SDRotary - Getting Involved

April 21, 2004

This week’s Bulletin was written by Leah Swearingen

Important Reminder: Next week’s meeting, April 28, is Vocational Services Day. Do not come to the University Club.

Opening

President Frank opened the meeting with an invitation for David Buro to lead us in the pledge of allegiance.

Linda Jalving, Jim Mulvaney and President Frank lured the Rotarians into a tortured version of “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” before wisely changing course to conclude our singing time with a decent rendition of “God Bless America.” Mr. Rogers and his cardigan are no doubt still whirling over in the grave.

No fewer than three visiting Rotarians presented us with flags from their far-away clubs, including Barbados, Sydney, Australia, and Kentucky.

Announcements

Ø The District Conference takes place this weekend at the Barona Casino. Spaces are still available. Contact President Frank if you would like to attend.

Ø Thanks to the hard work of Ron Erbetta, our 2004 fundraiser has reached its goal to raise $12,000 in pre-event sponsors. Several Rotarians and/or their companies have graciously stepped forward to become Gold Sponsors at the $1,000 level, including:

Community First Bank (soon to be Bank of the West)

Lang & Associates

Mack Barclay

Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves and Savitch

Susan and Steve Davis

Ron Erbetta.

Ø Linda Jalving is the current reigning queen of bringing in the most auction items, with 11 items under her belt. Whoever brings in the most auction items will receive a $50 gift certificate to any one of the Cohn restaurants. Contact Maureen Eberle if you have an auction item.

Ø Check out the great PR we got on the Senior Community Centers’ website for our recent contribution: http://www.servingseniors.org/whatsnew.htm.

New Members

Mike Sisson welcomed two new members to our club, although one of the new members, Scott Carr, is well known to our club through his past leadership of the Downtown Rotaract Club. Scott served as President of Rotaract for almost two years, and has always been involved in community service. Scott and his lovely wife, Heather, used their wedding registry to raise funds for seniors last year! He founded his own company, SaveWealth.com, which is a financial website that has been featured in CNN Money and Entrepreneur Magazine.

Dave McKee comes to our club through long-time friend, Ron Erbetta. Dave had a successful career in the plumbing industry for more than 20 years, including founding Torrey Pines Plumbing. He is a member and past president of the Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling Contractors Association (PHCC). He sold his company in 1997, and made a career change into the field of Insurance and Financial Services. Dave is a member of Good Samaritan Episcopal Church and sings in the choir. He and his wife of 35 years, Susan, have two grown children and two grandchildren.

Welcome to these two terrific new members!

proposed new member

The following individual has been proposed as a new member of our Club and will be inducted under the classification listed below unless written objection is received by our Club Secretary within ten days of the date of this Bulletin:

Ø Proposed Member: Jonathan Stone
Proposed Classification: Marketing Director
Proposer: George Thomas

Speaker, Police Chief Bill Lansdowne

Lou Scanlon introduced our enthusiastic new police chief, Bill Lansdowne. Chief Lansdowne came from San Jose’s police force, which he led for almost 30 years. He also served as Richmond’s police chief, where he reduced the homicide rate by 50% before returning to the leadership position at San Jose. He joined SDPD in August 2003. Chief Lansdowne oversees 3,000 employees and a budget of $250 million plus, at the same time he juggles the demands and politics of City Hall and a diverse community. Every day, 1.2 million San Diegans depend on SDPD for protection.

Chief Lansdowne educated us all about the esteem in which SDPD is held throughout the United States. In a time when many major cities are struggling with myriad law enforcement issues, SDPD is held up as role model for best practices in many areas. In fact, Chief Lansdowne referred to SDPD as the “Fortune 500” of law enforcement in America. As a few examples, Chief Lansdowne cited the following:

Ø Community Policing. According to Chief Lansdowne, community policing was born in San Diego. We have the most viable system in America, and have been a training ground in community policing for 14 years.

Ø Largest Volunteer Program. Chief Lansdowne attributes San Diego’s great culture and the kindness of its community members as reasons for a large pool of community policing volunteers.

Ø Domestic Violence. San Diego’s program has what is called a “wraparound” program for domestic violence. That means there is a comprehensive group of volunteers including chaplains, childcare workers, physicians and others serving the needs of victims of domestic violence. San Diego’s program is a template for 12 other cities.

Ø Homeless. This problem plagues America on the national level. Chief Lansdowne noted a trend of more women, and people with limited income, in the ranks of the homeless. San Diego has developed “HOT” teams, which stands for “Homeless Outreach Teams.” A neighborhood program also works with people who are homeless due to drug or alcohol problems.

The challenges facing SDPD include a lack of up-to-date equipment. For the last decade, the City of San Diego has not maintained the necessary law enforcement equipment. Police officers are using bulletproof vests that are more than 20 years old, and were hand-me-downs from the military. Our “SWAT” team van is a converted U-Haul truck. In addition to our citizens, tourists want to feel safe anywhere they travel. SDPD needs the proper equipment to do that.

In conclusion, Chief Lansdowne impressed us all with his glowing and optimistic portrayal of San Diego’s police force. We can all be proud of the great force we have here, including our own Lou Scanlon! Lou and the Chief meet every morning at 5:15 for a daily debriefing, coffee, and to watch the sun rise.

The meeting concluded at 8:30 a.m. with the Chief picking a winning raffle ticket that had Jim Mulvaney’s number on it!

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