Coastkeeper Council Without OB Rep Despite Annual “CleanWater” Paddle and Strong History of Eco-Awareness
San Diego Coastkeeper is today – Oct. 11th – announcing the members of its first Community Advisory Council. Yet the list lacks any OBcean – despite the community being the site of the annual “Clean Water” Paddle, a strong Surfrider Foundation chapter, and years of ecological awareness. (Why OB even has its own Green Store.)
Now, perhaps this lack of any representative from OB is all fine and dandy, maybe there’s been plenty of OB voices on the advisory council over the years … but wait just a sec! This is the very “first” council and it’s supposed to be a “community” council as well.
Not only that, Coastkeeper announced that as the very first and “inaugural” council, “these members get to create the structure and goals of the council”. OBceans may lose out there too. To their credit, Coastkeeper stated that they did receive “a wave” of applications after they announced the launching of the council in early August. They said that “out of the nearly 30 applicants, Coastkeeper selected ten individuals after a series of application reviews and interviews.” Oh well.
At any rate, not to take our friends at Coastkeeper to task all that much, they announce that:
This new entity includes community members who bring individual perspectives on how water pollution impacts different neighborhoods throughout the region. Members of the group will help Coastkeeper find and fix water quality issues that the communities in San Diego County face.
“San Diego Coastkeeper’s Community Advisory Council will work with us to help us identify and solve the critical issues affecting water quality in our county,” said Micah Mitrosky, the Coastkeeper board member who coordinates the council. “By connecting with these volunteers through this collaborative committee, we’re ensuring the organization has direct involvement with the community to solve everyday water pollution problems and empower the community as part of those solutions.”
The members of the new and first Community Advisory Council include:
- Brent Alspach, Oceanside
- Margarita Diaz, Tijuana
- Jenny Kressel , Mission Hills
- Taya Lazootin, College Area
- Harry Orgovan, Chula Vista
- Allison Price, Mission Valley
- Craig Sherman, Carmel Valley
- Jessica Toth, Cardiff-by-the-Sea
- Hector Valtierra, La Mesa and El Cajon
- Alberto Vasquez, Encanto
The first Community Advisory Council will be publicly introduced to Coastkeeper’s supporters and donors at the Seaside Soiree on November 15 at Del Mar Powerhouse Community Center. Tickets are $200 and can be purchased through Coastkeeper’s website at www.sdcoastkeeper.org.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I guees none of us obceans could afford to pay to be on the special council?
OB is the outlet of the river they can’t have anyone that smells like that at any $200 dinner can they? maybe they could address the thousands of gallons of raw sewage that ends up in the flood control channel from the pump house between Ingram st. bridge and the PCH everytime we get a decent sized rain.
Communities such as La Mesa and El Cajon have a representative and yet they are not a coastal community but OB is not represented!? Sounds fishy! (pun intended)
OB is not represented – neither are PB, MB, La Jolla, Imperial Beach or Coronado. Seems Coastkeeper has missed the entire City of San Diego coast – the entire San Diego Bay save for the CV rep Harry who owns a kayak business which I think is good – at least we know something about Harry while we know nothing of the others. Curious – we are told where some were “born and raised” but no nothing of what Coastkeeper sees as qualifications – aka resumes.
A couple of minutes of googling demonstrates that it seems to be a pretty diverse and qualified group of civic-minded people, with experience in pretty much everything Coastkeeper needs to be thinking about. What’s the problem?
No problem – really – Coastkeeper is free to engage any process they choose and to keep that process under wraps. Did you know before Coastkeeper was Coastkeeper it was Baykeeper with a mission more focused on the bays. But no more – issues concerning San Diego Bay have been deferred by Coastkeeper to the Environmental Health Coalition – an organization that is not focused on specifics concerning the bay. The result, one, perhaps, is the ugly industrial salt ponds; the original lease required Western Salt to return the site to it’s original condition but they were relieved of this obligation with the help of EHC and Coastkeeper who supported turning those ponds into a historically monument. Yes, the pond berms are protected structures – maintained to celebrate San Diego’s industrial past. Makes for a beautiful nature reserve don’t you think? Well it’s the best we can do.