With last week’s vote by the city’s Land Use and Housing Committee to recommend new Campland leases in the northeast corner of Mission Bay, ReWild Mission Bay supporters have been asking, “What can I do?”
The answer is – a lot. We need you. Here are three things you can do to help ReWild Mission Bay, right now:
1 – Keep showing up for meetings.
Your presence in your teal ReWild Mission Bay shirt adds to our bloc of support, and serves as a visual reminder to elected officials, your neighbors, and the media that there’s two sides to this story.
Plus, when you’re at a meeting you can choose to speak on our behalf, or cede your time to another speaker.
Here’s a list of meetings we need you to attend.
2 – Keep writing letters and making calls.
When politicians don’t hear from the public, they assume nothing is wrong. Write your elected officials letters, send e-mails and make phone calls. Remind your friends, family, colleagues and neighbors what’s at stake and what we hope to accomplish with ReWild Mission Bay, and have them write letters and make calls.
Let your elected officials know we are prepared to give a full presentation on the ReWild Mission Bay plan options to the city’s Environment Committee, and that we want the city to fully consider our “Wildest” option in what’s called the Program Environmental Impact Report, or PEIR, with as much transparent, deliberative care as the city’s preferred option.
You can easily send a note via the ReWild Mission Bay Action Network portal, or send a personalized e-mail or letter. Let your city officials know restoring wetlands and ReWilding Mission Bay is critical to you and your family.
3 – Write opinion pieces and letters to the editor.
Opinion pieces, or op/eds, are critical to ensuring voices from our neighborhoods and communities are heard, and they serve as reminders to media outlets that ReWild Mission Bay is a story that needs to be covered.
Write about what Mission Bay means to you and your family, your desire for better water quality, and the opportunity San Diego has to make Mission Bay a restoration and civic showpiece on par with Balboa Park.
While you’re at it, note that backroom deals and rushed planning processes cannot dictate long-term policy in our city, or with our bay.
Don’t forget to join the ReWild Mission Bay coalition at the Pacific Beach Town Council this Wednesday, June 19, at 6:30 p.m. in the Crown Point Elementary School auditorium, located at 4033 Ingraham St., San Diego, CA 92109.
Most important, plan on being at San Diego City Council on Monday, June 24, at 1 p.m., as the full council votes on the proposed lease recommendations.
Keep up to date with all the latest news at the ReWild Mission Bay website.
Photo by Roy Little, courtesy of Friends of Mission Bay Marshes.