Category: Main

  • How Planning Groups Can Jump-Start Involvement

    By Megan Burks Planning Director Bill Fulton called San Diego’s process for bringing neighborhood voices into budget talks “a truly extraordinary one” last week. He was talking with a diverse group of residents, mostly from neighborhoods south of Interstate 8, at a Community Budget Alliance training designed to stoke community engagement in city planning. The…

  • TRUST Act Moving Toward Passage

    By Adrian Florido One afternoon in late June, about a hundred people, mostly young Latinos, marched to Escondido Police Headquarters. They were kicking off a caravan to Sacramento. “We’re pushing for the governor to sign the TRUST Act this year, because it’s important,” Viviana Gonzalez, an activist and undocumented immigrant, told the crowd. “Communities like…

  • Emerald: Why We Need to Invest in the Fire-Rescue Department

    By Marti Emerald In May, the San Diego City Council scraped together the final dollars needed to build a fire station in Mission Valley. The long-awaited approval gave Fire Chief Javier Mainar a sense of relief. He said he had been waiting for a station in the valley since he first became a firefighter, 30…

  • City Heights Youth Visit Sacramento to Advocate for Change

    By Adam Ward Sitting in a classroom with a table so uneven that books had to be used to prop it up. Having to ride a skateboard all the way from City Heights to get a glimpse of the beach. Making a choice between participating in afterschool activities and feeling unsafe on the streets. Twelve…

  • Filner’s Exit Complicates Plan for Planning

    Filner hired one of the country’s most highly respected urban planners, Bill Fulton, to head an empowered planning department, a move that provided a glimpse at what Filner’s vision might look like if all the stars aligned. | Photo Credit: Megan Burks By Andrew Keatts Bob Filner campaigned on a promise to put the city’s…