Future Vision Missing

Community chatter about the General Plan Update and the Right to Vote Initiative are too often reminiscent of those predictions of the future we used to see years ago.

Without a clue of what was coming in technology, ecology, politics, economics, culture or social dynamics; the vision of the future was simply a tricked out version of the status quo. And it is funny.

Here is a 1967 short minute and a half of Walter Cronkite visiting a home office in the 21st century. The obsession with gadgets (albeit clunky and huge) and the failure to acknowledge women hasn't really changed much at its essence in almost 50 years.

Tonight at the Encinitas City Council meeting we will hear the realtors, developers and other business interests version of the future land use for housing in Encinitas via the ERAC report. The Planning Commission report and the GPAC report were given in the previous to weeks. Neither of these reports or the speakers gave much of a clue to what the future might hold for our community beyond more of the same. Maybe the agendas were kept really narrow for some reason.

Innovative thinking has yet to be encountered since the so-called start up or in community reaction that followed. Lots of passion and effort, but envisioning the future or innovation - not so much. Besides ignoring completely the known challenges of our new century's climate change, fossil fuel depletion/pollution, economic breakdown; there was no strategy to address how our community might address shortages in our currently strong supplies in water, food or energy as current systems change. 

Oh wait, Mayor Barth has suggested rethinking the density bonus to fit our community and its resources, asked that certification for existing market low income housing be explored, recommended dozens of articles on housing and land use trends, challenges, alternatives and patterns in her weekly "Thought You Might Like to Know" newsletter's Food for Thought. Imagine if the new city council members and some city residents follow through and support some of this direction? Maybe something that recognizes a changing world could be incorporated into the news coverage of Encinitas' housing, land use, transportation, environment and economy.  

Tonight is also going to be about basics in our City Budget.  This is welcome if we are to acknowledge that we are immersed in change and the economy is not just going through a little bump. Citizens have been begging for open government and a clear picture of the City Budget.  As we have been seeing since this new council began, we are getting what we requested and this is good. My first questions . . . Have we a range of revenue sources for our city? If not, will this be explored? 

video source

Mayor Teresa Arballo Barth provided a link to a Western City (CA League of Cities magazine) article that captured the energy of the Dec. 30 Post, We ALL Can Do It. This is a real thing in the real world, yet it feels more like a Tell-A-Vision opportunity.

Santa Monica has taken a national program, Rosie's Girls and given it a civic twist. This sounds like something Encinitas would be perfect for expanding our growing community building muscles and long term resilience. With a new council of dynamic women leaders, we have an encouraging model for our town's daughters to be able to emulate. And, doesn't this seem an especially good entrée for more diversity in our predominantly white city government and activist ranks?

The City Becomes a Classroom

Each summer, as part of the Rosie’s Girls Santa Monica program, more than 60 girls between the ages of 11 and 13 don hard hats, wield hammers and take blowtorches in hand as they go behind the scenes to find out what it really takes to run a city. Over the course of three intense weeks, the girls actively take part in nearly all city functions from carpentry to plumbing, tree trimming and more. They also sit in the hot seat behind the dais at a mock city council meeting. The combination of creative expression and daily challenges increases leadership capacity, stimulates critical thinking about gender equity and has participants looking forward to more.

“Our program takes the original Rosie’s Girls model one step further by transforming the participants’ hometown into a classroom,” says Julie Rusk, human services manager for the City of Santa Monica and co-founder of Rosie’s Girls Santa Monica. “Learning about a city from the inside out creates an extraordinary opportunity to connect girls with their community, while having lots of fun.”

For a general sense of Rosie's Girls, the following video clip of a Vermont camp captures the excitement these girls and their parents feel about this program.

The week of Jan. 16th our new city council members, including Deputy Mayor Lisa Shaffer will be at a League of Cities training conference.  It would be great (in a continuation of the Tell-A-Vision theme) if she and her councilmen colleagues have a chance to meet someone from Santa Monica to find out first hand about this wonderful program for the young women of Santa Monica.  Having more than a decade of data on their Rosie's Girls Santa Monica, the success rate for their community is impressive.

Empowering and Inspiring Girls 

A recent study of the Rosie’s Girls past and present found that 96 percent of respondents reported increased overall confidence, with 97 percent indicating that the program made them believe they could do and be whatever they wanted. Parents often notice this change in their daughters. Eugene, a Rosie’s Girls father, believed he could see confidence building in his daughter thanks to the program; he was sure it would benefit her throughout her life. [ . . . ]

The program has also created a stronger community. Among past participants, 90 percent reported increased community service and advocacy and 88 percent assumed leadership roles in various settings. 

By exposing young women to civic functions, professional careers and technical trades, Rosie’s Girls Santa Monica encourages them to expand their view of what they can achieve and enhances their sense of community at a particularly vulnerable time in their development. 

The emphasis was mine. Their first participants would be in their twenties now. For anyone interested in personally taking some action, the following information is for you.

Contact: Carla Fantozzi, principal supervisor, community services programs, Human Services Division, Community and Cultural Services Department, City of Santa Monica; phone: (310) 458-8688; email: carla.fantozzi@smgov.net.