January 15,
2010
— Councilman Carl DeMaio in an
interview with the Voice of San Diego
January 14,
2010
— Dan Jacobs in this week’s letters to CityBeat
January 13,
2010
Residents learn about new Von’s store
January’s meeting of the Hillcrest Town Council (HTC) began last night with political reps sharing information and taking questions from residents. 70 residents attended the meeting and enjoyed a free pasta dinner donated by Babbo Grande. HTC member Bruce Bielaski offered an amendment to the bylaws clarifying the requirements to run for the board member. The approved amendment requires that any candidate must have attended a minimum of three HTC meetings and one steering committee meeting. Representatives from Von’s presented plans for a remodel of the Hillcrest store located at Washington Street at Dove. (At left) Bruce Braaten from the real estate division of Safeway (the parent company) discussed the poor condition of the current Von’s, calling it “an embarrassment” and shared plans for a much larger store with a bakery, deli with pizza oven, full range of meats & seafood and a large floral selection. The new 24-hour store will be modeled after another urban store that the company opened last year in West Hollywood. Parking will be at ground level with the store located above (some suggested subterranean parking or have it located on the roof, like Hillcrest’s Whole Food Market, for a shorter profile). Von’s also purchased the vacant lot on the east side of the property along Washington and intends to include several small retailers there. Plans will be submitted to the city this Thursday with final permits issued in June.Tom Jackiewicz, CEO of the UCSD Medical Complex educated the group to the importance of their hospital to the neighborhood. As an academic medical center, UCSD is the largest provider of HIV/AIDS care in San Diego. Acquired in 1960, the UCSD complex continues to undergo substantial improvements including over $10 million a year dedicated to ongoing maintenance.
Luke Terpstra presented a L.I.O.N. award to property owner Martin Calderon, whose 12 metal sculptures adorn several front yards on the east side of the 3700 block of First Avenue. Development Committee member Roy Dahl gave a report on the Community Plan Update. The next planning meeting will be Wednesday, January 27, 6pm at the Balboa Park Club. The meeting adjourned at 8pm. The next HTC meeting will be Tuesday, February 9th.
January 12,
2010
— City Attorney Jan Goldsmith at yesterday afternoon’s city council meeting
January 12,
2010
— U-T reporter Helen Gao re:
Uptown Partnership board who now must disclose financial interests
January 12,
2010
— Former Pride Board member Larry
Baza
January 11,
2010
Community weighs in on
Pride Board brouhaha
Nearly 300 community members attended a town hall meeting at the LGBT Center Sunday evening to air opinions over a $5,000 check given to Pride Board President Phillip Princetta, the dismissal of Executive Director Ron deHarte and the resignation of two staff, Jeff Redondo and Ken St. Pierre. (The three remaining Pride board members and deHarte did not attend the meeting.)
Community leaders Stephen Whitburn (standing) and Joyce Marieb facilitated last night’s meeting.
Those in attendance were read the Pride mission, vision and value statement followed by a brief overview of the legal structure of non-profit organizations generally and Pride specifically. Ben Cartwright, representing a large number of volunteers and ambassadors, reported that they had met and discussed the events of the past week. Their statement called for the three-member board of directors to step down, that Princetta return the check (which he has) and the staffers be returned to their positions. Volunteers cannot support this year’s Pride event unless these steps take place.
Former board member Judy Schaim read a statement of past board members calling for an independent audit of Pride’s finances which the group would like to see published, the appointment of a five-member interim board (including three women), reinstate a female co-chair and to begin conducting regular town hall meetings. After over an hour of opinions shared by the community, an effort was made to adopt a consensus of the assembled body. The group voted overwhelmingly that there is no confidence in the present three-member board, calling on them to resign. There were mixed results calling for the reinstatement of the two staff members who resigned and whether the executive director should be rehired.
January 10,
2010
— Gary Smith, president of the
San Diego Downtown Residents Group
January 9,
2010
