Experience Matters!

By M. L. "Maxx" Stalheim

A healthy and vibrant environment will ensure a healthy and vibrant economy.

I am proud to serve on the Imperial Beach Tidelands Advisory Committee, and for the endorsement by the League of Conservation Voters!

Our extraordinary beach community is ringed by an abundance of natural resources. Our world-class beaches, bay, and estuary, are the life-blood of our tourism economy, define our community character, and demand our respect and stewardship. If we neglect our vital natural resources, we will have left a legacy of economic ruin and of paradise lost.

The largest contributor to beach pollution is human activity in the Tijuana River watershed. The Tijuana River watershed is home to more than one million souls, and encompasses approximately 1,750 square miles of area - two-thirds of which are lands in Baja California. The watershed also provides critical habitat for a large number of threatened and endangered plant and animal species, and a heritage of rich bio-diversity.

The San Diego County 2005 Beach Closure and Advisory Report states the Tijuana River contributed to 79% of last year's total Beach Mile Days closures. Closures due to sewage-contaminated runoff from the Tijuana River are often for several miles of beach shoreline (compared to several hundred yards for other closures) and can last from a few days to over two weeks at a time.

A successful solution to this immense problem will be one which meets the needs of the expanding human population, while replenishing natural resources, and improving quality of life for all residents. Success begins with cooperative bi-national relationships, coupled with science-based information.

My first assignment with the City of San Diego was to begin working on a comprehensive update of the Otay Mesa Community Plan. I was provided with the opportunity to forge strong regional and bi-national relationships, to cooperate with my planning counterparts in Tijuana, and to personally review long-range planning efforts with Mayor Jorge Hank Rhon. The meeting was an episode I will long remember, and the experience in bi-national cooperation will benefit the residents of Imperial Beach as we pursue long-term comprehensive solutions to beach pollution.

As your Councilman, I will support the on-going coastal ocean monitoring system and strengthen our partnership with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the county`s Department of Environmental Health, the State Water Resources Control Board, the Regional Water Quality Control Board, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. I will tirelessly pursue a full range of solutions - from pulling trash out of canyons and creeks, to reducing local urban runoff, to restoring riparian habitats, to regional, national, and bi-national cooperation.

A healthy and vibrant environment will ensure a healthy and vibrant economy. Our vision must be long-term, our actions must be local and global, and our solutions must be sustainable and de-centralized. Clean water is everybody's right and responsibility, and clean water must be our legacy for future generations.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve our extraordinary community. I would greatly appreciate your vote on November 7th. You are invited to please visit my webpage, http://www.maxxforcouncil.com, and share your thoughts.

I believe our best days are ahead of us! Together, we will keep Imperial Beach moving forward!