The race to lead San Diego’s second largest city is packed with hopeful candidates.
Those running to replace now termed-out Mayor Mary Casillas Salas are set to take the reins at an interesting point for the city. There are two open city council seats — those vacated by councilmembers John McCann and Jill Galvez — and a new city attorney. And there could be another open seat on the council in the near future.
That’s potentially five of Chula Vista’s six elected positions in flux over the next few months, ushering in a new class of leaders to shape the city it becomes.
Voice of San Diego’s Andrea Lopez-Villafaña spoke to residents about what they want from their next mayor.
“I feel like we deserve somebody who’s ready to take the reins and take us to a level that I feel we deserve,” one resident said.
Those in the race include once congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar, army veteran Spencer Cash, community college executive Zaneta Encarnacion, Galvez, McCann and former councilman Rudy Ramirez.
Read more about what Chula Vista residents want from their next leader here.
SDHC, City in Talks To Sustain — Or Bolster — Housing Aid
The city’s Housing Commission is now expecting to maintain — or even bolster — three rapid rehousing programs just days after staffers told agency board members about a city plan to end those contracts.
Mayor Todd Gloria’s policy chief Jessica Lawrence and interim Housing Commission CEO Jeff Davis said during a Tuesday City Council budget hearing that they expect to find a funding solution that will allow the Housing Commission to continue serving homeless families who need temporary housing subsidies via the three contracts that now make up about a quarter of the city’s so-called rapid rehousing aid.
“What I’m hearing from the mayor’s office is there is no desire to diminish the rapid rehousing programs but to keep them at their current levels or greater,” Davis said.
The update during a City Council budget hearing followed a Voice of San Diego story documenting pushback from housing commissioners who erupted last week when they learned the commission was preparing to wind down the three programs after a directive from the Gloria administration at a time when the city’s homelessness crisis appears to be booming. Gloria’s office had argued there was a misunderstanding between the city and the Housing Commission.
“We are committed to working with the Housing Commission to identify long-term resources to support the program,” Lawrence said Tuesday after City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera called on city officials to clarify the future of the rapid rehousing programs.
Davis said he expected to have more details to share with the City Council by the time it votes on the city and Housing Commission budgets in June.
In Other News
- The City Attorney’s Office is suing a company it claims overcharged the city for portable showers when it transformed the Convention Center into a homeless shelter. (City News Service)
- Nathan Fletcher, chair of the county Board of Supervisors, this week shared a standard memorandum of understanding with city leaders across the region pledging that the county will provide services to any city that opens a new shelter, safe camp or other services meant to move homeless residents off the street. A $10 million grant program to help bankroll those new shelters is set for a county vote later this month. (Union-Tribune)
- A new audit found San Diego is wasting millions of dollars by not preventing injuries to city workers with more rigorous safety protocols and deeper analysis of how injuries happen. (Union-Tribune)
- A new report found that the average home price in San Diego County hit $1 million last month. (Fox 5 San Diego)
This Morning Report was written by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, Lisa Halverstadt and Megan Wood.