State of the District Address

May 23, 2007

Tonight I was pleased to be able to talk with District Seven residents about our District and our successful partnerships in accomplishing goals, our progress on projects and plans for the future.

I love San Diego. It is my hometown and I want to do all that I can to improve our neighborhoods. From big projects to smaller projects, each one is an indication of my commitment to our communities that I'm working on on your behalf. My guiding principle is to get things done for my communities. Working closely with community leaders, we've been extremely successful in checking off things from our "to-do" list.

Over the past year we've partnered with communities to achieve some important accomplishments in our shared goal of improving the quality of life for our neighborhoods:

• Dedication of the Del Cerro Fire Station
• Keep Your Family Safe Expo
• Partnered with SDG&E and Cox Communications to complete utility undergrounding projects in the Navajo community
• Construction of medians on El Cajon Boulevard in the College Area and Antigua Boulevard in Tierrasanta
• Sunrise Auto Repair demolition and revitalization of the Chollas Triangle
• Turfed ball fields at Vista Grande Elementary
• Dedication of a comfort station at DePortola fields in Tierrasanta
• Partnered with Council President Scott Peters to initiate a City-wide smoking ban at parks and beaches
• Held a Town Hall meeting to discuss MCAS Miramar airport site
• Hosted a Town Hall meeting to discuss the Mini-Dorm phenomenon
• Held community clean-up days for Chollas Triangle, Fox Canyon, Islenair, Euclid Avenue and Colina del Sol

I have also been working on citywide, regional and statewide issues as your City Councilmember as well as through my involvement with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and as First Vice President of the League of California Cities. Some of these issues include:

• Working to finish the City's Audits to obtain completed financial statements for 2004, 2005 and 2006
• Regional transportation issues, including repairing and upgrading infrastructure as well as improving public transit
• Eminent Domain reform at the state level

As we look to the future, the following are some priorities I have for the District:

• Alvarado Canyon Road realignment
• Landscaped medians -
  Lake Shore drive between Jackson Drive and La Mesa City limits
  Jackson Drive east to La Mesa City limits
  Cowles Mountain Boulevard from Navajo Road north to Golfcrest
• Acquire East Elliott property to expand MTRP
• San Carlos Library
• Tierrasanta Library
• Tierrasanta Fire Station
• Funding for neighborhood traffic calming measures adjacent to parks and schools including the Safe Routes to Schools Program
• Joint -use ball fields in City Heights and College Area neighborhoods
• Euclid Tower
• Euclid Gateway - phase 2
• Grantville Redevelopment
• Crossroads Redevelopment
• Building parks in City Heights

I want to thank special guests who spoke at my State of the District Address - Jill Olen, Director of Homeland Security, Fire Chief Tracy Jarman and Assistant SDPD Chief David Ramirez who gave presentations on keeping San Diego safe. Thanks also to the City's Independent Budget Analyst Andrea Tevlin who spoke about financial issues and the City's budget.

Thank you to everyone who attended! As I've said before, District 7 residents are the best!