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- Location: City Hall Lobby – 202 C Street, San Diego, CA 92101 (Downtown)
- Free Hours: 1st Saturday of each month from 9:30 AM to Noon, starting February 2nd
- Best For: Pardon requests, autograph seekers, the politically active, pothole complaints
- Website: http://www.sandiego.
gov/mayor/
In addition to many other items in his first State of the City address on January 15th, newly elected mayor of San Diego Bob Filner announced that he will hold ‘open hours’ on the first Saturday of each month to be available to the public. These open hours will take place in the lobby of San Diego City Hall and run from 9:30 AM to Noon. Residents don’t need an appointment and are welcome to come and share whatever is on their mind.
The opportunity to interact with our elected officials is a great chance to voice concerns, raise complaints, and get a better sense of our elected officials as people. I’m glad to see these open hours being established and hope it is a symbol of greater openness from City Hall. Along with the potential establishment of an Open Government Office headed by Donna Frye the momentum appears to be for better transparency and more public information in San Diego in the future. This is a very good thing.
If you can’t make it to downtown, check the website for your city council member. There are frequent coffee hours and other opportunities to meet these representatives. I attended one such meeting with Todd Gloria a few months ago and although I didn’t reside in his district at the time it was a great opportunity to voice some concerns and suggestions I had, as well as to meet some new fellow San Diegans.
John P. Anderson
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John- love the post! You get points for thinking outside the box. (& you are très drole. )
Thanks Anna! I’m planning to head down, just to say hello if nothing else. Maybe I’ll see you there.
I will be asking for pardon, because I never asked for permission ;-)
Anna, you remind me of a quote from an article on Lorena Gonzalez. She said that when she worked for Cruz Bustamante he told her “Be so aggressive that I have to apologize for you.” – Love it!
Thank you for the information. I couldn’t find it on the Mayor’s website. At my swearing in on December 10th I stated that I wanted to emulate my parents’ friend and my hero, Gabi Giffords, with a version of “Congress on your Corner”. (Our student board member suggested “Board on Your Block”). My dad told me the story of sitting at a table with Gabi’s repeated opponent in a Republican district and my dad said to him, “You will never beat Gabi because every weekend she conducts Congress on Your Corner at the local grocery stores.” Unfortunately, tragedy struck! But I still believe in that kind of accessibility.
Tres drol – Je suis en accord:)
Kimberley – you’re welcome. I had the same issue, I don’t believe the exact location (or hours) are on the mayoral / city site. I called the Office of the Mayor to confirm the details and location.
Agreed on the importance of accessibility, as well as transparency in government.
So, How did you find out about this in the first place?
I think he mentioned it during the election season, but during the State of the City speech was the first I heard of actual details.
John,
Thanks for being kind-spirited and finding the positive in opportunities we have in our “own backyard” (City of San Diego). Your reports are informative and inspiring!
I might see you there on Feb 2nd.
I don’t know what Anna’s and Kimberley’s statement of “très drôle” have to do with either you and/or your article. Last I recall “très drôle” in French translates to English as “very funny- odd, jest” and/or “very young- rascal, kid.”
Item #3. Best for: asking for a pardon; seeking an autograph; complaining about potholes. This is funny:)
Exactly. ;-)
Thanks Remy – I look forward to it. (I’ll work on my French in the meantime, I had no idea what tres drole meant without using Google Translate.)