We Keep an Eye on Everything: Wine, Human Rights, and that Spot Behind Sports Arena

Having a new office is cool, but there’s too much happening to make that the biggest news of 2018. Here are some of the issues that we’re watching in 2018. However trivial or overwhelming, these are the ten things that matter to us this year.

Connecting with Golden Hill. This ranks first on our list because it is the new home for our office and our new community. What’s it like to go from a 600-square-foot beginner office to a space with two stories, two bathrooms, two showers, two meeting rooms, two dry erase walls, a real kitchen, our own oversized patio and a bath tub? Just glorious.
A Brighter Transportation Future. With Councilmember Georgette Gomez elected as the new chair of the Metropolitan Transit System’s board of directors, a promising future for non-car commuting is within grasp for the communities of San Diego. Gomez replaced a Republican who had been chair of the 15-member board since 2006. We love that she rides a bicycle to work a few days a week, and she connects public transportation to civil rights issues.
Social Media Integrity. As Facebook reacts to criticism for selling hate ads and the New York Times uncovers the ugly black market of purchasing social popularity, we hope that 2018 shines light on authentic, real connections that can happen between two social accounts.
The Voice of Small Business. It’s become my own secret club, akin to “Are you there God? It’s me Margaret.” In this case, Business for Good San Diego isn’t just a secret group for small business owners to engage in dialogue about running a business – it’s a powerhouse advocacy movement positioning small business leaders to speak up on policy and issues that improve our communities. The network is big, we’re ignited and we’ve got big plans for 2018.
Affordable Housing in San Diego. San Diego made headlines for all the wrong reasons last year (insert massive coverage on the Hepatitis A outbreak and our disparaging rent-to-income ratio). We want this to fuel actual affordable housing progress in our region so that we can reverse these trends. We’re talking about affordable housing for those who will never have a chance otherwise. These low-income and ultra-low-income populations are those most vulnerable to becoming homeless and they are the ones our local service agencies are trying to lift out of homelessness.
Valle de Guadalupe. This is less of an issue to watch, and more of the wine we like to drink.
The Right to Choose Where we get Our Energy. We believe in competition. It’s good for the economy, it’s good for consumers and it keeps us on our toes. Why do we settle for a monopoly when it comes to our electricity? San Diego has the chance to welcome Community Choice Energy, which will provide healthy competition to SDGE (without even threatening to put it out of business) and a choice for residents and businesses. In other cities where this has materialized, communities are seeing lots of benefits from the alternative energy provider. Follow this fight and get involved – tell your elected official to support community choice energy because everyone wins.
Human Rights. Lots of people already have their rights well looked after. We’re talking about our immigrant and refugee populations, our LGBTQ friends, Indigenous people, Latinos/as/x, black lives, the Dreamers and so many more. Every day seems to bring a new assault on the livelihood of our fellow humans, and we’ll take every action we can to defend that right of these folks to have equitable, fair and just opportunities in this country. #WeValueYou
Diversity in the Public Relations Industry. This was a highlight issue for us in 2017. Of course, not much has changed in the monotone outlook of our industry for many years. But last year, Mixte transformed our hiring practices to ensure we were attracting the right talent. It’s working, and we’re stronger with the team that we have. We’ve got more to do in this arena, and we look forward to the fast-approaching day we can share more about our progress on this journey.
The Area Behind Sports Arena. We don’t even know what this area is called, but a few of our favorite places live here: San Diego Westy, Bay City Brewing Co. and Consignment Classics. It’s, of course, where Modern Times is located and expanded, too. The place is hopping when the Gulls play and you’ll find neat little wood designers during the day. There’s rumors about what’s on tap for the arena, and there’s huge potential to make this area more bikeable and walkable as well as connect it to bike paths along the San Diego River.