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The following is the content of an email sent by Vicki Estrada to Mayor Bob Filner and Alan Jones, and copied to San Diego EarthWorks.


As you know, I am the author of the Balboa Park Master Plan and Central Mesa Precise Plan.

I just found out that the Earth Day permit for this year has been denied and that a meeting is planned today on this subject. Here is my 2 cents worth.

It has always been the intent of the plans to allow these sorts of community activities to occur and prosper within the park. The public associates Earth Day with Balboa Park. This public association is an important one and deserves to be considered in any final decision.

Although attendance at the museums is typically down during Earth Day, the overall benefits to the park and its associated museums is positive and significant. I understand the reluctance of the museums to not want to have Earth Day in the park, but I believe it is short sighted.

In addition, a feel that a plan could be achieved that would not hinder the proposed construction of the Plaza de Panama project, specifically the Organ Pavilion lot excavation) and still be able to accommodate Earth Day. I wish not to upset any particular side in this issue and only ask that it does not become strictly a politically based decision on you part but rather an overall community benefit based decision.

Many local groups (ie Canyonlands) view Earth Day as a key outreach effort. These connections are vital to both Balboa Park and the associated Earth Day organizations. Could a scaled down version be held somewhere else? I suppose, but is it really necessary to move it? The message of Earth Day has never been more important than today and perhaps a stronger tie between the future of the earth and the future of Balboa Park could be developed that would allow both to occur in harmony.

I feel that allowing Earth Day to continue in Balboa Park (Central Mesa) will send a strong message to the community that these dual futures are critical to your administration. Can changes be made to the Earth Day logistics to minimize impacts? Of course. I offer my services to help you in this decision.

Vicki Estrada

 

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