Shop Till You Drop, but Don’t Expect a Bench

When the Horton Plaza shopping mall in San Diego opened in mid-1985, a major uncertainty was whether suburban shoppers would be scared off by unkempt and unruly street people.

Since the mall was meant to be the cornerstone of downtown redevelopment, the stakes were high. Part of the solution was architectural: With its large steps and enclosed feel, Horton Plaza is aloof and protected from its gritty surroundings.

Most shoppers walk from the parking garage to the mall without exposure to the streets. A

private security force is omnipresent. There is little to remind shoppers of the unseen outside world.

Tiny Horton Plaza Park is another matter. Situated on Broadway, just in front of the entrance to Robinson’s department store, an “anchor” tenant of the mall, the park is home to the homeless, the alcoholic, the misplaced, the recently released, the open-air preachers.

Horton Plaza merchants have complained bitterly about aggressive panhandling, drug dealing and hassling of women in the park. Among the loudest has been Robinson’s, the only store with an entrance on Broadway.

Finally, a few days before Christmas, after a consultation that involved five city departments (including the police), city workers removed from the park the 10 benches closest to Robinson’s. The decision was made by the city manager’s office.

“The benches allow the transients to literally live there 24 hours a day, which leads to harassment, extortion and intimidation,” said Ted Medina, district manager with the Park and Recreation Department.

The benches will be replaced in June, Medina said. By then, the city hopes to have other ways to encourage greater use of the park, such as food vendors, a flower stand and maybe jugglers or other entertainers.

“Our goal is to ‘normalize’ the park, to get the transients to move and make the park more acceptable to legitimate shoppers, tourists and passers-by,” Medina said. “It isn’t easy.”

There in Black and White

In dire need of friends in San Diego, Southern California Edison boss Howard Allen has hired Republican political operative Marty Wilson to woo local hearts and minds in support of the buyout of San Diego Gas & Electric.

Wilson was a top aide to Pete Wilson (no relation) when the latter was mayor of San Diego and then a U. S. senator. Now he’s part of a Sacramento lobbying and law firm.

He wasted no time making sure Allen knows how angry the natives are. When Allen arrived in San Diego by corporate helicopter this week en route to a speech to the Economic Development Corp. board of directors, Wilson greeted him with the latest press clippings.

Making Waves

In the 200-year history of the U. S. Navy, there has never been a woman skipper of a Navy ship at sea. That may soon change.

Lt. Cmdr. Deborah A. Gernes, executive officer of the San Diego-based destroyer tender Cape Cod, has been promoted to commander and selected to attend Surface Warfare Schools Command before taking command of an as-yet-undetermined ship.

After the Cape Cod returns to San Diego next week, Gernes, 39, will get a chance to demonstrate how she responds under fire--by meeting the press. When news of her selection hit this week’s Navy Times, the Navy’s local press office was swamped with interview requests.

Did I Say That?

U. S. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) has learned to live with the ignominy of being driven from the presidential primaries last year after being discovered plagiarizing some of his campaign speeches. He even jokes about it.

During a City Club speech this week in downtown San Diego, Biden was describing how far the Soviet Union must go to become an economic power.

“As Winston Churchill said, ‘There is no such thing as two jumps over a chasm,’ ” Biden said. After a well-timed pause, he scratched his head and added slyly: “Wait a minute. I don’t think Churchill said that. I said it!”

The crowd broke up in laughter, proving anew an old political adage: Better to have them laughing with you, than at you.