Who is Barry and why am I running for the 4th District Council seat?

By Brian "Barry" Pollard

What makes you prepared to represent the 4th District? I believe my extensive experience working in Human Resources and Organizational Development, my ability to work and encourage collaborations and my love for my community are my biggest strengths.

I enjoy working with people. My decision making process is deliberate. I listen carefully and consider the data I receive before I make my decision. I am also fortunate to have lived long enough to be able to draw from my life experiences. I have raised my three daughters, played competitive collegiate team sports and now work within my neighborhood to gain improvements and resources. I am drawing upon the same value system which my parents raised me... heading the list is "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you".

I have no intention of becoming a Professional Polician looking for my next office. Rather I will do what I can as a representative of this District to serve the people and be an extension of this community. I want the Community to hold me accountable for my actions and decisions. Why are you running? I am running because the 4th District needs a leader passionate and effective representative. We need someone that stands up for us at City Hall and makes sure as taxpayers we get appropriate services, funds and support. Our community needs someone that fosters unity and personal accountability and not someone whose lack of leadership allows us to be split in different segments, fighting against each other. We need to be a voice in City Hall that is respected. I am tired of the divide and conquer mentality that seems to permeate our community by forces not directly affiliated with our community.

What will you do different than our current councilman? I will serve the residents of the Fourth District in the manor they deserve. I will make sure that as their elected official they will have a voice in all aspects of the city's business.

For starters, I don't intend to reinvent the wheel. We have the Neighborhood Councils that represent most of the neighborhoods in the Fourth District. They were the cornerstone of George Stevens and Charles Lewis administrations and are a great way for residents to affect their immediate neighborhoods. We have some great leaders here in the Fourth District and I would like to see more involvement from our residents. This then provides the basis for my proposal to hold regular town hall meetings open to everyone in the district. I will be a Councilperson who is effective, responsive, visible and easily accessible. I will be a Councilperson who makes our District my highest priority each and every day. I will work with my colleagues on the City Council to get our fair share of resources. We are a beautiful community and I am proud to live here and even prouder to run for the office that will allow me the opportunity to represent it's residents. Secondly, I own a small business and I understand the challenges of being in business. I will focus a portion of my economic development policies to strengthen our local small businesses. If we are going to be successful attracting additional business to the district we must strengthen the existing viable businesses. The Business Improvement District (BID) model and the Encanto Business Association are examples of useful tools in the toolbox necessary to improve our District.

The overall Economic Development of our community will move to the top of my list. I will encourage new development by highlighting the many positive aspects of our district. Great access, available land, a qualified workforce, housing, public transportation and great neighborhoods are some of our greatest assets. My Economic Policy will result in more jobs and services. This is necessary if we are going to return to the momentum that has diminished in the past few years under the current administration.

Thirdly, I will hire an experienced staff that understands the importance of serving our constituents and working effectively with city officials to respond to issues and bring resources to the district. I understand that as the Councilperson I will not be able to attend every meeting and answer every phone call. Therefore I must have a skilled staff capable of meeting constituent needs. Finally, I will encourage all interested in the betterment of the community to work together. I can't tell you how many people have expressed dissatisfaction in the way they believe we have loss a sense of community. Neighborhood Councils will be encouraged to work with the business community and even those who represent various social services. I am constantly reminded that our community is only as strong as the weakest link.

Are there any examples of where our Councilman could have done a better job? Yes. I can give you four quick examples: 1) His inability to work with residents to complete the Skyline/Paradise Hills Library. 2) His support of the City's budget which substantially reduced funding for Neighborhood Code Compliance and the loss of the City Attorney's staffing to support the prosecution of violators. And I need to add that code compliance is important component for change in this community. 3) The lack of leadership on the changes necessary for an effective Equal Opportunity Compliance (EOC) program in the City of San Diego. 4) Failure to fund the Diamond Business Improvement District. Let me clarify that the Councilmember withheld funding to force its demise and failed to demonstrate leadership to reform change. Councilmember Young is the one who said that he was going to continue what the late Councilman Charles Lewis has started. Well these are all issues that the Late Charles Lewis felt were important to our community and they have not been continued.

You are new to the political arena, how is your campaign, going? First, my experience speaks to my qualifications to move politics for change in my neighborhood. The campaign is going great. We have members of the team from every section of the 4th District. People that believe like I do that we deserve better representation. I made a decision early on that I the number one qualification for any person in our campaign is that our community and what is in its best interest must motivate them.

I was a quarterback in high school and college so it is no surprise that my campaign has a "team" orientation. I look at the strength of an individual and make sure that they are able to use that talent in or campaign. I call the plays, they execute and I accept full responsibility if things don't go right and praise the team when we succeed. I've been characterized as the underdog. I am actually proud of that position. I'm running because the current councilman fails to recognize the value of the voices within the council district. Unless you represent an outside interest that doesn't have our interest at heart but can contribute to his campaign you mean little to him or his staff. My term will be 4th District centered; our community's progress will have no strings attached. Our campaign is Community based. We have seniors, Generation's X, Y & Z, African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Caucasians, Democrats, Republicans and Independents all helping us work to win this election.