San Diego Unseen: An Urban Portrait
Most would consider Mayor Jerry Sanders sitting down with me the journalistic equivalent of Us Weekly doing a hard-hitting piece on Blake Lively’s taste in shoes. That’s why I was determined not to let this become a fluff piece. I tried to pin down J-Dogg (he insists everyone call him that after a couple of beers) on big issues like employment and his collusion with The Breminati (a shadowy cabal of brewers puppeteering world events, exposed by the patriots at brewminati.wordpress.com).
Why is beer important to San Diego?
“Not only does it taste great, but it’s important because the breweries coming in to San Diego are actually creating a lot of jobs. [Green Flash has] several million [dollars] invested in a facility, they’re going to triple their output of beer and they’ve created about 40 jobs… which will probably be doubled in the not-too-distant future.
We also get the advantage of having Green Flash all over the United States. That’s a pretty good appetizer for the city.”
What does the city do to make brewing here attractive?
“Our BEAR [Business Expansion Attraction Retention] team [is] specifically targeting breweries right now. They help them through the permitting process…. They identify sites where they would probably fit in well after knowing what the brewery plan is and how big a footprint they want.
We talked to Airdale Brewing the other day—they have their offices here, but they brew their beer in Orange County—about siting a facility if we can find one and help them through that process.”
So, it’s safe to say that beer is a huge part of your agenda.
“We’re thinking that next year, my last as mayor, could be the Year of Beer.”
You recently told the Reader, “If you're 21 or over and enjoy good beer, it's your civic duty to support local breweries.” Do you feel that drinking locally is truly a civic virtue?
I think if San Diegans like beer, they ought to try the local beers, because if they haven’t tried them, they’re missing out on some unbelievable quality. [Our local breweries are] attracting national attention, and I think it’s good for San Diegans to understand they’ve got a tremendous resource in their backyard.
So, it is their civic obligation.
You go into Poway and it says “Buy Local, Buy in Poway.” I’m saying ‘Drink Local, Drink San Diego Beers.’
How long have you been into craft brew?
I was a Bud Light man for years and years and all of a sudden my tastes just changed.... I’ve really enjoyed the porters and the IPAs. Stone Porter is one of my favorites.
I’ve seen you tap quite a few inaugural kegs.... Is that kind of power the reason you got into politics?
Oh, absolutely. There’s two things I live for—tapping a cask and giving proclamations. Everything else is the slop.
Write to ianc@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com. Ian blogs at iancheesman.wordpress.com and you can follow him on Twitter @iancheesman.
