I visited  our U.S.-Mexico border to help Cross Border Xpress (CBX) celebrate a significant milestone. The facility located in the Otay Mesa community of San Diego connects to the Tijuana airport via pedestrian bridge and just served its 20 millionth binational traveler. CBX, the only one of its kind in the world, helps boost our binational region’s economy and tourism. It’s also a great example of what we can get done through cross-border collaboration.  

LEAD San Diego’s annual Visionary Awards bring together community leaders, business leaders, and elected officials to celebrate the organizations and people who power our city and region through innovation, collaboration and change-making leadership. Congratulations to this year’s awardees: Alan Ziter, Dr. Steven Jones, the USS Midway Museum, Dr. Nicholas Holmes and San Diego Wave FC. All those recognized have made meaningful, long-lasting impacts on our region and are working hard to move San Diego forward! 

Neighbors and residents gathered to celebrate the fun fact that this Thursday’s date, 9/21/23, lines up with Serra Mesa, Birdland and part of Kearny Mesa’s zip code, 92123. Councilmember Raul Campillo and I issued a proclamation for “92123 Day,” a fun event that featured vendors, a photobooth, arts and craft activities and various carnival games. Residents also showed off their neighborhood memorabilia and swapped stories about why they love living in these unique San Diego neighborhoods.   

I celebrated Mexican Independence Day alongside Consul General Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez and food vendors, musical and dance performances and other exciting entertainment at El Grito de México en San Diego, an annual event led by the Mexican Consulate in San Diego. This cultural celebration recreates the call for independence from priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla that took place at dawn on September 16, 1810 and helped lead to Mexico’s independence.    

The San Diego 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb is a poignant annual tribute to the brave emergency workers lost in the September 11 attacks. Firefighters, police officers, paramedics, military personnel and other San Diegans join together every year to honor the memories of those lost. It was an honor to climb 110 flights of stairs – the same number as those in the twin towers – wearing the name of fallen firefighter Joseph Mascali.

San Diego is mourning the loss of K-9 Sir, a beloved canine officer who was shot and killed while attempting to apprehend a shooter on the Mesa College Campus last month. I joined an intimate memorial for Sir alongside members of the San Diego Police Department’s Canine Unit and SDPD leadership to mourn this tragic loss and honor Sir’s service. Thank you for helping keep San Diego safe, Sir.

I grew up in Clairemont and enjoy returning to my old neighborhood for the festivities at the 34th annual Clairemont Family Day. I was proud to present a certificate to recognize the 2023 Clairemont Family Day Honoree, Tom Lamke, a former event chair and president of the South Clairemont Park and Recreation Council. Tom has been a longtime volunteer and community leader in Clairemont, and our community appreciates all he’s done to make the neighborhood an even greater place to live.

Every year, the John S. Lyons Memorial Banquet honors a labor leader for his or her commitment to working families and to our community. This year, the group named Carol Kim, business manager for San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council, Labor Leader of the Year. Carol has been an advocate for working families and underserved communities for years and it’s great to see her get this much-deserved recognition.  

I had the honor of joining Rady Children’s Hospital to break ground on a major new expansion project that includes a seven-story Intensive Care Unit/Emergency Services Pavilion, featuring an expanded emergency department; advanced pediatric, neonatal and cardiac intensive care units; and state-of-the-art operating rooms. This is part of the hospital’s largest transformation in its nearly 70-year history and will help the hospital continue its work serving San Diegans well into the future. 

I recently toured RUTH: Remember Us The Holocaust, an exhibition currently on view at the Rancho San Diego Library. The exhibit is a curated by Sandy Scheller and is a beautiful remembrance of her mother Ruth, a Holocaust survivor. The County of San Diego Board of Supervisors funded the current exhibition, which will be on display through May 2024.

I joined a local group of alumni from the University of Iowa to learn more about what the nonprofit VIA International does to serve migrants and other communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. I was excited to learn more about VIA International’s Via Barrio program, which helped to incubate and launch Pan Y Paz, San Diego’s first women-owned bakers’ cooperative. The City’s Economic Development Department has provided grants for VIA to purchase equipment and fund the marketing and overall development of the Pan y Paz as a collective business.

I toured SOLV Energy’s San Diego headquarters and got to know more about how the solar services provider works with utility solar, high-voltage substation and energy storage markets across North America. The SOLV team is one of many local companies contributing to the clean energy movement and helping move the needle when it comes to combatting climate change.  

On Labor Day, I dropped by a picket line to show my support for the Machinists Union Local 1484 Mercedes Benz technicians who have been on strike for over a year. Workers on strike are demanding an honest effort in negotiations and asking Mercedes Benz management to take their demands seriously so they can continue to operate as union factory-trained technicians. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration in San Diego celebrated its 70th Anniversary, marking seven decades of small business support. San Diego’s small businesses community is such a vital part of our local economy. I'm so grateful to the Biden-Harris administration and to the SBA for providing funds during COVID-19, which were used here in San Diego to directly assist struggling small businesses across our city.

I stopped by the new Fahari L. Jeffers Elementary School to talk about the legacy of Fahari Jeffers, who, along with her husband Ken Seaton-Msemaji, was an important part of the labor movement in San Diego in the early 1970s. I also talked about the importance of getting a good education and had the chance to speak directly with teachers, parents, students and community leaders.

I was honored to join Councilmember Kent Lee and other community and business leaders to help congratulate and present certificates of recognition to the students who are part of the Alliance of Chinese Americans (ACA) civic engagement internship programs. ACA provides students with opportunities in civic engagement, such as internships with local government offices, independent projects for community services and more. The goal of the program is one I stand firmly and proudly behind: To inspire civic engagement and foster future leaders.

I joined Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, Parks and Recreation Director Andy Field, San Diego School District Superintendent Dr. Lamont Jackson and other community leaders to celebrate the opening of a new off-leash dog park for University Heights. The University Heights community has long advocated for this park, since neither Birney Elementary Joint Use Field nor Old Trolley Barn Park allows dogs off-leash. This City-funded interim dog park on the school district headquarters lawn will remain in place until the school district vacates the site permanently to move to Kearny Mesa.