Let me begin with purposeful clarity, the state of our city is fortunate, and deliberately so.
I'd like to take you on a short geographic tour of our community's neighborhoods to the North, South, East and West (yes, West) of us. At the end of our little journey, I think you will also come to the same conclusion that I have; the state of our city is strong, and fortunate, by design.
To our North, we have an exceptionally strong alliance with our friends at Westfield Mall where the annual chamber Business Expo showcases hundreds of local business and community non profit groups to thousands of area consumers.
To our South, in keeping with the community plan, we have substantial build out of the city's resort and commercial districts including industrial lands along El Camino Real and Palomar Airport Rd. There is a world class hotel and resort complex that I know a little something about next to Legoland.
Still farther south, our friends at La Costa are embarking upon a multi-million dollar renovation and upgrade plan as well. In the very near future, I predict Mayor Bud Lewis, Councilman Matt Hall and Councilman Mark Packard will be some of the very first golfers to tee it up at the long anticipated municipal golf course in the Southwest corner of the city. Next to the golf course, I commend the mayor and council for listening to the citizens and working to achieve compromise in the preservation of the Cannon Road area and Strawberry Fields.
To our East we have major residential projects coming on line such as Bressi Ranch. With those improvements will come new schools, community parks and the new La Costa branch of the Boys and Girls Club.
Which brings me back to the heart of Carlsbad, and our village center.
Currently underway is the economic revitalization plan to turn the village into one of the city's premier business and residential neighborhoods. The Chamber is an active, leading partner in the revitalization of the village. It's one of my favorite parts of the city.
Now, let me turn to the West of us. Many of you may be scratching your heads. 'Tim,' you say, 'Carlsbad is on the ocean, we have no neighbor to the west of us, just the ocean.' True enough.
However, I have gray hair because I can remember in the not too distant past when gasoline and water were rationed. Do you recall waiting in line at the gas pumps for hours depending on your license plate for an odd or even day at the pumps?
Of course, as I recall, gas was about a buck a gallon in those days and I'm not so sure I wouldn't line up for that again today if I had the chance.
We are hooked on imported oil and imported water. Kicking both of those bad habits, as soon as possible, should be a top priority nationally and locally.
As most of you know, and for those who don't, here is an important lesson in geography: Carlsbad, and all of San Diego County, is at the end of the line when it comes to water. More than 90% of that liquid gold comes to us in a pipe from rivers and reservoirs far to our east. The next time you fly over Lake Mead near Las Vegas, peak out the airplane's window. Have you noticed that giant ring, like a bleached bone in the desert, around the lake's shoreline as the water level continues to drop?
Also, in the not too distant past, do you recall people not being able to wash their cars, water their lawns or do laundry on certain days because of a water shortage? Remember the folks in Santa Barbara who had their gardeners spray paint their dead lawns with green dye? Which leads me to our neighbor located West of us and the fortunate state of our city.
Our city is blessed with visionary leadership, strong financial footing and politically mature officials.
Bud Lewis and his council colleagues, Matt Hall, Mark Packard, Ann Kulchin and Norine Sigafoose, have wisely looked over the horizon, for many, many years into the future, and endorsed Peter MacLaggan's desalinization plant. This plant will pump millions of gallons of fresh water to a faucet near you through a new pipeline system throughout Carlsbad. Being at the end of the imported water cul-de-sac will no longer be our Achilles Heel. This will benefit generations of future citizens and businesses in our city. I encourage you to return the mayor, Matt Hall and Mark Packard to their posts with an election victory so they can finish their work on this vitally important project.
And as I look to our West, I see one of our greatest natural resources in Carlsbad, our beaches. Again, I see the wisdom of the chamber and the city working together to protect one of our greatest assets. By forming a hotel tourism district that raises a dollar for every head on a bed in the city's hotels, we market Carlsbad as its own brand, specifically to vacationers. By doing this, we are wisely investing in our future. Those vacation dollars turn into what I like to call sand dollars and are spent throughout our city, many times over, benefiting business and government alike.
In conclusion to my little geographic trip around our city I'd like to ask: Does Carlsbad have its challenges? To be sure, we do. They include affordable housing for our workforce and finally stopping road construction on every single avenue in the city.
But we are fortunate, by design, to have leaders and citizens who are actively looking at the challenges of today and turning them into solutions for tomorrow's generations yet to come.
I'd like to take you on a short geographic tour of our community's neighborhoods to the North, South, East and West (yes, West) of us. At the end of our little journey, I think you will also come to the same conclusion that I have; the state of our city is strong, and fortunate, by design.
To our North, we have an exceptionally strong alliance with our friends at Westfield Mall where the annual chamber Business Expo showcases hundreds of local business and community non profit groups to thousands of area consumers.
To our South, in keeping with the community plan, we have substantial build out of the city's resort and commercial districts including industrial lands along El Camino Real and Palomar Airport Rd. There is a world class hotel and resort complex that I know a little something about next to Legoland.
Still farther south, our friends at La Costa are embarking upon a multi-million dollar renovation and upgrade plan as well. In the very near future, I predict Mayor Bud Lewis, Councilman Matt Hall and Councilman Mark Packard will be some of the very first golfers to tee it up at the long anticipated municipal golf course in the Southwest corner of the city. Next to the golf course, I commend the mayor and council for listening to the citizens and working to achieve compromise in the preservation of the Cannon Road area and Strawberry Fields.
To our East we have major residential projects coming on line such as Bressi Ranch. With those improvements will come new schools, community parks and the new La Costa branch of the Boys and Girls Club.
Which brings me back to the heart of Carlsbad, and our village center.
Currently underway is the economic revitalization plan to turn the village into one of the city's premier business and residential neighborhoods. The Chamber is an active, leading partner in the revitalization of the village. It's one of my favorite parts of the city.
Now, let me turn to the West of us. Many of you may be scratching your heads. 'Tim,' you say, 'Carlsbad is on the ocean, we have no neighbor to the west of us, just the ocean.' True enough.
However, I have gray hair because I can remember in the not too distant past when gasoline and water were rationed. Do you recall waiting in line at the gas pumps for hours depending on your license plate for an odd or even day at the pumps?
Of course, as I recall, gas was about a buck a gallon in those days and I'm not so sure I wouldn't line up for that again today if I had the chance.
We are hooked on imported oil and imported water. Kicking both of those bad habits, as soon as possible, should be a top priority nationally and locally.
As most of you know, and for those who don't, here is an important lesson in geography: Carlsbad, and all of San Diego County, is at the end of the line when it comes to water. More than 90% of that liquid gold comes to us in a pipe from rivers and reservoirs far to our east. The next time you fly over Lake Mead near Las Vegas, peak out the airplane's window. Have you noticed that giant ring, like a bleached bone in the desert, around the lake's shoreline as the water level continues to drop?
Also, in the not too distant past, do you recall people not being able to wash their cars, water their lawns or do laundry on certain days because of a water shortage? Remember the folks in Santa Barbara who had their gardeners spray paint their dead lawns with green dye? Which leads me to our neighbor located West of us and the fortunate state of our city.
Our city is blessed with visionary leadership, strong financial footing and politically mature officials.
Bud Lewis and his council colleagues, Matt Hall, Mark Packard, Ann Kulchin and Norine Sigafoose, have wisely looked over the horizon, for many, many years into the future, and endorsed Peter MacLaggan's desalinization plant. This plant will pump millions of gallons of fresh water to a faucet near you through a new pipeline system throughout Carlsbad. Being at the end of the imported water cul-de-sac will no longer be our Achilles Heel. This will benefit generations of future citizens and businesses in our city. I encourage you to return the mayor, Matt Hall and Mark Packard to their posts with an election victory so they can finish their work on this vitally important project.
And as I look to our West, I see one of our greatest natural resources in Carlsbad, our beaches. Again, I see the wisdom of the chamber and the city working together to protect one of our greatest assets. By forming a hotel tourism district that raises a dollar for every head on a bed in the city's hotels, we market Carlsbad as its own brand, specifically to vacationers. By doing this, we are wisely investing in our future. Those vacation dollars turn into what I like to call sand dollars and are spent throughout our city, many times over, benefiting business and government alike.
In conclusion to my little geographic trip around our city I'd like to ask: Does Carlsbad have its challenges? To be sure, we do. They include affordable housing for our workforce and finally stopping road construction on every single avenue in the city.
But we are fortunate, by design, to have leaders and citizens who are actively looking at the challenges of today and turning them into solutions for tomorrow's generations yet to come.