We all read the Union-Tribune article recently which said all 15 Community Service Centers will be shutting their doors for good in June.

How could this be? How was the decision made? Was it made because they were not doing their job or because people were not using them? No. What then?

Was it because their services were no longer needed? No. Now residents of North Country must drive into the city to get the help needed. There you go again, San Diego, giving yourself the designation of a small, one-horse town. You wanted to be otherwise. Remember the City of Villages? Just when we all thought you were growing up, too. Sure, our budget woes could necessitate some cuts.

City Council, have you done your homework? Do you know how many and which of the Centers bring in thousands upon thousands of dollars for San Diego? And which don’t? Did you consider closing those Centers which were too close in proximity to each other? Did you consider keeping those Centers which did the most business for San Diego?

Here’s just a sample of the service work the RB Community Center (2^nd floor library) does for residents:

• Passport services, notary services; collect business tax, parking citation fines, rental property tax and water and sewer bills.
• Report abandoned vehicles, damaged sidewalks and curbs, faded paint on curbs and streets, graffiti, housing and building code violations, noise complaints, potholes, speeding problems, traffic or street lighting needed, weeds, zoning code violations.
• Obtain applications, schedules, brochures, statistics, permits, basic federal tax forms, resource directories, voter registration forms and cards.
• Volunteer opportunities, phone/fax to City Hall, review budget manuals, committee agendas, Municipal Code, Council dockets, etc.

One of the most important and helpful services the RB Center does for residents is to be a liaison with city bureaucracy downtown and the neighborhoods ( a "mini City Hall"), give out important telephone numbers; get in touch with city officials, RB Dog Park information – almost everything under the sun.

Have you taken a look at Rancho Bernardo’s daily and monthly logs? Do you know how much revenue that center brings to the city? As site partners in the RB Library, the RSVP, Neighborhood Watch and Emergency Preparedness can attest to how popular the center is – most days there are people standing in line for the various services.

While you’re looking at that, have you considered closing 10 of the centers (at least temporarily) and leaving 5 which are the busiest and located geographically for the residents’ convenience? I believe that RB is in the top 3 busiest centers. And the city pays no rent on this facility.

While you’re thinking about all that, have you considered that, after this budget crunch ends, you will have nothing left to build on? They will be gone, kaput, and the city has lost something that everyone was proud of. Please, at least, keep RB open. It is the farthest away from the city and the hardest commute.

At this writing Councilmember Brian Maienschein’s office told me that budget negotiations between the city council and the city manager will take place at regular council meetings May 10 through June 28. Voice your opinion now by calling his office at 858-673-5304 or 619-236-6655. If you don’t do this, you may lose RB’s only one-stop convenience service center – permanently.