Escondido Sunrise Rotary; Meeting to Serve our Community in Person
and “Mayor Dane White”
April 18, 2024
As we all try to conduct our professional pursuits in new ways, it’s appropriate to remind ourselves of who we are as a Serving Organization… Our accomplishments, our fellowship and the reminder of our many successes is valuable as we seek new opportunities to serve…
We met again in person at the Chamber of Commerce… Great to enjoy the fellowship again and see all your smiling faces…
As a Club, we honored our nation with a salute to our Flag and an invocation was offered….
Guests & Visitors:
Mayor Dane White – Guest Speaker
Special Occasions:
Birthdays:
Past President Jim Ponder’s forever 49th!!
Wedding Anniversaries:
Andy & Dana Ommen – 22 incredible years together!!
No Rotary Anniversaries
High 5 and Announcements:
Eagle Project Heritage Walk Pics, Gerry Fay’s son-in-law received his PGA Australian Tour Card
Tina Pope shared grandson Oliver has moved up to the 14th percentile from the 5th percentile in baby weight.
Kendra and Tina will be presenting awards to the RYLA kids and Scholarships to high school students at the end of May at the ESRC.
George Beitner’s wife, Erin, is entering her 3rd round of chemo treatment. She is feeling tired, but all is going well.
Guest Gloria Foot from the Carlsbad rotary Club asked that we consider purchasing raffle tickets to support the club’s college and trade school scholarships.
Jack shared pictures with his two grandsons at the Palm Springs Air Force Museum.
Gerry and Leah Ann Fay visited SIL’s family in Australia and had a second casual wedding reception for the family that couldn’t make the trip to the SD wedding.
Travis shared photos of the experiences he and Kendra had with the RYLA students.
Program:
Mayor Dane White gave a thorough and detailed report on what issues the city is facing, the long-term proposals City Council is making, and spoke on items that are on everyone’s minds. Some of these items are being considered for financially supporting city operations. City Hall is currently very understaffed.
The City of Escondido’s Economic Development department formed a sub-committee to help tackle the financial state of the city. Mayor White and Councilman Joe Garcia were appointed
to the committee. A proposal to create enforce owners pay a maintenance and registry fee for buildings that sit vacant for more than 30 days. Having a 24/7 local representative to contact due to public safety issues, also providing the owners incentives to find tenants are currently
being formalized.
Renting out parking lot spaces to businesses on Grand Ave is another potential source of revenue for the city. Dining and business establishments may be able to pay for parking spots for an
opportunity to extend the business to outside areas. The structure of the Parklettes will be uniform and more decorative to attract visitors and revitalize the downtown area. Short-term rentals are also being reviewed as possible revenue producing businesses for the city. Currently there are approximately 200 short-term rentals and no mechanism to set a cap on the number operating within Escondido. Adopting regulations with licensing permits and
code enforcement inspections are an avenue the committee is considering adopting. Creating a registry and having the same rules that apply to all businesses will produce approximately
$300k of revenue that too will help grow city staff. They too may be held to the same standards as the other lodging establishments.
A new program to Escondido is the Escondido Agriculture and Technology Initiative. The sub-committee asked to approve a feasibility study between schools and tech systems, surplus
lands, space for inventive technology scientists to preserve the agricultural history of the city. It is believed this will bring businesses and jobs. To highlight this program the city will hold a
quarterly Agriculture and Technology Seminar at the Center for the Arts.
The biggest and most challenging issue facing the city is homelessness. The state currently enables the homeless and “protects” environmental laws keeping the city from cleaning out areas where the homeless are destroying land. County Supervisor Jim Desmond and Senator
Scott Peters were recently given a tour of “The Jungle” in the Escondido Creek Trail. They found over 100 camp sites and shelters where the creek was used for showering, as a toilet, and where drug paraphernalia and discarded clothing damned up the creek. A great deal of unimaginable crime occurs in this area. The city and police are currently creating a plan to enforce clearing the area and providing resources to the homeless with ties to Escondido.
Funding the safety programs and law enforcement will take the passing of the Citizen’s Initiative to pass a one-cent tax increase. It is hoped that the upcoming elections will place County Supervisors that will work in partnership with city officials and allow the city to lead.
There are several other areas that need to be addressed, such as the many CUP violations Interfaith regularly practices, but the solutions will take some time. The City Council is working hard for the people and are hoping to find long-term solutions to improve the state of the city
as a whole.
Thanks for Attending Today’s Meeting….
Support for our Escondido Community …
Our great community and the success of its businesses is all of our responsibilities… Support the businesses that are doing all they can to survive this trying economy…….
The ‘Giving Arch’ on Grand Avenue and Centre City Parkway reminds us that Escondido is a caring, giving community…
To all; be safe and be well…. God Bless those men and women that carry the load at our medical facilities, and God Bless our first responders… May our governmental leaders be wise, thoughtful and smart as they navigate these times that have been difficult…..
The meetings will be technically managed by Past President Richard Agnew… Thanks for that Richard… And, Richard is prepared to support all of our attempts at joining the on-line meetings if needed….
SEE YOU SOON…… In Person … Next meeting; April 25th, at 7:30 AM.
Check President Mark’s email for the reminder…
