April 16 – San Diego Coastkeeper Approves Its 2012 – 2015 Strategic Plan

SAN DIEGO, April 16, 2012 – San Diego Coastkeeper, the region’s water quality watchdog, announced today that the board of directors has approved a three-year strategic plan and the addition of four new board members. The 2012 – 2015 plan details a renewed focus on the Waterkeeper Alliance’s core mission of ensuring the enforcement of laws that protect and restore fishable, swimmable and drinkable waters in San Diego County.

“San Diego Coastkeeper’s legal clinic, water quality laboratory, high-tech committee and education activities will drive the organization toward water quality victories in this region,” said David Welborn, San Diego Coastkeeper’s board president. “This plan acknowledges Coastkeeper’s traditional strong suits in education, collaboration and advocacy while infusing high-tech innovation and a focus on the core mission of the global alliance.”

Coastkeeper’s new strategic plan, which is available online, identifies four goals for the three-year time frame:

• Engage the community and use internal mechanisms to find and fix six significant water quality problems in San Diego County.
• Build a coalition and create an enforcement framework for marine protected areas.
• Reduce sewage discharge into the ocean by supporting wastewater recycling in the City of San Diego.
• Fund the organization’s programs fully and build at least a three-month cash reserve.

The 2012 – 2015 plan also includes the organization’s new mission “To protect and restore fishable, swimmable and drinkable waters in San Diego County” and the vision of “Swimmable, fishable and drinkable waters in San Diego County.”

“A recent report by the EPA shows that improved monitoring statewide has led to more waters identified as polluted in California,” said Coastkeeper Executive Director Gale Filter. “With this plan, Coastkeeper will rely on a community-based model to collect and analyze evidence to help us target polluters and restore and protect and your waters here in San Diego.”

In addition to sharing its new strategic plan, the board of directors also announced four new board members, who participated in the strategic plan approval process.

Joining Coastkeeper’s six other board members are:

• Harriet Lazer, a founder, partner and CFO of Walker Group, a human resource consulting firm based in Phoenix, Arizona and later in San Diego.
• Micah Mitrosky, an environmental organizer with IBEW Local 569, who works to ensure San Diego and Imperial County’s green economy creates good, middle-class jobs that are sustainable for local workers and for the environment.
• Eleanor Musick, an attorney at Procopio, who specializes in patent prosecution in areas such as telecommunications, computer software, geophysics and oceanography, trademark and copyright prosecution and intellectual property licensing.
• Gregg Sadowsky, a senior vice president and senior market officer of RegencyCenters, a nationwide real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in grocery-anchored shopping centers and whose innovative sustainability practices significantly reduce the use of natural resources and increase operating efficiency.

For more information on San Diego Coastkeeper, its strategic plan and its board of directors, please visit https://www.sdcoastkeeper.org.”