We'll Play on Your Grass But We Won't Sleep in Your Hotels

In my last post, I talked about the years we spent coaching a youth soccer team. Our team was a "recreational" team. All of our players lived in Poway. All of our games were in Poway until the kids got older. When the kids got older, they played against teams from nearby cities, but all of the kids on the Poway teams were from Poway . Our season was from August 'til early December. We could sign up for tournaments during Thanksgiving break or after the regular season. We did that once or twice.

Some Poway parents wanted a more competitive experience for their kids. They formed a club called the "Vaqueros", which became the competitive branch of the Poway Youth Soccer League (PYSL). Back then, there were only a few teams. Today, the Vaqueros have over 25 teams of youth players. The Vaqueros teams are further subdivided into green teams and white teams, the green teams being the more skilled. The teams have professional, paid coaches. Here is what the Vaqueros website says about the green teams:

Green Teams: Green teams are comprised of the top talent in each of the specific age groups. A professionally trained and licensed coach is assigned to the team to provide education and training at the highest level and must meet certain requirements relating to their soccer background. Green team players are selected based on their desire to commit to the team for an entire season, which could be anywhere from 7 to 10 months, and will involve participation in local, and out of town tournaments, including regional and state competitions. Participation on a Green team is a serious physical, emotional, and financial commitment.

The white teams also have professional coaches and play for a "7 month season". The hope is that their skills will improve enough to make it on to a green team. Many of the kids who play on the green and white Vaqueros teams are not local Poway kids. They are kids from nearby communities who want (or whose parents want them) to have some serious soccer training. The intensity of this training means that these kids spend a lot of time on the soccer field, and a lot of soccer fields are necessary to meet the needs of the kids who are accepted into the Vaquero program.

Poway's General Plan was written back in the days when we had a recreational youth soccer club in town, where Poway players played for a 4 month season against other Poway players. The General Plan doesn't provide for enough park space for a semi-professional sports league that trains kids from a regional area almost year round. Poway Youth Soccer League (PYSL) is well organized and has used their organizational ability to pressure the Poway City Council to light several fields, including Arbolitos, to accommodate their interests. Lighting Arbolitos has hit a snag because the people who bought homes overlooking what was originally designated open space weren't too happy about having the sports fields there. And they are even madder now that the city has reneged on their promise to never light the fields. One resident, Peter De Hoff, filed a suit against the city. De Hoff claims that the city did not follow the correct procedure in making the decision to light the fields. What? We pay our city manager and staff top dollar and they don't bother to follow some basic legal procedures?

I'm gonna leave it up to the court to tell the city whether they needed to do a biological study before they made the decision to light the fields, although that one seems like a "no-brainer," as a certain member of our council is fond of saying. I want to focus on a different aspect of the Arbolitos lighting controversy.

In an Oct 21, 2010 letter to the editor in the Poway News Chieftain, Laura Van Tyne contends that Poway neighborhoods should give up their parks and open space for a sports business that caters to out-of-towners because it helps the Poway economy.

The PYSL has less than 1,400 members. It’s true that there are a number of non-Poway players. However,I would like to point out that most attend PUSD schools.

When parents drop off their child at practice many spend the hour shopping, doing errands, and then eating in restaurants within the city of Poway. This generates revenue for our local businesses that would otherwise go to businesses out of Poway.

I don't think this argument has any merits. First of all, what does it matter if the non-Poway kids are from PUSD? Their parents aren't paying for the upkeep of our parks if they don't live in Poway. Second, let me note that these lighted sports field are not located in north Poway neighborhoods. If you are a regular reader of Poway Blog, you might notice one of my recurring memes: land use in north Poway is for quality of life; in south Poway, it is for revenue generation. I take offense to the idea that south Poway should give up their open space and parks to kids from north Poway and non-Poway communities because their parents might shop in Poway and produce revenue for the city while doing so.

Outsiders shouldn't own our parks on the pretense that they will shop in our stores. I don't even believe that they shop in our stores. Most of north Poway doesn't even shop in Poway. And you want me to believe that these soccer moms and dads are shopping in Poway and not heading off to Carmel Mtn Ranch or RB after they drop off the kids?

I have evidence that the Poway Youth Soccer Club doesn't even think about promoting Poway businesses. Last weekend, the Poway Youth Soccer Club hosted a tournament called "Poway Country Shootout". Teams had to pay $300- $350 to play in the tournament. All of the games were played at Arbolitos, Meadowbrook and Valley School fields, fields in south Poway where the City of Poway has spent millions of dollars to install artificial turf, lights and/or to maintain the fields. Although most of the teams that entered the tournament were from nearby communities, out-of-the-area teams were invited too. On their web page, the Poway Youth Soccer League suggested that these teams stay at hotels in Rancho Bernardo and Scripps Ranch. Not a single one of the three Poway hotels was on their list, even though they were closer to the sports fields where the tournament was held.

Shop Poway? Naahhhh, not PYSL.

Taxpayer Money in the Chamber's Pot

I am not a teabagger. I do not think the world is coming to an end because I have to pay taxes. I prefer government to anarchy. But I get really irked when government uses taxpayer money to prop up businesses.

When it comes to business, I am pretty much of a purist. In a capitalist system, businesses are seeking to make money. I'm all for it. Competition, entrepreneurship, making a profit, it is all fine. When government and business get in bed together, that's when things get messed up.

In my last post I wrote about how skewed and screwed up the budget gets when redevelopment agencies offer incentives to selected businesses. I don't think it is in the public's interest for government to decide which businesses should leave town, and which should be bestowed with millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies. I'm also not too keen on governments, like our Poway City Council, handing out grant money to the local chambers of commerce. This year, the Poway Chamber is asking the Council for $36,300.Chamber Grant Request

The Poway Council started giving the Poway Chamber of Commerce a little pot of money many years ago. Originally, they gave them a share of the T.O.T. (transient occupancy taxes). At the time, the Chamber ran something called a "visitor enhancement" program. The visitors were "economic tourists", people the Chamber tried to get to come and shop in Poway. The program has changed only slightly over the years, but the grant for the Chamber is now coming out of redevelopment funds instead of T.O.T taxes.

I visited the Poway Chamber and asked President Luanne Hulsizer just what the grant was going to be used for. Ms Hulsizer, who was very cordial and professional gave me a document outlining the distribution of funds.

2009-2010 Poway Chamber Grant Details

Of the $36,300 that the Chamber is asking for, $25,000 of it will go for administration, staffing, rent and supplies, in other words, a subsidy to the chamber. Another $2000 will go for the printing of "Shop Local" cards, $1400 for merchant decals, $1000 for printing a restaurant guide, $400 for membership in SD North Con/Vis, $3000 for the "State of the City" breakfast, $1500 for sponsorship of the Business Expo and another $1000 as an incentive to green businesses at the earth day festival. And $1000 for something that will be on "you-tube."

Most of the events, like the State of the City breakfast, the business expo, and the street fairs are actually fundraisers for the Chamber. According to the Chamber's 2007 IRS 990 tax return, they made $46,644 from the street fairs, $19,223 from the Business Expo, and $113 from Poway Days. No wonder the Chamber is no longer interested in sponsoring the Poway Days Parade; they are not making money off of it.

The goal of the Chamber is to "encourage and benefit the business community." They provide their members with the opportunity to network with each other and help them advertise themselves to the community. It is really about them, not us, the residents of Poway. And although they are subsidized by the city to promote the "Shop Poway" program, the Chamber does not always choose Poway first. This year's "State of the City" breakfast was held at Bernardo Heights Country Club. The Chamber's IRS forms are signed by a Rancho Bernardo tax accountant. And why not? The accountant and the Bernardo Heights Country Club are members of the Poway Chamber. Ms. Hulsizer said that about 60% of the members were Poway businesses, and about 40% were from somewhere else, mostly San Diego and other North County cities, although none of those cities help to subsidize the Poway Chamber. Poway does benefit from the regional interaction of the group members but they also lose business to competitors within the group that are located in other cities.

The grant will also help pay for a restaurant guide. The "guide" is a single sheet of paper with the names of restaurants and the name of the shopping center that they are located in. I've lived in Poway for over 30 years and I don't think I could name a half a dozen shopping centers in town to save my life. Just saying. I noticed that most of the restaurants in the guide are in Poway, with the exception of a handful, like, El Pollo Loco on Scripps Poway Pkwy and Panera Bread in Carmel Mtn Ranch. But who looks for a restaurant from a list on a piece of paper? My son got a new ipod phone recently. He showed me how he finds restaurants with his ipod application. He can see the location, the price range and the type of food served with a few clicks. That is how people shop for a place to eat nowadays. Just saying.

Ms Hulsizer also clued me in as to what the City did with the nearly $1000 they spent on "Shop Poway " bags. Apparently the Chamber stuffed the bags with some of their brochures and the restaurant guide and gave them out as welcome gifts to the employees of General Atomics. That's nice, but I would prefer if the restaurants that are named in the guide pay for those bags instead of the taxpayers.

I support the Poway Chamber members efforts to promote their businesses and to network with each other. There are other groups in town, even other business groups that do the same thing, although they may be smaller. I know of a Poway real-estate group that meets in the community center every Friday for an update on which homes have gone up for sale in Poway. That group is not subsidized by the City, in fact, they have to pay to use the room. Recently they were told that the city would no longer set up the tables and chairs for their use. I get it. The city is hard up for staff. So the paying customer gets stiffed, while the city shells out taxpayer money to a group that is only partially from Poway and wants free use of the streets for their fundraiser. And the City even sends someone over from public works to help close off the street and open it back up. Gratis. That I do not get.

I think the Chamber members will do a much better job of advertising themsleves if they use their own money. And if the City really wants to help businesses stay afloat, well then, why did they put a Wal-Mart in the center of town? And why would they even think of expanding it to a superstore? Just saying.

No Rain and No Parade

California is going to hell in a handbasket.

The economy still sucks.

Flipping multi-million dollar homes is getting tougher and tougher.

Water rationing starts in Poway on July 1st.

Need a little respite from bad news?

You're reading the wrong blog.

Poway plans to cancel the annual Poway Parade.

Yep. I found this nugget in tomorrow's budget update:

The Poway Chamber of Commerce and Community Services staffs have worked on a more cohesive approach to the month long Poway Days community celebration. The proposed changes would result in approximately $22,560 in budgetary savings. A concert funded by the summer concert series would occur Saturday September 12 in Community Park with a 90 minute family style evening community gathering. The event would replace Community Day at a net savings of $15,560 to the general fund. The Chamber would host a daytime western style community festival on Sunday, September 13 in lieu of the annual November Street Fair. This event has the potential to become a new signature event for Poway attracting regional interest and supporting the City s economic development objectives Similar to past Community Day events a community stage would showcase Poway recreation classes and there would be civic group booths and displays The parade would take a hiatus this year saving $7,000 in city staff overtirne expenses.

You didn't read it here first. Well, maybe you did. Bob Emery wrote about it in his June 3rd column in the Poway News Chieftain after getting a phone call from Betty Rexford telling him that "they" want to cut the Poway Days Parade.

..., the Poway Days Parade is the soul of Poway? It’s part of it. Sure, it really isn’t much of a parade compared to most, but it is Poway’s parade. What is next to go, Christmas in the Park? The kids fishing derby? Family campouts at Lake Poway? The summer concert series? The Train Song Festival? These, along with many, many other events, are the very soul of this community. They must be the very last items on the chopping block. Their relative costs are minimal and huge numbers of volunteer hours go into each one. They are what Poway is all about, kids families and community.

Me, I'm not a big fan of parades. I never watch the rose parade or the Macy's parade. I think it is really boring to watch a humongous balloon creep by. But when our kids were little, we took them to the Mother Goose Parade in El Cajon and dutifully trooped down to Poway Rd every September to watch our local parade. I think they liked it. I liked watching them enjoy it.

For me, the worst part of the Poway parades were the old western shootout re-enactments. I don't like watching armed robberies, western style or Citibank style. One year, I was taken hostage and "jailed" by costumed cowboys during the parade for not wearing a special badge. It was all in good fun. But my 2-yr old daughter wasn't having any of it. She screamed hysterically until they let me out of the "jail". The shoot-out terrified her.

My favorite part of the parade was hearing and seeing the Poway band marching by. They were always the best. No bias here. (Disclaimer- my kids were not in the band.)

The Poway parade dates back to well before we came to live in Poway in 1976. After the city incorporated, they changed the name of our annual celebration to "Poway Days" or "PowWow Days". At one point, I think, they renamed the parade "the heritage parade". Whatever. This year would have been the 45th annual Poway parade. Instead, it will be the year of the hiatus.

I'm with Bob on this, the parade is part of the "soul" of the community. It is the community. Kids, politicians, service groups, high school marching bands, beauty queens, soccer teams, clowns and church members. Supposedly, the name "Poway" is derived from an indian word, "Paguay" which translates to "meeting of little valleys." The Poway parade, has always been the meeting, the gathering of the people who live in those valleys.

I don't know who the "they" is that Mrs. Rexford thinks is canceling the parade. After all, she is one of the 5 deciders who will decide if the parade gets cut or not. To save the parade, the council will have to find $7000 in savings somewhere else. Might I offer a few suggestions?

Is the city still paying the chamber's expense for a part-time secretary to mail out brocures for prospective people who want to move to Poway? Might I suggest that they just post whatever is in those brochures on the internet and save themselves a big chunk of money?

And how about the Shop Poway campaign? This is a program funded by the taxpayers to try to convince folks to shop in Poway. The city pays for banners and hangs them around town to remind us to shop locally. There is no evidence that the money the city pumps into the program brings a return for the investment. In fact, there is anecdotal evidence that it doesn't.

This year, the chamber and city had their joint meeting featuring a stand-in for the mayor giving the state of the city address titled, "Poway, Your First Choice" at none other than a non-Poway location. Yep, they had it at the Bernardo Heights Country Club. Because the country club came in with a lower bid. Well, hello-o-o-o, I am gonna shop where I get the best bang for my buck too. So can we just scrap this program and have our parade instead?

Another possible cut is the July 4th fireworks at Poway High School. Other nearby communities are having 4th of July celebrations we could go to, so why not cancel our July 4th event and have our fireworks in September with our parade instead?

I can think of a few other places to save some money too, but they will have to wait for another post.

Ad from the Poway News Chieftain advertising the State of the City Breakfast