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Toni Atkins was first elected to the City Council of San Diego on November 7, 2000, to represent the Third District. She was re-elected to a second term on March 2, 2004. She was chosen by her council colleagues to serve as Deputy Mayor of the City of San Diego from July 25 to December 5, 2005, during a vacancy in the Mayor’s Office.
Toni currently chairs the City Council’s newly formed Committee on Budget and Finance, and is vice chair of both the Land Use and Housing and Natural Resources and Culture committees.
Toni represents the City of San Diego at the San Diego Chapter of the League of Cities as well as on the board and executive committee of the Metropolitan Transit System. She sits on the San Diego Association of Governments (SanDAG) Regional Housing Working Group, as an alternate to the Transportation Committee and the Regional Planning Committee, and the City/County Joint Homeless Task Force. Toni continues to serve on the San Diego River Conservancy as an appointee of former State Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson.
Toni is widely viewed as the leader on the Council in the fight for affordable housing. On August 6, 2001, a day referred to as "Housing Day in San Diego," she led the charge to enact the nation's first Housing State of Emergency, helped push through the City's first inclusionary housing policy, and engineered a housing policy that resulted in $55 million in housing set-aside funds for the construction of new affordable housing units citywide.
Toni is also a strong advocate for workers’ rights. On April 12, 2005, she led the Council as they approved a Living Wage Ordinance which requires companies with 12 or more employees who contract with the city to provide services to pay employees who work under these contracts at least $10 an hour with benefits, or $12 without benefits.
In her district, Toni continues to make neighborhood revitalization her top priority. Over the past five years, using a variety of funds and working with local, state and federal officials, she has allocated millions of dollars for projects and programs that will pave streets, fix sidewalks, install streetlights, plant trees and landscape medians.
Since taking office in 2000, Toni worked to get an additional $12.5 million to complete and open three new community parks along the I-15 corridor and improve and upgrade more than a half-dozen other neighborhood parks throughout the district. An additional $8.2 million was allocated to build a Veterans Memorial Garden in Balboa Park and to revitalize and restore four major Balboa Park facilities.
Toni continues to make redevelopment of our older urban neighborhoods a top priority. In North Park, the famed North Park Theatre reopened in October 2005, and a newly built 388-car parking structure opened across the street from the theater on February 10, 2006. Two mixed-use, residential/commercial projects are also underway: the North Park Renaissance project at El Cajon Boulevard and 30th Street, which includes senior housing, affordable multi-family units, market-rate town homes, retail space and a community center; and La Boheme, which offers 224 for-sale condominiums (45 of which will be affordable), approximately 15,800 square feet of ground level commercial space and a minimum of 371 parking spaces.
In City Heights, the state-of-the-art Regional Transportation Center at 40th Street and El Cajon Boulevard opened in the summer of 2003, and the Metro Center job-training center and Metro Villas affordable housing complex at 39th Street and University Avenue were completed in the spring of 2004. Two housing projects—Hollywood Palms and Urban Village Townhomes–have added much-needed affordable rental units for families in Mid-City; and the Talmadge Senior Village project will add 90 units of affordable senior housing to the mix in early 2006.
In 2002, Toni successfully lobbied the California Public Utilities Commission to approve a plan to dramatically speed up and increase the number of utility lines to be placed underground annually. The first major project to be started under this plan—30th Street in North Park between University Avenue and Laurel Street—was completed in early 2004. And in the summer of 2002, Toni partnered with the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council to introduce the City's first-ever pothole program, filling 340 potholes throughout the district in less than three months.
Toni was recognized in 1997 as San Diego Lesbian & Gay Pride's "Woman of the Year." She has also received the San Diego Democratic Club's "Doug Scott Award for Political Action" and was recognized in 1998 by the Non-Profit Federation for Housing and Community Development (now the San Diego Housing Federation) for "Outstanding Achievement in Affordable Housing and Community Development." Toni also received the Nicky Awards' Board of Governors' Award in 1999 and 2002, and served as Honorary Chair of Ordinary Miracles in 2001.
In 2001, Toni was presented with a Historic Preservation Award from the American Institute of Architects; the "Nobody Does It Better Award" by the Municipal Employees Association; and the Co-Presidents Award by the Tom Homann Law Association. She was also named one of San Diego Magazine's "50 People to Watch in 2001."
In 2002, Toni was presented with a Special Recognition Award from Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C-3) for her work on affordable housing, Balboa Park and infrastructure; the Advocacy Hero Award by Senior Community Centers of San Diego; and the "Outstanding Leadership" award by the San Diego Housing Federation. She was also presented with an Azalea Award for Outstanding Community Support by the Azalea Park Neighborhood Association, a Teralta Spirit Award for Outstanding Community Leadership by the Teralta Concerned Citizens Association, and was given special recognition by the Talmadge Maintenance Assessment District, VillaView Community Hospital, San Diego Leadership Initiative, Rebuilding Together, and St. Paul's Senior Home & Services.
In 2003, Toni was presented with the Public Agency Partnership "Open Door Award" for facilitating consistent and timely communication between the City and the Engineering and General Contractors Association; and was recognized by the Adams Avenue Business Association for her valuable contributions to and ongoing support of the continuing revitalization of the Adams Avenue Business Improvement District.
In 2004, Toni was given an A+ (104 points) by the San Diego Baykeeper for her perfect environmental voting record, the highest score on the City Council. She was also honored with the A. Brad Truax Human Rights Award by the San Diego Democratic Club, the Beacon Award by the California First Amendment Coaltion, and the Distinguished Service Award by the Live and Let Live Alano Club.
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| Councilmember Atkins
with her nephew Tommy. |
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In 2005, Toni received the Coastal Champion Award by San Diego Coastkeeper, the “Distinguished Alonzo” Award from the Downtown San Diego Partnership, and was named as a “Beacon of Light” by the San Diego Living Wage Coalition. She was also presented with a Pan Pac Leadership Award by the San Diego Police Department Pan Pacific Law Enforcement Agency and a special Appreciation Award by the Korean American Chamber of Commerce San Diego.
In February 2006, Toni received the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Award from the national Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund in honor of her recent service to the City of San Diego as Deputy Mayor.
Just recently, in March of 2008, Toni was recognized by Senator Christine Kehoe as the “Woman of the Year” in the 39th Senatorial District.
Toni is originally from Southwestern Virginia. She graduated from Emory & Henry College with a degree in political science with a focus on community organizing. In July 2004, she completed the Senior Executive Program at the prestigious John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
A 22-year resident of Council District Three, Toni currently resides in South Park/Golden Hill with her significant other, Jennifer LeSar and their standard poodle, Haley.
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