SAN DIEGO – With the future of San Diego's domestic violence resource center in limbo, some city officials say they're concerned about a persistent lack of public discussion about the facility.
Scheduled meetings of the Family Justice Center's advisory board have twice been canceled at the direction of Mayor Jerry Sanders' top aide, though City Attorney Michael Aguirre has moved one back on the agenda.
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Online: For documents related to the proposed transfer of the Family Justice Center, go to uniontrib.com/more/fjc
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City law mandates quarterly meetings of the steering committee, whose members include the police chief, the city attorney, the fire chief and the chair of the city's Public Safety and Neighborhoods Services Committee. Their role is to advise the City Council on center issues and chart the agency's course through budgeting and programming matters.
Jay Goldstone, the city's chief operating officer, called off the April 30 meeting on the eve of Sanders' May 1 announcement that he wanted to turn the center over to former City Attorney Casey Gwinn and the YWCA.
Goldstone canceled the September meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, shortly before the center's director resigned and as Sanders was grappling with unexpected questions about how to accomplish the transfer to the YWCA.
Steering committee members said it's time to quit delaying. Aguirre called for Wednesday's meeting to go forward as originally planned. City Councilman Tony Young is to chair the meeting.
“We need to deal with some very important issues that will decide the future of the Family Justice Center,” Young said.
Young stopped short of criticizing the mayor's office for canceling the meetings, though he said it's vital to have a public discussion about who can best run the center.
“This is the time we must make some very strong policy decisions,” Young said.
On Sept. 24, the mayor's office is to make a presentation before the City Council's Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee regarding the proposed transfer.
In an interview last week, Goldstone denied canceling the steering committee meetings. Yet a city staff member's July 28 e-mail memo, obtained under the California Public Records Act, states: “Jay advises DO NOT have the FJC Steering Committee meeting on Sept. 10 at 9:00 am.”
When presented with the memo, Goldstone acknowledged calling off the April and September meetings and said there was good reason.
“I thought they were premature,” he said. “I suspected they would be more of a venting session with a lot questions we didn't have answers for.”
Earlier this year, Gwinn provided Sanders with a detailed proposal for the YWCA's takeover of the center.
Sanders embraced Gwinn's plan and surprised the council when he announced his hopes of turning over operation of the center to the YWCA by July 1, telling the council the move would save the city money while providing better service to victims of domestic violence.
Although there will probably be no repercussions for canceling the meetings, Mark Foreman, director of the center until his resignation last month, said the gatherings provided a forum for planning the center's growth and addressing the needs of family abuse victims.
“The idea is to gather knowledgeable people who have experience and expertise in family issues to discuss matters important to the center and the community,” Foreman said. “Without those meetings, you can't have that discussion.”
David Hasemyer: (619) 542-4583; david.hasemyer@uniontrib.com
