By Susan Hogoboom
The Alpine Sun

     EL CAJON — Do you ever wonder what San Diego County will be like in 50 years? How about in 100 years? What challenges will housing and economic issues pose to the growing amount of residents that will reside in our region? More importantly, how will we, and future generations, deal with such challenges?
     On Jan. 30, community leaders in the county were selected by the San Diego Foundation’s Board of Governors and Civil Society Working Group to share their visions at the 7th annual Challenges and Opportunities of Imagining the Future of the Greater San Diego Region. The event, which was open to the public, was held at the Ronald Reagan Community Center in El Cajon and was co-hosted by The El Cajon Community Development Corporation.
     Mary Lydon is Executive director for Urban Land Institute District Council Research. She expressed her admiration for an aspect of the Native American culture — planning ahead for posterity, explaining that the culture encompasses a road map for the next seven generations.
     Lydon thinks the San Diego/Tijuana region has the capabilities to become what she called, “the green capitol of the world.”
     “My vision is inclusive and has a long-term sustainability focus,” she told the group. She wants people to have what she called, “a lightened self-focused attitude,” and to have a common vision.
     “What if our whole region can get behind one set of values?” she rhetorically asked.
     Her vision is focused on four major issues in our society; including the economy, the educational system, energy generation, and water supply.
     Lydon envisions green neighborhoods, providing a high level of energy and resources efficiently in order to “enhance human health and well being.” She would like to see such neighborhoods offer green job opportunities. She wants to see people using a shared fleet of electric cars.
     She wants to see local students display more creativity, utilizing critical thinking skills, as future young entrepreneurs. She envisions an educational program in which students invent products and implement such products.
     “This would be a great tool for our region,” she explained.
     Wilma Wooten is public health officer for the County of San Diego Health and Humans Services Agency. The agency’s motto is to promote health and values, to prevent disease, and to protect health of all county residents.
Although Wooten’s vision may be blurred by society’s health challenges, ranging from physical ailments and limitations, to mental illness, to poor nutrition and physical inactivity to the recent the H1N1 pandemic, she is optimistic.
     Wooten envisions a healthier San Diego County, hoping that it becomes one of the healthiest communities, with everyone having access to the benefit of health care. She envisions each county embracing a healthy lifestyle. She envisions competent health care providers. She wants to break through the language that can so often, in our diverse community, impede with the receipt of optimum health care.
     Wooten emphasized that good health is not just resembled by the absence of physical problems but by the absence of mental problems, as well. She promotes awareness of the health dangers of smoking, physical inactivity, and poor diet.
     Wooten encouraged the community to work together.
     “A healthier San Diego won’t be possible without the support from you,” she said.
     Wooten announced that the month of April will be National Public Health Week, which will carry with it the theme, “A healthier America, one community at a time.” She said county officials have put a local twist on the theme, replacing “America” with “San Diego.”
     Roger Roberts is chairman of the Board of Directors of the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce, which has members in several east county cities, including Alpine.
     Roberts wants to see half of all roofs covered with integrated solar systems, making solar panels obsolete, as the roof, itself, would serve as the solar system. He said that although there are companies that provide such material, it has not yet been perfected.
     He would also like to see the presence of more electrical wind turbines in the rural Back Country and would like small wind turbines in urban environment if wind supports such sites.
     He envisions the perfection of all nuclear fusion reactors, resulting in all carbon producing electrical generation plants to go out of business, as well as several desalination plants along our coast and underground aquifer storage, recycling and recharging capabilities to cease our reliability for water from Northern California and Colorado.
     He cited the importance of solving the region’s drought problems.
     After the visionary commentaries, attendees broke into smaller groups to discuss their own visions. Board of Governors Chair Bill Geppert encouraged people to think of what he called the “unique challenges” of envisioning a future San Diego, while the foundation’s vice chair, Jennifer Adams-Brooks, reminded attendees to think of future generations.
     “Think about not just what you want but what your children, your grandchildren, and your great grandchildren should be living in,” she said.
     “We’re a border community. We have a water supply. We want to preserve our natural assets, our beaches and bays. We have wildfire challenges. All of us in East County are well aware of that. We have a huge military presence. We have an insufficient airport to support the long-term growth of the area. We have fast changing demographics,” Geppert said, noting that even though county’s challenges do not stop there, there is an abundance of opportunities in store for the region.
     Geppert stressed the important role such public engagement and large groups play in the visioning process. “What’s critically important is engagement of as many people in the process as possible.”
     “The Wisdom of Crowds basically says that the engagement of a large group of people will come up with a better solution than a smaller group of folks that might be very well trained,” he said.
     Public shared vision becomes a shared reality, said Hoffmeister, chair of the foundation.
     This workshop is just one phase of the vision program. This phase, expected to last between 30 and 60 days, entails group effort, collectively realizing values of the visioning process. The entire program is expected to spread throughout the county and last 18 months.
     Many want this Regional Vision Initiative endeavor to continue for years. “It’s a journey to really think how the entire region can become all it can be,” Geppert said.
     “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without a vision is a nightmare,” he said, quoting the Japanese proverb,
     “Let’s imagine what we possibly can become,” he said.
     The San Diego Foundation is a non-profit organization, assisting community- oriented citizens in tackling obstacles in the region.
     For more information on the foundation and the working group, visit www.sdfoundation.org.