Council aims to increase La Jolla resident involvement

By John P. Weinstein

Second vice president, La Jolla Town Council

The La Jolla Town Council, simply put, is your community organization. We are made up of all volunteer trustees and committees to serve our residential and business members with one paid staff member, Office Manager Cindy Hoye. We aim to improve the quality of life for everyone that lives, works or plays in La Jolla.

The La Jolla Town Council endeavors to be your advocate as well as a clearinghouse for local information. Like public broadcasting, everyone is welcome to our services, but its your kind support that keeps us going. Our only budget to maintain a small office and staff of one, as well as to have a positive impact on La Jolla is your membership dues. Our basic residential membership is only $50 and $100 for a business. We recently added a student membership focused on high school students at only $10. We have higher-level memberships for patrons and businesses that we would be grateful for you to participate in.

Since our City Council representative is past Town Council President Sherri Lightner, a frequent Town Council guest, our voice is certainly heard. We have a monthly board meeting open to the public with a topical guest speaker, a monthly community happy hour at different restaurants around La Jolla, streetscape beautification clean-up days, as well as special events such as our signature Christmas/Holiday Parade. Most other community organizations give up-to-the-minute updates at our board meetings, so attending is a great way to learn what’s going and to share your opinions.

Of the more than 40,000 residents and businesses in La Jolla, less than 400 are paid members. I know we can do substantially better than 1 percent participation. Imagine if we had the critical mass of 4,000 members, how much more loudly our voice would be heard in all aspects of promoting La Jolla’s best interests.

In talking about La Jolla, my favorite quote is, “They call it paradise; we call it home.” The natural beauty that we enjoy may cause complacency, but I feel it is vitally important that we get involved, know what’s going on, and participate in La Jolla’s future. Meeting your local community leaders, non-profit groups, cultural and art organizations, business owners and professionals, as well as your residential neighbors makes your community more than paradise, it makes it home.

Please join us:

www.lajolla towncouncil.org

or call (858) 454-1444.