Local Elections : Council Candidates Tell Visions for City : Unusual Ideas Find Niche on Campaign Trail

Take a glimpse at a composite vision of San Diego’s future, through the eyes of the eight City Council candidates on next week’s ballot:

There is a new Sports Arena downtown, with freeway access made easier by “reversible” commuter lanes in which the directional flow of highway traffic changes during peak hours. Staggered work hours, flextime and four-day work weeks in hundreds of local businesses also have significantly eased rush-hour traffic congestion.

Strict enforcement of a 10 p.m. curfew for youths under 18 years of age has alleviated the city’s gang problem, and abandoned cars have been much less visible on city streets thanks to a new crackdown in which violators are fined hundreds of dollars. Public art, by contrast, has dramatically blossomed on streets and in buildings throughout the city.

“Neighborhood academies” in schools and churches throughout the city have reduced juvenile delinquency and high school dropout rates by providing remedial academic courses and job-training programs. New research and think-tank divisions within City Hall have offered creative solutions to myriad local problems, becoming in the process the envy of municipalities across the nation.

Burned in Imperial Valley

Prisoners are used to separate aluminum cans, glass bottles and other recyclable materials from trash, and the remaining garbage is shipped via train to Imperial Valley, where it is burned, producing energy for SDG&E.; Meanwhile, other bullet-type trains traveling at hundreds of miles per hour zip San Diegans to and from a new regional airport in the desert.

Far-fetched political hyperbole? Pie-in-the-sky promises? Impractical? Crazy?

“The thing to remember is, there were hundreds of reasons why the Wright Brothers shouldn’t have been able to fly that plane,” said 2nd District candidate Ron Roberts. “But if you’ve got a good idea, you’ve just got to work out those problems and make it fly.”

And so it is, Roberts and his fellow candidates insist, with some of the more unusual proposals that have emerged from the dozens of forums, debates and speeches held over the past six months in the campaigns for the four open seats on the San Diego City Council.

Overlapping Rhetoric

At most of those appearances, there is a mind-numbing sameness to much of what the candidates have to say. More police and safer streets, environmental protection, affordable housing, economic development, unclogged highways--these and other broad goals are constantly espoused by the candidates, with overlapping rhetoric that, in most cases, varies so little in style or content as to be virtually interchangeable among them. Similarly, the eight council finalists, with only a few rare exceptions, agree on the major propositions and initiatives on the Nov. 3 ballot.

However, each candidate also has offered ideas that are, if not always unique to him, at least sufficiently distinctive to set him apart from the pack. The ideas range from the innovative and creative to the decidedly offbeat, with some being in the form of firm, carefully thought-out proposals, while others represent mere brainstorming and bare-bones concepts. Some could be easily accomplished by the council, but others appear to be financially, politically--and, in some cases, legally--impractical.

But, if nothing else, the proposals have yielded insight into the candidates’ approach to some thorny problems, as well as allowed them to carve out niches for themselves in an otherwise remarkably similar field.

One such idea that has attracted considerable attention--and drawn praise from a number of other candidates--is Roberts’ proposal that a new Sports Arena be built downtown to replace the “second-class one we have now” in the Midway area.

Arena Would Be Razed

A downtown arena--ideally on the eastern fringe, perhaps near the San Diego City College area--could, Roberts argues, further reinvigorate the central city by attracting thousands of people to concerts and sporting events, and bolster any future city efforts to regain a professional basketball or hockey franchise. Under his plan, the existing arena--often maligned for its location, poor acoustics and general condition--would be razed, with the site perhaps being used for a senior housing project.

Roberts is the first to admit there are formidable obstacles, with the foremost being a long-term city lease with the owners of the existing arena. But he professes confidence that that problem, and others, “could be negotiated away . . . if the will to do this is there.”

“I’ve looked at this from just about every angle, and I can’t see a reason why people would oppose this or any problem that couldn’t be solved,” said Roberts, an architect who estimates that the project would cost about $30 million. “I think it’s a cause worth championing.”

Roberts’ opponent, public relations consultant Byron Wear, also has found a less glamorous--but no less important--cause to champion.

Plan for Garbage Disposal

In his public appearances, Wear often details the “Wear Trash Proposal,” a scheme that he contends could transform San Diego’s impending garbage-disposal crisis into a financial asset. That plan includes an aggressive recycling program at local landfills, with the residue being shipped via train to a trash-to-energy plant in either the extreme eastern corner of San Diego County or Imperial County.

“There’s no population there and the air basin makes burning trash safer,” Wear said. He admits, however, that the residents who do live in those remote regions may not react kindly to the notion of San Diego shipping its garbage problem east toward them. But Wear argues that the revenue and jobs generated by the plant “could help address those concerns.”

Sixth District candidate Bruce Henderson also has offered an unusual approach to the trash problem, suggesting that prisoners perhaps could be used to separate aluminum cans and other recyclable materials from San Diegans’ garbage. The recycling work perhaps could even be offered to certain criminals as an alternative to jail, Henderson said.

“With all the talk about recycling, the big question is, are most people willing to do a dirty job like that, or would they rather pay a minimum fee to have someone else do it?” Henderson said. Henderson concedes that there would be legal and practical obstacles to using prisoners in such a way, but describes his idea as “one option worth taking a look at.”

Also Looks to Desert

Though Henderson, unlike Wear, would not ship garbage to the desert, he does see the desert as the possible answer to another local problem--the noise and limited expansion possibilities at Lindbergh Field.

Envisioning a possible San Diego-Orange-County-Los Angeles regional airport in the desert, Henderson predicts that, if there is a “major breakthrough in superconductivity” technology, San Diegans could speed there on underground trains traveling up to 500 miles per hour. (When Henderson first detailed this idea, his opponent, Bob Ottilie, quipped: “Would you be willing to take the first test ride?”)

“Obviously, this may all just be science fiction,” Henderson said. “But let’s not spend billions of dollars on an airport that may be obsolete in 10 years before considering the possibilities that could exist before too long.”

Ottilie, meanwhile, has said that his extensive door-to-door politicking has convinced him that abandoned cars constitute “one of the biggest but least talked about” problems in the city, particularly in neighborhoods such as Clairemont and Southeast San Diego.

Not a City Hall Topic

“It’s not talked about much at City Hall, but believe me, it’s the first thing a lot of people bring up,” Ottilie said.

Saying that the city has insufficient manpower to handle the problem, Ottilie has suggested hiring a private firm to issue citations or tow cars left on streets for more than 72 hours, with the company’s expenses being financed through the $50-to-$100 fines. The last owners of abandoned cars, Ottilie says, would face $500 fines when they attempt to purchase their next license.

In the 4th District race, the Rev. George Stevens has been the author of several unorthodox proposals, and has emphasized issues largely ignored by the other candidates. Stevens has suggested, for example, that traffic congestion on Interstate 8 could be relieved by instituting “reversible commuter lanes” alternately used for eastbound or westbound traffic, depending on the time of day and traffic flow. During early evening rush-hour periods, Stevens suggests, two normal westbound lanes could be switched to accommodate the heavy eastbound traffic, with the process being reversed during morning hours.

Acknowledging that the council has no direct control over the freeways, Stevens argues that the city nevertheless should “tell Caltrans that we’re the ones with the problem and we should have input in the solution.”

Wants Curfew Enforced

Stevens also has attempted to make a major campaign issue out of his call for strict police enforcement of a 10 p.m. curfew for youths under 18 years of age, with exceptions made for students traveling to or from official school events or jobs. The curfew--and possible fines for the parents of frequent violators--would, Stevens contends, reduce gang activity, juvenile delinquency and drug problems. The curfew, Stevens stresses, is one component of an overall law-enforcement program that also includes hiring more police officers and establishing more foot patrols, particularly at night.

“People may say, ‘Look how a curfew would tie up the Police Department,’ ” Stevens said. “But we’ve had 45 people killed so far this year in the 4th District, most of them under 18, most of them late at night . . . We’re not going to change anything in the 4th District until we change the attitude among the kids that it’s OK to buy drugs and OK to use drugs. Until that happens, it’s like putting a brand new suit on a kid who still has on dirty underwear.”

Wes Pratt, Stevens’ opponent, has sought to address similar concerns through his proposal for establishment of “Neighborhood Academies,” in which schools, churches and other sites would be used for after-school “youth diversion” programs. Financed primarily by local businesses and staffed by volunteers, including college students who would receive credits for the work, the programs offered would range from remedial academic lessons and job-training classes to workshops in which college-bound students would receive assistance in seeking financial aid.

“It’s just a concept at this point, but it’s one I know could work--and I’m committed to making it work,” Pratt said.

Many Proposals Put Forth

Numerous proposals--including some of the most thoughtful heard from any of the candidates--have been put forth by Michael Aguirre and Bob Filner in their 8th District campaign.

Aguirre has proposed creating a Municipal Research Service to assist the council in studying the complex issues that come before it. Patterned after Congress’ research arm, the office could largely be financed, Aguirre says, with funds now spent on private consultants who give the city “their conclusions but not the full benefit of their research.”

“The idea is to build a repository of knowledge, a collective memory of problems we’ve faced in the past as we look for solutions in the future,” Aguirre said. “Over time, we could build a collection of experts on all kinds of subjects who would be there day in, day out.” Fellowships and aggressive recruiting on college campuses, he adds, could attract “some of the best minds in the country.”

Aguirre admits, however, that his proposal, however meritorious, could be a tough sell at a time when the city lacks sufficient funds for many essential services. “But that’s exactly why we need something like this,” he argues. “To find ways to stretch our scarce revenue requires more brainpower, not less.”

Postcard Plan

Aguirre also has proposed Project CANN (Citizens Assessment of Neighborhood Needs), a program designed to expedite the city’s response to citizen complaints. Under the program, return address postcards would be distributed free to residents, who then could mail them back directly to the city manager’s office for immediate attention.

Filner also has managed to identify a number of issues mostly untouched by other candidates, or at least to give a slightly different twist to a number of major citywide topics.

Filner has called for an increased emphasis on drug abuse prevention in existing after-school recreation programs, and argues that rush-hour traffic could be reduced by as much as 45% within three years if the city aggressively encourages businesses to stagger work hours, perhaps by offering financial incentives and other inducements. He also has spoken of the need for a “new downtown vision” focused on “peoplizing” downtown through parks, frequent street fairs and intriguing architectural designs.

In addition, Filner has proposed that the council assume an expanded role in connection with public arts by, among other things, offering free office space to arts groups and organizing pools of private individuals who would provide free legal or accounting work. The city also could take a leading role in establishing a municipal gallery that would showcase local artists’ work, Filner said.

‘A City is Civilized’

“A city has to solve its problems of trash and sewage and crime, but a city is civilized, too,” Filner said. “We shouldn’t forget that in setting priorities.”

When pressed to assess the chances of their proposals becoming reality, the candidates concede that, in most instances, they face tough odds of varying degree.

But most also concur with Stevens, who answered that question with this remark:

“Too often, we let people convince us that something won’t work or can’t be done before we even look at it,” Stevens said. “We don’t really say, ‘Why not?’ enough. If we start saying ‘Why not?’ more in government, we may surprise ourselves at what can be done.”