Friday Was Final Day to Vote for New RB Welcome Sign

Friday was the last day to cast a vote to decide which of three designs will be used to create a new sign welcoming people to Rancho Bernardo.

By the end of last week, more than 500 votes had been cast at RefreshRB.com, the site of the volunteer committee coordinating the redesign. The new sign, necessitated by the destruction of the previous one by an errant driver, will be covered by the driver's insurance, according to San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio's office which is overseeing the effort.

The three designs under consideration are the product of community suggestions and reflect contemporary and traditional aesthetics. Last month, local marketing experts on the different messages the designs would send about the Rancho Bernardo community.

There have been some complaints about the voting process taking place exclusively online, leaving many RB residents without a say because they do not have access to or choose not to use computers. Organizers, including the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce, also set up the process so that only one vote could be cast per computer, which could affect households with a shared computer where different people want to vote for separate designs.

Jack Straw, the RB community representative for DeMaio's office, said the potential cost for opening access to multiple votes per computer but preventing abuse by individuals was prohibitive. The same limitation applied to finding other ways for people to vote beside online, he said, adding that there were no complaints about that aspect during the initial online round of voting to narrow down the designs to three choices in October.

The majority-selected design will come before the RB Planning Board and RB Community Council for final approval. Construction could begin by the end of the year.

Voting closed at midnight.