|
Dear %%TO_EMAIL%%:
Memorial Day 2005
As the sun was rising early yesterday morning, I along with my
sons and their Boy Scout Troop, and many of our adult leaders were
at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.
We participated in the annual ritual of placing American flags
at the grave markers of those who have served and who made the
ultimate sacrifice for our nation’s freedom.
 Over
a thousand Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts participated in an
opportunity that allowed us to pause, reflect, give thanks and to
honor the men and women who have died in service to our Country.
As we enjoy the
freedoms we often take for granted, let us support our troops both
at home and abroad and not forget the men and women who are
fighting for freedom around the world.
Completing the City's Audit
Reports
City Hall has certainly been in the news of late, so I won’t say
much in this short eNewsletter other than I am committed to the
City returning to fiscal stability and that starts with the
completion of our 2003 and 2004 audits. We have retained the best
experts to help finalize the investigations underway and once they
have concluded their work, the City’s audit firm KPMG will release
the 2003 audit. It is expected the 2004 audit would follow
shortly thereafter – despite everything you read or hear in the
news, there is nothing more crucial than the City completing its
audits.
I'll have a lot more to say about current issues in an upcoming
eNewsletter dedicated to that single topic.
Back to Basics
 Local
government means different things to different people. To me it
means providing quality, dependable basic services such as water,
sewer, streets, libraries, parks and open space. Residents should
expect no less. In my opinion, unfortunately, the City has
delivered far below expectations in many areas and especially when
it comes to repairing broken sidewalks and fixing potholes, which
pose safety hazards for anyone navigating City streets and roads.
Funding is always a problem (see next item below) but fortunately,
we have a solution where we have some funds that can only be used
for transportation and road improvements.
Last November, the voters of San Diego approved an extension of
TransNet, our ½ cent sales tax to reduce congestion on our
highways, to provide funds for mass-transit and to make capital
improvements for our local streets and roads.
Recently I
announced a $10.5 million plan for the next fiscal year that would
provide funding to replace old and broken sidewalks throughout the
City of San Diego, to make improvements to our local roads to
eliminate potholes and to provide $500,000 per City Council
District to be used at each Councilmember’s discretion for
transportation-related capital improvements within each City
Council District. In addition, my proposal allocates $1 million
for citywide transportation improvements at the discretion of the
Mayor.
For many years,
the City of San Diego has deferred critical maintenance of our
streets, roads and sidewalks, not to mention keeping up with
important transportation capital improvement projects. Anyone who
lives or works in San Diego is painfully aware of this situation.
Sometimes just fixing potholes only takes care of the problem for
a short time – the solution is often a more intensive capital
improvement effort.
It is crucial for
San Diego to address the important capital projects that are
necessary to take care of these issues now and not continue to put
them off until future years.
By the way, to report a pothole or other street-related problem,
visit the City's website at
http://apps.sandiego.gov/streetdiv/
And Speaking of Back to Basics
With all the bad
news talk about the City’s pension fund, sometimes there are
certain facts we just don't hear about. I issued a press release
the other day giving some facts and statistics about the continued
condition of our City streets – and pointing out one of the chief
culprits for cities like San Diego not having enough money for
local road repairs. So far, I haven’t seen these facts anywhere
in the news:
Statement by Councilmember Jim Madaffer
About The Condition of City Streets
(issued May 27, 2005)
The TRIP Report
(The Road Information Program) released yesterday highlights the
worsening condition of the nation’s most critical metropolitan
area roads and highways and San Diego’s ranking as #6 with the
roughest rides in the country. That dismal ranking confirms what
drivers in San Diego already know: we can no longer neglect
maintaining local streets and roads, freeways, and public transit.
California voters have given a clear mandate with the 69 percent
vote for Proposition 42, which dedicated the $1.3 billion sales
tax on gasoline to transportation purposes.
However, as
permitted by Prop 42, the funds have been diverted to the state
general fund in each of the last two fiscal years to help the
state solve its fiscal crisis. Cities and counties
have lost more than $382 million over the past two years in
funding earmarked for these transportation needs.
Local streets and
roads urgently need repairs. The most recent statewide survey of
city and county needs for the local system was from the SR 8
(Burton) report done in 1999. This report found an existing
backlog of $11 billion in needed repairs, which was estimated to
increase by $400 million a year ---- a $13 billion deficit today.
Local
governments have contributed billions to help the state and should
benefit from the state’s improved fiscal condition.
In the current and 2005-06 budget years, local governments are
obligated to give a total of $2.6 billion to the state to help
resolve its budget crisis. This is in addition to $1.3
billion Vehicle License Fee (VLF) gap loan given by cities and
counties to the state in the FY 2003-04 budget year, and the
transferred Prop 42 funds. It’s appropriate to devote a
significant portion of these one-time increased state revenues to
local transportation programs.
We need to
restore Prop 42 transportation funds this year and I urge the
state legislators to support Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposal to
fully fund Prop 42. It is the fiscally responsible course of
action to take since every dollar that is spent today for
preservation of the transportation system saves taxpayers 5 to 9
times for more significant reconstruction and repair costs in the
future.
Next Year’s City Budget
The City Council
has been going through budget deliberations over the past few
weeks and will continue on June 6, 2005. The Fiscal Year 2006
Proposed Budget contains in-depth information about the City’s
revenues, expenditures, and priorities. If you’d like to view the
City’s budget,
visit the city's website at SanDiego.gov by clicking this
link.
New Redevelopment Area
 With
any change comes uncertainty and so it is understandable that a
few people had questions about the Grantville Redevelopment Area.
The City Council approved the Grantville Redevelopment Area on
May 17. Already we have begun meetings with property owners near
the Interstate 8 and Mission Gorge Road interchange to begin
planning a solution to the decades-old problem of flooding and the
intolerable traffic in the area. We finally have a funding source
to take care of the serious traffic and other problems that have
plagued this area of our City for far too long.
In addition, it is
exciting to know that funds generated from the Grantville
redevelopment area will also help contribute toward the San Diego
River Park – a dream I’ve shared with many since my first days of
campaigning for office in 1999. There are wonderful ideas for the
San Diego River Park such as having a bike path, jogging path,
picnic areas and interpretive areas. It gives us the opportunity
to highlight the river so that people can see it the way the San
Diego River ought to be seen.
It’s exciting that
the Grantville Redevelopment area has been approved and I’m
confident as projects now begin to revitalize the area, the
benefits will be immediately apparent. For more information,
check out the City’s web site
by clicking on this link to the City's Grantville website.
Montgomery Field Airport
As you may know,
I chair the City Council’s Public Safety and Neighborhood Services
(PS&NS) Committee and never have I seen a meeting such as the
April 13 meeting when every person in the audience and every
councilmember on the committee were against the idea of ending the
lease for Gibbs Flying Service at Montgomery Air Field. Instead,
the committee asked the City Manager to further investigate this
issue. We don’t have near enough information to make any
decisions on this issue at this time.
I asked City
staff to make a presentation about Montgomery Air Field because as
I see it, City officials have not done a good job of sharing
information with the public – or even the City Council for that
matter about their plans for Montgomery Field. I wanted an
opportunity to have a public discussion on how the airfield is
currently operated, plans for the future and a discussion of
revenue opportunities. If there are suggestions for improving the
use and profitability of Montgomery Field Airport, then I want to
hear about it and the public deserves to as well.
This issue will
return to committee for further discussion. At that time the City
Manager and staff will have more details on an initial plan for a
Request for Proposal (RFP) to operate Montgomery Air Field, a
comprehensive report of the Airport Enterprise Fund that will
include all revenue sources, a cost analysis to complete the
heliport and more details on the option of relocating Fire Station
28 to Montgomery Air Field as a co-location with the heliport and
also a certification that states that the Airport Enterprise Funds
has the revenues to accept a $1 million federal grant for the
heliport. Stay tuned.
Fox
Canyon Park Meeting
Residents of the
Fox Canyon, Chollas Creek and Islenair neighborhoods are very
enthusiastic about our plans for a new neighborhood park --- in
fact, the only park in the neighborhood. I was pleased to host a
community meeting recently where we unveiled our plans for a new
park at Fox Canyon. We shared some rough conceptual drawings and
described the planning process ahead. It was the first community
input meeting and the Colina Park Rec Council will host several in
the future.
We had
representatives from the Park and Recreation Department on hand to
answer questions about the location and preliminary design. We are
also working hard to implement the Chollas Creek Improvement Plan
which runs parallel to the proposed Fox Canyon Park.
In a previous
eNewsletter I outlined how the City’s Park and Recreation
department received a state grant in the amount of $2,363,000 to
build this new park in the City Heights area. The grant is in
addition to the $900,000 I allocated in park funds for this use.
The Crossroads Redevelopment Area will help with additional
required funding for the park.
It’s About Time
 People
were puzzled about the large, wrapped object placed in the traffic
triangle at the intersection of Waring Road and Zion Avenue in
Allied Gardens. The mystery was revealed the first week in May
when we unveiled the new clock tower and residents saw for the
first time this wonderful addition to the community. It all began
with former Allied Gardens resident John Todd who thought of the
idea to install a landmark clock to serve as a centerpiece for the
community. The Allied Gardens Beautification committee deserves
much credit for their help in finalizing the clock selection and
location. Credit also goes to Don Brennan of MME Event
Productions who helped us program the correct time after the
unveiling ceremony. Installing the clock was a great way to
conclude the yearlong celebration of Allied Gardens 50th
anniversary.
Turning Down the Volume
Tierrasanta residents complained that the
gym was too noisy and they were right. It was like walking into an
echo chamber. The Tierrasanta Recreation Center and gymnasium
recently completed an interior renovation. Approximately 6500
square feet acoustical wall panels were installed last December.
The actual panel material is an environmentally friendly product
that is made of slender wood shavings compressed together. The
acoustical wall panels absorb the sound instead of it bouncing off
the concrete and brick walls.
Prior to the
installation of the acoustical panels, the reverberation time was
approximately eight seconds. Now with the new wall panels, the
reverberation time is approximately two seconds. There is another
bonus. In addition to helping with sound attenuation, the white
wall panels have also brightened up the gym by better reflecting
the light than the red brick did. It was a three-week project and
we are very pleased with the results. Thanks to Tierrasanta
Developer Agreement funds, I was pleased to allocate the community
funding for the project last year and now we can cross it off the
20 year needs list.
Neighborhood E-Watch
Keeps You Informed
The City of San Diego's Neighborhood eWatch provides
information about crime incidents in the City of San Diego to the
public for free via the Internet and is updated every 24 hours. I
introduced this popular service last year and encourage you to use
it. The web site address is:
http://ewatch.sandiego.gov.
Thanks for reading the
eNewsletter.
In the
meantime, please don’t hesitate to send me your thoughts on issues
by sending email to
jmadaffer@sandiego.gov and please
forward this email to your friends who might enjoy reading
it. They can always visit
JimMadaffer.com/email to sign up themselves.
I welcome hearing from you at any time and rely on your
opinion.
Regards,
Jim
Forward this email
If you know someone who might enjoy receiving
this email, you can send them their own copy -
simply click on this link.
Do we have your email, name, zip code and other
information up to date?
Please click on this link to update your information so we can
send you items of interest to you for your specific area.
If this email was forwarded to you, you can join
our email list by clicking
here.
We value your privacy. It is our
intention to only send this email to those who want timely updates
on issues of interest from Councilmember Jim Madaffer. Your email
address is shared with nobody. If you would like to be removed
from our list, please click on the remove link below. |
