Coffee Talk: City issues 101

Thank you to the nearly two dozen members of the downtown San Diego community who turned out for Times of San Diego’s coffee talk and listening tour.

An outgoing group – not lacking in opinions – met in the morning on March 12 at The Mission in East Village to chat with Times Editor/GM Andy Keatts, wunderkind Audience Engagement Producer Tessa Balc and me.

We kept adding chairs to our table at The Mission. Attendees included activists, architects and public relations professionals. We lured the district manager of the East Village Association and executives from the San Diego Central Library. And, of course, plenty of concerned citizens.

You better believe downtown San Diego has issues. When Keatts kicked things off by asking if anything has changed downtown over the last year regarding homelessness, not a hand was raised. The unhoused are an evergreen, unsolved problem. Reading between the lines: The mayor may have instituted a tent ban and swept encampments, but like Jacob Marley to Ebeneezer Scrooge, homelessness haunts the city.

Our morning meeting was like a Greatest Hits of City Problems. We talked about open drug usage, police response times, Balboa Park infrastructure, late-night ambassador services, the lost chance for a Fifth Avenue Promenade in the Gaslamp Quarter, and a moldy-oldie, the budget-busting debacle that is 101 Ash Street.

We didn’t solve any of these problems over coffee, but the dialogue is good. Let’s keep the conversation going. If you have something on your mind, plan to attend the SDPD Captain’s Advisory Meeting (March 26 at 6 p.m. at the Central Division station at 2501 Imperial Avenue).

Don’t forget I’m listening, too. Keep emailing me story ideas at rondonoho@gmail.com.