What we want

 Here’s a list of things we’d like to see happen in the second half of 2010:

1. We want a genuine left-of-center figure to emerge as a candidate for mayor in 2012 so that we’re not left only with Republicans like Carl DeMaio, Nathan Fletcher and Kevin Faulconer.

2. We want Judge Luis Vargas to side with the activists who’ve been fighting for a large public park on the waterfront and tell the Port of San Diego that it has to move the cruise-ship business elsewhere—such as around the corner to the south, over by the convention center.

3. We want the Padres to continue to amaze the baseball world and reach the playoffs, and we want Bud Black to be named manager of the year for turning what experts thought was a last place, glorified-triple-A squad into one of the best teams in the Majors.

4. We want North Park, South Park, University Heights and Normal Heights to embrace the Park 2 Park shuttle—not only to create a sense of community but also to prove that public transportation can work.

5. We want the City Council to approve the recommended proposal for a new homelessness center (see Page 10) but also continue the winter shelter for as long as there are people who want to come in from the cold.

6. We want Carl DeMaio to count to 10, take a walk around the block, smoke a bowl, read some Zen philosophy and just chill the hell out.

7. We want Mayor Jerry Sanders to take the lead in selling increases in the trash-pickup and storm-water-pollution fees to the public.

8. We want more bike racks in neighborhoods across San Diego.

9. We want business districts (are you listening, Little Italy Association?) to view food trucks not as threats to restaurants but, rather, destinations to help get people out in the community, where they’ll spend money.

10. We want Todd Gloria to help Tony Young find reasons to vote progressive more often than he does and forget all about that Lincoln Club endorsement.

11. We want somebody to discover the image of the Virgin Mary on a rock outside Mission San Diego de Alcala so that millions of believers from around the world will flock to our city, stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants and revitalize our economy.

12. We want Comic-Con to show some loyalty and commit to San Diego beyond 2012, regardless of whether we expand our convention center.

13. We want the nudists at Black’s Beach to live free of unjust mandatory-clothing laws, even if they haven’t worked out in 25 years.

14. We want to see street sweepers at least as often as we see parking-enforcement officers.

15. We want Sherri Lightner to locate her inner enviromentalist and vote in favor of such inititaives as indirect potable reuse, or sewage-water recycling, or toilet-to-tap, or whatever you want to call it.

16. We want the Chargers and Vincent Jackson to solve their contract dispute and get the team’s best offensive player (that’s right, we said it) back on the field.

17. We want the City Council to tell the Spanos family that they can have a new stadium, but only if they pay for it.

18. We want all bars and restaurants to turn the music down a couple of notches so we can hear each other talk—unless we’re dancing and not talking.

19. We want the voters of City Council District 6 to reject anti-gay bigot Lorie Zapf.

20. We want the voters in county Board of Supervisors Districts 4 and 5 to vote for anyone on the ballot named “Steve.”

21. We want the local Democrats to understand the value of social media the way the local Republicans seem to.

22. We want San Diegans who are too young to die to stop dying.

23. We want more local businesses to advertise in CityBeat so’s we can kick way more journalistic ass than is possible in 40 pages.      
   

What do you want? Tell us at editor@sdcitybeat.com.