Wanted: Volunteer Capacity then Volunteers

We recently sat down with Wanda Bailey, Chief Services Officer for the City of Chula Vista, who is charged with creating and implementing a volunteer service plan for the city.    The priorities and framework have been completed and can be found in a 35-page report - Chula Vista Serves. 

The plan is comprehensive and progressive - but let’s be honest, who wants to read a 35-page report? So - we have done the work for you and below is a synopsis of the ambitious plan. 

Three priority areas of need in the city have been identified: Education - Health - and Connections. The plan builds on existing models of service and programs such as Junior Achievement, Volunteer San Diego, Boys & Girls Club, South Bay Community Services, YMCA, and others.  

The idea is to build volunteer capacity within existing programs to not just increase volunteerism but to produce impact volunteerism --- service that creates long-lasting change.

Education - Chula Vista’s high school graduation rate is 86% and 19.5% of residents age 25+ do not have a high school diploma.  Some have questioned why education is the city’s business, but an uneducated community is not good for city business - so the city definitely has a stake in education.

Graduation Coaches - This is basically a 1.5 hr workshop for adults on how they can support the young people in their lives to graduate.  The goal is to have 5000 individuals  receive this training ---- but groups will need to step up to offer space to host workshops and recruit participants.  There are some real questions around evaluation that geeks like me always get hung up on.  I asked Wanda about this and she said that they are working on determining how to measure impact.

Classroom Opportunities - This is basically expanding Junior Achievement (JA) entrepreneurial and financial training into middle and high school classrooms.  I’ve volunteered for JA in the elementary schools and it is a great program and very easy for a volunteer.  I would encourage everyone to contact JA to sign-up.

Mentors - Did you know that there are currently over 200 youth on various waiting lists for a mentor? The plan hopes to increase the number of new mentors serving these youth through existing programs, such as Big Brothers/Sisters, South Bay Community Services, YMCA, and more. 

Health - A healthy community increases quality of life for its residents and prevents higher costs for treatment of preventable diseases.

Volunteer Corps - A planning grant has already been received to develop an operating proposal that will establish a team of AmeriCorps volunteers to implement a comprehensive health outreach and improvement initiative.

Connected Communities - To build a culture of service and increase volunteer capacity in the City.

Love Your Block - This is a great way of building connected communities by providing funding for neighborhoods to design and work on improvement projects together. We spoke with Wanda about the possibility of expanding the program to include an option for a “Love Your Neighbor’s Block.”  

CV Live - This effort is targeted at building capacity within local organizations to engage and manage volunteers in meaningful work that will create sustainable impacts.

The plan is Ambitious with a capital “A” - but its success will depend on you and I.  There are many more details to be planned and implemented.  Why not join efforts now? Be part of the solution. 

*Funding for this plan is from private grants* 

For more information, contact Wanda Bailey.

Chula Vista Budget Workshop - "We may not be balanced ..."

It wasn’t too long ago that the city’s budget challenges were the talk of the town. Recreation and Senior Centers Closing - Pension Reform Negotiations - Community Meetings - Layoffs and More Layoffs. 

So when I heard of a workshop on next year’s budget, I felt compelled to go so I could be mentally prepared for the worst.

The thing is - next year’s budget (if it stays as proposed) is balanced.  In fact, the budget process for next year started last October.  While other cities continue the debate and contentious arguing over pensions, our city has reached agreement with all our represented AND unrepresented employee groups! All the recent cuts to services and pensions are what essentially have balanced the budget. 

So have we weathered the storm? 

“We may not be balanced ...”  

At the budget meeting, two council members were very clear about wanting to see some alternative budget scenarios.  They offered no detail except to say they wanted to be sure the public’s priorities were reflected in the budget – stating that maybe the public would want “more than 54% of the budget to be spent on public safety, or maybe not.” 

It’s funny the longer you observe politics, you begin to have a good guess as to what is coming next. In fact, I left the workshop with a strong feeling that a budget battle is looming.

Next up: 4/19/11 City Council Agenda. The same two Council Members will be making a recommendation regarding “police staffing.”  I absolutely value our police department and the protection they provide to our community, but let me tell you why this concerns me.

Any recommendation to add-back police positions, creates the need to take away from other departments. Libraries have lost over $1 million in supply, services and materials plus 47% (19) of their staff.  Recreation has lost almost 31% (8) of their staff and that is not counting the numerous part-time staff that have been lost. Public Works has lost almost 17% (35) of their staff.

Police have lost 5% (16) which includes nine School Resource Officers (SRO) that are actually being funded by the school districts. So we haven’t actually lost the SROs, they are just not being paid for by the city.  Another police position is gone because it was grant funded and the grant ended. Another lost position was a secretary in the police fiscal operations.  So - in essence there are only FOUR police positions that are no longer available to the community due to the budget cuts.

We have a great police department. They have continued to meet response times and -  according to comments by the Police Chief and City Manager at the budget workshop - there is no sign that service has been impacted by cuts. So, I’ll be curious to hear the recommendation of the council members.  

Recreation centers open only two days a week, our only senior center opened only a few days a week, library hours slashed, graffiti abatement decimated ---- It is hard to imagine more cuts to the departments that have born the brunt so far.  

Those are my thoughts --- what’s yours?  - Z

"The Little House That Built Me"

House on Vanowen with 'For Sale' sign (c. 1981).

Miranda Lambert’s song “The House That Built Me” got me thinking about the little house I grew up in –  a cute little duplex about 20 ft x 25 ft @ 13515 Vanowen Street in Van Nuys, CA.  Could it have taught me anything?

Affordable Housing

The owners of ‘our’ little house were 'The Gooch’s'. Mr. Gooch visited every few years to paint and every year we received a Christmas card (my parents still do. The Gooch’s are in their late 90s now).  The Gooch’s kept the rent very low and pretty much the same rate through the 70s, 80s and part of the 90s.

Land Use 

My dad did most of the upkeep and we treated the house as if it were our own. Dad had a beautiful garden and spent hours nurturing front and side yards. There was a large Bosc tree and fruitful Myer lemon trees. Dad’s pride was a climbing ivy that wrapped around a wire fence he installed so we could play in the front yard. He swept the front sidewalk and took care of the ‘city’s’ little grass patch and crape myrtle. And when fence, city grass and crape myrtle were taken out by car accidents (several times in fact), Dad fixed it right up. Twice during my childhood, The Gooch’s tried to sell the land. I would secretly pray for a truck to move our home to another location – preferably one where I could have a pony.

Public Safety

Car accidents, sirens, helicopters and gunshots were not unusual sounds growing up. Friday nights seemed to be the worse  – at least that’s what I remember. Dukes of Hazards was on TV and my sister and I had to sit close to the set (on our tummies) to hear over the noise.

Public Transportation

The RTD bus ran regularly on Vanowen Street. To pass the time we would sometimes monitor the schedule – how was the driver doing? That bus also brought my beloved Nana – an avid bus rider who lived in San Diego until the mid 80s.

Eminent Domain

Never happened on our street. For years, the apartment owners dealt with regular police visits but yet continued to rent to drug dealers.

Local Small Businesses

When we ran out of milk we went to the corner liquor store. The Union 76 attendant helped fix our bike tires. The Winchell’s store changed hands several times. Adjacent to the 76 was a photography studio with a beautiful façade I always admired. I think it finally closed sometime in the late 80s.

Traffic engineering & Stop signs

The little house sat half way between Fulton Ave. and Woodman Ave. It was about half a mile stretch with no stop signs or lights. Our home was just west of Sunnyslope Ave. – the side street elementary kids took to get to school. There were no cross guards and for a long time no cross walks or signs – until there was a fatality.

Local Government

While you may read this and wonder why the heck my parents stayed there for so long – 34 years to be exact – I understand it better now with mixed emotions.

The neighborhood didn’t start that way. But the house became our home. We didn’t own it or the land but we loved it all the same. The affordable rent allowed my mom to stay home with us and my parents to invest in our education.  My three siblings and I attended preschool, private K-12 and went on to graduate from universities.

The neighborhood evolved. But within that gated yard and in that little house, my parents created a beautiful and loving environment. We had birthday parties and barbeques and adopted various pets. We had a swing set and in the summer a slip n slide. Yes, we watched a lot of TV but we also ate dinner as a family and discussed current events.

My parents are obviously amazing … they overcame and dealt with what the neighborhood offered.

We all have our story of that ‘thing’ that built us. For good or bad, it shapes us.

But of the things that little house did for me now is to help me understand - what I didn’t know then – how important and impactful local government policy and decisions are AND how it affects every aspect of neighborhood living. 

In 2004, the Gooch’s finally sold the land. The house was torn down. The new owner has yet to redevelop it.  -PC

Recent google map shot. Empty lot on Vanowen St.

 

Happy 100th Birthday Chula Vista

Chula Vista turns 100 today!

We're celebrating at the 

Padres Centennial Celebration. 

Where are you celebrating?

Go Pads!

What's the Fuss about Redevelopment?

You may have heard the grumblings from both sides about the Governor’s proposal to eliminate redevelopment agencies (RDAs).  

Disclaimer: I am no expert.  In fact, there is a really great article in the Voice of San Diego  that explains it in detail while still being a pretty easy read.

I have found writing this article to be difficult, as I swing back and forth in my position of support or oppose. Here is the way that I understand it.  

One thing that you need to be familiar with is Prop 98, which is the state’s guaranteed funding level for schools.  When the state does not have enough funding to meet the minimum guarantee, they backfill funding from the General Fund.  

We’ll come back to this, but remember it.

When property taxes increase in a redevelopment area, each dollar is distributed in the following formula (per City of CV Redevelopment Manager): 

     $.20 to affordable housing, 

     $.35 to schools and the county, and 

     $.45 to the Redevelopment Agency incur debt  and capital projects (sidewalks, street        repair, etc.).

Eliminate RDAs and any increase in property taxes then goes to the County, with some being distributed back to cities and schools. So you lose the funding that is now allocated to affordable housing, capital improvements and the ability to incur debt for larger projects.

Remember Prop 98? Well, when more money is going to schools from the county (if RDAs are eliminated) then the less likely the state’s general fund would need to provide backfill. This could go a long way in helping the state budget through possible savings in the general fund. And they say that schools will get more money, which we know they desperately need.

So that is the basic argument for eliminating RDAs.

 We don’t hear much about Chula Vista - All we hear in the news is downtown San Diego, football stadiums, ball parks and convention centers, and controversial San Diego redevelopment agencies.

The Chula Vista Perspective

First, Chula Vista’s RDA is made up of our five council members. There are no appointed positions who are not accountable to the public.

Second, Chula Vista has spent it’s redevelopment funding in areas that need it:

• The older parts of Chula Vista are in dire need of capital improvements and there quite frankly isn’t enough money to cover it all. In fact, 70% of all capital improvement investments are in the older communities.

• Chula Vista’s RDA is the only agency in the county that is cleaning up Brown Fields (toxic properties).

• Chula Vista’s RDA has been able to use $20 million in public funds to leverage $166 million in private investment

• Chula Vista’s RDA has created over 1,100 new affordable housing units.

• Chula Vista’s RDA has invested in neighborhood rehabilitations and storefront renovations.

So what happens if Chula Vista loses its RDA?

• According to the City’s Redevelopment Manager, the City would lose $14 million in gross tax increment revenue of which about $7 million is available for debt services and projects.

• Bay front development could be compromised. Did you know that a fire station is required on the bay front before any development can occur? RDA funds are slated to pay for that station.

• Funding to repair streets, sidewalks and other capital improvements will decrease. The older, west side will continue to be in great need - while as the newer communities begin to age, they will begin to need more funding for improvements then they need now. 

• Without the city’s ability to incur debt through RDA’s, growth will be pushed out into the eastern areas because it will be cheaper for development to occur there.

What do you think about the RDA proposal? Do you have a position? Let’s hear from you.

Then take a moment and share your thoughts with your state representatives.  It can be as easy as one sentence .... “I support [do not support] the Governor’s proposal to eliminate RDAs.”   

Be sure to sign your name and address ... and heck throw in that you’re a registered voter who votes consistently - that never hurts!

Who are your Chula Vista State Representatives?

Assemblymember Marty Block 

Assemblymember Ben Hueso

Senator Juan Vargas 

Bets on the Bay Front

So you may have wondered why we haven’t posted on the saga that surrounds our bay front.

Well, that’s because plenty of others are doing just that.  There have been articles in the UT, The Star News, The Reader and - it also garnished an exclusive assignment for one Voice of SD reporter.

In a nutshell this is where we stand:

• A land swap was approved to preserve sensitive natural habitats, while allowing development on land that is further away.

• The power plant is no longer producing power and surrounding communities are more protected from the harmful impacts of its operation.

• A new port commissioner was appointed.  

• The power plant must be dismantled and moved before development can occur.  Dynegy  (the company who owns the plant) has a responsibility and funding to remove it BUT they may be filing bankruptcy, so then what happens?

• I'll spare you the details (they can be found in the linked articles above), but questions circled about WHO was negotiating on behalf of the city, is the money for dismantling protected from bankruptcy, and is the city and the port acting in the most expeditiously and responsive way to protect the interest of the city, its residents and the region?

There is most definitely a thread of politics woven throughout each statement, action, and process ... 

However, I think the Port did a great job in issuing a comprehensive list  of steps that have been taken and still need to be taken.

All that said .... I really only care about whether something is going to actually happen on the bay front.  

Do you think we will have the world-class bay front we deserve in our lifetimes? Our children’s? Our grandchildren’s? OR do you like our bay front just the way it is now, with no development?

Taking bets now .... what’s yours?