This year’s Ocean Gala is proud to announce the winners of our Coastal Champion Awards

BUSINESS HONOREE

We are proud to recognize Pacifica Companies as the selected Business Honoree. The award will be received by Mr. Ash Israni.

Pacifica is a real estate investment company that understands that real estate affects the lives of many people and offers the opportunity to preserve, protect and enhance the natural environment. They are dedicated to setting a positive example with their ground-up construction by building projects that are models of sustainability in coastal development.

Pacifica played a major role in last year’s approvals of the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan, an environmentally sustainable development plan for 556 acres of waterfront lands in the sensitive south bay.

The following projects developed by Pacifica are carefully sited, LEED certified, sensitive to coastal resources and protective of water quality:

• Seacoast Inn in Imperial Beach- Under Construction
• Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan- Still being permitted
• Grover Beach Lodge and Conference Center- Still being permitted (this one will be LEED gold)

COMMUNITY HONOREE

We are proud to recognize San Diego City Councilmember, David Alvarez as our Community Honoree.

 Councilmember David Alvarez was elected to the San Diego City Council in November of 2010. As a Councilmember, he is working hard to preserve our open spaces and unique ecosystem in San Diego for future generations. He recognizes that this can only be accomplished with more transparent processes that includes all stakeholders, insisting that city staff work cooperatively with the environmental community and has held them accountable when they have not. 

As Chair of the City Council’s Natural Resources & Culture Committee, Councilmember Alvarez has worked on ensuring that our city relies on technologies, like the Indirect Potable Reuse Demonstration Project and water conservation efforts, that will provide us with alternative sources of water in the most environmentally responsible way.  In addition to serving on NR&C, he is a member of the Land Use & Housing Committee, Public Safety & Neighborhood Services Committee, and SANDAG Borders Committees, and serves on the Otay Valley Regional Park Policy Committee and the Bayshore Bikeway Working Group.

Prior to being elected, Councilmember Alvarez started his career as a social services worker and educator before being selected to the prestigious Capitol Fellows Program and served under the Secretary of State. After completing his fellowship in Sacramento, he returned to San Diego to work with a company that develops new opportunities for affordable housing. Over the last six years prior to his election, he represented former State Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny as a liaison to the communities of District 8.

"The only way to preserve San Diego’s open spaces and unique ecosystem is to work together as a community towards solutions that protect and preserve our local environment for the enjoyment of future generations.” - David Alvarez