Dear Neighbor, 

Public employees play a pivotal role in making our communities function. I was happy to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) on Wednesday when the union’s national leaders stopped in San Diego with their big green bus as part of their "Staff the Front Lines" tour.

Their message: Public agencies are hiring for jobs offering workers the chance to earn fair pay and enjoy job and retirement security while serving their community.

This is certainly true of the City of San Diego, where we're actively recruiting for important jobs that help our city run smoothly. If you want to know how important filling these positions is, just look at the consequences of vacancies: long waits for repairs and delays to routine maintenance and service. 

We are bringing our services up to the level San Diegans expect by filling jobs and retaining the well-trained workforce we already have on board. In fact, we have reduced vacancies at the City by nearly 5 % since the start of the year alone. This progress is proof that I’ve made it central to my administration to value our workers and the critical services they provide for San Diegans.

We've restored pensions to bring us back in line with other public agencies and make us a competitive employer. We have raised wages and added benefits that demonstrate our commitment to making the City a top workplace, like the recent addition of greatly expanded parental leave benefits childcare assistance, which includes a federally funded pilot program that helps cover the cost of childcare for kids under 12 for parents who need it most.

Another big benefit public service brings is the satisfaction of knowing your work makes our communities stronger, healthier and safer. If you or someone you know wants to join the dedicated workforce at the City of San Diego, have a look at the hundreds of good jobs now open

Together, with a fully staffed public-service workforce, we can continue to build a better San Diego for all of us

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

A Shelter for Families Opening in Barrio Logan  

We are putting the finishing touches on the City’s new shelter for families in Barrio Logan and families who’ve been housed at Golden Hall will begin moving in this week. 

Each family will now have a private room. In total, we have 42 rooms, each able to house up to four people, for a total capacity of 168.

Families at the new shelter will also get a full slate of supportive services, including assistance in securing permanent housing. The goal at all our City-run shelters is to offer wraparound services that help people further on their path to finding forever homes.  

This shelter will be operated by Alpha Project, under a contract administered by the Housing Commission.

This new shelter isn’t just a one-off. It’s part of the City’s comprehensive shelter strategy. The strategy includes short-, medium- and long-term options, and demonstrative of how we are working on numerous fronts to bring more people in off the streets and on a path to a permanent home.  

Cutting Red Tape and Streamlining City Permitting  

In the latest in a series of moves to make City permitting faster, the City of San Diego has introduced an innovative Instant Permit Program for residential solar and battery storage projects.

City residents can now seamlessly apply online and receive permits immediately for solar and battery projects, marking a significant reduction in permit processing times.

Enabled by a self-certification process, the instant permit allows residents to bypass the conventional City review by certifying their project's compliance with building codes and ordinances. Formerly, the permitting process averaged seven to ten days. With the new self-certification process, not only will residents save time, but it will also bolster staff productivity.

The launch of this program follows my direction to expedite permitting processes across various sectors, including, and especially, housing. 

Interested residents can get more info about upcoming webinars and more here.

Safe Sleeping Residents Share Their Experiences  

Our Safe Sleeping site at 20th and B now has more than 134 people staying in 109 tents

Joseph is one of those individuals. He reached out to me via social media and told me he wanted to share his experience of what it was like to go from sleeping on the sidewalks in the East Village to staying at the City’s Safe Sleeping site in Golden Hill.

Joeseph has been homeless for months, but says this program is helping him get on a path to permanent housing and end his homelessness

Ultimately, he said the tents and other services at the Safe Sleeping site make the experience of being unhoused far better than what he went through on the sidewalks.

“I feel a lot safer here,” he said. “It’s a lot more positive than 17th and Imperial, you know, because all my stuff was stolen several times.” 

Stories a lot like Joseph’s were shared with members of the media last week during a media event held by the site’s operators, Dreams for Change.

These accounts are precisely why Councilmember Stephen Whitburn and I spearheaded the Safe Sleeping Initiative. We are giving people options to stay in safer and healthier alternatives as they continue their paths off the streets and into permanent housing.   

Helping Kids Head Back to School with Confidence  

The San Diego community showed up bigtime for children and families in Logan Heights over the weekend.

We held my third annual back-to-school celebration where local kids picked up donated backpacks filled with school supplies to help them get prepared and feel confident about the upcoming school year.

Supplies included backpacks, chromebook cases, notebooks, pencil pouches, folders, markers, pens and pencils, etc. 

This year, we held the event at Memorial Community Park in Logan Heights. The people and organizations that helped make this annual tradition a success included: 

• SD Seals Lacrosse Team, which donated backpacks  
• City of San Diego Office of Child and Youth Success which handed books donated by the Dr. Seuss Foundation 
• San Diego Loyal SC, which donated jerseys, t-shirts and soccer balls 
• BluPeak, which donated water bottles 
• San Diego National Association of Hispanic Nurses, which donated informational materials and conducted blood pressure tests
• SD Gulls Hockey Team, which handed out team giveaways and folders
• The San Diego Padres, which donated notebooks and entertained with Friar 
• San Diego Wave FC, who handed out team giveaways 
• Cox Communications, who donated Chromebook cases
• Bekker’s Catering, which provided food  
• SDG&E, which gave out information on resource programs 
• City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department, which handed out school program information 
• San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, which donated PRONTO Passes 
• City of San Diego Performance & Analytics Department (PandA), which provided information on the Get It Done program 
• City of San Diego Personnel Department, which provided information on job opportunities 
• The Preuss School UC San Diego, which provided enrollment information 
• Access Youth Academy, which provided enrollment information 
• City of San Diego Office of Immigrant Affairs, who provided general departmental information and resources 
• Pure Water San Diego, who handed out sunscreen, crayons and project information 
• Open Heart Leaders, who provided information on the organization
• Logan Heights CDC, who provided information on the organization 
• State Treasurer's Office, ScholarShare Investment Board, who provided information on the State's 529 investment plan 
• County of San Diego Behavioral Health Sciences, who provided information on fentanyl awareness 

Through these collective efforts, my back-to-school celebration truly embodies our great city’s commitment to students' success, helping ensure a brighter future for all of us.