A drive to create a public-private Park conservancy will launch Saturday, March 28 with public Town Hall
By Kate Callen
The people of San Diego are the real stakeholders of Balboa Park, and they are ready to take back their “crown jewel” from a city government that has neglected and exploited it.
A grassroots drive to create a public-private Park conservancy will launch Saturday, March 28, at a San Diego Community Coalition town hall at 9:30 a.m. at the Mission Valley Library, 2123 Fenton Parkway. The forum is co-hosted by Neighbors for a Better San Diego.
“The Future of Balboa Park: A Community Conversation” will invite San Diegans to consider how we might follow the lead of cities like New York, New Orleans, and St. Louis in giving our park a transparent and accountable governance structure. The conversation will be led by long-time Balboa Park advocates Vicki Estrada and Michael Stepner.
Rag readers have pointed out that the Balboa Park town hall is the same morning as the third national No Kings protest. Coalition forums are always held on Saturdays. In scheduling this one under time pressure, we had to choose among many bad options.
To offer an alternative communication channel, we’re asking San Diegans to submit written comments this week. You can send a message (to kate@katecallen.com) to answer these questions:
Do you think City Hall has done an adequate job of managing Balboa Park? If not, do you think a public-private governance structure would work better? And would you support that change in governance?
Written comments will be incorporated in a report that looks forward to a brighter future for Balboa Park. Even if you plan to attend, submitting a comment will help ensure that your views are represented in summary reporting. Follow-up events will be planned.
For details on the Community Conversation, visit:
Would love to know if you’ve done any outreach to organizations in the park, or the BP committee, or Forever BP, or BPCP, or BPOC, or any other local groups, or if this is mostly being promoted through your networks and word-of-mouth? I’m planning to attend and would be happy to promote through additional Park channels.
Yes, all Park stakeholder groups know about this, and we’re hoping to see a lot of them next Saturday. The op-ed that appeared in the U-T and here in the Rag was widely circulated. We need people with a lot of Park experience to help the public answer two questions: How did things get this bad that Balboa Park has fallen into neglect and is now being used as City Hall’s ATM? And what has been standing in the way of establishing a long-sought public-private “conservancy” governance? (If you attend, please come say hello.)
Isn’t this event in conflict with the No Kings march?
Please re-read the fourth and fifth paragraphs of the post.
Please see our Ballot Measures for the November 2026 Election that just passed the Rules Committee. If approved by the voters a portion of the +$250 million a year in new visitor Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) can be used for ongoing funding of the new Balboa Park Conservancy.
https://obrag.org/2026/03/new-revenue-streams-to-save-san-diegans-from-budget-cuts/