Mark Fleming says he wants to keep Coronado special.
He’s joined the race for Coronado City Council this year because he likes the direction the city is headed, and he wants to keep it that way.
“We’ve got some changes coming up in the leadership within the city that are going to be taking place this year,” he said, referencing the two city council seats and mayoral position on the ballot. “I’m concerned about who might get into these positions and how it might change the trajectory of the city.”
He and his wife, Rhonda, were both raised in small towns, and although they initially purchased property in Coronado as an intended second home, they quickly realized it was the full-time place for them. Its small-town, neighborly character was the main appeal, but having the arts and culture of San Diego so accessible sealed the deal.
Fleming said he hopes to bring strategic and visionary thinking to council decisions, skills he learned leading his two companies, Corbins Electric and NOX Innovations.
“I love Coronado as it is,” he said, “but I also realize that Coronado needs to change and evolve. There’s an old saying in the business world that if you’re not growing and evolving, you’re dying. Our city needs to change and grow, and we need to be looking to the future.”
Fleming cites his construction technology company as an example of visionary thinking. As an early adopter of technology, it developed three-dimensional building information modeling for electrical contractors, which eventually became Evolve MEP, the nation’s leading software for BIM modeling.
“I was always looking to the future, and working to position the company so that we would be leading the industry, rather than being just another contractor in the industry,” Fleming said. “I think we need a similar approach with the city as we not only address our current problems, but look forward.”
Fleming said that means bringing climate change into talks about infrastructure and public safety to ensure the city is poised for future success.
“We need to plug into the community for input,” he said, “because I think that’s a prime example of something that I personally am not going to have the best insight for, but if we collaborate within the community, we’ll get good input.”
Although Fleming said he is happy with the direction the city has taken, he does have his plans for it. Unsurprisingly, addressing the Tijuana sewage crisis is top of his list. He said that he appreciates the work leaders in Coronado and beyond have done to secure additional funding, but that the city cannot get complacent and will need to continue to push until the matter is resolved.
He would like to revisit the decision on the Cays Park Masterplan, which he believes the city council got wrong.
“I think there’s enough opposition to (the plan) that the city should have listened, stepped back, and reconsidered its position,” Fleming said. “I think the budget for it is excessive, especially considering some of the expenditures we have coming up.”
Before the city council voted to approve the plan in May, a vocal opposition of Cays residents spoke against it, saying the $31.2 million plan was too expensive and that the included amenities were too rich. In response, designer Glen Schmidt, founder of Schmidt Design Group, pointed to extensive community outreach surveys and said the plan aligned with outreach results.
However, Fleming said that there is a difference between asking the community if they would like to have an amenity without discussing it holistically. Spending money on one project necessitates taking it away from another.
“If you ask me if I want a Ford F-150 pickup or a Ferrari, I’m going to say a Ferrari,” he said. “At least, until I know the rest of the story behind it: Is it truly going to serve my needs well? What’s the expense of it? What’s the maintenance? Knowing that, I might make a different decision.”
The balance between needs, wants and budget is something he said his business experience will inform.
A third key matter for Fleming is infrastructure.
“In January, we had a good example that there’s more infrastructure work that needs to be done,” Fleming said, referencing the Jan. 22 2024 storm. “We can’t totally control Mother Nature, but we saw pretty devastating effects from the stormwater that we had to deal with: it flooded a lot of people’s homes, a lot of people’s businesses.”
Fleming said he wants to study what happened and ensure the city’s infrastructure plan will mitigate risk of a repeat occurrence. The Parker Pump Station, which is currently being replaced, will help, but Fleming wants to ensure that it is enough.
Further, Fleming said he wants to consider pacing with major projects. The Parker Pump Station broke ground in January 2023, and its original construction was projected to last a year. That was pushed to spring of 2025, and its current projected completion date is summer of 2025. (Weather – including the Jan. 22 storm – played a role in that.)
While delays can be inevitable, Fleming said that his experience in construction will help him consider the pacing of infrastructure projects. He had clients who expected quick, high-quality work, which he delivered – at a cost. He had others without strict deadlines, whose work progressed at a more normal speed and a lower cost.
Slower progress can also increase costs from original projections, especially in a high-inflation economy, and residents living without infrastructure also carries a cost. Fleming said every project has an ideal meeting point of efficiency and cost, and that evaluating such needs is something he is adept at.
Now that he is retired, Fleming said that he has full-time hours to devote to the job, which requires lengthy meetings and research. He also hopes to foster strong relationships within agencies such as the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), to ensure that Coronado’s interests are accounted for. SANDAG infamously allocated the 913 housing units that Coronado had to rezone for in this cycle of the Regional Housing Needs Allocation – and another cycle is fewer than five years away.
“If you vote for me, I will work however many hours that it takes in order to be an effective representative of that community,” Fleming said. “I’m an experienced leader and manager, and I can bring that experience to Coronado.”
