Commentaries: A Selection

“You have to be involved in terms of what’s happening in your own neighborhood and what issues are there.” ​
​— Barack Obama

---

My recent writing has been published as news commentaries about my work as a co-founder of the SoNo Neighborhood Alliance, a 501C3 founded in 2016 that strives to give residents and small business owners a seat at the table where decisions are made that impact our neighborhoods. Here are samples:

The War on Planning Groups
OB Rag, September 19, 2023
This is called “overturning elections.” … This assault on local democracy was done at the direction of 'strong mayor' Todd Gloria. And our City Council either helped lead the charge or stayed quiet on the sidelines.”  READ >

San Diego Officials Must Consider These Key Questions Before Rebuilding the Civic Center
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 5, 2023
“Gloria seems to think San Diegans should just get over 101 Ash Street. They haven’t, and they won’t. That 19-story albatross will haunt every future city real estate deal, not just because of city leaders’ epic negligence, but because of their cavalier ‘Hey, I was misled’ attitude about the debacle.”  READ >

Stealth Local Government Forces San Diegans to Read the “Fine Print”
Times of San Diego, August 27, 2021
“San Diegans unschooled in reading the fine print have lost hundreds of millions of dollars to painful experience: the public pension fiasco, the Chargers ticket guarantee fiasco, and more recently, the 101 Ash Street and inflated hotel purchase fiascos. Now a batch of stealth government ploys is costing San Diegans two commodities that are as precious and finite as money: public road space and neighborhood open space.”  
​READ >

Union-Tribune’s Endorsement of Todd Gloria Infuriates Women
Times of San Diego, October 21, 2020
“Wrinkling its collective nose at Bry’s ‘harder-edged style,’ the editorial board offered this suggestion: ‘Bry might well be a tougher manager who is better at making City Hall more transparent and accountable — perhaps a Mayor Gloria could use a chief of staff like her.’ The most troubling message in the Gloria endorsement is the outdated idea that women should agree to tackle an organization’s worst problems while relegated to subordinate status.”  READ > 

Faulconer Could Learn a Lot About Transit Realities by Going on a Bus Ride
San Diego Union-Tribune, January 25, 2019
“Like many East Coast expats who were mass transit devotees, I am heartsick that San Diego, a global hub of innovation, can’t follow the example of less celebrated cities by constructing a viable system for getting people from place to place. We keep hearing that maybe someday our transit system will somehow catch up to our transportation needs. But we’ve yet to see a serious plan with a timeline and a firm commitment of resources.”  READ >
​

Balboa Park Is “For All to Enjoy” Without Controversial New Projects
Times of San Diego, February 5, 2021
“We don’t understand complaints that the park needs help drawing visitors. The Park seems more popular than ever. If City Hall wasn’t so godawful at managing public finances, it might not be desperate enough to try wringing money out of the park through pay-to-play schemes that cater to high rollers and enrich special friends.”  READ >

“Why 30th Street Bike Lanes Will Hurt Community”
San Diego Union-Tribune, June 19, 2019
 “High-wage jobs are clustered in large employment hubs north of Interstate 8. How many people currently ride bikes from their North Park homes to their jobs in Kearny Mesa or Sorrento Valley? Without a large shift of weekday commuters from cars to bikes, bike lanes along 30th Street will only benefit cyclists who bike for recreation or for short trips. People who lack the stamina for distance biking will only get worse traffic and dirtier air.”  READ >

Neighborhood Planning Groups Are Not Closed Off to New Voices
Voice of San Diego, June 28, 2018
“Trying to pit renters against homeowners or seniors against millennials shows a complete unfamiliarity with residential quality-of-life issues. If the natural light that streams through a window is blocked by a four-story condo tower, the resulting darkness will be just as depressing for renters in their 20s or owners in their 60s. And weekday commuters of all stripes will suffer equally when new housing stacks up traffic and further clogs rush-hour roads.”  READ >

Bike Commuting Plan Faces Bumpy Road
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 14, 2017
“The most popular mode of commuting to work, at 75 percent, is driving alone. The least popular, at 0.9 percent, is biking. If bike lanes are not populated with hundreds of new riders, taxpayers will feel swindled. And in neighborhoods where car lanes, parking spaces and trees are removed to accommodate bike lanes, residents will feel duped and outraged if those add-ons are underutilized.”  READ >