By Megan Burks
City Earmarks $850,000 for Mid-City Skatepark
Members of the Mid-City Skatepark Advocacy Group and Mid-City CAN Youth Council gathered at a budget hearing Monday to tell City Council why they need a skatepark.
According to Fox 5 San Diego, $850,000 has been set aside for a City Heights skatepark already. That allocation must pass the mayor’s May budget revise and get final approval in June. According to Mid-City CAN Youth Organizer Mark Tran, $150,000 of it is also in limbo because it would come from redevelopment funds, which must now get approval from a special board and the state.
City Heights skaters began fighting for a designated skatepark last year when Price Charities called for public input on developing the former Pearson Ford lot. They won’t see half-pipes there—a new YMCA is going in. But they’ve since forged a lobbying group and gained support from Councilwoman Marti Emerald and the City Heights Recreation Council, which set aside space for a small skate spot in its Central Avenue Mini Park designs.
The budget allocation will fund the design and construction of that skatepark, but the skaters are also looking for space and funding for a full-sized skatepark. They currently have their eyes on a lot near the Copley YMCA in Cherokee Point, according to Tran.
Fox has video of the youth at Monday’s meeting. Watch it here.
Follow the Mid-City Skatepark Advocacy Group on Facebook.
Richmond to Vote on Soda Tax
The city council in Richmond, Calif., voted this week to put a soda tax on the city’s November ballot, according to The Bay Citizen. If passed, Richmond would become the first city in the nation to tax soda.
The tax would be aimed at reducing obesity by making soda less affordable and funding anti-obesity initiatives.
Studies have pegged soda as one of the main culprits in childhood obesity. A serving of soda can have more than ten times the recommended daily serving of sugar for children.
A recent poll found three out of five California voters would support a soda tax.
Follow The Bay Citizen @TheBayCitizen.
The Key to Passing a DREAM Act: Squashing Filibusters?
U-T San Diego reports DREAM Act supporters are suing Congress over the Senate’s filibuster rule.
A filibuster can be legislative ammunition to kill a bill, allowing a single lawmaker to extend debate on the bill until time runs out for a vote.
The DREAM Act, which would grant undocumented immigrants citizenship for attending college or joining the military, has failed to make it out of Congress several times since 2001, in part because of filibusters.
Common Cause, the group that filed the lawsuit alleges the filibuster rule is unconstitutional because it violates majority rule.
Follow U-T San Diego @UTSanDiego.
More Immigration News
Court to review request of illegal immigrant to practice law
Los Deportados en Tijuana: Casa Refugio Elvira
Undocumented Track Star Allowed To Stay, But In Legal Limbo
Young Immigrant Activists Who Can’t Vote Influence Those Who Can
Follow me @spkcityheights.