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KTPG on City Council Redistricting

KTPG position

At the May 11, 2011 KTPG meeting, the KTPG approved a motion on redistricting boundaries:

KTPG desires that Kensington and Talmadge are kept together in the same City Council district and that our communities are kept wholly in-tact, including all the areas currently included in our community plan boundaries. Furthermore, we prefer to remain combined with areas to the West and South of us. We authorize David Moty to speak on our behalf on the topic of redistricting.

As a result of this vote David Moty (the KTPG chair) wrote the following letter:

Redistricting Commission
1010 Second Avenue
Suite 1060
San Diego, CA 92101

Honorable Commission Members:

In the search for ‘communities of interest’, the first community of interest is the neighborhood.

COMMUNITY OF INTEREST

The above definition transcends all others – be it race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, income, commuting patterns, or the impacts of large institutions. First and foremost, our neighbors are our neighbors. They are who we live with; they share our concerns. Therefore, the neighborhoods of Kensington and Talmadge, as represented by their community planning group in a 15-0 vote, strongly support maintaining our neighborhoods as intact units in whichever council district they are placed. We strenuously object to any plan that would carve out sections of our neighborhoods in the furtherance of objectives that put other visions of what represents a community of interest ahead of the neighborhood. This objection includes a rigid adherence to absolute numerical parity between council districts if it only serves to separate neighbor from neighbor.

Additionally, as two neighborhoods in one community, joined by both history and development, Kensington and Talmadge should remain in the same council district. Our histories are strongly interrelated as parts of Kensington were developed ,as part of Talmadge and several sections of Kensington bear the Talmadge name.

Beyond keeping our two neighborhoods whole, and together in the same council district, our strongest communities of interest and connections outside of our neighborhoods are to our west and to our south.

DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS

Overall all, Kensington and Talmadge were laid out with a preponderant use of the grid street pattern prevalent in other older neighborhoods, as is found in Normal Heights, North Park, and University Heights to our west, as well as City Heights to our south. This grid street pattern, developed before the widespread ownership of multiple automobiles, is not seen in neighborhoods to our east and north. There is far more use of the cul-de-sac in College, Eastern Area, and north of I-8 in Allied Gardens, Navajo and Del Cerro. So much so, that these areas are almost a foreign land to us.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Having been laid out in the 1910s and 1920s, the age or our infrastructure is similar to the older neighborhoods to our west in Normal Heights, North Park, and University Heights and to our south in City Heights. College Area and points east and north are mostly much newer areas that don’t share infrastructure as aged as our own. This is an issue which is a primary responsibility of city government, and which requires a council member who can give it concentrated attention.

TRANSPORTATION

The major roads of MidCity are East/West thoroughfares. Our travel is primarily along these roads and mostly we travel towards our western neighbors. This includes both, bus transportation as well as personal automobiles, the management of which city government has substantial control.

LAND USE

Like our neighborhoods to the west and south, Kensington and Talmadge have been impacted by the development of the Huffman Six-Pack or the Huffman Hovel. The negative impacts of this building type cannot be over-emphasized as they affect all aspects of our community life – crime, trash, parking, graffiti, traffic congestion, and inadequate park space. Our neighborhoods look to our city leaders to address these negative impacts. These negative impacts are not seen in neighborhoods to our east and north, but are all too prevalent to our west and south.

REDEVELOPMENT

Kensington and Talmadge, by virtue of their 25 block long frontage along El Cajon Boulevard, share a strong interest in the redevelopment of this commercial corridor. While all of the neighborhoods along this corridor share this concern, the El Cajon Business Improvement Association extends only from Park Boulevard to 54th Street. Our council district should have El Cajon Boulevard and its concerns as a primary focal point, not as an afterthought.

Also, along with Normal Heights, Kensington and Talmadge are joined with City Heights in their Redevelopment Project Area. What happens in City Heights does not stay in City Heights and as residents of Kensington and Talmadge we have a natural interest in working with the leadership of City Heights to address the issues of this area. Additionally, there is a strong interrelationship between the City Heights Redevelopment Project Area and the El Cajon Business Improvement Association. These two bodies should maintain a strong connection through a single council office.

CONCLUSION

Finally, as I stated in my personal comments at the May 2nd, Redistricting Commission public forum, the current boundaries of our council district have worked well for Kensington and Talmadge. We support our continued inclusion, together and whole, with the neighborhoods to our west and south.

Sincerely,
David Moty Chair
Kensington-Talmadge Planning Group
www.ktpg.org/projects/redistrict/

You can also view the letter from KTPG as a PDF.