Update from ICF’s board member and Chair of the Walton Gift Task Force, Rick Romney
On October 16th, the City Council of National City unanimously approved the zone change and specific site plan for the former home of John & Christy Walton which was gifted to our foundation in July 2006 to permit ICF to convert this property to become ICF’s Center for Cross Border Philanthropy. For ICF the City Council’s decision was a historic turning point, permitting our foundation to permanently relocate to our new home in San Diego’s South Bay, within 10 minutes of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Most people in the city chambers that night were not aware of the significance of this gift and the multiple stumbling blocks that had been overcome for us to secure our required zoning approval. In order to fully appreciate this accomplishment, we have to go back over two years ago when a task force was formed to evaluate the proposed acceptance of the Walton gift.
Back in June of 2005, Leon Reinhart, who was ICF’s Chair at the time, asked me to attend a meeting with Richard Kiy, Alan Rubin and Gerry Meyers to discuss the John and Christy Walton’s proposed gift and generous offer to provide a $4 million operating endowment to help cover the on-going maintenance of the property’s house and garden. The task force was formed at that meeting and the specific challenges that lay ahead were discussed. When someone asked how long this process would take, I remember suggesting that it would be at least one year, which was a little disappointing to the group. It was a good thing we didn’t know then how many hurdles were in front of us.
Two weeks after this meeting on June 27, 2005, John Walton died in a tragic plane accident in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. With John Walton’s death our future plans were put on hold until early 2006 when we re-visited the original vision of the Center for Cross-Border Philanthropy with Christy Walton.
From the time that our plans for the Center were re-visited, it took a full year just to create an initial design for the property, hold preliminary meetings with various planning groups at the city and work out mutually acceptable terms for gifting the property and the planned endowment gift. ICF’s initial plans included everything that we have now as well as an outdoor amphitheatre, multiple cottages for short term guests, and an additional office building. One by one these improvements were removed from the plan in order to respond to the concerns of the neighbors and in order to obtain ultimate approval from the city.
In July of 2006, the Walton family deeded the property to ICF and in August we celebrated by hosting a party for the neighborhood. We wanted to let them get to know us and to see the latest plans for the property. To make a long story short, after multiple presentations to the planning commission and the local neighborhood committees as well as numerous meetings with the city planning department, we worked out a plan that the neighborhood could support. In fact, at the October City Council meeting we had many neighbors from our street speak on our behalf.
ICF is proud of what it has accomplished and grateful for the many friends and supporters that have assisted our foundation along the way including our architects, Drew and Jim Hubbell; master gardener, Pat Welsh; Marie Burke Lia who provided strategic counsel on historic preservation issues; Elinor Merideth of Selzer Caplan McMahon Vitek who provided legal counsel related to the gift, as well as Dave Nielson of MNA Consulting and our Advisory Board Chair, Lucy Killea, who both provided us with on-going political advice on addressing community based needs and concerns. We are also appreciative of the advice and support of Loch and Claire Crane that give so generosity of their time in the early days of our project planning. We are also most grateful for the many neighbors that we have come to know through the entire approval process and whom we hope to get to know better as the years go by.
We are also most grateful for the many neighbors that we have come to know through the entire approval process and whom we hope to get to know better as the years go by.
With the zoning approval now behind us, ICF is looking to the future as it begins its campaign to raise the necessary funding for our required remodel so that we can permanently relocate to National City.
As ICF friends and donors we invite you to visit our new offices when we complete our remodel by the Spring of 2008. Many thanks again to John and Christy Walton who believed in ICF and our vision to use their former home as a cultural bridge to connect San Diego with its neighbor to the south, Baja California.
Rick Romney
ICF Board member and Chairman Walton Gift Task Force
back to main
