Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007 | Our councilman, Jim Madaffer recently said that mini-dorms were a problem 17 years ago when he worked for Judy McCarthy and they are still a problem today. Funny he didn’t figure that out eight years ago when he took office. This was clearly evident from his no vote Monday night on the Rooming House Ordinance, the result of which will be that we will be living with mini-dorms for at least several more years. I know his time in office will be up in December 2008, but I figure it will take at least that long for his replacement to undo all the damage he has done.
To the guy who was supposed to be the champion of our fight, here is our message: please don’t. His devotion to patchwork solutions like limiting parking and squelching noise complaints speaks volumes about how little he understands or cares. The Residential High Occupancy Ordinance which he championed does limit parking; yes another “tool in the tool box.” But his Walter Middi-like decision to tie that to the Rooming House ordinance further confused other council members, some of whom strangely enough were his buddies on the Land Use and Housing Committee and should have known better.
The Ordinance that could have really made the difference for all our neighborhoods, not just the College area — the Rooming House Ordinance — he sliced and diced it with an un-discernable objective in mind all the while not really comprehending the responses he received from the questions posed to the City Attorney and the DSD. Meanwhile, Donna Frye worked overtime attempting to bridge the gap between Madaffer’s lack of understanding and Development Services’ inability (I’d say refusal) to cooperate with the City Attorney.
Yes it was government in San Diego at it’s finest — an inept city councilman and a dysfunctional discussion between the mayor’s office and the city attorney! God bless Donna Frye for having the fortitude to put up with this day in and day out.