Politics & Government

DeMaio Asks for Runoff After Controversial RB Welcome Sign Decision

The sign project committee plans to go in a different design direction than that chosen by most voters.

Despite garnering more votes than the other two designs in the competition, Concept C will not be used in the final design for the new Rancho Bernardo welcome sign, it was decided Tuesday.

A designer will try to blend Concepts A and B for a final design, said Matt Sanford of the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce, which ran the voting website. Sanford is also a member of the Refresh RB committee, which is coordinating the new sign project.

The decision comes as a bit of surprise since members of the Refresh RB committee and San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio's office have said throughout the voting process that the design with the most votes would be used as a basis for the new design.

Find out what's happening in Rancho Bernardo-4s Ranchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Jack Straw, the community representative for DeMaio's office, said the voting results were a "curve-ball" for the committee. They had hoped there would be a more definitive winner, but with the final votes being so close, the results seemed "inconclusive."

In an e-mailed statement Wednesday, DeMaio expressed a desire for the committee to reconsider its decision: “I cannot support a decision which eliminates the design that received the most votes from consideration. I have requested that the committee reassess its position and consider a runoff survey between the top vote getter and an alternative to be voted on by the community.”

Find out what's happening in Rancho Bernardo-4s Ranchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Sanford said the choice was made because the "winning" design—Concept C—received 37.6 percent of the votes, but the other two designs which are similar to each other received 62.4 percent of the vote combined. The committee viewed the results more as a vote against Concept C, which is most like the sign which was destroyed last year by a motorist, Sanford said.

What happens now is unclear. The winning design was to have gone before the RB Planning Board and RB Community Council in March for final approval, Straw said earlier this month. Sanford said the committee is scheduled to meet again on March 8.

Straw said the committee's latest decision is just another step in the process and nothing is final. Straw said the Parks and Recreation Department has forwarded to DeMaio's office a couple of emails sent in about the issue.

Refresh RB committee chair Janet Atkin could not be reached for comment.

RB Sign Votes (Total 824)* Votes Percentage of Total Concept A 234 28.4% Concept B 280 34% Concept C 310 37.6%

*Source: Matt Sanford, Jack Straw, Refresh RB Committee. Editor's Note: Straw said a software glitch caused the incorrect figures initially provided to Patch. The correct number of votes is 824, not 804. The story has been updated to reflect the change.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here