Our Sustainable Future: Go? Stay? Redevelop/Share?

Note:  This information has been sent as an eblast and has been published in the April 2024 First Words.

​One of the congregation’s Developmental Goals is to “[d]ecide whether to remain in our Hillcrest campus or sell the property and relocate.”  That work had begun before the pandemic and has been on hold since 2020.  The Board and Rev. Justine promised the congregation the discussion would be addressed this church year.  As a first step, at a congregational meeting on January 28th, our ministers led us in a conversation where a third possibility was introduced—to redevelop the Hillcrest campus for joint use with another entity (which could be UCSD).  The next step has been to establish a team to oversee/coordinate a process leading us to a decision.

On March 17, the Our Sustainable Future (OSF) Steering Team held its first meeting.  Led by Rev. Justine, members include:

Craig Darling
​Robie Evans
​Andy French
​Jan Garbosky

Lawrence Hess
​Steve Howard
​Dave Hunt
​Armin Kuhlman

Sue Marberry
​Sarah Ormond
​Stephanie Weber
​Carolyn Woodbury

At the June 9, 2024 Annual Meeting, the team plans on presenting the work that’s been done to:

• Determine the true cost of staying by examining every system on campus to completely understand our deferred maintenance status—what needs to be corrected; what it will take to maintain our current buildings and grounds. (A company has been contracted to do this work.)
• Review our current property usage/non-usage—by us and by outside entities.
• Survey the current real estate market prospects with the help of a commercial real estate professional.
• Investigate “redevelopment” possibilities by conducting a needs assessment to determine:
  - What we need to be a better church living into and serving our mission.
   - Who to approach to build a totally new, redeveloped campus (including new buildings) as one of three bids.

As we look to the future, it’s of utmost importance to our health as a religious community to keep our mission as a congregation and our covenant with each other at the heart of all we do.  Our individual and group discussions about the process, our assessments and findings, and our differences of opinion must be grounded in our love for First UU and each other. 
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The Steering Team is committed to:

• providing clear, timely information on an on-going basis and
• creating opportunities for input from:
  - individual congregation members and friends,
  - Ministry Teams and their groups, and
  - First UU staff.  

We look forward to your thoughts and ideas as we move forward to a future that sustains us and our relationships for many years to come—regardless of if we stay, go, or redevelop our First UU Hillcrest campus.  You and your input, questions, suggestions, and comments are of utmost importance to the Our Sustainable Future (OSF) Steering Team as we assess the options before us as we plan for the years & decades ahead of us as a congregation living into our mission.  Whether the ultimate decision is to Stay, Go, or Redevelop/Share our Hillcrest campus, your ideas and thoughts will help guide the work. Our work collectively and individually will be grounded in keeping our mission as a congregation and our covenant with each other at the heart of all we do. Your comments will be shared with the Steering Team & a team member will respond to you. Add your input, questions, ideas etc.