Editorial: Poway takes water conservation leadership role
THUMBS UP to members of the Poway City Council for moving forward on two water conservation fronts. First, the council unanimously backed a proposal to limit outdoor watering, effective May 1, to two times a week and 10 minutes per station. Watering will be restricted to before 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m. and city employees, along with members of the Senior Volunteer Patrol, will be authorized to report violators. Second, the council approved the removal of about 86,000 square feet of little-used turf at eight city parks, two fire stations and on the City Hall property. Not watering that turf is projected to save nearly 3 million gallons of water annually. Finally, the council made it clear that more water conservation efforts will be coming; that what been done so far is quite literally a drop in the bucket.
THUMBS UP to Poway residents and the sheriff’s department for doing their part in keeping the city’s crime rate lower than in any other city in the county — once again. For the 2014 calendar year the city had a crime rate of only 10.3 crimes per 1,000 population. While Poway should feel good about being the safest city in the county, remember that crooks don’t read crime stats. Residents and business owners need to remain vigilant against crime.
THUMBS DOWN to the leadership of the Poway Federation of Teachers for organizing an unnecessary and heavy-handed show of force at the April 20 school board meeting. The event, billed as a “celebration” of the Interest Based Problem Solving (IBPS) process, drew hundreds of teachers in matching blue T-shirts. More than two dozen IBPS supporters, including two former school board members, spoke at the meeting, urging the board to keep the process in place. But guess what? The school board as a whole has never indicated a desire to dismantle or even seriously tamper with the negotiating process. (The one public board critic of the process is board President Kimberly Beatty.) As board member Charles Seller noted, the PFT was “pushing against an open door.” One good thing did come out of the meeting: board members probably now have a better understanding of how IBPS works and several have expressed interest in participating in future sessions.
THUMBS UP to San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer for presenting a proposed new budget which, if adopted in June by the City Council, will result in the expansion of hours at the recreation center in Rancho Bernardo, going from 45 to 60 hours per week. Badly needed street repairs top the mayor’s list of things that need to be done, although it was unclear to what extend Rancho Bernardo will benefit in the coming fiscal year.
