Por Mickey Zeichick

Our next San Carlos Area Council (SCAC) meeting will be Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. in the San Carlos Branch Library, 7265 Jackson Drive. Our meetings are open to the public. Our guest speaker will be San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith.

At our September meeting, California State Senator Marty Block spoke to a standing-room-only crowd. His presentation went the full 35 minutes and I told him I would yield the next 10 minutes to him. He currently has over 10 Assembly Bills on the Governor’s desk to be signed or vetoed. If they are not signed or vetoed by the end of September, then they will pass into law unsigned.

Block spoke about his philosophy on all levels of education. There is definitely a need for community colleges, trade schools/colleges, public and private universities. It is important to ask a lot of questions before committing to a “for profit” college or university.

Block is not only about education, but about people, all ages. He is concerned about foster youth; those that get incarcerated; those that “experiment” with drugs and the warning signs of someone getting into trouble (depression, drugs, financial). We do need to take care of those that cannot speak for themselves. As he was leaving the podium (before questions and answers), SCAC board member Rita Hartman gave a beautiful thank you to the senator and the audience gave a standing ovation.

Also on our agenda was Magnolia Science Academy Principal Gokhan Serce who gave us an update on this project. This school is located at the former Cleveland Elementary School site on Lake Atlin Avenue. This site was sold to developers who will be building new single-family houses, but will give continued respect to the memorial plaque in memory of the victims of the school shooting that occurred on Jan. 29, 1979. Magnolia will remain at that site until mid-June 2017 and the school is in negotiations to relocate to Allied Gardens near Foster Elementary School. Magnolia’s Common Core State Test Results for year 2015-2016 was rated number two in all of San Diego Unified School Districts Middle Schools, and way above the state average.

San Carlos Branch Library has made some changes to the rules of conduct. You can now take your covered beverage (non-alcoholic) into the library and you can talk on your cell phone in your best library voice — providing you do not disturb anyone. The library branch will be closed only on the actual holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. New and exciting programs are starting and if you have an idea of your own for a program, bring it to the attention of David Ege.

The Lake Murray Pipeline Relining Project will reline approximately 5,750 feet of pipeline from the northern part of Lake Murray to the city of San Diego’s Alvarado Water Treatment Plant (AWTP). The work includes decommissioning the Water Authority’s Alvarado Hydroelectric Facility. This section of pipeline was not relined during previous projects because it was necessary to keep this section of pipe active to deliver untreated water to the AWTP. Construction crews will conduct most of the work underground, inside the pipe. The work will not interrupt water service. Construction begins late-2016 and ends mid-2017.

SCAC dues are due ($7 per household and $15 for business). Please send your checks for membership to: SCAC P.O. Box 19246, San Diego, CA 92159-0246.

The Interested Persons List is being re-created; please contact me if you haven’t received something from me before you get this issue of the Mission Times Courier.

—Mickey Zeichick is president of the San Carlos Area Council. Reach her at [email protected].