Little drama is expected at this year’s La Jolla Community Planning Association (LJCPA) annual election, wherein six candidates are running for six seats to serve a three-year term. Voting is open to members only. Currently there are 281 members. Residents, property owners and merchants can become members only after attending three LJCPA meetings. Polls are open from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 4 at La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St. Voters must present a picture ID and proxy voting — voting IN PLACE OF someone else — is not permitted. Note: Voting in the election does not qualify as having attended a LJCPA meeting. For more information call (858) 456-7900 or visit www.lajollacpa.org.   • Thirty-one-year-old Devin Burstein first became interested in the LJCPA when he received a notice last September that the property owner of his complex at 6767 Neptune Place intended to demolish the building and erect a new complex. He organized a group of subtenants to petition the LJCPA to oppose the project and launched a website, http://6767info.blogspot.com, to keep people informed. “Indeed, as a trustee, I would bring not only my legal knowledge but also a passion for protecting La Jolla’s character and environment,” Burstein said at the Feb. 4 meeting. “I would bring my deep respect for individual property rights, along with my belief that just because something can be done does not mean that it should be done.” Burstein is a federal public defender. He moved to La Jolla two years ago from Manhattan, where he was born and raised. He lives with his fiancé and a rescue dog at Neptune Place in Windansea. • Rob Whittemore, 65, led the fight to protect the LJCPA when the mayor’s office threatened to decertify it as La Jolla’s official planning group in 2007. He helped rewrite the group’s bylaws. Whittemore served on the LJCPA and La Jolla Town Council (LJTC) in the 1980s, and served as vice-president of the LJCPA and as president of the LJTC two years ago. He currently serves on the “Visions” subcommittee for the La Jolla Shores Planned District Ordinance Update Committee. “I understand the importance of maintaining a balance on the LJCPA of both development and preservationist interests,” Whittemore wrote in a statement. “There is a great need to improve and upgrade the development process and help La Jolla serve as a model for other communities.” A 50-year resident of La Jolla, Whittemore already has a clear mind about La Jolla’s positive and negative aspects that he listed as: “Good: Village beautification, ‘seahorse’ benches, native and sustainable landscaping, story poles, harmoniously scaled development, 90-minute un-metered parking, transparency in community groups, seals, farmers markets, the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial. “Bad: 939 Coast Blvd. condominium, The Seville condominium, three stories in Bird Rock, seedy news racks, potholes, dirty streets, unlawful signage, loss of independent retailers, noise and light pollution, officious parking ticket writers.” • Laura DuCharme Conboy, 52, is an architect whose firm, DuCharme Architecture, has focused largely on residential architecture within and around La Jolla since its inception in 1992. “La Jolla is one of the most beautiful places to live, given the amazing natural beauty and rich historical and architectural heritage,” DuCharme said. “We need to simultaneously preserve and improve these assets. Within my practice I frequently address the often-conflicting issues of development, preservation and sustainability.” DuCharme is currently a member of the LJCPA Development Permit Review Committee. Due to her work, DuCharme is well versed in the city’s Municipal Code, La Jolla’s Community Plan, the La Jolla Shores Planned District Ordinance (PDO) and the La Jolla PDO. DuCharme began working in La Jolla in 1981 and moved here two years later. She married a La Jolla native who was born at the original Scripps Hospital on Prospect Street. She has two daughters: a seventh-grader at Muirlands Middle School and a first-grader at La Jolla Elementary School. • Michael Costello, 64, was one of the industrious volunteers behind the effort to revamp Bird Rock. Incumbent Costello helped set up a Maintenance Assessment District (M.A.D.) to landscape the boulevard in 2004 and 2005. He worked to revise the Planned District Ordinance in Bird Rock in 2005-06. Costello was one of the founders of the Bird Rock Traffic Calming Task Force, which worked to protect the neighborhood from diverted traffic and to ensure the roundabouts were functional. He is a “No Third Story” advocate, and rallied with other residents to prevent a developer from building a three-story retail/residential complex in a two-story zone in Bird Rock. Costello also serves on the La Jolla Town Council and the Bird Rock Community Council. “I would be honored to continue serving La Jolla as a trustee of the LJCPA and to help implement La Jolla’s Community Plan in a fair, equitable, reasonable and predictable manner,” Costello said. Costello is a retired electron microscopist/chemist who operated his own analytical laboratory. • Ray Weiss, 54, is familiar with La Jolla from a real estate and scientific perspective. He is a residential and commercial property owner, and investor in real estate. Weiss is also a professor and associate dean at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where he received his Ph.D. in earth science. Weiss said he is most concerned about preserving the cottage character of La Jolla. Weiss believes that the charm of the village has diminished over the years since many of the older, one-story homes have been replaced with multi-story homes. “I am committed to work for a rational balance among the competing interests in our community, while also striving to maintain and improve the quality of life that makes La Jolla a special place to live, work and visit,” Weiss said. He just finished a three-year term with LJCPA and also served a term with the La Jolla Town Council. He continues to represent the town council on the La Jolla Coastal Access and Parking Board. • Incumbent Tim Lucas is most concerned about poorly planned development in La Jolla that he believes has caused intolerable traffic and infrastructure problems. “We have to be very careful with planning and permits from now on,” Lucas said. “It is more important than ever to make sure that future developments meet the Planned District Ordinance (PDO) codes and fit into the community.” Lucas is working with a recently formed group to revise the La Jolla Shores PDO, which governs development in the Shores. Lucas opposed installing parking meters, which he believes would negatively affect residents and merchants and not solve the fundamental parking problem. Lucas is a native La Jollan who works in computer support. He is the past president of the LJCPA and a member of the La Jolla Shores Association and La Jolla Shores Permit Review Committee.