Clairemont Times March 2019

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The

Clairemont Times Serving Clairemont, Bay Park, Linda Vista & Kearny Mesa News of the Neighborhoods

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MARCH 2019

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planning after reviewing all this? No, but after clicking around you will at least be informed and up to date.

The CCPU meetings have a pretty set routine like many planning group

upon feedback requested. The workshops provide a lot of one on one talk with the staff, your neighbors, and strangers all in a room planning or at least discussing the future. The goal being City staff is listening and hearing the people.

A Land Use workshop was scheduled, noticed and advertised for January 30th, 2019 but abruptly cancelled the day before.

meetings. Public comment, verbal and/or slide presentations, comments/dialogue. Workshops on the other hand held by the City are more interactive. No real formal presentation, no rows of folding chairs, no agenda but rather easels set up with graphics, blank sheets of paper with city staff or consultants writing down comments and taking feedback/criticism.

Workshops are usually held in a 2 hour period folks show up talk, mingle, walk around to the different stations/easels listen, learn and ask. I have been to workshops where yellow stickies are handed out or color coded dots to place on images and graphics depending

Fast forward less than 2 weeks and roughly 75 people were in attendance at the February 12th CCPU meeting eager for answers on a reason to why. City Planning staff explained and apologized for the cancellation and in no uncertain terms basically stated the Mayor’s State of the City Address held on January 15th was the reason for the cancellation.

When the Mayor during part of his speech proclaimed, he wanted to “radically overhaul the development system itself” by calling out the bureaucracy to delay housing, saying no to NIMBY’s, and obstructionists. He then mentioned removing height limits,

The Clairemont Community Plan Update Goes Digital The City wants your input on 5000 new potential housing units before March 13th with their new online tool

LOCAL POSTAL CUSTOMER ECRWSS

by Chris O’Connell

Since late 2016 early 2017 twenty (20) community meetings were held around Clairemont and Bay Park with regards to the Clairemont Community Plan Update (CCPU). Four Members of the Clairemont Community Planning Group as well as 3 members of the public made up the CCPU committee. Over the course of the meetings topics such as Urban Design, Open Space, Mobility, Existing Conditions and much more were discussed. There was a great deal of information presented, discussed and debated.

It is important to keep in mind all these meetings were and are about Future Planning.

If you are interested in the future of the neighborhood, I would urge everyone to visit www.ClairemontPlan.org. Clicking on the tabs at the top labeled ABOUT, DOCUMENTS and NEWS here you can read a great deal of information and scroll through meeting agendas, presentation slides as well as workshop slides and much more. Will you be a totally informed and a wizard on

Our Grand Opening Special is Back!!!

and a push for more housing especially along transit corridors. After that speech, the Planning Department apparently decided a Clairemont Land Use workshop potentially trying to answer to a speech might not be a good idea (think #toosoon). Keep in mind all the ideas Mr. Mayor proposed have to be presented to City Council for their blessing.

The cancelled Land Use workshop for Clairemont residents was the opportunity to discuss, in person, topics such as where exactly are the proposed land use changes? Where will new housing be proposed? How much new housing? Will height limits stay the same etc etc? These were questions plus many more the committee as well as locals were looking to for answers. The City came back with the answer and the answer is visit www.ClairemontPlan.org.

On Feb 12 the Planning Department introduced the new Online Community Engagement Tool (OCET) as a new modern option and a way to gather input about future land uses in Clairemont. It should be noted staff did say a workshop would be rescheduled and this online tool is not taking the place of an in-person workshop (also note as of the upload date of this edition to the printer no date for a workshop had been scheduled).

Earlier I mentioned getting up to speed checking out the top tabs on the website to learn about the past couple years and now the city is asking you to click on the “Get Engaged” button.

SEE Community Plan Goes Digital, page 3

See page 5 for more details

2 • The Clairemont Times • March 2019

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From the Publisher

by Chris O’Connell

Well, well March so soon? Loved all the rain we received last month, hopefully a bit more is on the way, we’ll take what we can get.

This edition seems like the future edition. The city has asked the community to plan out the next 30 years and where you might want to see more housing. I realized trying to explain in words how to use a computer program really is not all that fun. The gift to teach is a calling, I missed the call. But really the computer exercise is important and will be useful to the future of the community.

Speaking of the future SDG&E is asking how can you better plan your day to save energy and hopefully save you some money (p9). Since you might be online with the Clairemont Community Plan Update you may want to head over to SDG&E log in to your account and see if there is some future savings for you in your gas & electric bill.

The Padres made some news you may have heard about, apparently, they opened their wallets and after all the moths flew out, they found about $150 million laying around to pay Manny

Machado. Holy smokes what a contract, with big numbers comes big expectations. Major Garrett I think is beyond ecstatic about the signing check out his piece on p10.

Susan Lewitt our outdoor plant contributor has got us thinking about spring already and what to plant. She’s written about 3 species you might like to add to your landscape. It’s never too late to get the old green thumb in gear.

Amongst all the pages you will find hopefully enjoyable content. Read it slowly and pass the paper on to someone else to read. I am eternally grateful for the readers, contributors and local businesses who make the paper possible.

Frequent them and let them know their advertising is being recognized!

A challenge has been issued because last year 29 folks voted in the CCPG elections. That is not a typo (29 was the grand total). Head over to the North Clairemont Rec Center & Vote on March 19!!!!! See page 17.

Enjoy this edition. Cheers

Timing is Everything

Chris O’Connell, Publisher

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by Chris O’Connell

Recently came across a couple wiener mobiles. One heading down the 5 South from LA. The other in the Vons Shopping Plaza at Balboa & Genesee.

I realize the parking spaces are tight, however with such a big vehicle, maybe just maybe park a little further away say down near the Blarney Stone where there is nice open parking.

Photos by Chris O’Connell chris@clairemonttimes.com

The Clairemont Times • March 2019 • 3

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Republican Women California San Diego County - Clairemont Come join us for our “Annual Membership” meeting and luncheon on Saturday, March 16, 2019 at the Brigantine Restaurant, 9350 Fuerte Drive, La Mesa CA 91941.

The meeting will start at 11:00 am and lunch will be served at 12:00 pm with speaker Carl DeMaio updating us on the current policies in Sacramento and San Diego County.

For the price of the meal and meeting, please contact our Treasurer Jo Ann Cornelius at (619) 379-1891

Community Plan Goes Digital Continued from page 1

The online tool is pretty interesting (although I would highly recommend “getting engaged” on a computer screen rather than say on your smartphone). Also, plan to set aside some time to mouse around.

Some tips: • Before Clicking on “Click here to start” to Get Engaged scroll down below and take the time to review “Helpful Resources” the four presentations. The slide presentations are quite useful, providing a little background before really diving in.

Again, there is a lot of information. For savvy computer folks, it is manageable, for the hunters & peckers this online tool could lead to “getting enraged”.

• Your back button or arrow does not work on this platform so think of the “Give Input” tab as a sort of back button. (Once you click around you will see how).

• This online tool will only be available until the end of the day on March 13. The City provided 30 days as the timeframe for engagement. (New technology, new platform more time might have been more ideal or coincide this with an actual workshop) • On 2/22 the City announced printed versions of the Online Community Engagement Tool, along with comment booklets are now available at the three branch libraries in the community: Clairemont, North Clairemont, and Balboa. This format is being provided as another option to provide input.

Comment booklets can be submitted in the drop-off box at each library. Please contact library staff for assistance and be sure to provide your input by the end of the day on Wednesday, March 13th, 2019.

What is the Online Community Engagement Tool?

Basically, the city is asking you to be a developer. They want/need to build 5000 new housing units over the course of 30 years and are asking you where they should go. But there are rules out of 8 areas (see below) you have to pick a minimum of 3 locations. 40% or 2000 of the new units need to be near the 3 Mid-Coast Trolley stops and you need to build 5000 units

before March 10, 2019.

Clairemont, along with the other 12 clubs in San Diego County are committed to helping our local politicians and working on the many problems that concern our community as we move towards the 2020 elections.

We will also inform you of all the other events and meetings that our chapter participates in at this great event. The more members our Clairemont chapter has, the more we can defeat the opposition in our community. total.

Focus Areas: 1. Clairemont Town Square 2. Genesee Ave/Clairemont Mesa Blvd & Diane Center 3. Clairemont Mesa Blvd East 4. City of San Diego Rose Canyon Operations Yard & the Balboa Ave Station (near future trolley stop) 5. Balboa Ave/Clairemont Dr 6. Genesee Plaza/Balboa Mesa Commercial Center 7. Morena Blvd South of Clairemont Drive (near future trolley stop) 8. Morena Blvd/Tecolote Road (near future trolley stop) So, for example, without officially submitting my tally I built the lowest density around the 3 area trolley stops and I only came up with 1876 units (leaving me short of the 2000 requested). For the other 5 areas I also chose the lowest density and I only built 4896 units total (again short). My thought was purely experimental to see what if I did this and my choices did not meet the objectives.

The City of course is seeking constructive engagement and data. This is not a one time deal you can go back and change your answers.

The tool is useful, but takes time, there is a lot of information within the information. For each of the 8 areas listed above, there are sub neighborhoods within.

I would encourage folks to click around it will obviously make more sense once you are in the program. Ideally you are only officially submitting your development once so there is ample room to explore and calculate.

What is there to like about OCET? The online tool is useful to get a feel for ideas and areas of potential future growth.

Seeing the locations, the current zoning and potential new zoning, then visualizing what a particular property could be in x amount of years. This is after all, future planning and looking forward.

What is there not to like about OCET? People could submit their answers without fulfilling the suggested requirements. People could also potentially

stack a neighborhood. There is also no real accountability, someone in LA or New Orleans or NY could submit their input, while it is good data is it pertinent? OCET is a lot of info, a lot of planning terms and numbers and maps. This is a change, some may not be able to visualize or want to see in the old neighborhood. Is 30 days long enough to obtain valuable input?

My Random and final thoughts on OCET? Keep in mind you could ask 10 people what they thought of the online engagement tool and you might get 10 different answers. This is a nice tool, is it for everybody no way. What I have found at the local community meetings is that you usually have the same dozen to two dozen folks who are actively involved (attending meetings). These are big decisions being made and more people need to be involved, relying on this monthly rag, or a Nextdoor.com post, or a Facebook page might not be enough outreach for such big decisions, is it possible to mail something to every house yes would the City do it … doubtful.

Some meetings tend to have a heavy resistance to change theme and I think this online tool can be useful for the City.

People are online, all one has to do is scroll through Nextdoor.com where there is no lack of opinions. Maybe the City realized, hey all these people are hip and, on the internet, already anyway let’s give them an online platform.

If we are planning for the future, maybe

young folks should have a say. Could it be possible to have Clairemont & Madison students be a separate category of data. Of course, not all the students live in the area, but for those who do their voices as developers for 5000 units could be drastically different than say the 25, 30, or 40 year resident.

This is a new digital tool around for a couple more weeks hopefully folks will check it out. Also, hopefully folks can make it out to a meeting.

The next scheduled Clairemont Community Plan Update Ad Hoc Committee meeting is scheduled for March 12th 6-8 pm Alcott Elementary 4680 Hidalgo Avenue.

For information, visit www.ClairemontPlan.org also Facebook: Clairemont Community Planning Group Twitter: ClairemontPG https://www.sandiego.gov/planning/com munity/profiles I will leave you with this, cranes and earth movers are not going to be rolling down Clairemont Mesa Blvd in the next 12 months, but keep in mind this is a future planning exercise. If someone owns a nice piece of property and might be looking to cash out, chances are there is a developer waiting in the wings. It takes at least two to tango.

Do you have any thoughts on the Online Community Engagement Tool? If so, send me an Email: chris@clairemonttimes.com

4 • The Clairemont Times • March 2019

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Ridership Climbs on MTS for First Seven Months of FY19 Ridership on the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Bus and Trolley network has climbed by more than 200,000 trips in the first seven months of Fiscal Year 2019, which began on July 1, 2018. The gains have been led by the Trolley, which has posted six straight months of year-over-year gains.

“This is great news for the goals of the region’s various Climate Action Plans and for riders. This shows there is a real mandate to invest in improving transit,” said Georgette Gómez, MTS Chair and Council President of the City of San Diego.

Public transit ridership has dropped in most systems in the United States over the past several years. MTS was one of the last systems to experience a drop and it may, if trends continue, be one of the first to reverse the trend.

For the first seven months of FY19, Trolley ridership is up 1 percent from 21,810,915 trips to 22,037,351 trips. Bus ridership is virtually unchanged, dropping just 23,247 trips to 27,941,344 trips for the fiscal year to date.

“These numbers are highly encouraging,” said Paul Jablonski, MTS chief executive officer. “In January of last year, MTS began implementing many route changes that increased frequency on our high-demand routes. We completed making changes in January of this year and we’ve already begun to see the results.”

While Trolley ridership has led the resurgence, bus ridership has held steady and two major developments may put its ridership into the plus column soon.

In late January, the South Bay Rapid opened and average weekday ridership on that line is about 1,500 and climbing. The

VOTE on March 19th

addition of this service from Otay Mesa to downtown, as well as the opening of a modern transit center just north of the Otay Mesa Border Crossing, has caused other routes serving the area to increase as well.

Additionally, MTS replaced shuttles operated by UC San Diego by adding service to Rapid Superloop routes at the end of January. These routes, serving the University City area, are showing weekday ridership gains of more than 3,000 trips per day.

February will be the first complete month in which these substantial gains will be recorded to bus ridership.

“It is clear that mobility is a highly competitive market,” Jablonski said. “And it is becoming evident that the integration of mobility options can be beneficial to everyone. MTS is working hard to not only maximize its service, but also provide technology to allow people to use their mobile phones for ticketing, real-time information and last-mile solutions.”

“Everyone at MTS – from board members to every member of MTS staff – is committed to develop a public transit system that meets the needs of our future and of all San Diegans,” Gómez added.

“We are excited about the possibilities and our region’s support of public transit to help us meet our climate action goals.”

MTS operates 95 bus routes and three Trolley lines on 53 miles of double-tracked railway. Every weekday 300,000 passenger trips are taken on MTS bus and Trolley services in 10 cities and unincorporated areas of the county.

In FY 2018, MTS served more than 86 million riders. For more information on how you can use public transportation and save money, go to www.sdmts.com.

see page 17 for details

Community Meetings Open to the Public (Locations & Times Subject to Change)

Clairemont Town Council 3/7/19 (1st Thursday) 6:30pm Clairemont High School 4150 Ute Dr. 92117 Clairemont Community Planning Group 3/19/19 (3rd Tuesday) 6:00pm Alcott Elementary 4680 Hidalgo Ave. 92117 Linda Vista Town Council 3/21/19 (3rd Thursday) 6:00pm Baha’i Faith Center 6545 Alcala Knolls Dr.92111 Linda Vista Planning Group 3/25/19 (4th Monday) 5:30pm Linda Vista Library 2160 Ulric St. 92111

DIRECTORY

For more news and information visit: www.clairemonttimes.com

Useful Local Project Websites City of San Diego www.SanDiego.gov For Updates/Documents & General Information on Morena Blvd/Balboa Area www.BalboaStationPlan.org For Updates on the Future Sherriff Crime Lab Property www.SDHCD.org For Updates on the Clairemont Community Plan Update www.ClairemontPlan.org For Updates on the MidCoast Trolley www.SANDAG.org/MidCoast For updates on Transportation & Infrastructure Projects in UTC/Golden Triangle www.ShiftSanDiego.com PureWater Projects Updates/Construction Notices www.PureWaterSD.com

Police 911

Non-Emergency (619) 531-2000

Fire 911

Non-Emergency (619) 533-4300

Mayor Faulconer

(619) 236-6330

District 2 Councilmember Dr. Jen Campbell

(619) 236-6622

District 6 Councilmember Chris Cate

(619) 236-6616

District 7 Councilmember Scott Sherman

(619) 236-6677

City of SD Pothole & Graffiti Hotline

(619) 527-7500

Trash Collection Environmental Services

(858) 694-7000

SD County Animal Services (24 hour hotline)

(619) 236-2341

SDG&E

(800) 411-7343

SD County Water Authority

(858) 522-6600

Metropolitan Transit System

(619) 231-1466

Cathy Hopper Friendship Senior Center

(858) 483-4005

Clairemont Times Newspaper

(858) 752-9779

The Clairemont Times • March 2019 • 5

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The Dark Political Genius Behind Protecting a Community’s “Character” A Favorite Phrase of Neighborhood Activists Has Become a Powerful Tool for Obstruction

by Joe Mathews

Are you a Californian looking for a New Year’s resolution?

You might be thinking about giving up sweets or fried foods, or going to the gym more, or volunteering, or cutting your carbon footprint, or otherwise doing right by your body, your community, or your planet. But, from the standpoint of your fellow Californians, the most effective thing you could do is swear off this phrase: “We want to protect the character of the community.”

The expressed desire to defend community character is a staple of California conversations about development or other changes in neighborhoods. It’s a phrase routinely aimed at developers, planners, or anyone with a big, transformational vision. It’s also official writ in many cities, with places as different as Davis, Menifee, and Los Angeles committing themselves in plans to preserving their community’s character.

In a state that is struggling to keep up with fundamental changes in housing, the economy, and the environment, there may be no more damaging set of words.

The phrase is powerful precisely because of its imprecision. Vague enough to be wrong in so many ways, it is the ultimate dodge, practically meaningless, the NIMBY equivalent of “yadda, yadda, yadda” from the famous Seinfeld episode.

But, in another sense, the phrase can mean everything to almost everybody. It’s a way to express any number of opinions, including: We don’t want this new general plan, this new development, these new immigrants. “Protect the character of our community” is used by poor people protesting development and gentrification that might bring richer people to their neighborhoods, and it’s used by rich people worried that affordable housing, transit, or homeless services might bring poorer people to their neighborhoods. It’s been used to throttle projects that would add to traffic and pollution by promoting sprawl and driving. It’s also been used to oppose development that seeks to reduce traffic and pollution by promoting density and transit.

Perversely, “protect the character of our community” is the phrase that unites us all—even though we use it to divide “us” from “them.”

The defense of community character is a lousy argument in normal times, because neither character nor community is static.

Housing, buildings, streets, economies, and public spaces all age, and all must be maintained, updated, and renewed. People don’t stay the same, sitting in one place—they have children, change jobs, learn new things, relocate, and, most of all, they age. And in so doing, they change the character of their communities, because

what they need from their surroundings—both physical and social—changes.

No healthy human community can stay the same; the best places become adept at managing change, and improving steadily.

Indeed, the very promise of the California Dream was that our communities would incorporate vastly different people from around the country and the world, and transform into larger, richer, and more diverse places in the process.

In our current times, which are anything but normal, the “protect-community-character” argument verges on treason to California and its ideals.

California faces two huge categories of challenges. The first is to catch up on meeting residents’ existing needs, and the second is to reshape the state to meet future challenges. “Protect the character of the community” thinking is a big reason why neither group of challenges has been addressed.

California has a massive infrastructure deficit—totaling an estimated $800 billion in unmet needs. It’s a consequence of decades-worth of homeowners and existing businesses saying: “Why can’t you do this some other place, because we want to protect the character of our community?”

And faltering infrastructure isn’t even the most serious consequence of prioritizing the status quo over human needs.

The housing crisis is.

Housing is controlled at the local government level, where “the character of the community” argument is strongest.

The results have meant disaster for the state. California housing costs two-and-a-half times the national average, and the state has the country’s longest and unhealthiest commutes, as people only find affordable housing too far from their jobs. Our failure to build sufficient housing, in the face of the community character argument, also forces more Californians to live in older, decaying housing.

As bad as today’s housing crisis is, it pales in comparison to the potential dangers to California’s future presented by the community protection racket. The threat of climate change, in particular, will require transformation in how we live, which by definition will change community character. The design of our homes will change, so that they might run on renewables and keep us cooler in hotter times. Communities may be need to be relocated away from rising seas and out of fire and earthquake danger. And the state needs to invest massively in new transportation infrastructure so that we drive less and burn fewer fossil fuels. No responsible community in California should stay the same in such a time.

Indeed, change in California communities is long overdue. For 40 years now, since the passage of Prop 13, California has prioritized community stability—holding down property taxes so

that people stay in their homes and businesses can stay open and stay in the family—at the expense of schools, health care, business development and local services. The state’s tax system has put a heavy burden on new arrivals and younger people—many of them fleeing poorer countries during a generation of mass migration globally—to subsidize older people and older communities and their ideas of “community character.”

It’s time for that era to end. But that will require that we stop singing the praises of community character and start realizing that it’s really the anthem of California’s religion of obstruction. It won’t be an easy shift to make. In their never-ending efforts to block progress, the character protectors have way too many tools at their disposal—zoning, design and environmental reviews that last eons; the California Environmental Quality Act; slow-moving licensing processes; and endless litigation in our budget-starved courts. The worst obstruction takes place close to our job centers, where there is the greatest potential for growth and for new, denser housing.

The dark political genius of the “protecting the character of the community” argument is that it allows those who employ it to avoid responsibility for their obstructionism. They portray themselves as “stakeholders” merely trying

to keep their neighborhood from getting hurt. Even worse, at a time that celebrates activism, many of these community-character protectors pose as righteous neighborhood activists.

Please. They are the powerful, not the powerless. They’re victimizers, not victims.

And they’ve been getting away with the crime of shutting their communities off from change, and putting big problems onto the younger, poorer, more diverse generations of Californians. It’s no accident that younger residents have been leaving the state in such high numbers; more than two-thirds of people who departed California in the past decade had annual incomes of less than $50,000.

This New Year’s, it’s time for Californians who care about the future, the environment, and our neighbors to banish this noxious phrase from our vocabulary.

And when we hear others use the phrase, we should point out what it really means: I got mine, and who cares about anyone else?

And if your fellow Californians still persist in claiming they want to “protect the character of our community,” please feel free to start questioning their character.

This piece first appeared, and is reprinted with permission, at www.zocalopublicsquare.org Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zócalo Public Square

Clairemont Woman's Club 2019

Fashion for a Brighter Future to Benefit Clairemont Scholarship Fund Fashion by Chico’s at UTC March 30th, 2019 • 11:30am to 3pm The Butcher Shop 5255 Kearny Villa Rd. San Diego 92123

$45 Donation Includes Luncheon For Tickets Contact Bea Fulgham (858) 272-1821 Nora Donald (619) 261-4042

The Clairemont Times • March 2019 • 7

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Religious Directory Clairemont Lutheran Church www.clairemontlc.org 4271 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117 Sunday Worship Times 8:30, 10:00 (English) & 11:30 am (Spanish) Sunday School for kids 9:45am

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Holy Cross Lutheran Church www.holycrossword.org 3450 Clairemont Drive, San Diego, CA 92117 Church (858) 273-2886 Visit our website www.holycrossword.org for additional worship times and special events.

Sunday Worship 9:00 am Northminster Presbyterian Church Sunday Worship Time 10:00a.m.

4324 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92117 www.northminstersandiego.com 858 490-3995 Northminster Preschool 858 270-3760

Clairemont Woman’s Club

by Marge Weber

It's been a long wait, but here comes Spring...and Daylight-Saving Time and St. Paddy's Day...and of course, our meeting on Wednesday, March 6th and our annual fundraiser on Saturday, March 30 to fund two scholarships for a senior girl at Clairemont High School and ditto for Madison High School. They must have done volunteer work, maintain good grades and be involved in their school programs. The event will be a sit-down lunch at the Butcher Shop with fashions

by Chico's at UTC. There will be raffles, including our famous restaurant basket.

There will be a no-host bar at 11:30 and lunch and festivities from Noon - 3p.m.

Mark this on your calendar as a worthwhile activity to support our students. Maybe you, or your children or grandchildren have attended these schools.

Tickets are only $45. Contact Wendy at 858 578 6266 or Bea at 858 272 1821.

Come on out, bring your friends and family for a pleasant afternoon.

In February, we celebrated 65 years of service to the community with a delicious lunch and fun activities as well as an interesting presentation of what to do

with old prescriptions by member Kathleen Guerrero. The book group discussed Rachel Joyce"s "The Music Shop", the owner of which refused to sell CDs, only vinyl and how his music selections improved people's lives.

Daytime Gourmets feasted at BJ's in Mission Valley. The "Fun With Writing" group chose "A Favorite Relative" or "How you Feel About Computers" as topics to explore through writing.

Please join us Wednesday, March 6th at 1 p.m. at the Balboa Community Church.

(Directions below) Our speaker will be Denise Berrian, President of the Southern District that Clairemont Woman's Club belongs to. She will speak on what the district is and what its role is in regard to the woman's clubs that belong to this district. This should be very interesting to club members and guests who are interested in joining us. Refreshments will be served. Hope to see you there.

For more information about CWC, visit our website at www.ClairemontWomansClub.com or “like” us on Facebook. You may also call Jackie at (858) 273-7664 Directions: Balboa Community Church at 6555 Balboa Ave. Please park around the corner on Mt. Albertine in the church parking lot.

Entrance to meeting is under the stairwell.

St. Catherine Labouré Catholic Church www.stcatherinelaboure.net 4124 Mt. Abraham Ave., San Diego, CA 92111 Phone (858) 277-3133 Weekend Mass Times Saturday 5:30pm Sunday 8:00, 9:30, 11:00am, 1pm/Spanish St. David’s Episcopal Church & Preschool www.saintdavidschurch.com 5050 Milton Street, San Diego CA 92110 Sunday Worship Times: 8:00am Holy Communion Rite I (Traditional) 10:30am Holy Communion Rite II (Contemporary) Weekday Worship: 12 p.m. Tues: Holy Eucharist: Rite II (Public Service of Healing) Last Sat of the month at 6:00 p.m. Alive at St. David’s: Non-Traditional, Contemporary Worship Experience

St. Mark’s United Methodist Church www.stmarksumcsd.org 3502 Clairemont Drive, San Diego, CA 92117 Phone: (858) 273-1480 Sunday worship: 9:30 a.m.

For information on advertising your place of worship in the Religious Directory please call or email Chris O’Connell, Publisher (858) 752-9779 chris@clairemonttimes.com

8 • The Clairemont Times • March 2019

Squaremont

By Bill Swank

Pictured: Bill Swank outside the Buena Vista Garden Apartments on Cowley Way in 1955, with East Clairemont off in the distance.

Floyd Smith Shares P.B. Point Surfing History

by Bill Swank

When Christopher Columbus invaded the Western Hemisphere, the natives were not pleased to greet him as previously reported. Was it Machiavelli or Winston Churchill... or Nazi war criminal Hermann Göring who said, "History is written by the victors?"

"Floyd checks a resin stringer (foreground), while Larry works on a board: Photo: Gordon & Smith, Inc. Archives" (caption and photo from page 14, Gordon & Smith: One Long Ride)

There is always "another side to the story."

Captain Schlack was not happy when "surf riders" invaded his neighborhood, but who used his cliff for access to the beach long before his castle was built upon the hill?

"To understand surfing in the early sixties, you have to understand the history," rebuts surfing legend Floyd Smith.

Smith, along with his Mission Bay High School friend and track teammate, Larry Gordon, began to commercially produce surfboards in Floyd's garage in the late 1950s. Together, they created the iconic Gordon & Smith brand.

"During the thirties, P.B. Point was the main surfing spot in San Diego, even more so than Windansea. During the war, it became a military base called Gunnery

www.clairemonttimes.com

"Under Vynne's leadership, the city "The council decided to give us would buy Tourmaline Canyon and allow one court in multi-story, high density apartments and Mission Beach condos off to the south side. All the with no parking over-packed attendees at city hall yelled, and no real 'stroke,' and that was it." access."

"We dropped all objections and now Side streets in San Diego is one of the world's surfing Mission Beach are capitals. Don Vynne was a hero to Larry called courts. So and me." the city was willing to allow the surfers to use –––––––––––––––––––––––––––– what amounted to a small block on As surfing continued to evolve, the Surf the beach front.

Punks captured escalating tensions "Floyd and Larry in front of their new sign at 763 Turquoise Street.

"Well, we went Photo: Gordon & Smith, Inc. Archives" between the surfers themselves with their ballistic," said (caption and photo from page 15, Gordon & Smith: One Long Ride) pounding 1980 hit, "My Beach." The Smith. song's primal lyrics say it all: "My beach, Point. It was abandoned from '45 until "Thirty years later, police chief Ray my chicks, my waves, go home!"

1954-55. Surfers used it a lot during the Hobbler told me that it was the most winter swells," Floyd said.

Two decades earlier, Captain Schlack's riotous meeting the city council ever had.

Anti-Aircraft Training Center, Pacific version could have been, "My beach, my The mayor adjourned the meeting under Beach was built in 1942. It was used by duress. Six months later, they reconvened street, my sidewalk, go home!" both the Navy and Army during World again under great duress and with great The war is over and history gets War II as a training site for anti-aircraft attendance." forgotten. The city maintains the busy and surface warfare on a gunnery range "There had been a private meeting with concrete access path to the beach at Linda that extended into the Pacific Ocean. The the top twenty surfers and surfing leaders. Way. Everything is cool. Surfing is area was not well developed at the time, Don Vynne was the aquatic director for mainstream. but the sounds carried into Pacific Beach In 2018, Governor Jerry Brown and and La Jolla. the state legislature passed a law to make "They leveled the massive surfing the official state sport of concrete gun California. emplacements and Steve O'Connell opened the popular built nice ocean Clairemont Surf Shop in 1976 and noted, front homes on the "Some of San Diego's best surfers came cliff that sold for out of Clairemont: Tony Staples, Daryl $25,000. Less than Rustin and, of course, Skip Frye." a mile away, homes In the 1950s, inexperienced surfers in P.B. were selling were called "kooks." Surfer talk developed for $10,000. As into a new language. O'Connell soon as the people confirmed that young surfers later became moved in, that's when the trouble known as "gremmies." That term began. Surfers morphed into "grommets" which was would arrive at shortened to "groms" and "grommies."

5:00 a.m. with their Sorry, Captain Schlack, but you had it radios blaring and wrong, sir. loud mouths Instead of the younger generation yelling, 'Hey, "On Linda Way path leading to the beach beside Captain Schlack's turning into "commies," they became what's the residence with Pacific Beach in the background, Nick Brockman "grommies." problem?'" Smith (Clairemont High School, Class of 2000) holds a 1961 picture of a young (photo by Bill Swank) surfers protest march in downtown San Diego. said.

Email: Bill@ClairemontTimes.com "They notified To read all the Squaremont columns, visit: us that P.B. Point http://clairemonttimes.com/category/squaremont/ was in La Jolla and they were not going to the City of San tolerate the noise and rowdiness."

Diego, but nobody (Longtime Clairemont residents recognized him recognize the concept of "Creeping La because he was Jolla" with our own phenomena of wearing a suit and "Creeping Bay Park." Real estate values tie. He had been increase when prestigious neighborhood the city's head life boundaries are arbitrarily moved. Some guard for the even claim that Pacific Beach is part of previous 20 years."

West Clairemont.)

"He quickly got Floyd continued, "The city tried to our attention when work out a compromise, but there was he took control of only one access... a trail that had been the meeting. His used for years to get to the beach and it first words were, was cut off. The solution was to ban 'Hey, you little surfing, but us surfers yelled and screamed a**holes.' He was and raised hell. A city council meeting was 6-3 or 6-4 and set and it was packed to the rafters with probably 40-45 The boundaries of Anti-Aircraft Training Center, Pacific Beach were Midway surfers from everywhere in Southern years old. We were Street (north), La Jolla Boulevard and Chelsea Street (east), Sea Ridge California." (map by SAIC) in our young 20s." Drive (south) and Calumet Avenue (west).

The Clairemont Times • March 2019 • 9

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The Hours Between 4pm-9pm can Impact Your Monthly SDG&E Bill San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E) new Time of Use (TOU) pricing plans are giving residents more choices and control over their energy bills. These plans offer savings for customers who can shift some of their energy use outside the higher cost on-peak hours of 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

As folks get home from work in the late afternoon hours and power from renewable energy production drops, energy demand across California increases, driving up prices. TOU plans offer our customers two ways to save – by shifting electricity use to lower cost hours of the day, before 4 p.m. or after 9 p.m., and/or by reducing overall usage. Over a 24-hour period, customers can take advantage of 19 hours of off-peak, lower prices. TOU plans also encourage a cleaner power grid by using energy when renewable resources, like solar power, are readily available.

Speaking with Scott Crider, SDG&E’s Vice President of Customer Services he explains, “We are not asking our customers to make major changes in their lives, but what we are really asking our customers is to think about energy a little differently and see if they can make some minor shifts in their major appliances.”

According to Crider, a couple of small

changes could be, “running your dishwasher at 9pm, when off peak hours begin.” In the summertime, “maybe turning on your air conditioner at 2 or 3 pm to cool your house down, prior to peak time.”

SDG&E is offering a 12-month risk-free trial period for eligible customers who choose a TOU plan. The customer can opt out of these two new plans at any time and SDG&E will credit them back the difference if they would have saved more on the standard plan.

The plan is to transition “roughly 100,000” customers beginning in March and then move customers in batches over the next 12 months.

If you have not received any information regarding TOU yet be on the lookout for either emails or information which will be included in your monthly mailed statement.

Logging in (or registering if you do not have an online account at www.sdge.com) and researching your own SDG&E account online as well as the TOU pricing options is highly encouraged. For more information and videos about these programs, visit www.sdge.com/whenmatters.

Time of Use (TOU-DR1)

• The TOU-DR1 plan breaks your day into three periods: on-peak, off-peak and super off-peak.

• Prices are lower before 4 p.m. and after 9 p.m.

• You can switch to another available pricing plan at any time.

• The off-peak and super off-peak hours change by weekdays, weekends and holidays to give you more super off-peak prices.

• There is no High Usage Charge with the TOU-DR1 plan.

• The TOU-DR1 plan comes with bill protection. Try this plan for up to one year. If you end up spending more than you would have on your previous plan, we’ll credit you the difference.

• Save by keeping your energy use below 130% of your total Baseline Allowance and shifting your energy use to off-peak hours.

For more news and information visit: www.clairemonttimes.com

Berg Taxes Serving the Greater Clairemont Area Since 1992

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Time of Use (TOU-DR2)

• The TOU-DR2 plan breaks your day into two periods: on-peak and off-peak.

• Prices are lower before 4 p.m. and after 9 p.m.

• You can switch to another available pricing plan at any time.

• The on-peak and off-peak hours stay the same every day of the week.

• There is no High Usage Charge

with the TOU-DR2 plan.

• The TOU-DR2 plan comes with bill protection. Try this plan for up to one year. If you end up spending more than you would have on your previous plan, we’ll credit you the difference.

• Save by keeping your energy use below 130% of your Baseline Allowance and shifting your energy use to off-peak hours.

Graphics from sdge.com/whenmatters

Potholes in your Neighborhood?

Report the Street & Cross Street to City of San Diego Streets & Potholes Division

619 527 7500

10 • The Clairemont Times • March 2019

A Padres Column

by Major Garrett

Let's Go to WAR with Manny By the time you read this, Manny Machado, the most important free agent signee in Padres history, will have already taken the field and taken our breath away.

He's that good. Trust me.

Though I grew up in San Diego, my lifelong best friend, Steve Albrecht, was born in Baltimore. We met in 2nd grade at Charles A. Lindberg Elementary School, alongside a then largely undeveloped Balboa Avenue. Mrs. Huber was our teacher and a task master (back to that in a moment).

Steve lived down the street from me and we became instant friends. He was smart and funny and, like me, wore glasses. He was a bit shy and that made me feel more daring by comparison -even though by any conventional standard I've never been daring in my life.

Steve loved Baltimore and especially his grandparents. Our friendship made devoted to Baltimore.

It was 1970 and Baltimore's baseball team was in the World Series. I was just coming of age about such things – world championships and pro sports -and this was as seductive a call as I had yet heard. My best friend. From Baltimore.

Baltimore's Orioles in the World Series.

Wow. Back then, the games were played during the day. That meant if you were in school you missed everything. Unless you were a bit daring and had a small transistor radio with an ear plug. It also helped immensely to have a desk in the back of the class. As it happened, I had all three. Oh, the unimaginable wonder I found inside the crackling subversive sounds of the World Series flowing from my battery-powered pocket radio up my wind breaker (which I somehow donned without provoking Mrs. Huber's curiosity) through a cream white wire to a gaudy ear plug crammed into the ear least visible to Mrs. Huber. She never caught on. Or if she did, Mrs. Huber let me slide. Either way, I was never caught. The thrill of the rule-breaking was nearly as great as the Orioles success on the field (they won the Series in five games). I felt

empowered and enriched. It was one of the few rules I ever broke. Baseball heard through the secretive device of radio made me feel in some way immortal, or at least ageless. Still does.

Back to Manny. I have carried my affection for the Orioles my entire life.

Steve and I start every season analyzing the Padres and Orioles rosters and prospects – somewhat terse conversations lately. The point is this. I've watched a lot of Manny Machado. Offensively, he's all

www.clairemonttimes.com Petco, flashing leather, flicking his wrist and turning one budding rally after another into dust. Petco is a delight. But its foundations have never been tested.

The roar that will come from Manny and Company will test those foundations. My God, it's about time.

When I started this column, I intended it to be a dissection of sabermetrics and analytics in baseball. I have a hard time with both. At times I feel like baseball, the game I played for 11 years as a child, and many years as an adult, has been kidnapped by mathematicians. The language I grew up with - batting average, RBI, ERA, W-L records - has been pulverized by a dizzying array of numbers and lingo I neither comprehend nor appreciate. I have more than once felt the desire to lash out and damn all sabermetrics and analytics as a revenge-of-the-nerds-Red-Bull-fueled-qua nt-loving-fundamentals-hating perversion of the national pastime. But as a journalist it is my job to understand that which I do not – to study origins, influence and history.

I have done a fair amount of that.

Sabermetrics and analytics began as an effort to unlock baseball, to find its hidden statistical treasures that not only explained the game with more precision, but more equitably measured players across eras, leagues and playing conditions. They are, at their essence, statistical love letters to this great game.

They also feel bloodless. To me it feels they so savagely dice the game into ever smaller bits of statistical minutia that the human randomness, geometric wonder and unholy unpredictable physics of the game disappear. Such is the dilemma of obsessive science, mounds of discovery stacked in unapproachably vaulted mountains.

If you want to learn more about sabermetrics, now is the time. Manny makes it fun. With Manny you can get your WAR on and play with OPS and OPS+ to your ever-loving heart's content.

I've watched a lot of Manny Machado.

Offensively, he's all you have read and more. He's clutch and enthusiastic. He lays off outside pitches and demolishes weak strikes. you have read and more. He's clutch and enthusiastic. He lays off outside pitches and demolishes weak strikes. But that's not what bends your mind in all the best ways. As a fielder, he's without compare.

Manny makes tough plays look positively effortless. He makes very, very difficult plays look only mildly stressful. With frequency he makes plays that simply look impossible, that leave you speechless, even after the fifth replay. You keep asking yourself.... did that just happen?

Meanwhile, Manny is back in position, smiling, awaiting the next pitch. His quickness, agility, arm strength, positioning, anticipation and fearlessness, in my opinion, have no equal. Manny's glove is in an inflator and deflator. He inspires his teammates and crushes the opposing dugout. I've seen it. Over and over.

Manny, quite simply, is a marvel. San Diego, you have only begun to be joyous.

You are joyous in the abstract. Wait until you see him. Wait until you see this All-Star in our jersey, in our beloved

WAR stands for Wins Above Replacement. It is an amalgam of statistics designed to illustrate the number of wins a single player generates over a generic major league replacement. The higher the WAR, the better the player. A WAR above 3 is very good. Manny's WAR from 2012 to 2018 was 4.4. Bryce Harper's was 4.7.

Mike Trout's was 8.5. Okay. Trout is a ridiculous talent. For Padres comparison, Eric Hosmer's 2018 WAR was 1.4.

Hunter Renfroe's was 2.4. Manny Margot's was 1.5. Climbing from 2.0 WAR to 3.0 WAR is a big deal. Anything above 5 is MVP territory. Manny has spent his career – and he's only 26 – in that stratosphere.

OPS is on base plus slugging. It combines two of the most important offensive skills, getting on base and hitting for power. The league average is .700 to .766. An OPS above .900 is staggeringly good – the makings of MVP votes. Here's Manny's four-year OPS: 2015 = .861; 2016 = .876; 2017 = .782; 2018 = .905.

Yippie!

OPS+ is also known as Adjusted OPS and is a refinement of OPS in the sense that it adjusts for the player's park and league. It does not account for his fielding position. The league average is 100.

Anything above 125 is sick. Manny's four-year OPS+: 2015 =132; 2016 = 130; 2017 = 108; 2018 = 146. Double Yippie!!

You can sabermetric all over Manny's career and come to the same statistical conclusion – he's the goods. He's the best fit at the most important vacancy. He isn't everything. Baseball forbids that. No single WAR can win a World Series (ask the Angels). But Manny is an electrifying talent and without question the best free agent to go to WAR with.

Do you have a Padres or Clairemont question for Major? Send us an email to: AskMajor@ClairemontTimes.com Major Garrett was born and raised in Clairemont, is Chief White House Correspondent for CBS News, host of "The Takeout" podcast and author of the book "Mr. Trump's Wild Ride: The Thrills, Chills, Screams and Occasional Blackouts of His Extraordinary First Year in Office."

The Clairemont Times • March 2019 • 11

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Where To Put Affordable Housing

by Louis Rodolico

Housing is expensive in San Diego, the average worker making less than 2/3 of the earnings necessary for a median $483,000 home. So we need new living units with an average price point of about $300,000. However, developers pay fines to remove affordable housing from their projects. These fines fall into the category of “Alternate Means of Compliance”. The fines go into city coffers, providing a clear dis-incentive for the city to provide affordable housing. See Planning Commission Link.

The city is looking to build over 150,000 new housing units by 2050. If we could also hold city government expansion below 10% that would provide much needed pension deficit relief.

The City of San Diego’s population is growing 1% per year and the County of San Diego 1 1/4%. What remains to be developed in the City are small pockets of land with adjacent homeowners fighting development. Also well-funded conservancy groups have championed an alphabet soup of restrictions from burrowing owls to vernal pools. The Planning Commission is recommending high rise housing, but has found little popular support. For these reasons it is easier to build in the County which has resulted in a continual expansion towards the easterly fire zones. Much of the County is un-incorporated with isolated roads and poor fire service. For these reasons it makes sense to try to increase the population in the City with its fire protection network.

The Mayor's most recent proposal is to

Building without parking today will not work. Owning a car could eventually become a relic of the past with; on-demand autonomous self-driving vehicles, a more extensive rapid transit system, more last mile options, and many of us telecommuting to work. Generations from now a few of us will drive cars much like some of us ride horses today; a pleasant homage to the past. At a February 7th community meeting District 2 council member Dr. Campbell lamented a council sub-committee decision affirming the Mayors no parking position.

We can take a page from the Costa Verde shopping center expansion. Our Sub-Committee suggested they build out their parking garage with flex-space. As the need for parking inevitably declines flex-space parking would be designed to be more readily converted for other uses like; storage, store expansion, or additional retail. See: Clairemont Times, March 2018 Page 11 Flex space could also work with housing. New parking garages would be designed as level floors convertible into living units as fewer of us own cars. For conversion into apartments outdoor garage openings could be designed to accept future window systems. Flex space structures give building owners an incentive to support mass transit and make sense in or out of transit priority areas.

That leaves us with the last and biggest problem; Where? One answer; there are stretches along the I-5 corridor, north of Balboa and south of Gilman Drive, see illustration. Buildings here would leverage the blue line and would be partially

add additional housing units in transit priority areas without parking. This sounds ridiculous on its face, but it is likely that in the future car ownership will rapidly decline. But that is in the future.

self-contained with food markets and other businesses. Some of these hillsides are over 300 feet and are susceptible to ancient landslides, so adding large structures will stabilize these hills against

future landslides, helping garner support from higher levels of government and existing home owners above. See illustration. These buildings would also block freeway sound without blocking vista views.

Their scale would make pedestrian connections over I-5 feasible.

Density would be over 7,500 living units per mile for each side of the interstate.

There are about 15 to 20 miles of these interstate sites in San Diego.

After decades of facing angry residents City Planners are trying to ground taxpayer anger with newly formed citizen committees charged with re-planning the city. Planners will have to referee so it doesn’t degenerate into a grab bag pitting neighbor against neighbor. In preparation for these planning changes the city was able to get a CEQA ruling allowing

anything to be removed from an existing plan without requiring a CEQA review. If your plans include future key infrastructure currently on your local plan you might want to get involved. See: Clairemont Times CEQA Judge Rules The city has a tendency to dig in on an issue, but has demonstrated that it can change over time. For example; 15 years ago we tried to put in a Companion Unit (aka Granny Flat) for my ailing father and faced a hostile Murphy administration that did not want these “low income housing units” in San Diego. Today the city has made a full 180 and Companion Units are all the rage with support from every level of City Government. See: Council action La Jolla Light 9-14-17 Page 22 Companion and Junior Units will move the needle a little. We will need several additional strategies to solve our affordable housing shortfall; flex space, and high-rise buildings reinforcing unstable hillsides are just two possibilities.

Modifying the “Alternate Means of Compliance” is another. San Diego city politicians and planners will have their work cut out for them trying to balance all the variables to meet the cities affordable housing needs.

Louis Rodolico has been a resident of University City since 2001 louisrodolico.com Planning Commission, Time: 2:57:45 http://sandiego.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php ?view_id=8&clip_id=7643

12 • The Clairemont Times • March 2019

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LoloLovesFilms This Month:

Isn’t It Romantic

by Lolo & Big J

The Clairemont Times PO Box 17671 San Diego, CA 92177 (858) 752-9779 Founding Publisher: Chris O’Connell Advertising (858) 752-9779 Graphic Designer: Elaine Hall Contributors: Major Garrett Brian Gruters Susan Lewitt Lauren & Josh Rains Brian Riehm Louis Rodolico Robert Ross Tanya Sawhney Bill Swank Marge Weber The Clairemont Times is a free publication published each month and circulated throughout the neighborhoods of Clairemont, Linda Vista, Bay Park & Kearny Mesa. Story ideas, advertising & editorial questions can be sent to The Clairemont Times P.O. Box 17671, San Diego, CA 92177 or chris@clairemonttimes.com Copyright ©2011-19 The Clairemont Times/McSierra Publishing. Reuse of material from this edition or past editions is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.

The opinions in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of The Clairemont Times/McSierra Publishing but instead, of each individual author/contributor.

The Clairemont Times is proud to partner and contribute with:

Ahh, love. Amor. Lyublyu. Amour.

Miłość. Sevgi. Liefde. The thing that makes the world go 'round. What would we do without romance films?! "Isn't it Romantic" is directed by Todd Strauss-Schulman, who has directed films like "The Final Girls." This movie tells the story of an architect named Natalie (Rebel Wilson), who hates the unrealistic nature of the romantic comedy genre of movies. She believes they aren't true to life, and she has never had any experience that comes even remotely close to what is depicted in films. One day, Natalie is mugged in the subway and gets knocked unconscious when running from her attacker. When she wakes up, she finds herself in an alternate reality where New York City is beautiful and smells good and is filled with bake shops and wedding boutiques and flowers as far as the eye can see. Oh, and she's also the protagonist of her own rom-com. For her, this is a nightmare, and just like what happens on the big screen, the only way for her to escape this awful ordeal is to fall in love with the right person. Is "the right one" going to be Blake (Liam Hemsworth), who thinks Natalie is the "coffee person" at her office in the real world, or Josh (Adam DeVine), who is one of her best friends.

"Isn't It Romantic" is a self-aware spoof that pokes fun at cliche romantic comedies while simultaneously being a cliche romantic comedic. That's the point of it, so in a sense, it gets to have its cake and eat it too. We didn't have high hopes for this movie going into it as we feared it would be absolutely dumb, and it can be, but it is also super funny and managed to provide us with a pleasant viewing experience. Rebel Wilson and Adam DeVine, who previously worked together on the "Pitch Perfect" movies, team up once again on this project, and just as they did before, they maintain their wonderful chemistry and play quite well off of one another. Wilson and fellow Aussie Liam Hemsworth also have some great interactions together as the skeptical Natalie clashes with the overly enthusiastic Blake on more than one occasion. We also really like Betty Gilpin as Natalie's assistant Whitney, who is a sweet, timid lady with polar opposite views when it comes to romantic movies.

Whitney thinks everything about rom-coms is amazing and her favorite movie of all time is "Sweet Home Alabama." Yiiiiiiiiiiiikes. She eventually becomes Natalie's "rival" in her alternate world, but this dynamic doesn't go much of anywhere.

We admit, not everything about "Isn't It Romantic" works out. There are plenty

of jokes that fall flat, but we laughed way, way more than we expected to, even if they were merely small chuckles and smirks. It exploits such tropes as random choreographed song and dance numbers as seen in "13 Going on 30," "She's All That," and more recently "Love, Simon," and the inevitable fashion montage as seen in movies like "Pretty Woman," "Clueless," "The Wedding Singer," and "Crazy Rich Asians." As for the story, it's a little tired and predictable (again, that may be the point, but this just an excuse?), but it does have a good message underneath it all, even if it's a message

that we've heard many times before with an ending we could see coming a mile away.

"Isn't It Romantic" does just enough to be considered "good." It's fun enough, funny enough, and sharp enough to satisfy the requirements to be considered a spoof and a rom-com at the same time. Take a chance on this one.

OUR RATING: 3/5 Visit our blog at www.lololovesfilms.com for more reviews, and follow us @lololovesfilms on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat for extra content! For inquiries or comments, please email: lololovesfilms@gmail.com.

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The Clairemont Times • March 2019 • 13

www.clairemonttimes.com sometimes they don’t call. Other times, you find out you’ve been dropped when you receive an automated email rejecting you in favor of a “more qualified” candidate.

But, it’s not personal, right? It shouldn’t

by Angela Copeland be, but it definitely burns. If you keep the right attitude, you’ll dust yourself off and Job searching is one of the most keep going. You may even keep an eye out personal impersonal experiences there is. to see if the company you interviewed As a job seeker, you pour your heart into with has any additional job postings. You your cover letter. You customize your can’t let it get to you. resume. You sit in agony at each step of Similarly, job searching becomes a the process, which can drag out for many numbers game. If you really want to score months. Along the way, you may something new, you’ve got to apply in encounter many tests of your abilities. bulk. You’ve got to interview In addition to at more than one company a phone screen, at a time.

Similarly, job searching multiple phone This is where things get a calls, in person becomes a numbers game. bit ironic. Imagine that one-on-one If you really want to score you’re having a positive interviews, and experience interviewing. something new, you’ve got panel interviews, You’re finding success, but to apply in bulk. You’ve got you’re asked to do not at just one company – to interview at more than even more. You at two or three. Suddenly, may be asked to one company at a time. you get more than one job take a personality offer and you have to pick test to be sure one. And, the tables have you’re a cultural fit. You may need to take reversed. an IQ test to be sure you’re smart enough Interestingly, companies can take the for the job. You might be asked to create rejection just as personally as job seekers and deliver a presentation. Or, you may be do. They seem to feel that they’ve invested asked to create a 90-day plan. You may be all of their time into a candidate who asked to do a sample assignment. You will walked away. The friend you’ve made in probably be asked to do a background human resources may not even respond to check, submit references, and possibly go your email or phone call declining the through a drug test. offer. You’ve let them down.

And, you’ll be doing all of these things Just remember, it’s not personal. Both just under the radar of your current boss. sides are investing their time in the You know all along that if the boss notices process. Both sides can walk away at any you’re searching, you could be putting point. And, the job seeker isn’t the only your entire career on the line. But, you do one who shouldn’t take rejection so it anyway because it’s important and it’s personally. the only way to truly grow your career.

After all of this work, very often the Angela Copeland, a career expert and founder of Copeland Coaching, can be company drops you. But, you may not reached at copelandcoaching.com. even realize you’ve been dropped because

Career Corner

It’s Not Personal

Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to plan in advance: how you will contact one another; how you will get back together; and what you will do in different disaster situations.

The SD Emergency App contains disaster preparedness information, interactive checklists to help you to create your emergency plan, build an emergency supplies kit, and when disaster strikes; the SD Emergency App will keep you and your family

informed with emergency updates, interactive emergency maps, and shelter locations.

The County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services (OES) created the SD Emergency App to better prepare and inform San Diego County residents and visitors about disasters.

With SD Emergency, the tools you need to plan, prepare, and respond in an emergency are right at your fingertips.

Download the “San Diego Get It Done App” Report Issues Directly to the City with Your Phone

Free Tree SD San Diegans can get a new tree, free of charge - all you have to do is identify a space in the public right-of-way that could benefit from a new tree and fill out the online form.

City horticulturists will evaluate the space and determine an appropriate tree selection.

To receive a FREE TREE for your parkway (the area between your sidewalk and street curb), please review the conditions of agreement • Location of property must be within City of San Diego limits

SD Emergency: The Must Have Preparedness App

• Resident/property owner agrees to water the tree for three years to get tree’s life started per the recommended watering schedule noted below • The City’s horticulturist will review your parkway to determine an appropriate tree species • Resident/property owner understands that driveways, street corners, fire hydrants and other objects may limit where tree(s) can be planted To begin the process, fill out the online form on the City of San Diego Website: www.sandiego.gov/blog/free-tree-sd

For Example:

Graffiti Potholes Traffic Signals/Street Lights Streets & Sidewalks Illegal Dumping Parking Issues & More

Potholes in your Neighborhood?

Report the Street & Cross Street to City of San Diego Streets & Potholes Division

619 527 7500

14 • The Clairemont Times • March 2019

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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Possible Solutions When an Individual with Health Problems is Having Difficulty Handling His or Her Financial Affairs

by Dick McEntyre, Attorney at Law

ADVANCED PODIATRY WITH A PERSONAL TOUCH Walter Jolley, D.P.M 5222 Balboa Avenue, Suite 41 San Diego, CA 92117 858-560-0390 • Board Certified Foot and Ankle Surgery • Serving Clairemont for 30 Years • Treating all Painful Foot Conditions • Toenails to Major Deformities

Friendly Family Dental • $59 cleaning, exam, x-rays (assumes no periodontal disease).

• Free second opinion!

• $900 denture special. Full upper or lower denture.

•$695 crown special.

•$700 off Invisalign. Call for details.

• Modern technology & private rooms. Check our reviews on Google!

When an individual’s health is declining, and that individual is having difficulty handling his or her own financial affairs, here are a few ways to enable a third party to step in and help that person: 1. One option is for the individual to grant a power of attorney to a selected third party (“agent”) to handle his or her affairs. The document can grant sweeping powers or it may give only a limited power. It should be a “durable” power of attorney, which means that it will remain in effect even if and after the individual granting the power has become incompetent (if that were to occur).

Note: While the State of California provides a written form for a power of attorney, some banks are reluctant to accept it, and may require the use of their own “in-house” forms.

2. A second option is where the individual has created a revocable living trust (and has funded it with assets) and is serving as its trustee. When he or she begins to deteriorate in health, he or she can resign such trusteeship, thereby turning over all trustee (management) duties to the successor trustee who had been appointed under the trust instrument. Such successor Trustee would then take over the handling of the financial affairs for the trust. If this is the case, it would still be wise to grant a

financial power of attorney to such successor Trustee authorizing his or her agent to handle any financial assets which had not been transferred into the trust.

3. A third option with respect to financial accounts is for the individual to set up a joint account with another trusted individual where each has check writing ability, enabling the trusted person to write checks from such account to pay expenses on behalf of the individual needing assistance.

4. As a last resort, a concerned third party might initiate a proceeding to have a conservator of the estate appointed by the court to handle the needy individual’s financial affairs. This is not usually the best option, because, for this to occur, the individual would have to be declared incompetent by the court. This could be trying for the individual, and would be very expensive; further, all of the on-going work of the conservator (overseer) would be subject to court supervision.

The above “Possible Solutions” are generalizations only and are not to be taken as legal advice for the reader’s particular situation.

Richard F. McEntyre is a lawyer practicing law in the areas of estate planning and administration, having served the San Diego community as a lawyer for over 40 years.

House calls are available. Dick’s office is located at 3156 Sports Arena Boulevard, Suite 102 (Telephone (619) 221-0279), www.richardfmcentyre.com.

Dr. Henna H. Dattu General Dentist NYU School of Dentistry

Call, email or book an appointment online!

858-274-1219

Toler Elementary 5th Grade Rummage Sale

www.sdfriendlyfamilydental.com

3774 Clairemont Drive, San Diego, CA 92117

Come out and support your neighborhood school while finding special treasures.

RUMMAGE SALE Saturday April 13th 8 am - 12 pm 3350 Baker St. All proceeds go to Toler's 5th graders.

If you like to help or would like more information, please contact

Christina Ballinger 619-985-2964

www.

ClairemontTimes .com

The Clairemont Times • March 2019 • 15

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Easy to Grow Native Plants:

Coastal Cholla, Coastal Prickly Pear & Coastal Barrelcactus

by Susan Lewitt

San Diego may not be a desert, but if you fancy cactus, why not consider the several that are native to our region? They work with the coastal sage scrub and chaparral communities along with other

Coastal Cholla

yellow flowers that become edible purple fruit. It will spread out and reach a height of 3’. As an important wildlife plant, it can be used as hedges. It is deer resistant and a pleasant addition to bird gardens. It likes full sun to part shade. It makes a delightful home for native insects, including the Cactus Bee, Cactus bug, Aphid Fly, Cochineal insect and a spider known as the Silver Argiope, thus supporting biodiversity. It is readily available in many of the native plant nurseries.

Coastal Barrel Cactus (ferocactus viridescens), also known as San Diego Barrel Cactus, is a rare species that grows mostly in San Diego County but sparsely in the rest of Southern California and Northern Baja California. Agriculture, development and alterations to its habitat have led to its decline. It will slowly reach a maximum size of 1’ tall by 1.5’ wide. It is bright green and ribbed with long spines and flowers that are yellow, pink, green and red. The fruit can be yellow or red. It does best in full sun. It is deer resistant

5180 Tecolote Road San Diego, CA 92110 • 858-581-9944 Park Ranger Office 858-581-9961 Monday – Closed, Tuesday –Saturday 9:00-4:00, Sunday 9:00-2:00

Sunday, March 3 9:00-11:00 Sunday in the Garden Volunteer in our native plant garden and nurture nature with Park Ranger Erika!

Saturday, March 16 9:00-11:00 Weed Warriors Volunteer with the Park Rangers to make your canyon awesome! Help is needed in the restoration and revegetation areas. Gloves and tools provided. Wear long pants and sturdy shoes. No flip flops please. Bring sun protection and a refillable water bottle.

Wednesday, March 20 1:30-3:00 Art & Activities for Kids- Free!

Join us for the start of spring to learn about birds and create some fun crafts! We’ll have a special visit from Project Wildlife and a feathered animal ambassador.

(photo by Susan Lewitt)

native plants. These three cacti require fast drainage with sand or sandstone soil, and require very little summer watering. The Barrel Cactus and Prickly Pear tolerate temperatures down to almost 30° F, while the cholla can withstand temperatures as low as 15° F. Coastal Cholla (cylindropuntia prolifera) occurs naturally in Southern California along the southern coast and in the Channel Island sectors, and ocean bluffs up to 1,000 feet in elevation. It’s also found inland. It can obtain a height of 10’ and spread up to 5’ across. Its magenta flowers bloom from spring to summer and it does well in part shade to full sun. Use it for hedges and bird gardens, alongside other drought tolerant natives, including Coyote Bush, Purple Three Awn and Coulter’s Matilija Poppy. The Kumeyaay boiled and ate the branches, and ate the fruits raw. In July, the seeds known as pinole were collected and eaten. Even though it is underutilized, it is commonly sold in many native plant nurseries. As with all cactus spines, use caution when near this plant. Watch out for parts that break off and may be hiding nearby. If it becomes attached to you, do not grab it with your hands, but use a tool, such as a pair of tongs, to gently remove it.

Prickly Pear (opuntia littoralis), its variations and hybrids, can be found growing naturally in the coastal sage scrub and chaparral communities in southern California and Baja California. The oval spine branches, produce springtime red or

Tecolote Nature Center

Saturday, March 23 8:00 am Audubon Society Birding Walk All skill levels welcome. Get outside and learn something new. Bring binoculars, water, and dress in layers as the canyon can be chilly in the morning. Meet at the Tecolote Nature Center. *Many volunteer opportunities available! 858-581-9959 www.sandiego.gov/volunteer-program Prickly Pear Flower

(photo courtesy of Calscape.org)

and although not in common usage, readily available at native plant nurseries.

The young flowers were used by natives, boiled and eaten like cabbage. Older mashed boiled flowers made a drink. The scooped-out cactus was used for cooking by inserting hot stones. Spines came in handy as needles, awls and for tattooing.

With caution the plant’s pulp provides emergency food. The pulp can be used to make cactus candy, but, due to this species rarity, please do not take plants from natural areas.

For more, please view California Native Plant Society’s website (https://www.cnpssd.org/events/) for upcoming meetings, hikes and other events.

Also mark your calendars for the upcoming CNPS Native Garden Tour, a must see event, April 13 and 14.

Activities are posted at www.meetup.com/Friends of Tecolote Canyon Natural Park and Nature Center. Like us on Facebook/Friends of Tecolote Canyon www.friendsoftecolotecanyon.org

Advertising Sales Person(s) Wanted If you or someone you know is looking for a p/t or f/t job we are looking to hire ad sales reps. The ideal candidate is someone who is outgoing and ambitious and looking to supplement their income. The hours are very flexible. Sales experience is preferred.

Please feel free to call or email Chris O’Connell at (858) 752-9779 or Chris@ClairemontTimes.com. This is a heavy commission sales position.

VOTE on March 19th see page 17 for details

16 • The Clairemont Times • March 2019

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LIBRARY EVENTS CLAIREMONT BRANCH 2920 BURGENER BLVD, 92110 (858) 581-9935

Little Ones Sign Language Storytime Thursdays: 3/7 & 3/21 10:30am Children and their caregivers can learn ASL sign language while hearing great stories! Presented by Jennifer Duncan.

Baby & Toddler Storytime with Stay & Play: 3/14 & 3/28 10:30am Joyce leads a fun storytime with stories, songs and play!

Preschool Storytime with Miss Fran!

Fridays: 10:30am Join Miss Fran as she reads fun picture books and sings songs!

Kids & Teens Spring into STEAM: Create-a-Creature! 3/19 4:30pm Marine life has been evolving and adapting to their environment for millions of years. See how sea life has adapted to their unique environment and use this to create a creature of your own!

Homework Help Tuesdays: 6pm With kids back in school that means the return of homework help available free at the library!

Trained volunteers are here to help kids get unstuck on those difficult problems or writing assignments.

Game Time Thursdays: 3pm Break out the board games for a little tabletop fun!

Kids Craft Club Thursdays: 4pm Craft time has something new every time!

Button Making Saturdays: 10:30am Express yourself by making your own buttons to decorate your backpack or clothes! Bring your own pictures or use some of ours! Materials are free!

Book Club for Kids! 3/26 4:30pm A book club especially for kids ages 9 and up! This student-run club is a chance for young people to read and discuss their favorite books. This month the group will discuss “The Outsider” by S.E. Hinton Adults Literary Book Club 3/6 6pm The Book Club will be discussing, "Home Fire” by Kamila Shamsie Make Your Own Book! 3/26 6pm Now is your chance to learn simple binding techniques and make a book of your own. Make one for yourself or create a unique gift for someone else! Space is limited so contact the library to reserve your place.

Music from North Park Winds (with Strings Attached) 3/27 6pm This free concert is presented by the Friends of the Clairemont Library. This month we feature the North Park Winds (with Strings Attached). They play woodwind quintet music, though they aren't exactly the true flute/oboe/clarinet/ bassoon/horn combination. We've had them

here before and they were a real crowd pleaser!

All Ages 3D Printer Clairemont Library's own 3D printer is available for use by interested young people and adults.

We have yet to set up regular open times but those interested in printing something can talk to library staff for details. Designs should be saved as .STL files. To see thousands of pre-made designs go to www.thingiverse.com. Prints should take less than two hours.

NORTH CLAIREMONT BRANCH 4616 CLAIREMONT DR. 92117 (858) 581-9931

Paint Like the Masters Adult painting class returns on 3/5 at 1pm intended for beginner’s instruction.

The Book Sale Scheduled for Saturday 3/9 from 9:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Remember, your generous purchases at the book sale supports this library. Thank you!

The Second Tuesday Concert Series will feature Adrienne Nims and Spirit Wind 3/12 6:30pm Inspiring Women from San Diego’s History. Learn more about San Diego’s History 3/21 1pm Book Repair Workshop will take place on 3/26 at 1pm Genealogy Workshop Learn how the library can help you discover your heritage on 3/28 1pm Call or come in to sign up.

Ongoing, Always Free, Programs for Adults Include: Social Scrabble and Other Board Games for Grown Ups 3/5 5pm 3/7 & 3/14 1pm NC Book Club “Woman in the Window” by A.J. Finn 3/19 6:30pm Copies are available now at the front desk. Please ask for your copy.

E-Book Clinic - Saturdays, March 9 and 23 at 10am Ongoing, Always Free, Children’s Programs: Spring into STEAM with Underwater Coding (ages 9–12 years) 3/11 4:30pm Learn how to use Scratch and code your own underwater scene, complete with fish and a scuba diver Sign Language Story Time (recommended for ages 0-5 years) – Mondays at 10am Preschool Story Time (recommended for ages 3-5 years) - Mondays at 11am Baby Story Time (ages 0-2 years) – Wednesdays at 11:30am Family Story Time (all ages) Wednesdays at 6:30pm Lego Builders’ Club (ages 3-8 years) Saturdays 11-3 p.m.

Love on a Leash (ages 3-8 years) –

Second Saturdays at 10:30am Homework Help (grades K-8) – Mons & Thurs, 3-6pm & Tues & Wed 3-7pm BALBOA BRANCH 4255 MT. ABERNATHY AVE, 92117 (858) 573-1390

The new year continues with Balboa Branch Library offering our usual wonderful selection of events for the community. Experience free, fun and educational programs for all ages. We look forward to seeing you!

Ongoing: 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten!

Yes, this is possible to accomplish by reading one book a day to be finished in 3 years! Contact library staff for more information.

Special Events Irish Dancers at Balboa Library 3/14 3:30-4pm All are Welcome!

Come to the library to see the art of Irish Step dancing performed by the terrific dancers from the Rose-Ritchie Academy of Irish Dance.

Spring into STEAM Is the San Diego Public Library’s science-focused program series for 9 12-year-old students. We are partnering with local science experts and organizations to create a truly unique educational experience. Join us at the Balboa Library for two of these fantastic programs!

Spring into Steam - Making Waves 3/16 1pm Ages 9-12 Did you know that if we take three deep breaths, the oxygen from two of those breaths comes from plants which live in the ocean? Marine plants help reduce global warming and provide our atmosphere.

Learn about the science behind these funky plants at this Spring into Steam event! This program is presented by The League of Extraordinary Scientists and Engineers.

Registration required for all workshops.

Spring into Steam - Underwater Coding 4/17 4:30-6pm Ages 9-12 Join us with for some coding fun using Scratch, a drag-and-drop visual computer programming language. Learn how to use Scratch and code your own underwater scene, complete with fish and a scuba diver.

This program is presented by ThoughtSTEM. Registration required for all workshops.

Children & Teen Programs Lego Club Mondays, 4-5pm Build your LEGO masterpiece. [Pre-K 6th grade] Great Read-Aloud w/ Miss Terri Wednesdays 6:00pm Listen to entertaining stories while practicing listening skills. [Kinder - 2nd grade] Homework Help Wednesdays & Thursdays 3:30 – 5:30pm.

Bring your homework questions in and our tutor can assist you. [K – 8th grade]

Wee Reads for Baby & Toddler Fridays, 3/1, 3/8, 3/15 & 3/22 10:30a.m.

Enjoy stories, music, and rhymes.

Special Wee Reads with Hullabaloo!

3/22 10:30am Enjoy the music of Hullabaloo and songs that you and your child will want to sing over and over again!

Kids’ Krafternoon Saturdays 1-2pm Create a fun craft at the library to take home. [Kinder - 4th grade] Youth Book Discussion 3/8 3:45-4:45 Teens’ (7th & 8th grade) Read “How to be a Good Creature” by Sy Montgomery and then join us for a lively book discussion. Sign up required.

Copies available for checkout. Sign up required.

Preschool Storytime and Craft 3/7 & 3/21 10am [Babies- 5 yrs.]

Listen to a terrific story and make a story-based craft at the library Paws to Read 3/12 6pm Practice reading out loud to patient therapy dogs. [Pre-K – 6th grade] Signing Storytime W/ Miss Jennifer 3/14 & 3/28 10am Learn signing while enjoying storytime, music, and bubbles. [Birth – 5 yrs.]

Make a Project @ the Library 3/20 3:30-4:30pm Newton’s Cradle All supplies provided.

No sign-up required. [3rd grade and up] Drop in and Play 3/29 10:30-11:30 [Babies- 5 yrs.]

Enjoy playtime with babies and toddlers while getting to know other families in the community.

Children’s Book Discussion 2/22 3:45-4:45 Call the library for title information and then join us for a lively book discussion.

Sign up required. [3rd grade – 6th grade] Pajama Signing Storytime w/ Miss Jennifer 3/26 6pm Learn signing while enjoying storytime in your comfy pajamas. [Birth– 5 yrs.]

Adults Programs NEW ESL for Adults – Tuesdays (except 3/5) 12:00-2:00pm Come and meet Jason our new Adult ESL volunteer.

ESL - Adult Beginning English Wednesdays, (except 3/27) Noon-2pm Geared toward newcomers learning English.

Healthy & Fit Adults Monday, 3/4 & 3/11 11:15-Noon Join us for this educational fitness program presented by Lois Schenker.

Stitching Circle 3/5 & 3/12 2-3:30pm Bring your knitting, crocheting & other stitching projects to the library. Instruction may be included.

Balboa Book Discussion Club 3/19 11:45-12:45 Read “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield Then join us for a lively and thoughtful book discussion. Copies available for checkout.

The Clairemont Times • March 2019 • 17

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Protecting Taxpayers from Meritless Lawsuits PROUD PARENTS PET PROFILE www.yourpetnannyannie.com

Your Pet Nanny-Annie Love and care when you can’t be there Annie Ekberg Doggie Day Care • Home Away from Home Boarding Daily Visits for Feeding, Walks and more.

Cooing & Gooing Free of Charge Call or Text (619) 871-4422

Bonded & Insured Lic# B2013066417

Sierra Breed: American Chocolate Labrador DOB: 3/20/08 Place of Birth: Fallbrook, CA Likes: Belly rubs, kisses, blueberry's, carrots, warm blankets & at times McCoy her younger bigger brother.

Dislikes: Thunder, boring bland dinners, car alarms & at times McCoy her younger bigger brother.

Clairemont Community Planning Group (CCPG) Elections March 19th 2019 from 9:00am to 6:00 p.m.

North Clairemont Recreation Center, Room 2 4421 Bannock Ave San Diego, CA Elections for the eight (8) open positions for the Clairemont Community Planning Group (CCPG) Board Membership Who Can Vote?

Voters must be 18 years old or older and must establish themselves as an eligible member of the community as follows: a) a property owner, who is an individual identified as the sole or partial owner of record, or their designee, of a real property (either developed or undeveloped), within the community planning area, or b) resident, who is an individual whose primary address of residence is an address in the community planning area, or c) local business person, who is a local business owner, operator, or

their designee at a non-residential real property address in the community planning area.

Voters must demonstrate themselves qualified with suitable documents to prove their eligibility category. Suitable documents include but are not limited to a California driver’s license, California identification card, utility bill, rental receipt or mortgage payment coupon.

Election results: Election results will be reported by the Elections Subcommittee chairperson to the CCPG as a special item on the March agenda. The March CCPG meeting will be held on March 19th starting at 6:30 PM at Alcott Elementary School: 4680 Hidalgo Ave, San Diego, CA 92117.

Challenge Period: After election results are reported, the elections subcommittee chairperson will announce the beginning of a 24 hour period in which election challenges must be received by the elections subcommittee to be considered.

If no challenge is received, the results will become final and will be certified by the CCPG chair and forwarded to the City.

by Mara W. Elliott, San Diego City Attorney

As your City Attorney, one of my most important responsibilities is safeguarding taxpayer dollars that can be used to protect the things that matter most to us: our safety, streets, libraries, and parks, to name a few.

Our city is frequently sued, and our litigators’ courtroom expertise saves you millions every year. When the City bears some responsibility, we will settle a lawsuit on its merits and for an appropriate sum.

When a case has no merit, we’re eager to go to trial. Our Civil Litigation Division prides itself in winning cases outright or, alternatively, turning million-dollar claims into lunch-money verdicts.

Two incidents still in the news provide good examples. Both were tragedies, and heart-breaking to be sure, but not the taxpayer’s responsibility.

One lawsuit began when a Scripps Ranch woman, driving while extremely high on marijuana, drove over a median barrier and into oncoming traffic. The other began when a Navy man, impaired by alcohol and texting, sped across the Coronado Bridge in his truck, lost control, and flew off the bridge and into Chicano Park below.

Both drivers were charged with felonies by the District Attorney’s Office. The first was convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter, the second of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence.

Yet before those criminal cases were heard, my office defended the City of San Diego from lawsuits alleging that the City had caused the accidents – and you, the taxpayer, should pay for them.

In the Scripps Ranch case, an injured motorist blamed the road design, not the driver who crossed a raised median, a still-warm marijuana pipe at her side.

Though no formal settlement demand was made, the attorney boasted that his case was worth as much as $70 million.

In the Coronado Bridge incident, eight individuals filed four different lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages caused by the falling truck. They claimed the City should have posted signs to warn them of the danger of falling vehicles, and placed barriers in the park anywhere a falling vehicle could land.

The good news for taxpayers: The Scripps Ranch lawsuit, and one of the Coronado Bridge lawsuits, were thrown out by a judge before trial. We are confident we will get the remaining lawsuits dismissed, too. These pre-trial dismissals were hard-fought victories for the high-performing deputy city attorneys who defend the City.

A third recent victory followed the discovery that a plaintiff invented the story of how he injured himself.

He alleged he was riding his motorcycle on Black Mountain Road in Mira Mesa when he hit a center median strip, was thrown from his motorcycle, and broke his clavicle. Blaming his injuries on a poorly lighted median, he sued taxpayers for $400,000 to pay medical bills, reimburse lost income, and repair his motorcycle.

When my office investigated, however, we discovered that he gave a different story to the Emergency Room medical staff. He never mentioned a motorcycle or a median, instead stating that he had been hurt when he fell down a flight of stairs.

Confronted with this evidence, his lawyer withdrew the lawsuit. We’ve seen other cases we suspect are equally dishonest, though the deceit is not as easy to prove.

These are just three examples of the many lawsuits that my office stopped in their tracks, saving taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. I firmly believe that our attorneys are the most cost-effective employees anywhere. They protect the City pocketbook so your tax dollars can go to public safety, neighborhood services, and the community improvements that make San Diego a safe and beautiful place to live.

18 • The Clairemont Times • March 2019

www.clairemonttimes.com

BUSINESS/SERVICE DIRECTORY & CLASSIFIEDS ELECTRONIC REPAIR

STONE WORK

Rock Boulder Stone Thad Murwin 619-252-0522 • Resident of Clairemont • Local References • Fully Insured

www.RockBoulderStone.com

ESTATE ATTORNEY

YARD SERVICES

Greg’s Garden & Tree Service Since 2004

619-820-5183 GRAPHIC DESIGN

ELAINE HALL GRAPHIC DESIGN Bringing Your Vision to Light With over 30 years experience in the graphic design industry, I can help you present your business, service, or organization in the best possible LIGHT!

Maintenance Clean Ups Landscaping Irrigation Installation/Repair Tree Trimming Stump Removal Hauling Services

Reasonable Rates Free Estimates

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Your Business Card Here Call (858) 752 9779 to find out how we can promote your business in The Clairemont Times

858.999.6997 HOUSE CLEANING

We are a family business - we do it ourselves.

TO ADVERTISE CALL THE CLAIREMONT TIMES AT 858 752 9779

The Clairemont Times • March 2019 • 19

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City Council Adopts Resolution in Favor of Community Choice With the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy citywide by 2035, the City Council voted on 2/25/19 in favor of a resolution of intent for Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer to negotiate the creation of a new joint-powers entity that would take over the responsibility of purchasing power for its residents and, potentially, the San Diego region.

The move follows Mayor Faulconer’s decision in October to select Community Choice Energy (CCE) as the preferred pathway to reach the renewable energy goal in the City’s landmark Climate Action Plan. The new Joint Powers Authority (JPA) would create healthy competition to benefit San Diegans, lower energy costs by 5 percent or more for ratepayers, and allow other cities and government agencies in the region to join.

Several other cities in the region are currently exploring the feasibility of CCE

and have expressed interest in joining a JPA. A regional approach would allow for greater negotiating and buying power as well as create efficiencies in operations and service.

While the resolution wasn’t required, Mayor Faulconer wanted to give the City Council an opportunity to weigh in on what would be a fundamental change to the region’s energy market.

The creation of a regionwide CCE will be a multi-year process. After the formation of a JPA and appointment of its board of directors this year, the board would then hire an executive leadership team, including a chief executive and chief financial officer, which would guide the JPA through the CCE implementation process. The JPA would then seek approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) with the goal of delivering power as soon as 2021.

POLICE BLOTTER VEHICLE BREAK IN 3300 Cowley Way 3300 Apache Ave. 3300 Morena Blvd.

2300 Ulric St. 5300 Napa St. 6500 Mt. Ada Rd. 5500 Genesee Ct. 6500 Osler St. 3100 Armstrong St. 4100 Bonanza Ave. 4100 Mt. Albertine Ave. 4900 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.

4300 Derrick Dr. RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY 2100 Crandall Dr. 2200 Dunlop St.

1100 Fresno St. 3100 Clairemont Dr. 4800 Coconino Way 4300 Clairemont Dr.

VEHICLE THEFT 5700 Birkdale Way 5100 Canosa Ave. 3400 Chasewood Dr.

COMMERCIAL BURGLARY 5000 July St. 900 Sherman St. 7600 Linda Vista Rd. 4800 Mt. Etna Dr.

VANDALISM 4400 Carib Ct. 5100 Chateau Dr.

BATTERY 5000 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.

5500 Chateau Dr. 4100 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.

FRAUD 4100 Mt. Alifan Pl. 4800 Barstow St. ASSAULT 800 Morena Blvd.

ARSON 5000 Dubois Dr.

“If you do not report it or call us, in our mind it did not happen” San Diego Police Officer Call 911 to report an emergency Non Emergency 24 hours (619)-531-2000 www.sandiego.gov/police Compiled from info at www.CrimeMapping.com

20 • The Clairemont Times • March 2019

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