater collective clout.
His proposal before the Peninsula Community Planning Board’s May 18 meeting met with mixed reviews both during — and after — that meeting.
PCPB board members concurred the idea has merit. But they questioned whether it was an advisory group’s place to back such an effort. Planners also expressed concern that any new town council might overlap and/or conflict with the work of other civic groups, like the Point Loma Association.
That sentiment was echoed by others after PCPB’s monthly meeting, including members of the PLA.
Current PLA president Clark Anthony Burlingame said he and longtime PLA board member Dave Martin, a five-time president of Ocean Beach Town Council, met with Winn over coffee recently to discuss his town council proposal.
“He (Winn) raises valid concerns that caring people should consider the Peninsula’s unique historical and cultural significance in crafting our future,”Burlingame said. “He cautions against surrendering our quality of life to developers driven to generate as much profit as possible from every square foot of our community. What he fails to appreciate (or even acknowledge) are the efforts of the PLA, the PCPB and others on both sides of the Point. Cooperation among community groups is stronger than ever.”
Burlingame pointed out “PLA is working diligently to facilitate this movement. We do not want to control it. We want to encourage collaboration, sharing of goals and dissemination of information. We want to engage all our neighbors in the discussion. “If we come together to learn, to debate, and determine the future we want for generations to come, we can raise one powerful voice. We can act now. No need to wait for a town council to catch up.”
Burlingame said Winn requested that PLA “spin off” his proposed town council. “We declined,” Burlingame added. 
Immediate past PLA president Robert “Tripp” Jackson had a similar take on the town council proposal.
“Personally,” Jackson said, “I believe some issues should be dealt with on a ‘case-by-case’ basis. When there is an overwhelming threat to our Peninsula, politics set aside,  maybe a more aggressive stand should be taken.”
Jackson added the PLA, over the last quarter century “Has tended not to get into politics or take sides, alternatively, just keeping the membership informed on what’s going on in the Peninsula. Every citizen will have their own opinion, to act on, as they wish.”  
“We are the long-standing community organization that has been recognized by the city since 1960,” Jackson added. “Rather than another group forming at this point, let’s all pull together and share our concerns in an orderly fashion. I agree, we have issues that need to be dealt with to maintain the quality of life here on the Peninsula. But we don’t want overlapping efforts from multiple organizations.”
Jackson suggested a community survey or forum could be done sounding the community out on whether it felt a town council is appropriate — or needed.
Peninsula State Farm insurance agent Matt Kalla also weighed-in on the prospect of creating a new town council.
“I have mixed reviews about  the formation of another group,” Kalla said. “Currently, there are proposals for a business improvement district, a maintenance assessment district and a grassroots organization for businesses in the Point Loma Village area. This is potentially an over-saturation of groups all trying to work towards the same thing. Honestly, the PLA is a large enough organization that could spin to a town council real easily. Just a thought.”
Defending his stance after the PCPB meeting, Winn said: “The community plan process has created most of the problems we are contending with today. The community plan for Point Loma was written in the 1970s for a different world – an economic world that no longer exists. Today’s developers propose projects that fit the existing community plan, which creates problems for current residents. Two examples are the condos going up in Roseville and the proposed project at Kellogg Beach.
“A town council is needed to create and express the political will of the residents of the community, to specify a community plan that works for us today. As long a town council exists, we can continue to adjust and modify the community plan in order to honor the current needs of the community.”