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State of City speech delivered by Pfeiler
By J. Harry Jones
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 25, 2007

ESCONDIDO – In her upbeat and smile-till-you-drop kind of way, Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler said it's all about economic development and jobs, jobs, jobs.



Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler
During a State of the City address given during a breakfast meeting yesterday morning, Pfeiler said Escondido has many strengths.

The first, she said, warning people not to laugh, is that the members of the City Council all get along.

Yes, she acknowledged, there is the view that they don't. Recent well-publicized disagreements about ways to address illegal immigration and homelessness have created the image that the council is at odds.

But not really. “It's a perception throughout the region that we need to work on,” she said.

In reality, the mayor said, despite recent debates about controversial issues, the council is united in its desire to raise the median income of the city and to attract higher-paying jobs.

“My perception . . . is that the whole country is struggling with illegal immigration,” she said. “We know that. But we don't think the city of Escondido should claim that as our own personal problem. I think it presents an image to the region that we don't necessarily want to portray.”



Advertisement Pfeiler said nobody likes change, and some longtime Escondido residents don't like the way the city is transforming.
“Demographics are changing,” she said. “The question is, 'how do we keep a sense of community?' ” Fifteen or 20 years ago, she said, one out of 20 people in the country was an immigrant. Now that figure is one out of eight. In California, she said, one out of every three adults is foreign born.

“It's not just Escondido, we must recognize it's the entire state,” Pfeiler said. “No matter where you go you're going to have that same uncomfort.”

Pfeiler listed a number of things she said the city is doing right. Finances are strong, she said. The city has a thriving downtown that has its own identity, unlike many other cities in North County.

A hospital is about to be built and an industrial park is preparing to welcome businesses. New police and fire department facilities are planned and transportation issues are being addressed with the widening of Interstate 15 and the Sprinter commuter train that will connect Escondido to the coast, probably by early next year.

During a question-and-answer session, one man wanted to know where the city is going on illegal immigration. Pfeiler said the majority of the council wants to take action, and something should be coming up for a vote in the next couple months.

That action is most likely a policy that will welcome the U.S. Border Patrol to work side-by-side with police at routine DUI, seat belt and driver's license checkpoints, and possibly during prostitution sweeps.

After the meeting, Police Chief Jim Maher said a draft of a report about such a policy, prepared at the council's request, should be submitted to the city manager's office by Feb. 14.

Pfeiler also said recommendations from a committee studying the need for a new library should be presented to the council next month. She repeatedly said there is a big need for a new library, which is used by about 2,600 people daily.

The mayor was also asked about the homeless issue and the image of the council as being heartless after it denied permission to the Salvation Army to open a cold-weather shelter. Pfeiler supported the shelter.

“We've worked really hard to get that image, haven't we?” she responded.

Pfeiler said since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide emergency, it allowed her to ask that the National Guard Armory be opened during the recent cold spell. But she said the armory will close Saturday.

“After that,” she said sarcastically, “the sun will come up and it will be real warm.”



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