By Jim Miller
When we at the San Diego Free Press decided to turn our focus to the community of Golden Hill, one of the first people I thought it would be good to talk to was my friend, neighbor, union brother, and colleague Judd Curran.
Judd and his wife Victoria both teach at Grossmont College, live in Golden Hill, and sit on the board of the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation Board and are quite active in the community. I know Judd and his wife as smart, progressive, compassionate people who want the best for their community.
Thus Judd is uniquely suited to speak to the issues of community identity, gentrification, and the past, present, and future of Golden Hill.
How did you end up in Golden Hill?
Looking for a more vibrant and diverse community of hard working people that we could relate to, my wife Victoria and I were elated to discover beautiful Golden Hill, the golden gem of San Diego. We moved into the neighborhood in December of 2011. From our initial investigation of this historical neighborhood, with its magnificent views of the downtown skyline, bay, Pacific Ocean, Coronado Bridge, and even the Islands and Mexico, we had the impression that the neighborhood had a good community vibe. But, we really didn’t understand fully what that meant, nor did we experience first-hand the significance and magnitude of community engagement and sense of ownership of this unique place within San Diego, until we got involved with the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation (GGHCDC).
Tell me about the Golden Hill Community Development Corporation.
This is not your typical “CDC”. This CDC has a primary focus on the “C”—community. A non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization, the GGHCDC is entirely volunteer-run by community members with no paid staff. And, it has been recently transformed (since April of 2011) from a somewhat dysfunctional and financially troubled organization into a viable support mechanism that has made great progress in engaging the community and local businesses while creating a greater sense of identity for the neighborhood.
Although some might say that the best thing the CDC is doing for the community is providing low income housing, or supporting the development of a children’s playground in Golden Hill park, or hosting a Saturday farmer’s market with local organic fresh produce and food, or successfully acquiring grants for community needs, or developing a Golden Hill Business Group to support the local businesses, or advocating on behalf of the community with regards to the State Route 94 expansion project, or working on the acquisition of a low frequency FM radio license for the community, these activities are part of something much bigger.
That something is bringing together and engaging all who live in Golden Hill. It doesn’t matter whether you are a property owner, renter, business owner, visitor, or student. It’s about unifying and empowering the people of Golden Hill. For my wife and me, it is this incredible sense of community that makes Golden Hill so golden. We have finally found a neighborhood in San Diego that gives us a feeling of belonging. We are Golden Hill.
Lots of long-time residents of South Park used to think of themselves as living in Golden Hill and think of the South Park designation as a real estate promotion and your CDC envisions a Greater Golden Hill as well. Why do you do this and what’s your take on the community boundary and identity?
If my history knowledge is correct, in the early 1900’s developer E. Bartlett Webster did subdivide the area East of Balboa Park with the goal of creating a “high-class residential district” which he then named South Park. But, for residents already living in the area, it was still known as Golden Hill. The CDC does recognize the historical boundary and refers to the whole region as “Greater Golden Hill”.
Golden Hill provides an important access point getting to and from South Park and connecting the area to downtown and SR94. More recently though, South Park’s gentrification has led to a significant increase in the cost of living over Golden Hill that has forced a change in demographics, further accentuating an identity for South Park that is different from Golden Hill.
Golden Hill is ripe with potential to experience a similar gentrification, and possibly to an even greater extreme when one considers the incredible views, proximity to downtown and the planned growth in the Jerome’s property area, excellent accessibility, and adjacency to Balboa Park. These are many valuable assets that South Park doesn’t have. Thus, the Golden Hill community needs to be engaged to insure that we can continue to improve the quality of life while incorporating the residents of Golden Hill within that plan, so that we don’t lose our hard-working culturally diverse and vibrant residents. Volunteering for the CDC is one way for the community to get engaged.
You and I are both more recent arrivals, middle class Anglos living in a primarily working class Latino community. What are the downsides to gentrification for the long-time working class residents? Does the CDC factor this concern into its philosophy and activity?
I think the downside to gentrification is that with neighborhood redevelopment and investment in brick and mortar improvements, the value of properties and rents could increase to the point that many of the existing residents may no longer be able to afford to live in the neighborhood, forcing a change in demographics towards higher-income earners, less diversity, and thus a deterioration of the Golden Hill community.
The CDC has not only incorporated this concern into its mission statement, but has emulated the importance of preserving the cultural diversity of our neighborhood to our best ability through many of the programs and activities that we support and or run. For example, the CDC has an affordable housing program that provides low-income housing to some of our residents. We would like to expand that program over time.
What is the composition of the CDC? My wife and I are renters for example. Are there renters on the CDC or is it primarily home and business owners? Just wondering since the area is very rental-rich.
The CDC is the community. If you are a resident of Golden Hill, you are automatically a member of the CDC.
To become a voting member, the CDC has recently reduced their annual voting membership to less than ½ the cost it used to be. Now, for $25/yr, whether you are a business owner, homeowner, or renter, you can become a voting member. The price reduction reflects the move towards further embracing our community, recognizing that our median household income is around $36,000.
If your question was aimed at the composition of the CDC board, the board is currently composed of homeowners and renters. I don’t think we have any business owners on the board at the moment, but that could change as the recent Golden Hill Business Group was formed and our business owners play an important role for our community. Our current board represents a diverse cross-section of the community, but we do need more board members.
In April of 2011, there was a major change with the CDC. All of the former board members, staff, and president are gone. I think our new board members better represent our community. We have no paid staff, and we are all volunteers. The CDC is unique in that it is a 501c (3) non-profit. We are essentially a vehicle for community engagement, and a mechanism for bringing in grant money to our neighborhood. Therefore, we rely heavily on community involvement and engagement.
What new projects either in the neighborhood or that the CDC is involved in are you particularly excited about?
My wife, Victoria and I are particularly excited about the 2nd Annual Golden Hill Street Fair to be held July 28th, as we wrote an Economic Development and Tourism Support grant on behalf of the CDC, and I think it will be funded. This is not your typical street fair, as it will focus on local Golden Hill history, Golden Hill art and music, Golden Hill food, and it will have free access with fun things to do for all.
But, some other great things that we do, support, and are working on that I am also very excited about include the Golden Hill Playground Project, Golden Hill Low Frequency Radio Project, the recent formation of the Golden Hill Business Group, we are hosts of the Golden Hill Farmer’s Market bringing fresh organic fruits and vegetables to our neighborhood, and where we have a booth manned by a board member that allows the community to engage with the CDC every Saturday.
We run the Affordable Housing Program, and the After-School Programs at the Golden Hill Recreation Center. We are working with the Youth Under Construction program headed by David Sawicki to develop a performing arts program for disadvantaged kids. All of these things work towards unifying and empowering the current residents of Golden Hill, and they improve the quality of life here.
Could we do more? Absolutely.
What we are doing right now is with only a few volunteers. If we had more volunteers, we could do a lot more. I hope that people don’t think that the Greater Golden Hill CDC is an exclusive club of business and property owners. It is defined by the people who live in Golden Hill, and it has a lot of potential. I hope we get more people to volunteer, more people contributing their ideas, to insure that Golden Hill continues to be such a cool place to live.
When I first asked you to do this interview, in your reply you attached a poem about Golden Hill from the late 19th century that I quoted in my introduction to our Golden Hill focus here at the Free Press. Tell me about that poem and what you know about the history and development of Golden Hill.
Credit: goldenhill-real-estate.com
The poem was written by former resident Daniel Schuyler and was published in the March 1887 edition of Golden Era Magazine. Schuyler successfully petitioned the city to name the area “Golden Hill”.
In its initial phase of development, with its spectacular views, proximity to downtown, and access via the electric streetcar, the trendy neighborhood was popular amongst some of the elite of San Diego (judges, senators, lawyers, mayors, etc.) Thus, many large homes were built at the time.
In the mid-1900’s after WWII, with urban sprawl and a greater demand for living space, the area was re-zoned to allow for higher density development to quell some of the demand for residential housing. This provided the opportunity for multi-family developments to be constructed in Golden Hill (often at the expense of larger historic homes) and for existing larger historic homes to be partitioned into multi-unit properties.
The shift from primarily single-family owner-occupied housing to a mix of single-family and multi-family represents a major shift in the demographics of the neighborhood to the culturally and economically diverse Golden Hill that we know today, with a vibrant lifestyle and urban appeal. To get a real sense of this, compare Golden Hill with Kensington (where our most recent past mayor lives), whereby most of the homes are still single-family owner occupied.
My wife and I, in a recent search for a new home, thought Kensington was the place to be. This was, until we realized how expensive it is, how little opportunity there is to live there, and how culturally sterile it felt to us compared to Golden Hill. Once we discovered Golden Hill, there was no looking back.
Jim Miller
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I suppose all past sins must be forgiven. Anytime I hear the word “community”, I know the topic is “money.” You give us a poem; the residents get their streets closed for a money-making farmer’s market, of which the GH CDC gets a fair “donation.” We have heard it all before.
ONE street is closed for a few hours on Saturday–B Street–and the “money makers” are the small farmers and other vendors. We’re fortunate to have a Farmers’ Market in Golden Hill. I’d love it if it were bigger. To me, “community” is community, and it’s what we make of it. That’s why I love living in Golden Hill.
Dear Nostalgic, I welcome you to attend our next Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, May 16th, 2013. We hold the meeting at the Golden Hill Recreation Center, 2600 Golf Course Drive at 6:30pm. The reason that I invite you to this meeting is you are misinformed. The only donation that the GGHCDC received from the Golden Hill Farmer’s Market was when the Market originated. The purpose of this donation was to offset costs to advertise the market via Banners which are on the poles on 28th Street. The Golden Hill Farmer’s Market participates in the California State EBT and WIC programs for food assistance. The Market also participates in the California Certified Organic Farm Program. I am sorry if you feel that the Golden Hill Farmer’s Market is not worthy of our neighborhood, But it does a lot to support the neighborhood. Again, I invite you to come to either the Community Booth at the Golden Hill Farmer’s Market, or the GGHCDC Board of Directors meeting to see that we are not who we were in the past.
Great interview. Other communities should be so lucky as to have someone like Judd Curran as a resident. The SDFP should be so lucky as to have someone writing grants for it. How does he find time for his day job?
I think the point is that the Golden Hill CDC board members and old-time/new-day hangers-on had NOTHING to do with Brian Beevers’ GH farmers market business, except demand a kickback after they found about it, then demand a free booth and use it to promote themselves. The market is, of course, also beneficial to the long-time GH CDC behind-the-scenes people (but still pulling the strings: decade after decade, they find fresh faces to put out front) who own the Express Postal business at 28th and B.
The GH CDC is in debt (debts that originated years ago, based on dishonest claims that got them public money grants, which the grantors want back, but the money will never be repaid). The CDC has not filed their required tax forms since 2011.
If Mr. Curran is “uniquely suited to speak to the issues of community identity, gentrification, and the past, present, and future of Golden Hill,” then he’d do well to learn the past history and the present status of the group he has joined. I am sorry for him. He will be used, and not well. Be advised, Mr. Curran, the GH CDC does not “run the Affordable Housing Program.” I’m sure you meant to say, and Jim Miller meant to report, that the GH CDC earns a management fee for handling rentals in one San Diego Housing Commission low-income apartment complex in South Park (and two nearby rental houses).
Hyperbole coming from GH CDC members is a long tradition. Reporter, check your facts. It’s a bit shocking to see the SDFP profile the scandal-ridden, debt-ridden GH CDC as a first option to discussing the GH neighborhood. Is the brotherhood between community college teachers stronger than the requirement for objective journalism? This entire fact-free piece is absolutely beyond the pale, to anyone who knows anything about Golden Hill, South Park, and the Planning Dept political creation, the Greater Golden Hill Planning District. SDFP cannot be credible with this kind of reporting. Even the briefest of research should have deterred Miller from posting this fantasy piece as is.
John Lawrence: you may think this is a great interview, but do you care if it is honest or fact-based? Even a cursory search of the 2014 San Diego proposed budget would give a hint about what is real and not real in Golden Hill. Or take a look at the most recent minutes of the South Park Business Group. The GH CDC’s past activities, and yes, even since Mr. Curran says he came, in 2011, have seriously damaged the Golden Hill and South Park communities, in many ways.
I’ll let the principals answer your allegations above.
But let me make one thing clear. We don’t claim to be objective. It always pisses me off when people make that assumption. What part of the “Progressive Views” at the top of the page did you not see?
We’re trying to have a positive conversation about the neighborhoods in San Diego, one at a time. Last month it was Barrio Logan. The month before, North Park. Obviously you have some axes to grind, based on your negative tone.
Got any positive ideas? Or is all attack, attack, attack?
Dear Fantasy Island, as with the above poster “Nostalgic”, I invite you to attend our next Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, May 16th, 2013. There is some truth in what you wrote above. We are in debt. Our past Executive Director misappropriated restricted funds from several entities. We have repaid one of those organizations. We are working hard to repay all of the other debts that we owe. Regarding the booth at the Golden Hill Farmers Market, it is not our booth, it is the Community’s booth. We have invited any and all nonprofit entities to share the booth any Saturday, that was the purpose of having the booth in the first place. We have had community projects, churches, and other s share our booth over the last two years. I noticed that you referenced the Postal Express Center in your email. I don’t know where you are going with this slur, but it is true that Brady Mahaney, the manager of the Postal Express Center is a friend of mine. I have never used the GGHCDC to help his business. Since you seem to have a lot of knowledge about the GGHCDC’s past problems, I urge you to become involved. Please come to our meetings. Please attend three meeting in a year and join the board. Please use your knowledge to make our organization better. Anyone can complain from afar, but it takes some intestinal fortitude to get involved. I am one of those “Fresh Faces” that you wrote about. I want what is best for Golden Hill. I want a better neighborhood. Do you? Why don’t you roll up your sleeves and give us a hand. That way you can report our progress instead of our shortcomings.
Dear “Fantasy Island,”
You have chosen to use a pseudonym so I do not know your identity, but, assuming you live in Golden Hill, then you are a member of the GHCDC. If you want to see things change, come join us and speak up in plain sight rather than from behind a pseudonym! And even if you don’t live in Golden Hill, you are most welcome to attend any of our meetings so you can see for yourself that neither I, nor any of us on the board, are being “put out front” with “strings.” (Not only do I not take kindly tomy husband or myself being called a puppet, I won’t act as anyone’s puppet, either). We are an all-volunteer, transparent group who seeks nothing more than to protect and develop the community we’ve come to call home. And, as Kelly Mayhew said above, community is what you make it.
I don’t fully know all that came before me here on the CDC (though I have some insight), but we are not that board any longer. I know it can be difficult to understand, but a group is composed of individuals and as the individuals that compose the group change, so does the group. Come see for yourself! If you don’t like it, then by all means, please help us rectify the places where we’ve gone astray. We meet the third Thursday of every month at 6:30 in the Recreation Center 2600 Golf Course Drive.
See you May 16th?
Victoria Curran
Readers deserve an analysis of the statement “GH CDC does not run the Affordable Housing Program. I’m sure you meant to say, and Jim Miller meant to report, that the GH CDC earns a management fee for handling rentals in one San Diego Housing Commission low-income apartment complex in South Park (and two nearby rental houses).” It is misleading to redefine managing rentals as simply collecting fees for rentals. Managing units requires upkeep, ongoing maintenance, screening tenants and dealing with tenant issues. Management companies, or the CDC in this instance, actually do run the housing.
I don’t live in Golden Hill–I live in City Heights. And as a past board member of our own Community Development Corp, I am aware of the role that responsible property management plays in communities in which the majority of residents are renters. I am also aware of how difficult it is for local non-profits like CDC’s to own and operate housing within the community. Properties are bundled and sold on the other side of the country. The best these organizations can do to exert some local control is to provide management. That local control is critical.
So I am asking- are the properties that the GH CDC well maintained? Do they screen applicants and deal with tenant issues? You will know if they don’t, I assure you. Are they a model for other rentals in the area? If you say yes to these questions, the GHCDC is doing much much more than operating as a pass through for the housing commission.
Anna, you say “It is misleading to redefine managing rentals as simply collecting fees for rentals.”
You are the one who is redefining what I said. I made no belittling statement about management duties. My point was the bad reporting, by saying that the “GH CDC does not run the Affordable Housing Program. I’m sure you meant to say, and Jim Miller meant to report, that the GH CDC earns a management fee for handling rentals in one San Diego Housing Commission low-income apartment complex in South Park (and two nearby rental houses).”
Can you not read? The emphasis is on the misleading use of “the” Affordable Housing “Program.” Hyperbole. It should have been reported as “an” Affordable Housing “unit.” That was my only point.
Although my point was purely on the hyperbolic, sloppy reporting, you provoke me: if you’d like to get down to the nitty gritty…Yes, I have read SDHC deficiency reports on the GH CDC’s management of the units. And I have reviewed material showing GH CDC’s illegal use of monies/resources from sources not intended nor allowed by law to be used in covering SDHC-mandated management duties.
GH CDC board members always end up in shortfall, and have a history of desperately robbing Peter to pay Paul, using staff to carry out that work while board members spent their time trolling for new “volunteers” to improve the quality of life for the community by writing grant proposals.
They’ve burned many bridges in the city and the community.
All of the ugly, inflammatory comments by their group speak loudly and clearly to their limitations.
Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry to piss you off. Reporting has to be honest, if it isn’t purely propaganda. Is propaganda equivalent to progressivism? What on earth does this article have to do with “Progressive Views”? I have no ax to grind with SDFP, as long as the final P doesn’t stand for “Propaganda.” It’s only when a reader knows a little something about the subject that the propaganda is clear. Pity those who are just sucked in. Is that your goal? To erase history and propagandize?
You can have a positive conversation, but honestly.
While you are at it, check the National Historic Register and see if you can come up with a registry number for the relic remains of the 1907 Golden Hill Park fountain. I let that one pass in your previous piece. But the continued lazy reporting – nay, propaganda – in this puff piece is too much. Ban me from commenting if you choose, but I make no allegations, just cite common and easily accessible facts. The facts are out there. Find them. Shade it all into nonobjective happy talk all you want. Just be responsible enough, at the very least, to not repeat decades of propaganda.
Oh, and the U-T doesn’t claim to be objective either? Yeah!
For those of us who have dealt with the Golden Hill CDC for a long time, that “c” stands for corporation, not community. I am sure all of the new people mean well. Many of us have seen it before. It was nice of them to send a poem, but the audits and income tax returns would be just as exciting. These also involve the city. So it was interesting to hear that you are getting along so well – who funded the Economic Development and Tourism Grant? Just curious.
My goodness – such virulent hyperbole. All I see are circular arguments without substantiating, verifiable details. I do hope Fantasy Island and Nostalgic, who choose to remain anonymous, come to the next GGHCDC board meeting on Thursday, May 16th at 6:30pm at the Golden Hill Recreation Center to enlighten us.
As a former director of the GGHCDC back in the early 1990s, a long-time owner of commercial real estate in the neighborhood and owner of Turf Supper Club I will do something rare for me … I will weigh in publicly to this unfortunate banter to simply say thank you. Thank you – to the current directors of GGHCDC for caring enough to step forward and attempt to clean up a mess they did not create. Thank you – to Paul Broadway for having the vision to throw a neighborhood party last year that actually allowed a portion of past debts to be paid. Thank you again – to Paul Broadway for getting local businesses involved in neighborhood issues. And finally, thank you – to two nameless parties only too willing to toss around negativity (doesn’t matter whether it is true or false) while hiding behind a veil anonymity. You two have defined yourselves through your nameless posts, and for that we all owe you a debt of gratitude as I’m sure nobody will pay you much attention from this point forward. I have no idea what it is like to live life in such a manner and I hope I never do, because from where I stand your posts wreak of cowardice. Do yourselves a favor and stand up like grown adults, you’ll have far more credibility and respect. Some of us might even listen to what you have to say.
I believe the question was: Who provided the funding for the grant?
This post is intended to answer Ms. Anna Daniels question earlier in this thread. First, the GGHCDC is the property owner of the Felton St. & Bancroft St. properties. When I was weighing my options of joining the GGHCDC or letting it fail, these duplexes with four families weighed deeply on my conscience. If the GGHCDC defaulted on its loans, due to the corporation folding, these people would be out of a home, due to the foreclosure process. That was the biggest reason I decided to sign on in April of 2011. In the following months, as I discovered the mismanagement and lack of oversight by the corporation, I hung on to the belief that I was doing a good thing by protecting these properties from foreclosure. Every time I discovered a new bill, failure to file a form, or demand for payment, I wanted to quit this organization. I spent many nights sleepless and depressed. The GGHCDC is not perfect, it never was. Since I have joined and become President, I have tried my best to represent the community. I have spent countless hours trying to take up causes that I believe the neighborhood would prosper from. I am very sure I am not the best person for the job. But, I am all that you have right now. I believe that the GGHCDC is a worthy organization that can make a difference. I ask for anyone who is reading this to make a difference. If you can do better, get on the board and replace me. I just want a nice place to grow old in.
Paul- my comment was directed toward issues that Fantasy Island raised and which I felt needed further analysis. As I stated, I don’t live in Golden Hill. I do live in a community in which providing quality affordable housing has been the goal of our own community development corporation. I tried to raise the issue of the structural barriers to local control of rental properties, and all of the things which a CDC does beyond collecting rents. I sincerely wish the GHCDC success– our own CHCDC used yours as a template.
Ms. Daniels thank you for responding. And thank you for the statement that your CDC used ours as a template. The Community Development Corporation is a viable platform for making neighborhood projects come to fruition as well as affordable housing programs. I encourage you to rejoin your CDC and to work hard to make your community as great as it can be. I enjoy the City Heights community, it has improved markedly in past years, no doubt through some of your sweat and tears.
I would like more information on the previous executive director who misappropriated funds. Who appointed him? Has he been charged or tried for criminal offenses? If not, why not?
John Kroll, you were on the board of the Planning Committee when I came and reported the problem at the GGHPC meeting in April or 2011. You know the answer, because I reported that I drafted and mailed a letter to the San Diego District Attorney, Ms. Bonnie Dumanis, that Pedro Anaya our past Executive Director misappropriated restricted funds. John, I am not the District Attorney, I can not answer the rest of your question. I have a question for you, why do you hide behind the name “Goodlead”? I know it is you, the Goodlead part is also in your email address. I also would like to know why you ask these questions here anonymously that you already have asked and have been answered in a public forum? I am disappointed in you.
Classy, Sparky. He’s not trying to be anonymous, obviously. Has the GH CDC continued paying the premiums on the liability insurance required to do business with the city? You might think about whether it covers defamation. For you, personally.
Fantasy Island, I did not defame anyone. in regard to our insurance, please come to our meeting on Thursday May 16th, 2013 at 6:30pm. We meet at the Golden Hill recreation Center. Finally, only my friends call me Sparky. I don’t know you, please use my name, it is right there in the header.
Fantasy Island- Your vitriol has oozed all over these pages and as a far as I can see nothing good can come from it.
Therefore as editor, I’m invoking the “It’s our Sandbox” rule (See Terms of Use at top of page) and ending your participation.
It’s not that you disagreed; it’s that you were unnecessarily disagreeable in doing so.
Adios.
Where’s the “Like” button?
This guy needs to quit crying and make an effort to fix the problem by joining the GGHCDC. His gripes ain’t going to make that org better. But then he’d probably rather shut it down than do the necessary work to solve the issues.
Paul — Sorry to disappoint you, but who did appoint Pedro Anaya? One minute he was in charge, the next he went away. I would have thought you could answer those questions.
John, I was not on the board when Mr. Anaya was appointed. I believe that you were on the Clean, Green, & Safe Oversight Committee around that time so you probably already have that answer and are hoping that I will wing it. I was also not on the Board when Pedro Anaya left. I have heard different versions from past board members. I really don’t know the answer. Again, you were in a much better position as a subcommittee member to know what really happened. Remember that Mr. Anaya left at the end of December 2010. I was voted on thee Board in April of 2011. What you are asking happened 4 months before I arrived. I had no contact with the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation prior to being asked to serve in April. John, the anonymous name thing bothers me. You are a standing member of the Golden Hill Planning Committee. You are supposed to be setting the example. Posting from a sock puppet on a media source is very poor form for someone who is supposed to be representing the Community. Please have the guts to own your statements with your name in the future. I am ashamed for you.
WHAT I’VE LEARNED BY READING THIS AND THE OTHER GOLDEN HILL ARTICLE
That a Free Press reporter gets pissed when lack of their objectivity is mentioned.
That Progressive Views have something to do with development corporations and getting grants from governments.
That sunny, smiley, feel-good reports are progressive. Facts are regressive, bad!
That Golden Hill is almost exclusively about a small group of dysfunctional people who live somewhere around 25th Street.
That some Golden Hill residents think the Jerome property in East Village is in Golden Hill.
That some Golden Hill residents think gentrification is scary but do what they can using public money to bring it on.
That the Greater Golden Hill Planning area includes South Park.
That some South Park residents think they live in Golden Hill and resent the existence of South Park.
When can we move on to another neighborhood? How about Little Italy? Can’t wait.
One more thing:
That the title of this article should have been
“The Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation: Striving to Emphasize Community over Corruption”
Last commenter, goodlead, points out that the current GH CDC president points out breaking news, in the comments here: the former executive director embezzled the corporation!
This is news! Whose money was embezzled? Was it recovered? Is that embezzler working in another nonprofit as of now? When did the GHCDC Board know, and what did they know? How did that happen? Who signed the checks and who had oversight?
This is the kind of story the Free Press might want to jump on?
All in good time. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
We’re an all volunteer organization.
We’re focusing on Golden Hill for a month.
If you want instant news, I hear that CNN is busy making stuff up.
Ms. Lee, the breaking news that you are speaking of was publicly reported to all of the community groups of Golden Hill in April of 2011, when I assumed the office of President of the GGHCDC. I drafted a letter to the District Attorney and reported the facts. At this point, there is no one on the board of the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation that had the oversight responsibility over our last Executive Director. We have paid back one of the fiscal partners whose money was misappropriated. We have been negotiating with the largest account that was misappropriated. And we are going to pay back every account that was misappropriated. To answer your question about how it happened, the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation did not have protective policies in place to prevent this from happening. In May of 2011, the Nonprofit Management Department of USD used the GGHCDC as a Project to develop Whistleblower, Fiduary, Code of Ethics, Board Member Agreement, Document Destruction, and Reimbursement policies to prevent this situation from happening again. Every year, our Board of Directors sign that they understand these policies. I hope that I have answered your questions.
Grinding axes just want to grind. Eventually the grindstone will whittle away to dust.
It’s interesting that those with the axes don’t go after the ones who did the damage. Instead it is easier to grind away at the ones who are trying to correct past wrongs. But grind away.
“Who funded the Economic Development and Tourism Grant? Just curious.” –Oh, did I ask that question before?
Why don’t you quit being so uncivil (and repeatedly asking a question of a another commenter is not in any way civil) and attend the next meeting, as was asked of you? Then you can get your question answered in person. Wouldn’t that be nice?
We would appreciate it if you would not use our bandwidth to grind whatever axes you have to grind.
The SDFP comment section on this article has devolved into a public forum for grievances within Golden Hill. Many of the questions and comments lack any context for readers like myself who do not live there. The attack/defend use of this space is not the best venue to resolve those grievances and it leaves the rest of us confused and disengaged from the conversation. I frankly think that it is time to cease and desist on this one…