Dear Friends:
We hope your summer is off to a good start. Here is a news round-up about the Coalition’s recent activities and future priorities:
This Week at City Hall: We appreciate the feedback on our weekly bulletin that highlights significant Council agenda items. Thanks to your involvement, City officials are feeling pressure to serve constituents and not just special interests. Let’s keep that up by speaking out at Council meetings – in-person, virtually, and in writing – to remind them that they work for us.
Jack McGrory Coalition Forum: If you missed it, check out Jack McGrory’s no-holds-barred analysis of City Hall in the OB Rag (Part I and Part II). The willingness of some civic leaders to deliver straight talk at our town hall events is encouraging. Our speakers’ series resumes in the fall.
Spotlight on Community Planning Groups: When the Council put “community engagement” on its agenda this week, it didn’t expect to be forcefully challenged over its lack of support for Community Planning Groups (CPGs). But that’s just what happened. We’re putting City Hall on notice: The campaign to restore the influence of CPGs is just beginning.
Going forward, the Coalition will keep San Diegans informed about these democratically elected groups. We need your help: If you can tell us about how your planning group has stood up for neighborhood interests, send that info to kate@katecallen.com. We will gather examples of CPG impacts and report on their work in an OB Rag series.
Thank you for caring about your communities.
We wish you and your loved ones a happy and safe July Fourth holiday.
Frank Gormlie, Kate Callen, and Paul Krueger
keep up the good work. I honestly think that the Coalition may make a real difference in the way that the city treats (and ignores and suppresses) community input.