OCEANSIDE -- The Oceanside Coastal Neighborhood Association has decided to spin off a second chapter to cover the downtown area north of Mission Avenue in hopes of broadening its reach without compromising its original mission, association members said last week.
The association was formed last October and has quickly become a growing force in Oceanside politics. Last week, the group held a candidates forum for the eight candidates running for City Council.
Now the group will spin off a "chapter" of the neighborhood association that is likely to represent the area north of Mission Avenue and west of Interstate 5 to Camp Pendleton.
The group has considered expanding its territory to increase its membership and its clout on city issues, but a number of residents objected, saying expanding the group would compromise the group's primary mission to represent the neighborhood. The group's boundaries run from Mission south to Oceanside Boulevard, and from I-5 west to the beach.
As a compromise, the group agreed last Thursday night to spin off chapters that would focus on the problems of residents of their own neighborhoods, but will work in conjunction with the main branch of the Oceanside Coastal Neighborhood Association on bigger issues.
Robert Gladden, the chair of the group's expansion committee, said creating a new chapter of the group will let the group retain its original purpose while starting a new chapter that will share the same values and mission of the neighborhood association.
"We will still be a neighborhood of friends," Gladden said, adding that the two groups will operate in a cooperative way and that "when the time comes we can rally the troops for big city issues."
Larry Sosna, the president of the association, said spinning off another chapter is a "very satisfying way to do things."
Sosna expanding the group will keep the group's focus on the original area while still increasing the clout of the group.
He said the group could also spin off another chapter in South Oceanside sometime in the coming months.
One of the organizers of the new group will be Brad Steffens, who lives just outside the borders of the current association.
Steffens said a core group of people interested in starting the neighborhood association will meet today to finalize the group's by-laws and fill out forms so the group can become a nonprofit organization.
He said the new group will be modeled after the current association but that he doesn't have any illusions that his group would be as successful as the first group.
"The neighborhood needs a lot of help," Steffens said. "There are a lot of issues in the neighborhood. It's kind of a forgotten area."
Contact staff writer Rob O'Dell at (760) 901-4067 or rodell@nctimes.com.
