By Doug Porter
What kind of a city is it that entertains funding a new stadium, a convention center expansion, a major events arena, gondolas, and a parks make-over, but can’t figure out a short term solution to homelessness other than criminalizing it?
That would be San Diego.
Yes, I know it’s apples and oranges–different pots of money are involved, some are subject to voter approval and others will only be indirectly supported by the taxpayer…
But… where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Presently there are a lot of moving parts in play when it comes to the future of America’s Finest City. Let me lay out a few items for your consideration.
An All-Star Game Embarrassment?
Some day in the distant future an archivist will unearth the rest of the emails, setting out plans to cleanse the East Village in anticipation of the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It’s clear to anybody with eyes and ears that is what’s going on.
After telling the media that rockscaping designed to disrupt homeless encampments was being installed at the request of Sherman Heights residents, Kelly Davis unearthed emails saying otherwise. In an unprecedented situation, her stories were published in both the Voice of San Diego and the Union-Tribune.
Here’s a relevant snip from VOSD:
In fact, Sherman Heights is never mentioned in dozens of emails exchanged between city staffers discussing the rock installation. Rather, the rocks were part of a larger effort to clean up the area prior to the July 12 All-Star Game and improve the flow of traffic to and from Petco Park. Early plans, emails show, called for rocks not only along Imperial Avenue, but also along two blocks of a wall lining Petco Park’s Tailgate Park as well as outside the New Central Library, all in an effort to deter camping and loitering near the ballpark during All-Star Game festivities.
Even before the emails oozed out, there was reaction from homeless advocates, as the police department was engaged to “sweep” the streets in areas surrounding the rockscaping.
Here’s Jeeni Criscenzo, writing about her experiences:
Last week, homeless advocates, including myself, confronted the mayor for authorizing installation of a $57,000 rock bed under an overpass where homeless people frequently camped. On social media, we were accused of being bleeding hearts who were giving aid and comfort to creatures who don’t deserve our concern. They called the ugly barrier that was built without a shred of effort to be attractive, a “rock garden”! When one of our group spoke at City Council about the inhumanity of using pest-control tactics to repel human beings, two councilpersons actually giggled!
Ah, but as baseball great Yogi Berra once said, it ain’t until it’s over.
There are all kinds of activities planned during San Diego’s “baseball celebration” designed to remind the public of the indifference and hostility baked into local government towards the homeless.
These actions, ranging from protests to guerilla theater to “safe zones” for the homeless will be announced in coming days on these pages and elsewhere. Note to SDPD: the riot squad really won’t be needed–everything I’ve heard about is peaceful and legal protest.
It should be interesting to see IF the city choses to overreact OR if they can generate enough dismissive PR to encourage the national media to look away.
Balboa Park Re-Make Rises From the Dead
Mayor Kevin Faulconer held a press conference on Thursday to announce twin initiatives aimed at funding improvements in area parks.
From the Union-Tribune:
One proposal would significantly extend the life of a 2008 ballot measure that directs millions in lease revenue from Mission Bay Park each year into improvements there and in several other regional parks. The extension would allow the city to immediately fund major renovation projects, many in Balboa Park, by selling bonds supported by future revenues.
The other proposal would revive a plan approved in 2012 to replace cars and traffic in the center of Balboa Park with public gathering spaces by building a large parking garage and a bypass off the Cabrillo Bridge. A legal challenge to the plan, which would also upgrade the Plaza de Panama with a reflecting pool, was put to rest last September by the state Supreme Court.
Extending 2008’s Proposition C beyond its scheduled expiration in 2039 would require approval by a simple majority of city voters of a proposed November ballot measure, and the Plaza de Panama upgrades — estimated at roughly $50 million — would require some fund raising and approval by the City Council of a financing plan.
Wait! Wasn’t the Plaza de Panama project killed by the courts? Uh, no. Judge Timothy Taylor’s ruling was overturned on appeal… Which the State Supreme court upheld by refusing to hear the case.
So now, the city will move forward–voters aren’t being asked to weigh in on this– with removing traffic from the heart of the park, building a by-pass leading traffic to paid parking in an underground garage featuring 797 spaces on three levels beneath a rooftop park.
The mayor told reporters the original estimated cost of $45 million for the project will need to be revised to reflect new state regulations and the need to pay prevailing wages.
Some of the monies will be raised via local billionaire Irwin Jacobs. Some will have to come by borrowing money with the parking revenues as the intended source of payments.
The Union-Tribune quoted John Bolthouse, executive director of Friends of Balboa Park, saying “opposition to the project is isolated.”
Not so fast, said a representative of the Balboa Park Heritage Association, who posted the following appeal on Facebook.
This morning Mayor Faulconer announced the rebirth of the Jacobs Plan for Balboa Park.
Paid Parking in the Park for the first time, permanent scarring of the elegant simplicity and symmetry of the National Historic Landmark Cabrillo Bridge, and an unnecessary increase in thru automobile traffic in the heart of the Park.
An electrical engineer’s “solution” to an Urban Park’s future. A Plan that is fundamentally flawed, and is the antithesis of wise and future-thinking urban Park design. Parking should be done in satellite locations, and Park Guests transported to the core of the Park via a robust and free shuttle system.
Think Disneyland. Millions pay $100 or more a day to park in garages removed from the Park area, board a rapid shuttle, exit the shuttle and enter the Park. No Guest has ever proposed placing a parking garage next to Sleeping Beauty’s castle , or valet parking for Club 33.
The fight for the Park’s future will be one requiring Volunteers. Members, Donors and allies. Please join Balboa Park Heritage Association now and help preserve and defend the Park. Visit www.gofundme.com/balboaparkheritage and www.BalboaParkHeritage.org to volunteer, become a Member and donate.
Lisa Halverstadt at Voice of San Diego noted:
There was much blowback when the Plaza de Panama project was proposed years ago.
Opponents argued the project destroyed the park’s historic character and brought more cars into the center of the park, even if it diverted cars from the Plaza de Panama. Many also said the park didn’t actually need the 797 underground spots from the new garage.
But the mayor’s office said the plan is to move forward with the same general plan and that its interest is more about reclaiming six acres now covered in asphalt and turning them into public spaces – permanently.
It seems that opposition this time around is focused on studying whether the park actually needs the additional parking since the Zoo has constructed a five story parking lot for its employees and much of the Plaza de Panama is now off-limits to cars.
Jacobs, the Boogie Man
The Reader’s Matt Potter used the announcement to weave a tale of all his favorite conspiracy theories, keywords “Clinton” “Billionaire” “GOP Money” “Democrats” “Cash” and “tightly guarded secret.” (Is this really connected to Qualcomm’s need for H1B visas?)
In the middle of his tome, however, he does bring up the basis of much of the preservationist opposition:
One of the staunchest foes of the Jacobs scheme was then–California state historic preservation officer Milford Wayne Donaldson, who wrote in a February 3, 2012, memo to the National Park Service:
“At great risk is the Cabrillo Bridge, its setting, the spatial relationships and special elements which define the National Historic Landmark District of Balboa Park.”
Donaldson, who began his architectural career in San Diego, called out a series of unfavorable impacts on the park resulting from the makeover, including “Demolition of 82 feet of the Cabrillo Bridge.”
I suspect things will end differently this time around for the Plaza de Panama plan. Even though City Councilman Todd Gloria and his successor Chris Ward are cool to the idea, the showing of political force at yesterday’s press conference says to me that proponents have their ducks in a row.
And then there’s the reality that voters will be asked to make decisions on two dozen or more non-candidate items on November’s menu. That’s going to mean a lot of noise for opponents to try overcoming in any (electoral or not) campaign. So if the Plaza de Panama plan is to be stopped, it will have to be through the courts, and there are too many details pending to make a call on that idea right now.
Other San Diego Follies in the News
Stadium Blues– The California Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging the need for citizen-initiated tax increase measures with specific uses to meet a two-thirds threshold at the ballot box.
This is bad news for the Chargers, who not-so-secretly hoped they wouldn’t have to meet that standard with their stadium proposal. The Chargers say they were always planning for a two-thirds majority. They must have seen some polling that I missed since it’s my understanding that getting majority approval is a stretch.
This is good news for the Citizen’s Plan, whose backers say it is designed to avoid the two-thirds requirement. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith thinks otherwise.
And it doesn’t make any difference for Carl DeMaio’s “no tax” stadium plan since nobody likes it and it’s likely just posturing to gain publicity towards whatever political contest the talk show host intends to lose next.
On the Waterfront
The Port of San Diego is very excited about the future for Seaport Village, a run-down collection of waterfront buildings whose leases are soon-to-expire.
One of the six proposals under consideration, which includes a privately financed 18,000 seat state-of-the-art sports and entertainment arena, got a bunch of publicity recently in the Union-Tribune.
Mega promoter AEG and San Diego development firm OliverMcMillan’s Embarcadero concept was touted as comparable to LA Live, the 5.6 million-square-foot dining and entertainment complex. Down in the fine print is the involvement of hotelier Bill Evans, something the HotelierCabal folks are mighty upset about.
The UT article included summaries of the other proposals:
Celebration Place (718,000 square feet, $700 million cost, Manchester Financial Group and Dealy Development): Includes 500-room hotel, 2,000-seat performing arts hall, 400-foot gondola ride, 200,000 square feet of new retail.
Ripley’s Aquarium of California Size (111,000 square feet, up to $150 million, Ripley Entertainment): Includes 750,000-gallon shark tank, 50,000-gallon tank featuring coastal California marine life.
SeaPort (1.2 million square feet, cost unknown, McWhinney and DJM Capital Partners):Includes 1,000 rooms in three hotels, 25,000-square-foot performance venue.
Seaport San Diego: (1.3 million square feet, $1 billion, Protea Waterfront Development):Includes 1,077 rooms in three hotels, aquarium, 388,625 square feet of retail and restaurant space, a large aquarium.
Tuna Harbor Pavilion (150,000 square feet, $130 million, Great Western Pacific and Santa Monica Seafood): Includes 200-foot “San Diego Great Wheel,” rides, restaurants.
Starting Line Housekeeping Notes
The weekly calendar of events for progressives will be published on Saturday, including an expanded 4th of July guide.
I’m taking Monday off. Also, it seems likely I’ll take a vacation in July, though the dates aren’t set. I’m about to become a condo owner and will be entering rehabilitation for all the right-wing thoughts I’ve had lately as the prospect of home ownership looms large.
That’s it for today!
On This Day: 1893 – The first bicycle race track in America to be made out of wood was opened in San Francisco. 1929 – Some 1,100 streetcar workers struck in New Orleans, spurring the creation of the po’ boy sandwich by a local sandwich shop owner and one-time streetcar man. “Whenever we saw one of the striking men coming,” Bennie Martin later recalled, “one of us would say, ‘Here comes another poor boy.’” Martin and his wife fed any striker who showed up 1956 – Elvis Presley appeared on “The Steve Allen Show.” He was told not to dance and Allen had him sing “Hound Dog” to a real basset hound wearing tails.
Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to “The Starting Line” and get an email every time a new article in this series is posted!
I read the Daily Fishwrap(s) so you don’t have to… Catch “the Starting Line” Monday thru Friday right here at San Diego Free Press (dot) org. Send your hate mail and ideas to DougPorter@SanDiegoFreePress.Org Check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
Martha Sullivan says
THANK YOU once more, Doug, for shining your very perceptive spotlight.
John Lawrence says
I was for the Jacobs proposal originally since it removed cars and asphalt from the park and made it so pedestrians never had to cross car traffic anywhere. On second thought this could be accomplished by making Cabrillo Bridge pedestrian only, having all parking in the Inspiration Point lot (maybe a parking structure would be needed there, and having a fancy people mover move people from there to the middle of the park. The only expense then would be for the people mover and parking structure, and there would be no underground parking structure behind the organ pavilion nor need for a bypass. The only problem with this is that there would be no parking on the west side of the park unless a parking structure was built there as well which should be possible. Maybe a people mover would be required from there also.
michael-leonard says
Don’t most cars enter the park through Presidents Way? If they wanted to build a parking garage near the Organ Pavilion (the OK part) why not simply draw the cars that are coming that way. Then, the stupid bypass and gutting the beautiful canyon the BAD part) wouldn’t be needed.
I like your idea, too; it eliminates the bad part and works with the OK part.
John Lawrence says
My suggestion doesn’t require a by-pass that the Historical Society objected to and it doesn’t call for a parking structure behind the Organ Pavilion which they also objected to. The Cabrillo Bridge would be pedestrian only. There would be no automobile traffic in the park whatsoever.
If you wanted to alleviate the parking situation on the west side, you could build a parking structure there with a Skyfari, similar to the zoo’s, to take non-pedestrians who didn’t want to or couldn’t walk over the bridge to the middle of the park.
bob dorn says
Agree with M-L. The city’s designated access route to Balboa Park is PARK BLVD. Broaden Florida Ave to accommodate the traffic stream and underground the Zoo’s parking lot. Don’t destroy Cabrillo Bridge to save it. Let lighter traffic (bikes and pedestrians) relieve the pressure on it. Damn, it seems planners and elected officials can be stupid.
michael-leonard says
Not stupid, they just serve certain masters. Same reason San Diego doesn’t have sequentially-timed traffic signals — traffic engineers (seem to) serve their automobile-related masters (car makers, oil comps, etc.)
bob dorn says
Stupid.
michael-leonard says
Like foxes.
thoughtfulbear says
So, the Not-So-Great San Diego Freak(s)-of-July Show has rolled around again! Many thanks from here also, Doug, for calling those massed charlatans out!
I despised that “bypass bridge” et al plan then, and I still do. (Expletive of choice here) those so-called “political forces” – how many times does that wretched folly have to have a stake driven through its heart, before it well and truly stays dead? Better that, by far, than killing the Heart of San Diego, OUR Balboa Park!!
As for Seaport Village – here, too, the only issue is MONEY, no matter how ghastly the scenario in aid of squeezing out more of it!
Why must this city forever insist on “fixing” things that clearly ARE NOT BROKEN??
Micporte says
San Diego has a superficiality problem… And an inferiority complex in view of other cities, that another round of “world class plazas”, and urban “decoration”, state of the art parking garages and hiding the homeless will not fix. Our leaders act like nouveau riche Home Decorators, and spend our money on any glossy construction proposal that shows up at city council, constantly building more useless “improvements” to perfectly good existing things, ripping out trees and canyons and beaches for more concrete… STOP!
WE WILL NEVER BE A WORLD CLASS CITY BECAUSE WE PRIORITIZE CARS, and CONSTRUCTION, and CONCRETE, NOT PEOPLE.
michael-leonard says
“Huzzah!”s to both Micporte and thoughtfulbear!
bob dorn says
Rock garden protestors will be a kitchen match to the gas leaking from Sanders/Faulconer and Downtown Inc. Imagine, national cameras showing demonstrators trying to settle down on the All Star rockscapes, focusing on militarized Zimmerman Police attacking Jeeni Crescenzo and others distributing water and food here in Paradise. I doubt even Faulconer will get away with a public relations campaign against this one. This could be a good time!
Lori Saldaña says
As I write this on July 4th at 1 PM SDPD is holding a news conference re:a series of attacks and murders in coastal areas against homeless men.
As I wrote in an OpEd published in the UT last month: “One risk of having authorities turn homelessness into a crime is the justification by some of violent acts against them, as shown in recent increases in horrific assaults and murders in San Diego County. It also costs taxpayers for SDPD enforcement, storage and management of personal possessions, and jail costs if people are incarcerated simply for being homeless. ”
It’s time for an audit of the effectiveness of these sweeps. More importantly: It’s time to end the sweeps.
They are not working and may be making life more dangerous and deadly for homeless people.
bob dorn says
Amen.
Pete says
I honestly think we need a temporary housing shelter, like the old “big tent,” or three in non-residential areas. The city needs to be more proactive about preventing other jurisdictions from exporting transients here. The “serial inebriate” interventions need to be expanded, as they’re about as humane as something like that can be. I’d also like to find ways to do some microeconomics, such as finding funding (it can’t be that much) to pay a handful of willing homeless folks to act as local maintenance persons — effectively cleaning up on a daily basis along the predominant campsites. This could even be a way toward better employment for a lot of folks. Though it often seems a fool’s errand, authorities need to keep trying to interdict the supply of hard drugs — to let a meth addict roam is like letting a pit bull roam, it’s not good for anyone including the addict/pit bull.
I’d be willing to entertain some sort of residents-homeless conference/council where concerns could be addressed and ideas exchanged. Some folks will never learn, but for a lot I think if they understood what really bugs the locals, they may get better at respecting boundaries. It would have to be legitimate though — actual members of the transient/homeless/squatter communities, not self-appointed activist representatives thereof.
Mostly, though, I think there ought to be a shift in focus on behalf of everyone from the nonprofits to the police, away from simply providing things to providing information. For example, The interactions alone would help “weed out” the truly non-compliant and dangerous from the general population of folks just trying to get by, often confused and unsure where to go.
What’s not helpful is allowing filth and crime to spread unchecked, or to alienate those seeking to protect their communities. What’s the point of living in a civil society if that’s allowed to happen?
If it took the Padres to get the city to listen to Sherman residents to do something about that underpass (which had become impassable), so be it. Perhaps more businesses will take the initiative and demand that more be done.
But seriously, the rights of taxpaying, contributing residents to have clean, accessible, harassment-free and crime-free streets are not outweighed by the desires of some people to live wherever they want and do whatever they want. That’s not civil and it’s not progressive. It takes a village.
Lori Saldaña says
Pete- it sounds like you might be describing this sort of “organized encampment” arrangement where homeless people can create their own village while transitioning back to housing (from
“Organized encampments set the bar for providing security to their residents. Often self- governing encampments create 24-hour security systems where designated residents will keep watch over the encampment at all times.81 Many self-organized encampments employ contracts that every resident must sign to prevent violence, alcohol, and drugs in the encampment to bar potential troublemakers for other encampment residents and surrounding neighbors.82 Self- organized encampments, which can be unauthorized or authorized, use these measures to make the encampments secure for their residents.
“Police also keep a close eye on permitted encampments because of the safety concerns expressed by the community, but the worries of the community are often unfounded.83 In one neighborhood, the police conducted walkthroughs every day for the three months of the encampment’s stay.84 The police did not report a single problem during their walkthroughs.85 In fact, almost every call that came from the encampment consisted of encampment organizers notifying police that someone with an outstanding warrant was at the site.86”
John Lawrence says
With the City contemplating borrowing over a billion dollars to help build the Chargers a stadium and expand the convention center, somehow there is no money available to build inexpensive dorm-like housing to get people off the streets. The housing I envision is single room (similar to SROs) with connecting rooms for families, common cooking and eating facilities, and common rest room facilities. I also envision maintenance and social services to be provided. We have tons of money to build jails, military barracks, penetentiaries and other frivolous facilities. We need to build ultra cheap housing to get people off the streets. Some of them could be given the jobs of doing the actual building. Sort of like FDR’s Civil Conservation Corps.
Lori Saldaña says
It appears the Mayor and his appointees are trying to keep the public from asking questions and/or commenting on these proposals.
Tonight (July 7) at the regular monthly meeting of the Balboa Park Committee, a person was denied the right to address the Commissioners on two agenda items, in violation of the state Brown Act on Open Meetings. (agenda is available here:
He put in speaker slips, and was advised by the Chairman, David Kinney, and also by City staff representing the Mayor that it would be more “appropriate” for him to comment at a later date, when the items were brought before the full City Council.
Two points: 1) This is a violation of his legal rights, and 2) it is illegal to prohibit a person from addressing a public board during a regularly scheduled meeting.
On the first point: These evening meetings of city boards and commissions were set up, in part, to afford volunteers a more convenient time to serve , and for others to attend and address issues in the evening, since many people are not able to appear before the full City Council during the day.
Secondly: The law (“Brown Act”) states that “public commissions, boards and councils and the other public agencies in this State exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business. It is the intent of the law that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly. The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.”
And as for PUBLIC TESTIMONY:
“Public may comment on agenda items before or during consideration by legislative body. Time must be set aside for public to comment on any other matters under the body’s jurisdiction.”
Perhaps it’s time to ask the Mayor to require that his appointees be trained on the legal requirements of conducting official city business during these public meetings, since they are his official representatives.