Dear Neighbor,  

With Tropical Storm Hilary now behind us, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to our City crews for their tireless work and commitment to ensuring San Diegans’ safety. 

Whether it was coordinating emergency services, closing roads, clearing and monitoring storm drains or disseminating crucial information, the work of our Office of Emergency Services, Fire-Rescue Department, Police Department and countless other City staffers has been truly commendable.  

A special shoutout to our homeless outreach teams and service providers, who worked overtime over the weekend to warn people experiencing homelessness to clear riverbeds and accept shelter. Unfortunately, some refused to leave and our swift water rescue teams ended up rescuing 13 people from the river. We also opened several inclement weather shelters where 119 unsheltered San Diegans and 11 local families spent the night, plus we had an additional site ready to go if needed at the Balboa Park Activity Center, which had an additional 366 beds. 

Just as helpful to our efforts were the vast majority of San Diegans who heeded our calls to follow safety protocols, secure your properties, stay off the roads and otherwise help prevent unnecessary accidents or deaths. Your proactive efforts and willingness to work together have played a huge role in ensuring the safety and well-being of our beloved city. 

It is in times like these that the stellar character of our community shines through.  

As we conduct the cleanup and repairs after the storm, the local state of emergency I proclaimed for the City of San Diego will enable us to seek state and federal disaster-assistance resources to support this work.  

Once again, thank you to City workers and every San Diegan who helped us weather this storm safely together. Things could’ve been much worse for San Diego, but through incredible efforts and cooperation, we were ready. 

As always, it’s an honor to serve as your Mayor. 

State Delegation Delivers for San Diego 

Every year, we work with our state legislative delegation to bring some of San Diego taxpayers’ dollars back from Sacramento so we can invest them into critical community projects here at home.  

This year, we secured nearly $25 million for projects across our city that will help make neighborhoods safer, address homelessness, improve our parks, libraries and streets, and expand housing opportunities. Even in a tight budget year where the state budget saw spending cuts, our state legislators delivered for San Diego. 

We held an event to announce these budget wins and thank our state legislative delegation. It took place at Balboa Park’s Spreckels Organ Pavilion, which will benefit from $500,000 in funding to re-leather the organ so that Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez and future organists can continue to produce music at free concerts in the Pavilion.  

Other projects around the city that received funding championed by state legislative representatives include: 

• Improved lighting for sports fields at Memorial Community Park in Logan Heights - $3.5 million 
• Phase 2 construction of the San Diego River Park Foundation’s Grant Park River Center in Mission Valley - $2.5 million 
• Fleet Science Center expansion - $5.6 million  
• Core internal systems upgrade at the Natural History Museum - $1.28 million 
• Creation of a new San Diego Regional Gun Violence Response Task Force - $2.2 million 
• Expanded housing capacity at the City-owned Casa Colina property in City Heights, in partnership with the San Diego Housing Commission - $2 million  
• Business Improvement District community programming - $1.5 million 
• New fire boat for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department - $1.25 million 
• Streetscape improvements in La Lolla Village - $1 million 
• Homelessness Outreach Task Force, San Diego Housing Commission - $750,000  
• Repair of Roswell Street in Emerald Hills - $710,000 
• San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force enforcement - $600,000 
• Re-Leathering of the Spreckels Organ in Balboa Park - $500,000 
• Partial funding for design work on replacement of Hodges Dam - $500,000 
• Various materials for San Diego Libraries - $500,000  
• Feasibility study for a new City lifeguard garage facility in La Jolla - $250,000 
• Restoration of “The Black Family” statue at Mountain View Park - $195,000 

We’re so grateful for our dedicated and hard-working representatives who bridge the funding gap that help us improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods for all San Diegans. 

City’s Bridge to Home Program Funds Two More 100% Affordable Projects 

The City’s Bridge to Home program has helped two new affordable housing projects get across the finish line.  

Affirmed Housing’s The Helm in Little Italy opened with 77 new homes for low-income San Diegans. This benefited from $1.2 million in City funding through the Bridge to Home program. 

Community Housing Works also broke ground on construction of a project in Cortez Hill that will create 88 new affordable apartments -- 14 of which will be permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness.  

Launched in 2021, Bridge to Home provides gap-financing assistance to builders to get their projects across the finish line. Through two rounds, we’ve invested roughly $48 million in 11 projects, totaling 937 affordable homes, including 272 for people experiencing homelessness. 

We are funding a third round of the Bridge to Home program, making another $20 million to offering affordable housing builders to help them complete financing and get more affordable housing underway. 

Welcoming the Assistant Secretary of the Navy with SDMAC 

It was an honor to welcome Assistant Secretary of the Navy Meredith Berger to San Diego at the San Diego Military Advisory Council breakfast. The positive partnership we enjoy with our local Navy region is critical to the success of our city. The Navy is part of the fabric of our city and continues to be a partner in some of the pressing issues facing San Diego, like childcare, housing for our homeless veterans and creating new opportunities to expand our region’s housing supply.  

Teen Nite in City Heights

Growing up in San Diego, my brother and I made ample use of all the resources offered by our Parks and Recreation Department. It was great to see a new generation enjoying the fun our city provides at Teen Nite at Colina Del Sol Park in City Heights. A huge thanks to the Parks Foundation for their support of this and Parks After Dark events across San Diego!