Variety of front burner issues face city councilmember Sherri Lightner

(Courtesy Photo)

Sherri Lightner marked her first anniversary as District One representative on the San Diego City Council this month as a host of major issues bubbled on the city’s front burner – a massive budget shortfall, a proposed renovation of the Del Mar Fairgrounds, the widening of Interstate 5 through North County and ongoing debate over the I-5/SR 56 connectors, to name a few.

In October, Lightner reorganized her office after the departure of chief of staff John Rivera, and she has opted to supervise her eight-member staff herself.

One year after her transition from La Jolla and University City activist to elected official, Lightner, a mechanical engineer by training, said she has no regrets.

“It’s great. It’s a lot of work but it’s a lot of fun. I’m employed by a lot of really terrific people,” she said, referring to her constituents.

One of the thorniest issues she’s dealt with so far was a projected $179 million budget deficit over the next 18 months. Lightner joined the council majority in two votes this month supporting

Mayor Jerry Sanders’ plan to close the gap, which included employee layoffs, reduced park maintenance and cuts to library hours.

However, she is working with council colleagues to restore the city’s $368,885 contribution to the multi-agency San Dieguito River Park, another casualty of the mayor’s budget plan.

Among the options under consideration for funding the popular park – which stretches from Julian to Del Mar – are moving the payments from the Parks and Recreation Department to the better-funded Water Department, and collecting overdue rent from the Fairbanks Ranch Country Club for land it leases from the city.

She and her staff are also digging into an environmental impact report for the fairgrounds expansion project, which is proposed to include new exhibit halls, a 330-room condominium hotel, a 60,000-square-foot health club and training facility, the paving of dirt parking areas and other construction.

Although the ultimate decision on the project will be made by the fair board, whose members are appointed by the governor, Lightner said residents of her district, which includes Carmel Valley, La Jolla, Del Mar Mesa and Torrey Hills, have expressed concerns about such issues as traffic, the amount of construction proposed and biological impacts.

Fairgrounds officials agreed to her request to extend the public comment period on the environmental report from Jan. 8 to Feb. 8.

Members of community planning groups in her district, which advise Lightner and the City Council on planning issues, gave Lightner high marks for her accessibility and willingness to listen to their concerns, but noted that her true test may be yet to come, as key issues in the district begin to heat up.

“I don’t think there’s anybody better equipped to face the difficulties that the city as a whole is facing, she is a very detail-oriented person. She really gets into the nuts and bolts and numbers,” said

Kathryn Burton, a former member of the Torrey Hills Community Planning Group, and a former staffer in the San Diego City Attorney’s office.

“She isn’t a politician. That is one of the things that is so greatly refreshing about her. She is a regular citizen who wants to represent the district,” Burton said.

According to Burton, Lightner represents a welcome change from Scott Peters, her predecessor, whom Burton called “the ultimate politico.” (Peters, who served as council president before being termed out last year, was later appointed to the San Diego Port Commission by the council.)

Frisco White, chairman of the Carmel Valley Community Planning, said he’s had a good working relationship with Lightner and her staff. In the coming year, he said, major issues such as the I-5/SR 56 connectors, and completion of Pacific Highlands Ranch, will come to the fore.

Under a voter-approved proposition, further development of Pacific Highlands Ranch – including a planned commercial center – cannot take place until the freeway connectors from SR 56 to I-5 north, and from I-5 south to SR 56 east, are built.

“This is going to bring on the forefront to really work with Sherri and ask her to do a lot for our community,” said White.

White said the planning group also had an excellent rapport with Peters, which he hopes to see continue with Lightner.

“He always looked to us before making decisions for our community… and I would think Sherri would be heading to that same style of management. She came from the community, so I am sure she will be sensitive to community needs,” White said.

Among her own goals for 2010, said Lightner, are to work toward a comprehensive water polity for the city, and to bring “green and clean” technology and jobs to the city.

“We’re perfectly positioned for it. We should be the solar city,” she said.

She’s also launched an effort to “re-connect” with the communities she serves, which will include regular meetings with the community planning groups.

“I’m glad to be where I am and I’ll do anything I can to help out the community,” she said.

Joe Tash writes for Carmel Valley News where this story originally appeared.

Tags: Carmel Valley, Fairbanks Ranch Country Club, Interstate 5, Julian, La Jolla, san diego budget, san diego city attorney, San Diego City Council, san diego deficit, SAn Diego Del Mar Fairgrounds, San Diego Port Commission, San Diego Water Department, SAn Dieguito River Park, scott peters, SDNN, Sherri Lightner, Torrey Hills, Torrey Hills Community Planning Group

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