President’s Message by REA President
Mike Bresnahan 
Hello!

For years, as you know, our general member meetings have been held in the War Memorial Building at Balboa Park. These meetings have always been on the second Tuesday of each month, except for June which we take off, and December when we hold our holiday party at the Bali-Hai. The recent decision by the City of San Diego to charge for parking has resulted in the San Diego Zoo to also impose parking fees in the lot immediately adjacent to the War Memorial Building. Based in part because of this, the REA Board thought it was important to reach out to our members.

This effort was led by VP of Advocacy, Ramiro Gonzalez. A survey was created and electronically sent to our members for their input. The following is Ramiro’s summary of the results:

On April 3, 2026, REA invited over 1500 REA members to participate in a Survey regarding our General Member Meetings at the Balboa Park War Memorial building. This report serves as a resource for REA Board Members who want to make data-informed decisions regarding member engagement and retention and as a guide for anyone looking to understand the perspectives of City retirees.

This report examines City of San Diego retirees’ perceptions and expectations of our current meetings. As we analyzed the reasons REA members choose to attend our meetings, what factors they consider when attending, and what helps them find the sense of belonging that’s important to their retirement success, a few key themes emerged:

  • Barriers preventing attendance
  • Staying informed on issues affecting City retirees
  • Desired frequency of attending board meetings
  • Lunch and socialization opportunities
127 REA members responded to this survey. 72% of respondents have scheduling conflicts/other commitments preventing attendance, 72% enjoy our existing programs and information on issues affecting retirees, 30% would desire to attend our board meetings on a quarterly basis, and 67% do not stay for lunch due to other commitments/dietary limitations.
Your REA Board will continue to evaluate the feedback from our members to determine what changes, if any, will be in store for our general members meetings. Thank you to all of you who responded. We appreciate it.