Architects hear council candidates’ positions on park, stadium

By JON CAMPBELL, The Daily Transcript, Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Local architects had a chance to hear from four San Diego City Council candidates on Tuesday at a forum sponsored by the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Howard Wayne and his opponent in the District 6 race, Lorie Zapf, along with District 8 candidate Felipe Hueso and his rival David Alvarez, answered questions about a variety of issues with resonance for the building and architectural community.

Incoming AIASD President Kristi Byers said the group doesn't make endorsements or contribute to local campaigns, and said the event was strictly non-partisan. She said organizers simply wanted AIA members to have a chance to hear candidates address their concerns.

"We have over a thousand members, and the political affiliations of those members run the gamut. So we do not take positions politically. Our intent for the forum was to provide a format for the candidates to speak," Byers said.

Panel moderator Keith York, a corporate relations officer from the University of California, San Diego, opened with a question about Balboa Park, where the night's forum took place. York asked candidates what changes they would like to see in the park by 2015.

All the council hopefuls mentioned what they believed to be the problem of traffic congestion and offered ideas to make the gem of San Diego's park system a more pedestrian-friendly destination. District 8 candidate Hueso said he'd like to make the park more accessible to the general public.

"It's a tragedy that we have to share it (Balboa Park) with the Navy ..." Hueso said. "This (park) is a treasure, and we should really do the most we can to improve its use and its accessibility to the public."

The panel also was quizzed about three major development projects: an expanded downtown convention center, a new City Hall complex, and the perennially discussed new stadium for the Charger's football franchise.

All of the candidates expressed their love for the team and the game of football, but all four were reluctant to contribute public dollars to the construction of a new stadium. Alvarez and Zapf said they didn't believe "general fund revenue" should be used to fund a stadium project, perhaps leaving open the possibility of using redevelopment funds or another source of public dollars.

The proposed expansion of the San Diego Convention Center produced a somewhat wider range of opinions among the assembled candidates, with Zapf, Hueso and Alvarez throwing their support behind the proposal, while Wayne was less enthusiastic.

Zapf said the kinds of visitors that are drawn to the convention center are the kind the city needs more than ever.

"These are high value tourists who spend an average of about $1,500 a day ... they are supporting our general fund and they are directly supporting our city services," said Zapf.

Alvarez said he believed the convention center would produce more value than a new Charger's stadium, noting that the convention facilities are used virtually year round.

Wayne said the debt service on the expansion could be excessive compared to the revenue the facility would produce, and said the project shouldn't go ahead until there was more information about the cost of ongoing liabilities.

Candidates all said that a new City Hall was something the city needed to pursue because the aging building could pose liability risks.

The need for an improved public transportation system was a common thread on several topics, with candidates suggesting better transport could contribute to other policy goals.

Hueso and Alvarez both said improved transport could help revitalize District 8, which includes the vast industrial expanses of Otay Mesa, by bringing more jobs to the area. Zapf said better transport and more thoughtfully designed, walkable communities could help the city reduce its carbon output to achieve state emissions goals.

Wayne echoed that sentiment, saying existing and expanded transportation infrastructure should help guide future projects.

"Infrastructure should drive development, not the other way around," said Wayne.

All candidates threw their support behind the city's redevelopment agencies, saying that redevelopment funds provide some of the only pots of money available for infrastructure improvement projects.

"There is a lot of potential to create good redevelopment projects that would bring in the infill housing that we need ... we need to maximize the use of redevelopment funds, the only funds we really have available," Alvarez said.

Zapf explicitly called for the caps on redevelopment agency funds to be raised, to allow for the continued revitalization of downtown.

On the topic of the city's water shortage, Zapf and Wayne emphasized the need to diversify water sources, and endorsed at least the idea of reclaimed water -- so-called "toilet to tap" systems.

In what became a theme over the course of the evening, Hueso related personal experiences rather than addressing specific policy prescriptions. He elicited chuckles from the audience describing his experience drinking champagne to stay hydrated after hurricane Hugo had eliminated the water supply in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he was staying at the time.

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