VOLUME 19 ISSUE 11
November 2018 Follow us on Facebook and Twitter sdcnn.com
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Columbia • Core/Civic • Cortez Hill • East Village • Gaslamp/Horton Plaza • Little Italy • Marina
More than a dimes worth of difference
NEWS P. 4
PROJECT
VERSION
SAN DIEGO DOWNTOWN NEWS
Logo Design
FINAL
District 4 supervisor candidates’ debate Downtown issues
Domestic violence awareness
By B. J. Coleman
NEWS P. 8
Best of architecture
FEATURE P. 9
Honorary breast cancer survivor
FEATURE P. 19
Halloween in East Village
Index Opinion
6
Politics
7
Puzzles
17
Calendar
18
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Haunted museum
CLIENT
One hour of debate is not much for fully differentiating the views of candidates opposing each other for election. But District 4 San Diego County Board of Supervisors candidates Bonnie Dumanis and Nathan Fletcher hammered their areas of agreement and disagreement over 60 minutes while discussing Downtown issues at a debate on Oct. 11. Fletcher and Dumanis are vying for the District 4 seat, which County Supervisor Ron Roberts is vacating. The event, hosted by the East Village Residents Group and the East Village Association, was held in the Neil Morgan Auditorium alongside the Central Library on Park Boulevard. Lisa Halverstadt of “Voice of San Diego” served as moderator. District 4 is the most compact of the five districts on county board map, covering central Downtown San Diego, along the central coastal regions and northward. The 4th District has substantial overlap with jurisdiction of the city of San Diego. Dumanis and Fletcher agreed broadly on which three major issues have greatest impact on Downtown, citing homelessness, mental illness and housing. Asked to name the top concern within this trio, Fletcher and Dumanis agreed that mental illness ranks first. Both agreed that the county has a primary responsibility locally for dealing with mentally ill persons. Of course, these issues all intertwine in regard to the outsized population of homeless persons inhabiting locations around Downtown San Diego. Mitigation of problems caused to Downtown residents by living in close proximity to homeless individuals was an important tangential subject during the debate. The debaters differed over what to do in approach about the extent of San Diego County financial reserves. Fletcher criticized the county for holding
see Debate, pg 19
CLIENT APPROVAL
X
DATE
1/9/12
The Museum of Man transformed into a haunted museum at the Sinners & Saints Halloween Extravaganza benefitting the Urban Street Angels on Oct. 26. (Photo by Albert H. Fulcher)
Sinners & Saints Halloween Extravaganza benefits Urban Street Angels Albert H. Fulcher | Editor A stunning transfiguration of the Museum of Man in Balboa Park turned a benefit for Urban Street Angels into a spectacular haunted museum on Oct. 26. With two floors open, the backdrop of the exhibits brought an astonishing blend of history and Halloween mania, with frightening moments waiting around every corner. And all for a great cause. Now in its third year, “Sinners & Saints: a Halloween Extravaganza,” raised much needed funds for Urban Street Angels, an
organization dedicated to helping a nearly forgotten demographic of homeless young adults. Urban Street Angels Founder and Executive Director Eric Lovett said he was very excited about this year’s annual fundraiser and extremely happy with the large turnout of the supporters donned in everything Halloween, from horror to fantasy. “Urban Street Angels works with the homeless population in San Diego,” Lovett said. “We cater to 18 to 25-year-olds, an
see Haunted museum, pg 3
Ciao Bella!
Piazza della Famiglia becomes the “it” spot By Vince Meehan It’s the golden hour at the Piazza della Famiglia in Little Italy, the hour before sunset where the low sun casts a rich golden hue over the neighborhood. The Piazza is filled with people sitting at umbrella-covered tables checking their social media or enjoying a drink. This pleases Marco Li Mandri, chief executive
administrator of the Little Italy Association of San Diego as he surveys the afternoon crowd. “The real test of success for any public space is whether people use it or not,” Li Mandri said. “San Diego has some of the poorest public spaces around, so we wanted to create one that works. I’d call this a success.”
see Piazza della Famiglia, pg 3
Visitors relax in the Piazza della Famiglia (Photo by Vince Meehan)
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DOWNTOWN
Downtown PR guru earns esteemed Press Club award Albert H. Fulcher | Editor Journalism and public relations in today’s media industry go hand in hand. With the ever-growing need for the integrity of news, these two professions merged, making an impact on community and national levels. At the 45th annual San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards on Oct. 30, a prominent local public relations professional earned one of the Press Club’s most prestigious awards for his life of dedication to the field of communications. Jack Berkman, CEO and President of Berkman Strategic Communications, chosen by his peers, earned the Andy Mace Award for Outstanding Contribution to Public Relations. Berkman has earned more than 70 Bernays awards from the San Diego Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), plus the national PRSA Silver Anvil Award. Berkman is a long time Downtown resident. Andy Mace, who passed away in 2009, is credited with the idea of starting the San Diego Press Club. He was a long-time PacBell communications director, whose ethics, integrity and trust was ever present in his professional conduct and unyielding support of the San Diego Press Club for more than 30 years. His namesake award is given to a PR practitioner who, over the course of his or her career, has exemplified fairness and integrity, and has effectively disseminated the truth to concerned publics. Gayle Falkenthal, Falcon Valley Group president, San Diego Press Club Board emeritus and previous Andy Mace Award recipient, nominated Berkman for the Andy Mace Award. Falkenthal said that there is no one that she knows who represents the highest principles of the public relations profession better than Berkman. “For 40 years, Jack has helped many journalists understand what principled public relations is all about with the
see Jack Berkman, pg 8