La Jolla Community Parking District Advisory Board
The La Jolla Community Parking District Advisory Board (LJCPDAB) was created by the City Council in June of 2005. Its nine members are comprised of seven representatives from various community organizations and two "at large" members, plus alternates. Initially the group was appointed by Councilman Scott Peters. The self-described mission of the group is to approach solutions on a community level rather than a "one size fits all" approach.
The board meets on the third Wednesday of every month at 9:00 AM at Hotel Parisi (next to Victoria's Secret), Ground Floor Meeting Space. For more information you can call 858-454-5718 or send email to parking@lajollabythesea.com. The LJCPDAB has a Web page on the Promote La Jolla Web site. The LJCPDAB Web page holds mostly out-of-date information (as of 3/23/2008).
One of the issues that is yet to be resolved is that there has been a longstanding desire by the community for the members of this board to disclose business/financial activity that pertains to parking issues and decisions made by this board.
As of November 2007, the Community Parking District Advisory Board members included:
- Peter Wagener - Chair of the Parking Board, Vice President of PLJ*, owner of Hotel Parisi (where the meetings normally are held). PLJ* appointee.
- Martin Mosier - Vice Chair of the Parking Board. Village business name unknown. PLJ* appointee. City of San Diego "Parking Advisory Board" appointee, a Mayoral appointment, confirmed by City Council. He represents District 1 on that Board.
- Reza Ghasemi - Secretary PLJ*. Owns La Jolla Rugs. PLJ* appointee.
- Paul Metcalf - Bird Rock Community Council appointee.
- Marty McGee - La Jolla Community Planning Association appointee.
- Ken King - La Jolla Shores Association appointee.
- Ray Weiss - La Jolla Town Council appointee
- Mark Evans - at large resident - appointed by Scott Peters and re-elected by the Parking Board in May 2007. He is the author of the Parking plans with input from Martin Mosier.
- Michael Harth - at large business representative - appointed by Scott Peters and re-elected by the Parking Board May 2007. He is the operator of Sunset Parking. He resigned at the September meeting. His seat is currently vacant.
Alternates:
- Darcy Ashley - La Jolla Community Planning Association
- Tom Brady - La Jolla Town Council
- Jim Heaton - La Jolla Shores Association
- Patrick Ryan - Bird Rock Community Council
Promote La Jolla (Business Improvement District Contractor)
The non-profit corporation "Promote La Jolla, Inc." holds a contract from San Diego City to run the La Jolla Business Improvement District (BID) and the newly created Community Parking District. The organization maintains a Web site for members at www.lajollabythesea.com. Promote La Jolla holds monthly meetings which are open to the general public for attendance, but not voting.
All businesses located the La Jolla Business Improvement District are assessed an annual fee by the City of San Diego as part of their business license fee. The annual budget of Promote La Jolla is around $200K, derived from business license fees in the range of $45-$350 per business.
The BID membership elects a Board of Directors using a non-democratic, weighted voting scheme which adjusts business member "votes" according to a business's annual license fee. This means a larger business has almost 8 times the voting power of a smaller one. This also means that the smaller La Jolla businesses need not bother voting. This scheme tends to concentrate control of the organization in the hands of a few of the larger business owners located in the BID, namely the resturants on and near Prospect Street in downtown La Jolla.
A list of the LJCPDAB Directors, including their contact information, can be found HERE. This information is from the Promote La Jolla Web site as of 4/11/2008.
La Jolla Community Parking District Advisory Board and the La Jolla Community Parking District were created in 2005 by the City Council, based on a proposal from Scott Peters. Promote La Jolla was given a three seats on the nine-member board, four other La Jolla community groups were each given one seat on the board, and Scott Peters hand-picked two "members at large" for the board.
Promote La Jolla continues to maintain a dispropotionate control over the Parking District Advisory Board. And, based on recent actions, it seems that the goals of the Advisory Board are often times not aligned with those of the smaller business members of the BID, nor the public at large.