Jim Dunny
(If you have any comments or questions, please contact the editor)
Program for Tuesday, April 7, 2015
The scheduled speaker for Tuesday, April 7, 2015 is Gary Weitzman, DVM, MPH, CAWA. Dr. Weitzman is President and CEO of the San Diego Humane Society. He will speak about what the San Diego Humane Society is doing.
Gary Weitzman, DVM, joined the San Diego Humane Society and SPCA in May 2012. He is a licensed veterinarian and an accomplished animal welfare professional with more than 20 years of experience.
Meeting Assignments
This is the list for April 2015 through May 5 because
the SunRiser will not be published because the
editor will be on vacation from Apr 15 until Apr 30.
Date
Who Am I
Cheer for Rotary
Apr 7, 2015
Marc Nimetz
Steve Sayler
Apr 14, 2015
Andy Patapow
Jim Stewart
Apr 21, 2015
Michael Rennie
Paul Sullivan
Apr 28, 2015
Jay Riordan
Lloyd Trilling
May 5, 2015
Jim Roth
Rob Weinberg
The member assigned to Who Am I is also responsible for providing the positive thought at the beginning of the meeting and introducing visiting Rotarians and guests.
The member assigned to Cheer for Rotary is the assigned Greeter for that day and also is tasked with selling opportunity drawing tickets.
At our club meeting on March 31, our speaker was San Diego Board of Supervisor Dave Roberts. Mr. Roberts spoke to us about the topics that are of particular interest for him in his role as a county supervisor.
He began his presentation by letting us know that, although the media has been reporting that the county was involved in the discussions of the stadium task force formed by San Diego Mayor Faulkner, that involvement is currently not official. There has been no information presented to the board of supervisors in any meeting. Any proposals would have to be brought before the entire board and spending would have to be approved by a vote of the people.
The second topic he covered was the current water crisis. The County Water Authority is currently constructing a sea water desalination plant. The County Water Authority is also awaiting the results of the setting of damages in their successful lawsuit against the Metropolitan Water Authority over massive overcharges for water purchases. Supervisor Roberts also informed us that Lake Hodges will be filled the future because water from the dam at Olivenhain is transferred during the day to generate electricity and then at night when electricity rates are lower, water is pumped back up to Olivenhain.
The third topic he mentioned was electricity rates and maintaining the incentives for installation of photovoltaic solar panels for residents. The rebates by the state are largely gone, but the county of San Diego is participating along with many cities in San Diego in the PACE program to make funding available for energy upgrades, including including solar. (PACE funding is also available for upgrade to energy efficient windows and changing landscaping to reduce water use.)
The fourth topic of Supervisor Roberts talk is the problem of mental health services. Current laws are not adequate to allow for the proper diagnosis and treatment of citizens with mental health issues. We have seen recent news about law enforcement having to encounter troubled persons who threatent others including officers. Better laws are needed to allow for better access so that the tragic outcomes we have been seeing can hopefully be avoided.
The final topic of his discussion was the area of child fostering and adoption. Currently families who are fostering children have a great deal of difficulty in adopting a child they are fostering. Also Supervisor noted that he has made it possible for many of the difficult to adopt older children to be able to be placed in adoptive homes.
At the beginning of the 2013-2014 Rotary year, Rotary International's Rotary Foundation adopted Future Vision after 3 years of a pilot program. The thrust of the Future Vision model was to make the Rotary Foundation international projects more effective. Prior to Future Vision, many projects, although well intentioned, were not effective because they lacked sufficient funding to make them sustainable. For example, drilling a well and installing a pump was funded, but no funding was included in the project to provide for maintenance for the pump, so within a short time the pump failed, was not repaired and the people dependent on the well for clean water were forced to return to impure water sources. All Rotary Foundation grants must now specify how the projects goals will be maintained in the future via training, followup visits, and a ready source of repair parts.
The Rotary Foundation also adopted standards and six areas of focus for Rotary Foundation grants. The areas of focus are:
