Monday, Feb. 11, 2008 | I think all San Diegans should line up behind Jerry Sanders and his plan to create a “conservancy” for Balboa Park.
Just like his brilliant plan to sell the top of cross-studded Mount Soledad to Uncle Sam for a dollar, and thus remove the temptation to use the tens of millions that chunk of real estate could have sold for from city misappropriation, the “conservancy” is a master stroke of negotiation, timing and business savvy.
If Sanders’ exciting direction for the park is followed, we could soon have something that would recreate the dazzling spectacle of the NTC — another unique, vast space that was intended to be a park, and is now a park row of homes, shopping centers and other structures that bring profit to deserving developers everywhere and service jobs to dozens of San Diegans.
NTC, San Dieguito Mountain-to-Beach Park, Petco Park — all these followed the plan that Mission Valley once took generations ago that turned an intended greenbelt into a thriving, vibrant and charming enclave full of freeways, car dealerships, condos and water courses during the rainy season. Balboa Park could do the same!
Just think, Jerry Sanders could become the mayor that changed San Diego forever! Let’s give Jerry a call today to tell him what his vision for Balboa Park means for San Diego’s future.