Keeping the College Area Family Friendly

SDSU's fall semester is just around the corner. The presence of students, as neighbors, need not mean your neighborhood isn't a family-friendly place to live. Please use these tips to keep the College Area a safe and pleasant place for everyone.

 
Party Issues- Gathering with friends is always fun but noise and loud music can be an issue. As soon as the 
party begins to be a problem,  call a couple of close neighbors and have everyone call the SDPD non-emergency line at  (619)531-2000. (The dispatchers pay more attention to calls that have multiple sources). You may also call SDSU police at (619)594-1991 to make them aware of the situation, but they will ask if you have called the SDPD.  Do not feel that you have to give the residence a "one party" break or give them a pass because the person giving the party went around the neighborhood to tell residents they are having a party and to call them if it is a problem.  It's important to establish a healthy pattern from the start, so CALL, CALL, CALL!  Problem houses will get an Admin Cite and might get CAPP'ed for the year.

CACC Meeting Report

 

At our July meeting we heard an interesting presentation on the San Diego Clean Elections Initiative. John Hartley, a member of the Normal Heights Community Planning Group and coordinator of the initiative effort, made the presentation. The San Diego Clean Elections Initiative is being sponsored by Neighborhoods for Clean Elections, a grass roots coalition that is aiming to place the Initiative on the local ballot. The measure, which has been endorsed by the San Diego chapters of the League of Women Voters and Common Cause, among other groups, would provide public funding for candidates for Mayor and City Council who agree to a "Clean Elections Pledge." The pledge would require that candidates who opt in to the Clean Elections Pledge refrain from soliciting major campaign contributions from private sources and that they further agree to refrain from spending any of their own money for their campaign. Candidates who do not opt in would be governed by existing campaign laws but would not be eligible for funding under the program.

The San Diego Clean Elections Initiative is modeled after Clean Elections laws already on the books in several cities and states. Maine and Arizona have Clean Elections for state candidates. Portland and Albuquerque have enacted Clean Elections for local candidates. Under the Clean Elections model, candidates who pledge to "run Clean" need to qualify for funding. The idea is to eliminate "crank" or marginal candidates in favor of those who can demonstrate community support. In San Diego, a "Clean" candidate would be required to collect $5 from 500 voters in his or her district to qualify for funding; and those proceeds would go into the city's Clean Elections fund. Candidates would be funded based upon a formula linked to population which would currently provide approximately $90,000 in a primary and $135,000 in a general election. These amounts are, on average, less than half of what successful council candidates have spent in recent elections. It's estimated that the fund would cost San Diego residents about $6 per person per year.

The initiative is designed to level the playing field for candidates who are not independently wealthy, or who don't have the support of major donors such as developers, lobbyists and other special interests. Thus far, the measure has been endorsed by 13 community or town councils, including Broadway Heights, City Heights, Clairemont, Emerald Hills, La Jolla, Linda Vista, Mira Mesa, Mission Beach, Normal Heights, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, Rancho Penasquitos, and Rosemont. The College Area Community Council will vote on the measure in October.

Also at the July meeting, the CACC voted to ask San Diego State University to reconsider its decision regarding one of three projects recommended by CACC for financing through the so called "Dollar per Ticket Fund", a fund set up through an agreement with the City of San Diego and the CACC. The fund, which expires in 2017, collects a dollar for each ticket sold for a major event at Viejas Arena, and is designed to mitigate the impacts of arena events. SDSU agreed with the CACC's recommendation for use of the bulk of the funds - about $370,000 for a remote traffic monitoring and control system around SDSU to be used during major events and at other busy times, along with eleven pedestrian countdown timers at College Area intersections around SDSU. At the same time, the University did not approve use of funds for an acoustic impact study, or for a feasibility study for a bike and pedestrian path at the west end of Montezuma Road, called Montezuma Trail. The acoustic impacts of sporting and other events on the surrounding neighborhoods are being handled independently by SDSU. The CACC's request was to reconsider use of the Fund for a feasibility study for Montezuma Trail. A letter has been sent to SDSU with this request.

The next meeting of the College Area Community Council and Community Planning Board will be Wednesday, September 10 at 7 p.m. in the Community Room of the College-Rolando Library, 6600 Montezuma Road. At that meeting, we will consider, among other things, a request for four-way stop signs at the intersection of Art and Mesita streets, to deal with continuing traffic congestion resulting from parental drop-off and pick-up of students at the Language Academy. The issue is expected to be further complicated by traffic commuting from the new mega-dorm Boulevard 63 located south of El Cajon Blvd. at 63rd Street. The most direct route from that apartment complex to SDSU is along Art, a small residential connector street, which is already unsafe for elementary school students attempting to walk to school. Other measures being considered for Art Street are improvements for bike and pedestrian usage, and speed bumps. If you have suggestions for improving traffic safety on Art, please plan to attend the meeting