Merry & Bright: Thanks for a Great Year!

Thanks for a great year!

Can you believe that 2015 is already over?! Just insane.

We wanted to drop a line to let you know that we appreciate everything you've helped us accomplish this past year. Hoping for the very best this holiday season for you and your families -- we look forward to serving you and our Clairemont community in 2016!

Our 2016 Inaugural Meeting will be held on Thursday, January 7th at 6:30pm at Cadman Elementary.

Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season,

CLAIREMONT TOWN COUNCIL
Board of Directors

Reminder: CTC memberships are due on January 1. To renew, please visit our website: clairemontonline.com/join

Clairemont Central Podcast - Episode 1

Clairemont Community News editor/publisher Janet Poutre, and CTC President Ryan Trabuco, recorded their first Clairemont Central podcast discussing community issues.

Expect this to be an ongoing, monthly series.

Submit Questions for the District 6 Candidate Forum

Clairemont Town Council and the Clairemont Chamber of Commerce will co-host a candidate forum for the District 6 seat on San Diego City Council.

The candidate forum will take place on Thursday, October 2nd, 2014 at 7:00pm, and will be held inside Cadman Elementary (4370 Kamloop Ave., San Diego, CA 92117).

If you'd like to submit a question for the candidates, please fill out the forum below.

City Council District Map

View Clairemont and its City Council Districts in a larger map

The Habit Burger Grill Opens in Clairemont Mesa

 

The Habit Burger Grill Opens in Clairemont Mesa

 Three Fundraisers will benefit Mission Valley YMCA/Krause Family

Skate Park, MDA and Friends of the Balboa Public Library

 

            (Irvine, CA – August 5, 2014) - Habit Restaurants, LLC, an Irvine-based restaurant company, will open a Habit Burger Grill at 4175 Genesee Avenue in San Diego on Wednesday, August 13, 2014. The newest location brings the number of Habit restaurants to 96. The Habit was recently rated in the Burger category in a Consumer Reports national survey (click here).
 

             The public may get a sneak peek of the tasty menu during fundraisers on Sunday and Tuesday, August 10 and 12, when The Habit will donate 100 percent of all proceeds to three non-profits. On Sunday, August 10, The Habit will open for lunch (11:30-1:30) benefiting the Mission Valley YMCA/Krause Family Skate Park; dinner that evening (5-7 PM) will aid Muscular Dystrophy Association, San Diego and Imperial Counties. For Tuesday lunch, August 12 (11:30-1:30), Friends of the Balboa Public Library will be the beneficiary. The restaurant will open for business officially on Wednesday, August 13 at 10:30 AM.  It is the sixth Habit location in greater San Diego.

Clairemont Family Day

Click image to visit Clairemont Family Day website

SANDAG Trolley Station Design

Congress in Your Community!

Congressman Scott Peters will be hosting a "Congress on Your Corner" event on Thursday, May 1st just prior to our May Town Council meeting.

Check out the Clairemont Community News article for more information about this event.

Chief Zimmerman Town Hall

Council District 2: Meet the Mayor

Mayor Kevin Faulconer will be meeting hosting a "Meet the Mayor" event in District 2.

Click here to see full event details

Councilwoman Lorie Zapf: Memos on Morena Blvd.

Below are two memos released this week from Councilwoman Lorie Zapf's office regarding the Morena Blvd. study:

Memo #1 - April 23, 2014 - Click to view full memo

Memo #2 - Click to view full memo

Contact Info: District 2 City Councilman Ed Harris

District 2 City Councilman Ed Harris

District 2 City Councilman Ed Harris
sandiego.gov/cd2

Phone: 619.236.6622
Fax: 619.236.6996

Connect with Councilman Ed Harris on Twitter @EdHarrisSD

Connect with the Council District 2 office on Twitter @SanDiegoCD2

Morena Blvd Update

The last time you heard from me, City Council District 2 was vacant. Last week, longtime lifeguard and retired Marine Ed Harris was appointed to fill the vacancy left by the election of now-Mayor Faulconer. Councilman Harris will serve our Bay Ho, West Clairemont, and Bay Park communities until December.

KPBS interviewed our newly appointed city councilmember.

If you live in those communities, feel free to reach out to Councilman Harris and connect with him and our District 2 staff on those issues important to you (as of this writing, the city has not updated their District 2 webpage, although staff information is available). We've already invited Councilman Harris to attend one of our upcoming CTC meetings to introduce himself.

At last night's Clairemont Community Planning Board meeting, a lively discussion was had by over 100 Bay Park residents on the importance of protecting the character and historical importance of our neighborhoods. The Planning Board took several votes on recommendations to city staff on restricting any zoning or height increase changes along Morena Blvd.

As we've learned, this issue is not put to rest just yet. There's still plenty more to do.

2014 Rock n' Roll Marathon Route

Marathon Route through Clairemont/Bay Park (pictured). Click image to see full marathon route.

Links to Clairemont Projects

At our Clairemont Town Council meeting last night (Thursday, April 4th), City Council staff members Steve Hadley (District 2) and Shirley Owen (District 6) compiled and presented several links to information about current proposals, development, and construction projects going on in, and around, our Clairemont community.

We are sharing this document with you for reference.

To see this document in full-view, click here.

KPBS (Video): Clairemont Teacher's Huge Presidential Memorabilia Collection

Auto Theft Prevention Made Easy

Since December 1st, there have been over 30 vehicle thefts in the greater Clairemont area according to the CrimeMapping.com website. Many of these thefts were preventable if the car owner had bothered to take just one additional precaution.

It may come as a surprise to many that car alarms are not the first line of defense when it comes to stopping a car thief. The fact is that a car alarm is only activated after somebody decides to steal your car and breaks into it! It is important to realize that most car alarm horns can be deactivated by a skilled thief in under 30 seconds from the time it first sounds. Preventing someone from wanting to steal your car in the first place is much more effective than having only a car alarm which goes to work after a thief breaks into your car. In tandem having a car alarm and an inexpensive antitheft device are highly effective in preventing your car from ever being stolen.

The most common anti-theft device is the steering wheel lock. These brightly colored hardened steel locking devices attach to the steering wheel in plain sight for all to see. The locked bar blocks the steering wheel from being turned and prevents the car from being driven away. It also is easy for a thief to see for himself before he breaks into your car! If a thief can’t drive your car away he is much less likely to try to steal it!

Titans of Industry

For the 5th consecutive year CHS had the 1st place team in Junior Achievement's district business competition "Titans of Industry". Alan Walter, Clairemont Academy of Business teacher, uses the virtual business simulation in his Entrepreneurship course to educate students about the rigors of running a global business. "I had a similar business simulation my capstone year in college. It was such a great way to learn about running a company in a fun, hands-on way that I vowed if I had the opportunity I would give the same opportunity to my students. In many ways I think this is better than a textbook." Walter said.

The competition took place Dec 5th at University of Phoenix. Teams competed against each other in a virtual business simulation where they are the CEO of a media company. Based on market data and analysis teams made business decisions such as price, marketing, R&D, charitable giving and capital improvement.

Not only is this the 5th year an Academy of Business team has scored the top overall spot, but they took home 2nd, 4th and 5th places as well in the district.

Alan Walter Teacher, Academy of Business Clairemont High School

Way to go CHS! We are so proud of our young shinning stars in the community!

Janett Lewis

Director North

Chair, Communications Committee

In-Home Fire Safety Tips

As the fire season is already underway, the Clairemont Town Council’s Public Safety Awareness Committee would like to remind you of the following fire prevention and safety preparedness steps. Although there are extensive resources relating to fire prevention, our goal is to highlight several focus points for our neighborhoods.

In Home Fire Safety Tips

General:

• Furnace, Kerosene Heaters, Wood Stoves, and Fireplaces should be inspected for damage, safety control triggers, emergency shutoffs, and thermostats are operational.
  
• It is not recommended to use any type of flammable liquid or flame accelerator to start an indoor fire.
  
• Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Detectors are operational.
  
• Develop an Emergency plan and Fire Escape Plan and practice it. Be sure to establish two central meeting places one should be near the home and two should be a few blocks away at a park, building or business.
  
• Establish a central communication point such as an out of the area relative. This assists in the event family members are separated.
  
• Maintain a 30ft minimum distance defensible space around your home by reducing vegetation and tree build up.
• Get an ABC rated fire extinguisher.

Remember the word PASS when using a fire extinguisher:

P – Pull the pin and hold the extinguisher with the nozzle pointing away from you.

A – Aim low. Point the extinguisher at the base of the fire.

S – Squeeze the lever slowly and evenly.

S – Sweep the nozzle from side to side.

• Do not block exits.

President's Letter: October 2013

Last month's meeting with Interim Mayor Todd Gloria, I feel, was one of the best Clairemont Town Council meetings we've ever had with nearly 200 in attendance -- a sentiment shared by several longtime CTC members and attendees. Thank you to everyone who showed up and to our CTC Board for helping to organize such an amazing turnout!

For our October 3rd meeting, nominations will close for our Board elections, and we will welcome two amazing guest speakers: Cindy Marten, the recently appointed Superintendent for San Diego Unified, and Javier Mainar, our Fire Chief for the City of San Diego.

Notes from the July Meeting

Notes from the July 11 Meeting

First off, shout out to Papa's Pizza on Moraga Ave for providing us pizza for the meeting!

Our County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister provided a very good presentation on the reforms his office has done to make the tax office more user (and taxpayer) friendly. Mr. McAllister even commented on the turnout, which -- mind you -- was phenomenal, considering it wasn't held on our usual meeting day. He said were one the most active and well-attended community councils in the city, which is a testament to the hard work of our Board, and all of our community members' interests in the well-being of Clairemont.

In my last President's letter I laid out a few items of interest that the Town Council is looking for, and we went into further discussion at our meeting. We're encouraging our CTC members to be active in any of our committees. Our list of committees can be found here: ClairemontOnline.com/Committees


We are encouraging anyone in the community with expertise in event planning (or knows someone with those qualities) to help the Board organize some exciting events for next year. We are looking to get started on organizing for our 2014 Garden Tour, our 60th Anniversary Dinner, and any other events we feel would help benefit the mission of our Council and our community. If you're interested, please e-mail Events@ClairemontOnline.com


Our Historian, Simone Henriques, is continuing to compile information about our community legacy, and can always use some volunteer help. If you're interested, please contact Simone at Contact@ClairemontOnline.com

CTC elections are coming up in November, and we need a capable Nominating and Elections Committee to help our Secretary, C.J. Shedlock, conduct an awesome election. If you're interested in serving on this committee, please e-mail Elections@ClairemontOnline.com

For our Public Safety Committee, we sought feedback on some particular issues that we can help address and we can always hear more concerns that can be brought to the committee's attention. If you have any non-emergency concerns for the Public Safety Committee, please e-mail PublicSafety@ClairemontOnline.com

Finally, we have a comprehensive set of Bylaw Amendments that the Board is soliciting input on, so that we may have the Council formally adopt at our next meeting. We've compiled all of the possible changes of the Bylaw amendments here. For comparison, our current set of Bylaws can be found on our website here.

We're just working to help build a bigger, stronger Town Council. We always appreciate your thoughts and ideas.

Working for you, Clairemont!

Ryan Trabuco
CTC President