O’Connor Vows War on Violence and Drugs

Declaring 1989 “The Year of the Child,” Mayor Maureen O’Connor on Monday offered San Diego youngsters a slate of recreational, educational and social programs complemented by a pledge to dramatically strengthen the law-enforcement effort against street gangs and drug pushers.

In her third State of the City address and the first of her new four-year term, O’Connor spent little time on the traditional functions of the City Charter-required annual address--taking stock of past accomplishments or announcing her second-term goals. Instead, she expressed concern over the fate of the city’s children and promised them “new status” in the city’s priority list.

“The city need not justify its alarm when our (children) can’t find France on a map, can’t cross the street without meeting a pusher, can’t reach the age of 16 without bearing a child, or 18 without witnessing a shooting,” she said while standing at the front of the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater in Balboa Park.

“It profits the city nothing to save our beaches and lose our children.”

‘Czar for Children’

In the fight against “the ever-lengthening shadows of drugs and violence,” O’Connor proposed the creation of a “metro strike team” of 40 police officers to be assigned to the city’s eastern and central divisions, and the establishment of a police substation at 30th Street and Imperial Avenue in Southeast San Diego.

She also called for the creation of a new “czar for children” within city government to oversee coordination of child care, recreation and youth activities.

In addition, she announced the establishment of a space, aviation, astronomy and science center as the highlight of a host of new recreational and educational programs to be started this year.

The center, to be created by the Fleet Space Theater and Science Center, the International Aerospace Hall of Fame and the city, would be a “NASA-like space camp where children can learn firsthand the trajectory for space capsules, the orbit of the planets, and the intricacies of ground-control computers,” O’Connor said. It would probably require a new facility somewhere in Balboa Park, her aides said.

Multimedia Event

O’Connor used the Fleet Theater’s domed screen to make the 26th annual State of the City address a multimedia event. Illuminated by a single spotlight in a darkened house, she spoke against a projected backdrop of the city’s nighttime skyline as images of clouds drifted slowly over her head.

As she mentioned specific events of the year just past--the visit of Mother Teresa, the Super Bowl, the negotiations for her upcoming Soviet arts festival--images were flashed on the screen above and around her.

Although she offered no timetables or cost figures for the programs, O’Connor said in an interview after her speech that she plans to ask the City Council to act on the police program during the current fiscal year, which would require dipping into the city’s $450,000 contingency fund if new police officers are to be hired.

City Manager John Lockwood, who attended the speech, said it would cost the city $1 million for every 18 new officers it adds to the 2,500-member police force. A new substation could cost $2 million, Lockwood said.

But, even if the council agreed to hire more officers before the new fiscal year begins July 1, the 22-week Police Academy training would delay their active duty at least until June, Lockwood said.

Shift Officers?

Lockwood suggested, however, that some police officers could be shifted to high-crime and drug problem areas to begin O’Connor’s program before the new budget year.

O’Connor is the third city official to call for a stronger police force in recent weeks. On Nov. 30, Lockwood unveiled a plan to add 440 officers to the police force at a cost of $62 million. Three weeks later, Councilman Bob Filner called for a $50-million tax increase to pay for having more police downtown.

Councilman Wes Pratt, who represents the Southeast San Diego neighborhoods where gang warfare and drug sales are concentrated, praised O’Connor’s two-pronged approach to the problem.

“It deals with the gang and the drug problem from a law-enforcement perspective and gives our young people some options,” Pratt said after the speech. “Most young people want some options, because they know you can’t continue to engage in that kind of activity.”

Barbara Schutze, a member of the San Diego Substance Abuse Commitment Committee, agreed. “If you’re out dealing dope, you may be making $500 this week,” she said. “But where are you next week? You’re down in Juvenile Hall.”

Diversion for Youth

Among the diversions O’Connor proposed to offer the city’s youth:

- A combination children’s workshop, museum and academy in Balboa Park’s House of Charm. Modeled after the Children’s Museum in La Jolla, the facility would give children a place to try out as newscasters, dancers, actors or computer programmers.

- A “landmark children’s play structure in a suitable park environment.”

- A series of city-sponsored programs for children, dubbed “Kids Club San Diego,” which would offer children occasional free entry to the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, museums and sporting events, plus apprenticeship programs with business and government leaders.

O’Connor also promised to seek funds from a newly created federal program to carry out “innovative support projects for low-income children and their families” and called for the creation of “computerized telephonic” reporting for police officers in the field to lessen the time they spend on paper work.

Although O’Connor touched only briefly on her 1988 accomplishments in the speech, she distributed a 25-page annual report listing what she considers the highlights of the past year.

In the report, O’Connor takes varying amounts of credit for dozens of actions, including a 37% increase in federal funding to the city, the creation of a city Commission for Arts and Culture, increased representation of women and minorities on the city’s boards and commissions, the planning of a new City Hall complex and the placement of the council’s unsuccessful growth-management program on the November ballot.

In her speech, O’Connor said she had kept 14 of the 16 promises she made in her 1988 address and “helped five of my seven predictions” come true. She then offered six more predictions for this year, including victory in her highly publicized effort to thwart Southern California Edison’s attempt to take over San Diego Gas & Electric Co.

The mayor took another swipe at the merger proposal when she honored Red Scott, an SDG&E; director who voted against the takeover and then resigned, with one of her annual Seahorse Awards. As Scott took the stage, the theater’s domed screen flashed the SCE logo--circled in red with a red line slashing through it.

The mayor also honored several individuals and groups with a “Seahorse Award,” given each year to those who “best capture the real spirit of San Diego.” The honorees:

- Red Scott, who voted against the Southern California Edison takeover of San Diego Gas & Electric, then resigned from the SDG&E; board of directors to underscore his protest.

- Willie Henderson and Richard Minor of Southcrest Little League, who spent 18 years working to establish a hot dog stand at Southcrest Ballpark. The stand opened last month. The proceeds from the hot dog stand will be used to buy equipment for Little League teams.

- Councilwoman Gloria McColl and the Olympic Site Task Force, who were instrumental in the selection of San Diego County as the site of a new, official U.S. Olympic training center.

- Glenn Allison of Episcopal Community Services and the volunteers of the Interfaith Shelter Network, for providing food, clothing and shelter to the homeless. The network of more than 100 churches and synagogues has become a model for other cities.

- Ted Kissane and the San Diego County Hotel-Motel Assn., for accepting an increase in hotel room taxes. An estimated $45 million in revenue from the increased taxes will be used to renovate Balboa Park, and $33 million is slated for underwriting the arts, including the Soviet arts festival in the fall.