Infrastructure Needs

by Councilman Scott Peters
for the La Jolla Village News
September 2003

Being in Council District One is a blessing. From the beautiful coastline, from our canyon preserves to the top of Black Mountain open space, District 1 is the envy of San Diego for its natural resources, wonderful neighborhoods, cutting edge high tech businesses, world class university and fantastic commercial districts. But despite these amazing gifts, we still have infrastructure problems that plague most older areas of San Diego. Although the perception may be that District 1 streets are paved with gold, we know that our pavement cracks the same way pavement cracks everywhere else. Although District One has new areas like Carmel Valley, the Golden Triangle and Torrey Highlands, we also have older areas like La Jolla, University City and Torrey Pines. These older areas are in need of the same type of care that all of our older neighborhoods could use, from enhanced parks and libraries to more street paving and enhanced neighborhood aesthetics.

When the Mayor and I were elected, the City Council began to address these issues and level with San Diegans about our infrastructure deficits. To our surprise the City has never prepared a comprehensive list of deferred maintenance. As a result, our City lacks the basic knowledge necessary to begin to address the infrastructure problem. The City Manager has finally started to create this list, allowing us to begin prioritizing the areas most in need of attention. One of the first areas of deferred maintenance that we tackled were upgrades to our water and sewer system, which we are aggressively pursuing. Our efforts thus far have resulted in a 41% reduction in sewer spills and the 45% reduction in beach closures.

In La Jolla and University City, we have also started to tackle deferred maintenance and assess the needs and aesthetic improvements desired by the community. Although the City budget does not currently have funds for many of these projects, it is important that we create a comprehensive list that allows us to compete for the State and Federal dollars that come available through bond measures or legislative earmarking. In the past, one of the City's failings has been our lack of savvy in competing for State and Federal funds. Legislators have often asked for our priorities and have been given incomplete lists that lack the specificity necessary to compete effectively for funding. We have also acted like second class citizens when competing for bond money approved by the voters. In the last state park bond, Los Angeles and San Francisco had hundreds of millions of dollars in projects written into the bond. San Diego had no specific projects, because we failed to participate in the process. We have changed that and now have a robust lobbying group representing us in Sacramento and Washington D.C. I have made personal trips to talk with Congress and the legislature to make sure District One's voice is heard loud and clear. Mayor Murphy has also ushered in a new era of working with our local legislative delegations to try to bring more money to San Diego. In the past, politics played a role in how we asked for money. But now we ask regardless. Mayor Pete Wilson once said that there are no Democrat or Republican pot holes, and that is how we are now approaching the legislature. No matter who is in control, it is important that we get San Diego's fair share.

In La Jolla we've conducted an extensive study of coastal erosion and broken it into fundable projects. I pushed for funding of those projects to be included in an upcoming ballot initiative in March. That process of looking at our needs has also led to the construction of the new stairs at the Cove, the improvements to Coast Walk, implementation of the Windansea Plan and the design and funding of the La Jolla shores lifeguard tower, among other projects. We have also just completed the extensive reconfiguration of the "throat," which is now efficiently conveying cars through the second busiest intersection in San Diego. In UC we are working with the University City Community Association and a subcommittee of the planning group to update the projects in the Development Impact Fee list and prepare a community needs list for UC. We have also started the University City beautification project which has yielded a beautification plan along Governor Drive that we can begin to fund, and we are close to solving the problem of weeds and poorly maintained medians along Genesee. The Council has also created a program to underground power lines on residential streets throughout San Diego. A year ago we had no plan to underground these power lines, and now we have a plan and the funding necessary to pursue it.

In the past two and a half years we have made significant progress on deferred maintenance and infrastructure improvements throughout Districts One. We have become active in Sacramento and Washington, and we now have plans that we are working to fund. By staying on this path I know we will continue to be successful in improving the facilities that support our quality of life.