More than two dozen people settled into a room at Lupi Vino Cucina Bar in Bird Rock on April 7 to socialize and order drinks. But that wasn’t all. The room had a projector displaying pictures of local history. There also were a microphone stand, a table full of T-shirts and a collection of fliers making their way from table to table.
The gathering wasn’t a typical night at Lupi. It’s the way the Bird Rock Community Council has set up its meetings since President Joe Parker took the helm.
Community Council meetings had been nearly indistinguishable from one another from one year to the next. But no more.
Parker stepped in as interim president late last year when then-president Joe Terry left the role for personal reasons.
Parker shed the interim title Jan. 21 when he was formally chosen as president in a closed board meeting.
Since then, BRCC has moved away from meeting every month at the Bird Rock Elementary School auditorium. Instead, it has gathered at local businesses such as Beaumont’s restaurant and Lupi.
It also has moved away from its traditional meeting format, prioritizing grassroots community engagement and a meet-and-greet style over a tight, agenda-driven structure.
Some former agenda mainstays — such as periodic updates on the group’s long-standing lighting and monument sign projects, information on how to coexist with wildlife and reports about Bird Rock committees — have been notably absent in recent months.
The meetings have shortened, too. The meat of the April 7 gathering spanned roughly 20 minutes, with a handful of community members introducing themselves and promoting their businesses and projects. Few topics were discussed at length.
The large majority of the meeting was dedicated to community-building and socialization. The restaurant buzzed with people in attendance chatting with one another and moving around the room.
Some stood in an adjoining room when table space ran out.
With all the tables occupied, people attending the Bird Rock Community Council meeting April 7 spilled into another room at Lupi Vino Cucina Bar to hear community updates. (Noah Lyons)
Guests were encouraged to submit their business cards for a gift card giveaway, which Parker said was meant to expand the BRCC contact list and drive membership.
The historical photos presentation, called “5 Minutes of Bird Rock,” was initiated by Parker early last year when he was vice president.
“Over the years, it appears to me that interest and participation and being active in the BRCC is going through one of those times when attendance is down,” Parker told the La Jolla Light in January. “It’s tough to get people to come to community meetings where the topics are dry about certain things.
“So my approach is to bring the community back by starting first and foremost with the things that keep us together.”
There have been some growing pains so far, with multiple schedule changes last month and “things to work through” with notices through email.
But Parker said he’s sticking with the new approach.
“We’re trying to get the community back together so that when we have issues [and] when we’re having fun, we have someone to call upon.” ♦