aliakanani
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
MAD's a No-Show
The CDC, including myself, is diligently working towards building a more positive image of the MAD since it has been such a contentious issue in the Greater Golden Hill area. We are actively finalizing the contract for the cleaning and trash removal services so that these services can start as soon as possible. However, articles like Mr. Hargrove’s, which are blatantly bias against the CDC and me, the MAD Program Manager, and are not thoroughly researched, only create more controversy. I ask that the next time Mr. Hargrove decides to write and article about me or references my name that he please contact me so that I can have an opportunity to present my side. Sincerely, Alia Kanani GGHMAD Program Manager— July 25, 2008 1:37 p.m.
MAD's a No-Show
Dear San Diego Reader Editor, My name is Alia Kanani and I am the Greater Golden Hill Clean, Green, and Safe MAD Program Manager. I would like to bring to your attention several inaccuracies in the article “MADs a No-Show” written by Dorian Hargrove and published in the San Diego Reader online on Wednesday, July 23, 2008. The MAD Oversight Committee meeting was not cancelled on July 21st, rather the Oversight Committee decided to move their meeting up a week earlier on July 14,2008 to precede the CDC Board Meeting on July, 17, 2008. It was considered an “emergency meeting” so the Oversight Committee could have a chance to review any items that were to be approved by the CDC Board later in the week. To be very clear, it was not my decision to move the meeting, it was the decision of the Oversight Committee. The Oversight Committee Chair, David Skillman, noticed the meeting and posted the agenda on Friday, July 11, 2008. The agenda was also posted on the CDC’s website and at the office on Friday, July 11, 2008. I agree that the meeting could have been better noticed to avoid any confusion and my apologizes to those that did not know about the change of the meeting date. In an email sent to me from the Oversight Committee Chair on Tuesday, July 22, 2008, in which he responded to my concerns over calls that I received due to the “cancelled meeting,” the chair admits that “several of us talked about posting [a notice] on the golf club door, and decided that we wouldn't, so tell complainers to blame me. It was a properly noticed meeting…” Had Mr. Hargrove or the others that called me on Monday night at 6:30pm, returned my phone messages that I left on Tuesday for them, I would have explained this to them. Also, the statement made by Jim St. Laurent is also inaccurate, in which the MAD has not addressed his concerns. I in fact spoke to Mr. St. Laurent when he called the office and told him that the dilapidated house and fence were code compliance issues and not under the purview of the MAD. However, I also told him that since one of our interns was working with a code compliance officer on another abandoned house, that I would have our intern notify the code compliance officer of the one brought forth by Mr. St. Laurent. Again, I believe that had Mr. Hargrove returned my call, I could have clarified this point. Lastly, I was unable to return the calls from Mr. Hargrove and the other residents till the next day because I was not in the office until Tuesday morning, July 22nd.— July 25, 2008 1:36 p.m.