2 months ago
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When the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA was competing for seed money to finance its $40 million renovation 15 years ago, the letter Dan McAllister sent to California State Parks officials certainly didn’t hurt.
McAllister, the YMCA board member who was also the elected San Diego County treasurer-tax collector, spelled out why the state should invest millions of its limited tax dollars serving young people in south San Diego over other programs.
“From a socio-economic standpoint, the neighborhoods served by the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA stand out not for their affluence or low unemployment rates,” the career taxman wrote. “On the contrary…”
McAllister went on to describe the challenges confronting southeastern San Diego communities — and why the local Y deserved $5 million in state parks funds.
That vote of confidence helped jump-start the capital campaign that led to the opening of the new Jackie Robinson Family YMCA in 2017, replacing a facility that dated back decades.
“We have a beautiful facility now,” said Anna Arancibia, the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA chief executive. “But back in 2004, to have his voice out there advocating for new funding was huge and important.”
It was one of many contributions to the broader San Diego County community made by McAllister, who died Wednesday morning following a lingering illness, months after retiring midway through a sixth term. He was 74.
A second-generation San Diego native who gr...
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