Dear Neighbor

My office and City crews are working around the clock to help the residents and businesses impacted by last Monday’s severe storm.

The devastation I saw first-hand was heartbreaking.

Our hearts are with Southcrest, Mountain View, Encanto, Logan Heights and San Ysidro — some of the communities most impacted by the flooding.

Teams from the City’s Transportation Department are removing mud and sand from streets and addressing damage to public sidewalks and streets in those neighborhoods.

The City’s Environmental Services Department crew is also busy removing accumulated trash and debris from storm-impacted areas.

If your street is still experiencing flooding, or you see a City storm drain is clogged, please report it using the City’s Get it Done app or by calling 619-527-7500. Residents in need of having water-damaged bulky items picked up from the public right of way can also use the City’s Get It Done app under the category for “Illegal Dumping” or by calling 858-694-7000.

We have also launched an emergency response grant to provide funds for up to 100 small businesses and nonprofits impacted by Monday's storm.

While all this cleanup work is happening on the ground, I am also working with the state and county to secure federal assistance. I’ve spoken directly with Vice President Kamala Harris about the impacts of the severe storm, and she expressed her desire to help.

We are working to demonstrate that our region has met the thresholds to secure a federal disaster declaration so we can mobilize even more assistance that our affected communities and families desperately need. Affected residents can help by filling out a survey that San Diego County will use to determine the residential financial losses caused by the flooding.

More rain is forecasted for as soon as Wednesday and Thursday, so we are urging residents in impacted areas to prepare and plan to avoid low-lying areas. We are delivering sandbags to impacted areas, and residents citywide can pick up sand and empty sandbags at 10 City recreation centers this week between 1 and 7 p.m. Residents are encouraged to bring shovels to fill the bags themselves. The full list of pickup locations is online at sandiego.gov/sandbags.

All of this information and resources are posted online in much greater detail at sandiego.gov/storm. Please bookmark that site to stay updated on all the City is doing to help people and businesses who’ve had their livelihoods derailed by this unprecedented storm.

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

Mayor Gloria Signs Second Housing Action Package into Law 

I have signed my second Housing Action Package into law!  

Approved by the City Council in December, HAP 2.0 will make it easier to build homes that low- and middle-income San Diegans can afford. 

All our efforts to build more homes, including passing my first housing package in 2022, are about making sure we have enough supply to drive down the cost of housing, so we can put people’s hard-earned dollars back in their pockets. HAP 2.0 is a part of that, and signing it into law sets us on a path to make 2024 a banner year for housing in San Diego. 

My Housing Action Package (HAP) 2.0, part of my Homes for All of Us initiative, includes amendments to the Land Development Code to preserve existing affordable homes and encourage the construction of more new homes, with new protections for the City’s most vulnerable community members. This includes people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, people with disabilities and seniors. The package of amendments also includes incentives for homes for students and in areas with greater access to jobs and high-performing schools. My first Housing Action Package was passed in 2022.  

Read more about these reforms included in HAP 2.0 on Inside San Diego.

Overnight Shelter for Women at Old Central Library Reopens 

The City has reopened a 34-bed shelter exclusively for women at Downtown’s old Central Library. 

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) San Diego will operate the overnight shelter and provide case management, access to social services and housing navigation services.  

These additional beds reflect my firm commitment to use every City resource possible to get people off the street and into care. 

I proposed using the site during my 2022 State of the City Address. The shelter opened last January as a temporary facility to comply with my directive to examine every opportunity for new shelters. A temporary permit the City has to operate the library as a shelter is limited to 180 days within a 12-month timeframe. This reopening reflects the terms of our permit.

Our long-term plan for this City-owned property is to redevelop the site into affordable housing and additional shelter space. 

Read more about the reopening of the women’s shelter on Inside San Diego.  

City of San Diego Completes Work Needed to Restore Railroad Quiet Zone Downtown 

The City has completed the required work and submitted documentation to to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for the improvements at 12 Downtown intersections in order to reinstate the Quiet Zone and ensure our train crossings keep people safe. 

Without the Quiet Zone designation, trains have been required to sound their horns when approaching highway-rail grade crossings through Downtown to help keep pedestrians and vehicles safe by making them aware of the train crossings. 

As a resident who lives close enough to one of these intersections to hear the horns throughout the night, I sympathize and apologize to all Downtown residents who’ve been forced to endure the noise during the suspension of the Quiet Zone. The work we have completed provides additional safety measures for the community.

The City has created and installed all railroad crossing signs and completed all required improvements to road markings at Laurel Street, Grape Street, Cedar Street, Beech Street, Ash Street, Broadway, Kettner & G Street, India Street, Market Street, Front Street, First Avenue and Fifth Avenue crossings. Field inspections of the improvements were also completed by FRA. 

The City also completed the required traffic survey, or Average Daily Trip Count, to determine the number of automobiles entering the crossings daily. These data and other required documentation were part of the response that was submitted to the FRA for review. 

In order for the Quiet Zone to be restored, the FRA must review and approve the improvements completed by the City and provide a notice of the reinstatement. City staff are communicating with FRA about timelines and will provide updates as they become available.

Amended Ordinance Balances Privacy Concerns with Public Safety 

The San Diego City Council passed revisions to the City's Transparent and Responsible Use of Surveillance Technology Ordinance that will make the new law more workable while still protecting the privacy of San Diegans. 

The Council green lit more than a dozen needed amendments to the ordinance, including clarifying the exemption of routine office hardware and software that’s in widespread use by the general public, and an amendment exempting physical security systems used to safeguard the City’s buildings, facilities, utilities, and other physical assets.

These common-sense changes to the ordinance will allow the City to continue to use routine hardware and software to ensure public health and safety while still serving its purpose of protecting people’s right to privacy. 

The Privacy Ordinance established a rigorous review process for both new and existing surveillance technologies used by the City. The process, which takes about six months to complete for each technology, includes preparing a Surveillance Impact Report and Surveillance Use Policy, presenting the documents to the community at nine separate community meetings (one per Council district), then presenting them to the Privacy Advisory Board for review prior to requesting final City Council approval for the use of the surveillance technology. 

As City staff worked to implement the process laid out in the Privacy Ordinance, they identified more than 300 existing technologies that would have to go through the lengthy approval process because of the overly broad definition of surveillance technologies in the ordinance. 

The amended ordinance will now narrow things down and target only the surveillance hardware and software that should be required to go through the lengthy and rigorous review process. 

Participating in the Annual Homeless Count 

My team and I were up at 4 a.m. for the annual Point in Time Count. Every year, volunteers fan out across the county to gather data that helps our region secure funding and resources for people experiencing homelessness. Thanks to the volunteers, the Regional Task Force on Homelessness and everyone who helps make this crucial count happen every year.  

Celebrating the New Year with the House of China 

I had a great time at the House of China’s annual Chinese New Year celebration. The annual community fair featured traditional lion dances and musical performances. I had the chance to go on stage and feed the lion dancers, which should bring me a lot of luck for this Lunar Near Year, which is the Year of the Dragon!