Allied Gardens got a refresh the community has been waiting for.

Last month, our Transportation Department’s Mill and Pave Team resurfaced Eldridge St., including the cross streets of Barclay Ave., Charter Ave., and Delano Ave. This street segment included sections rated as low as 10.43 on our Pavement Condition Index – improvements on streets like these are deeply appreciated by the community.

Big thanks to the Transportation Department for their hard work! Take a look at some before and after highlights below.

My office strives to be responsive to the requests of residents, and more often than not, your requests are straightforward. All we need to do is elevate your voice.

A great recent example is that of the traffic markings on the intersection of Del Cerro Blvd. and Madra Ave. After residents reached out to request a refresh, my team and I coordinated with our Transportation Department to deliver this important service.

I’m happy to report that the work was recently completed. Thank you to the Transportation Department for your continuous partnership and good work. Take a look at the result below!

Even in the midst of a tough budget year, I am fighting hard to protect Linda Vista projects: John Baca Park, the proposed Mission Heights Off-leash Dog Park, and more.

At my urging, both of these projects are included in the Mayor’s draft budget. Both these parks are critical to for the Linda Vista community and something I will continue to advocate for as budget discussions near their end.

For reference, the budget includes money to upgrade the Linda Vista Recreation Center resources, $80k for additional design services, soft costs and design contingencies on John Baca Park, $300k for implementation of the Mission Heights Off-leash Dog Park, and $1.03M for Linda Vista Playground improvements.

The San Diego Tourism Authority is offering an excellent resource to small businesses in San Diego: The Tourism Accelerator Small Business Summit, a free event designed to support small businesses interested in growing within San Diego’s tourism industry, will be in Mission Valley next week.

The Tourism Accelerator program is a small business training program designed to engage and empower diverse communities by connecting them with opportunities in San Diego’s travel and hospitality industry. The half-day summit is a public event that provides education, resources, and networking to support entrepreneurs and owners to grow within the tourism sector. It will be on Friday, June 12 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the DoubleTree Mission Valley.

To learn more and register, click here.

Update on the Lake Badin and Jackson crosswalk project!

Thanks to the swift work of our Transportation Department and their in-house pavement teams, the crosswalk installation on Lake Badin and Jackson is complete. This is part of a larger-scale effort to improve traffic safety on this stretch of road and other critical areas throughout District 7, which I requested immediate action on.

Pedestrian safety is public safety. These investments are the kinds of investments our city must be making intelligently and efficiently. I will continue to demand action on pedestrian safety throughout District 7 and the city.

Last month, the Airports Advisory Committee welcomed its newest member, John Embree. I nominated Mr. Embree to the Serra Mesa Representative seat thanks to a glowing recommendation from the Serra Mesa Planning Group. In my conversations with Mr. Embree, it was evident that he will make a great advocate for the Serra Mesa community and will excel at facilitating communications between Serra Mesa and the airfield.

Mr. Embree has an extensive background in aviation, through his time serving in the Navy, and as a manager of high-stakes issues through his role as a tech executive. Beyond his impressive resume, Mr. Embree is a warm individual with a dedication to helping his community. Thank you, John, for volunteering to serve on this committee. I have no doubt you will thrive in the role.

Last week, my staff and I attended Tierrafest to walk in the parade and chat with Tierrasantans. It’s always so heartening to see families together, enjoying time with their neighbors, and building community around events like these, which are put on by a long list of community organizations, like Tierrasanta Kiwanis, and volunteers.

I brought Rafael along. He practiced waving at the crowds from the parade, although he might have been distracted by the exciting cars at times. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to show him how our district comes together.

Thank you to everyone involved in putting together Tierrafest for the neighborhood to enjoy. And big thanks to those who stopped to chat with me or said hello from the audience of the parade – you all are a huge reason I love to attend these events!

In May, residents in Tierrasanta took part in a major bulk item cleanup hosted by the City's Environmental Services Department (ESD). ESD provides these opportunities throughout the district, with this one allowing Tierrasanta residents the opportunity to dispose of 14.61 tons of waste. I extend a big thank you to ESD staff for organizing this service and to the residents who took advantage of it.

Interested in having a Mini Bulk Cleanup on your block? ESD hosts one to two a month and determines the location by referencing a running list of residential requests. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office with your request. We are happy to pass your street name along to ESD.

If you are looking for something to do this weekend, head toward District 7’s crown jewel to enjoy some recent upgrades, detailed in a recent Mission Times Courier piece by Taylor Crowley.

Upgrades include new interpretive panels that include information on the “natural and cultural history” of the park. Another upgrade, which our Tierrasantans will be happy about, is a refurbishment of the Clairemont Mesa Blvd bridge leading to the Fortunas trails.

This work was done through grant funding – kudos to the folks at Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation for constantly improving this treasure for our residents.

Photo credit: Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation

As was reported last month, the City has entered into an agreement to end the lawsuit against the City’s trash fee. Trash fees will be significantly lowered, and parking at the crown jewel of San Diego will be free for everyone, not just city residents.

As the only councilmember who voted against both the trash fee and Balboa Park parking fees, I am pleased that the City Council has agreed to this settlement. With this agreement, we reduce the cost of living in San Diego and begin the process of rebuilding San Diegans' trust in their city government. Seniors who live on a fixed income and families struggling to pay their bills will see more money in their pocket, and small businesses and museums in Balboa Park will see their customers return.

I will continue to advocate for the City to live within our own means instead of charging residents more, and for the City to help small businesses and non-profits that provide good jobs and services to our region.

May is budget month at the City of San Diego. We hosted multiple public information hearings and City Council public comment sessions, spent a week in Budget Review Committee where each City department presented their proposed budget, and shared our updated budget priorities. On Tuesday, June 9, the City Council is charged with adopting a final City budget.

Here is a recap on some of aspects of the budget that I vouched for and will stand by in final budget discussions:

Restoring arts, library, and youth funding

Maintaining critical public safety infrastructure

Streamlining City operational spending

Arts, library, and youth funding

Arts and culture bring millions of dollars in revenue to our city through sales tax and our TOT (tourism) tax. When folks visit San Diego, they come for a myriad of reasons that often include visiting the museums in Balboa Park, attending a concert or play, and dining at one of our wonderful restaurants. This is revenue the City relies on.

It is an engine that creates thousands of good jobs, from the artists themselves to the restaurant, food service, and event production workers. In a broad sense, I believe arts are essential because they allow us to afford other essentials. While we celebrate the elimination of paid parking in Balboa Park, my conversations with arts leaders made one thing very clear: the proposed cuts will devastate the very programming that keeps arts accessible and affordable.

Speaking of accessibility, libraries are essential communal spaces that help keep our neighborhoods safe. Not only are libraries critical for our youth who often use them after school for homework and other City sponsored programing, they act as a lifeline for our seniors as well, which is critical to their health and wellbeing.

To divest in any of these areas is shortsighted and will negatively hurt our budget and community wellbeing in the long run.

Infrastructure as public safety

I view the budget the same way every year. Some budget spending guarantees the basics that San Diego residents need right now to live in a safe and sound city. Police. Fire. Streets. Sidewalks. Streetlights. Core infrastructure. Those things are material to this fiscal year and support the conditions of daily life. Safe streets and sidewalks keep children alive in my district every day.

We must do everything possible to keep our residents safe, especially our children as they travel to and from school. In this year's budget, I will continue to prioritize Safe Routes to School. This means funding the Transportation Department at a level that allows them to continue installing stop signs and crosswalks at intersections that need them most.

Reducing operational spending

Many of you have asked how I suggest closing the gap if I want to reinstate funding for arts, libraries, youth programming, and infrastructure. While cutting middle manager positions will not completely close the gap, it is a step in the right direction and will ensure we keep essential City employees such as librarians, recreation center employees, and maintenance workers.

This is the balance I’m continuing to advocate for while finalizing this year’s budget.

Sincerely,