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SDCS Conversations

Five Issues That Would Make Our Region Better

Lynne Baker
Howard Blackson
Vicki Estrada
Murray Galinson
George Gastil
Sanford Goodkin
Alan Hoffman
Nancy Hughes
Kim Kilkenny
Susan Lew
Gary London
Bob Leiter
Mary M. McLellan
Betsy Morris
Mark Reidy
Mark Steele
Michael Stepner
Jennifer Whitelaw

By Lynne Baker

1. Us with Focus, Unity & Optimism.
   
2. Great Local Transit Infrastructure & Service to rival Brisbane (Key catalyst for new starter housing). Statewide High Speed Rail that goes south to border.
   
3. Pedestrian Program and Achievements like Copenhagen.
   
4. Local business/university/ politicians leading the nation in advocating, discovering, implementing, merchandising new, clean, renewable energy sources and sustainable cycles of waste, water, industry, processing. Save our economy and capture the engine for next big thing.
   
5. State Fiscal and constitutional reform - so cities and schools don't suffer so.

By Howard Blackson

1. Finish the Trolley System before we throw (too many) stones.
   
2. Move the airport (Otay Mesa, North Island, or a new island).
   
3. Learn from Little Italy's public space mistakes.
   
4. Start a Downtown Urban Design Center.
   
5. Put the City Planning Department back under the mayor.
   
6. Find a politican to trust...and then trust that person.

By Vicki Estrada

1. More open minded people - Breaking out of the box more, often sticking our necks out more.
   
2. Better mass transit "less cars" better walkability and connections.
   
3. More large corporate money.
   
4. A better physical, spiritual and emotional relationship with Tijuana.
   
5. More emphasis on the outdoors—more parks, walkways, PLAZAS!

By Murray Galinson

1. New regional government and a consolidation of many of the commissions
   
2. A new airport
   
3. More money for preK-16 public education
   
4. Leadership for the community
   
5. Six of my grandchildren move to San Diego from other parts of California

By George Gastil

1. Stronger regional government (perhaps an expanded board of supervisors).
   
2. Access to preschool and quality child care.
   
3. Higher paying jobs.
   
4. Urban villages.
   
5. Collaboration with Tijuana.

By Sanford Goodkin

1. Political: Do we need a change in our form of local government?
   Should we switch into mostly a regional governance, at least concerning water, traffic, utilities?
   
   
2. Environmental: Can we control our environment and still support the projected population increase? Should we try?
   
   
3. Housing: How can we best educate people/voters about the use of density?
   Should we rezone commercial, industrial or retail land to residential?
   Should the city and county inventory surplus land to keep the inflation factor tamed-or is this too late? This means that the municipalities would keep and/or buy land and reserve it for residential uses and try to keep a lid on appreciation on that land, keeping it zoned possibly for certain sized, certain priced residential?
   Should conversion of apartments into condominiums, in certain price ranges, be outlawed until we catch up with needs?
   
   
4. Infrastructure: What should our priorities be in terms of roads, freeways, transportation, sewers, bridges, airport, harbor?
   
   
5. Education: How should we become involved in the educational system?

By Alan Hoffman

1. A transit system actually designed around the way San Diegans use their city
   (or would like to use their city).
   
2. Greater public discourse and less fear of the confrontation of ideas
   (as opposed to the confrontation of individuals).
   
3. The dogged pursuit (much like Bogota) of a set of strategies to improve the walking experience
   in San Diego.
   
4. A "smarter" and more nuanced set of building codes that would permit us to build new Kensingtons
   and Mission Hills, or help convert less "friendly" neighborhoods into richer places.
   
5. Far greater attention and investment in schools and other facilities for children.
   
6. (again, I can't count) Better Chinese restaurants.

By Nancy Hughes

1. More public places that ARE NOT retail establishments.
   
2. Embracing schools and education as if that was all that mattered (closing schools is destroying neighborhoods!).
   
3. Investing the rigor necessary to value the benefits received from the regions natural systems, i.e. the green infrastructure's contribution to clean air, storm water reduction, energy savings, etc.
   
4. Use Triple Bottom Line accounting practices to calculate and capture the net benefit of investments in environmental protection and enhancement and maybe even social programs. These are the first programs to be cut during a budget crisis because they are seen as "non-essential" although the true value to our region is never measured.
   
5. Engage community members in this dialogue - those who typically are not at the table. Invest in this effort for true substantive, sustainable, long term change that the citizenry then has ownership in. It is extremely difficult and time consuming but it boils down to relationship building. All of the best and creative ideas in the world will go no where fast, or won't last (and we will be having these conversations again year after year) without this genuine effort. This is the test. If we aren't willing to do this then we must simply be satisfied with a portion (minority?) of our populous being civically engaged. Granted there will always be some who chose not to participate but currently the opportunity does not truly exist for many.

By Kim Kilkenny

1. A common vision of a better future.
   
2. Confidence that a better future can be achieved (for having so much going for us we sure enjoy doom
   and gloom).
   
3. Stop blaming others for doing bad things or not doing good things and just do the right thing ourselves.
   
4. Invest in and insist on great public spaces.
   
5. Refuse to condone sophomoric political gamesmanship.

By Susan Lew

1. A new airport
   
2. New main library
   
3. Mass transit system and less cars in freeways
   
4. Encourage and educate people to think more regional and global instead of district and neighborhood
   
5. More affordable housing

By Gary London

1. Regional government.
   
2. Strong mayor/more accountable City government.
   
3. Better infrastructure and services.
   
4. A separate Segway lane.
   
5. A better Chinese food restaurant.

By Bob Leiter

1. Consensus on a regional vision for transit, and how we get there.
   
2. Workable strategies for providing more affordable housing throughout the region.
   
3. More walkable communities throughout the region.
   
4. A higher priority on building our relationships with Mexico.
   
5. Consensus on how to acquire and manage permanent open space preserves throughout the region.

By Mary M. McLellan

1. More engagement of our citizenry in creating a better region and it begins with us
   
2. The great opportunity we have as a border city both economically and socially
   
3. Respect for nature and fiercely protecting her environment
   
4. Fully stepping into the title of Creative City of which we have been deemed
   
5. Take risks and stand up for what we believe - the authentic part of leadership that seems to be missing in San Diego.

By Betsy Morris

1. Insist on more humanistic built environment (useable public spaces, more
   integration vs segregation of land uses and human uses). I like the fine
   grained approach of Lawrence's Mission Hills proposal of the LIND block that
   the full block massing of many new projects.
   
2. Find the "common good".
3. Learn together to better balance competing
   interests and goals.
4. Engage community in dialogue. Build on, not tear down,
   new ideas.
   
5. Fiscal reform (state vs local, 2/3 vote). Once we complete items 2-4 (!)
   then we must fund the future.

By Mark Reidy

1. Concerned citizens group that has the clout and leadership ability to
   force our amateur local politicians to develop strategic, business, civic,
   and cultural plans for the region, along with a set of rank-ordered
   priorities that they fight to achieve. Too much followership, not enough
   leadership, and no agreed-upon strategic plans that would allow priorities
   to be put into context.
   
2. City-wide elections of all City Council members in San Diego, each
   running on a platform addressing number 1 immediately above.
   
3. Regional elected representatives in Sacrament and Washington, D.C. that
   fought harder for this region's priorities and fair share of tax benefits
   and spending out of government programs. Each should represent the region
   as a whole, not Democrats/Republicans/Greens or whatever in the region. We
   all live here, and our elected officials should listen to all interested
   parties and buy into the Region's strategic plans and priorities, not a
   political party's priorities. Am I naive or what? I moved here after 14
   years in lobbying capacities, mainly, in Washington, D.C.
   
4. Recognize that our regional and civic infatuation with Con-Vis
   primarily creates low-wage jobs and exacerbates the so-called "work-force
   housing" and/or "affordable housing" crises in this region as we inexorably
   gobble up the remaining clear land suitable for development. Why? To
   generate tax revenues for local government to spend out of context to
   assure re-election prospects for incumbents and help them move out of San
   Diego to the next higher level of elected position in Sacramento or
   Washington, D.C., leaving citizens who live here permanently to clean up
   the messes they left behind.
   
5. Recognize that this region needs to reassert control over K-12
   education and not only stop the deterioration of most public school
   educational offerings, but to turn them around and bring San Diego back to
   a high-quality K-12 academic standing. This will require private funding
   and effort, which should be leveraged with public dollars and human
   resources. But we must quit relying upon bureaucrats and elected official
   as leaders until they start showing some real leadership.
   
6. I can't count either. Given the incredible military history and
   patriotism imbedded in this region, I suggest that every building
   (especially in CCDC's province) be encouraged to top itself with a large
   American flag, lighted appropriately at night, to remind ourselves and our
   visitors that America truly is a special country, as is San Diego as a
   city, and that we should no longer take this country or this city for
   granted.

By Mark Steele

1. Leaders with vision and guts.. don’t you wish we had San Francisco’s Mayor Newsom.
   
2. Citizen’s that support visionary leaders with gusto to overcome the “vocal minority” that our leaders notice most.
   
3. More rain.
   
4. Another newspaper or some other means to enlighten the public to the reality of life.
   
5. Leave the airport where it is...its the best civic entrance to any city in the US....build high speed rail to LAX like.
6. London to Gatwick.

By Michael Stepner

1. We are cheap; we believe that there is a free lunch. When we realize there isn't, we would prefer to find someone else to pay the bills rather than take responsibility.
   
   
2. We have good intentions and we explore new ideas; but, for various reasons, we do not always follow through (e.g., in the 1930's, we built 1/2 of the main library but we still have not built the other half or a new one. In the 1960's, we scaled back on the size of city hall and "value engineered" it so that it was obsolete from the day the ribbon was cut).
   
   
3. We have a form of governance in the city based on the belief that we could take politics out of government; but, they are one and the same. We need to make our elected officials accountable and responsible and then support them.
   
   
4. We have to encourage our leaders to take to the bully pulpit.
   
   
5. We have to build public trust and confidence. The lack of trust in our elected officials, in the community, in business, in each other means that it is easier and safer to just say "no."

By Jennifer Whitelaw

1. Stop blaming, start solving
   
2. Work more collaboratively
   
3. Be nicer to each other on the freeways
   
4. Embrace our diversity more
   
5. Stop my friends from moving away because they can’t afford to buy a house

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