Where You Are

“I believe the city missed the chance of developing the (Qualcomm) site. I believe our future is in Chula Vista. I'm hoping that, by June or July, we'll know more about Chula Vista. We have no plans to be anywhere else … I can't sit here and say something's going to get done, but we're going to reach a point where we know where we're at. The Spanos family wants to be in San Diego. I am not planning on an exit.”

-Chargers President Dean Spanos
San Diego Union Tribune, January 11, 2008

Sometimes it is best to start with what you aren’t before what you are.

This isn’t a blog meant to be a hype machine. It isn’t a website dedicated to the mission of building a billion-dollar stadium on the South Bay, no matter the issues, demand or cause. While the readers are allowed to champion the construction, I am not.

This also isn’t a blog meant to defame those who want a state-of-the-art building in San Diego County. It isn’t here to expose the Chargers as money-grubbing landlords who are ready to run out of San Diego with a one way ticket to Las Vegas or San Antonio. While the readers are allowed to run roughshod on Mark Fabiani and the Spanos Family, I am certainly not.

Then what is this blog? Simply put, it is an oasis in the desert of information surrounding a major project that will change the lives of all those in San Diego County. The people reading this blog will be able to understand the stadium project on a new level that will make them educated and ready when someone turns and asks: “What’s the deal with that stadium? Is it happening or not?” In a world currently dominated by presidential dealings, the keywords ring true – this blog is about change. Change for San Diego County. Change for the Chargers. Change for the Aztecs. Change for community dealings. Change for transit, police, fire, power, water, and the rest of the city services. Change for every denizen of the county.

How can this all happen? How can one blog make the person understand clearer than ever before? That is simple – by giving the viewer more than one way to see the issues. This blog will tell two stories, both intended for the readers to get the issues from two different perspectives.

The first is straight from the headlines. Some will come from local and national news organizations. Some will come from me. These can be bulletins or features, but they are intended to give information.

The second is from a personal distance. What are the real people talking about? It is not just about the talking heads in the major media. It is also about the ones that will talk in their homes, offices, bars and stores. How does someone from Chula Vista interpret what they see and hear? Whose message will ring clearer to them on Election Day? Would a freshman at San Diego State University feel comfortable taking the Blue Line all the way from the College Area to the Bayfront on a Saturday night? Does a person taking a walk along the marina respond positively when they imagine a stadium in their sightline rather than a power plant and a wetland? The first two news posts on this site will show what I mean by the two viewpoints.

Hopefully, as voting time nears, you will join me on this journey. Tell friends, tell family, tell strangers, tell Chula Vista residents. A power plant and a mesa stand as the last frontier between a new place to call home and trucks rolling away the last pieces of Chargers Park. Don’t let misinformation get in the way of progress, and don’t let misconception get in the way of discern.

This is Stadium Watch.