Council District 9 News
November 3, 2022
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Hello Lydia,
By nature, I am a “fixer.” In other words, I feel an incredibly strong desire to “fix” things when I notice or am told that something is wrong. I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember. It inspired the education I pursued in law school (an emphasis at California Western School of Law in Creative Problem Solving) and the career decisions I’ve made since.
Over the years I’ve come to learn I should occasionally tap the brakes on trying to “fix” a problem and instead take more time to hear about the problem, let folks vent about it, and make sure I pause to think if I am the person who should be getting involved to begin with. Another lesson I’ve learned is how problem prevention is the ultimate form of problem solving.
When we prevent a problem, time and money are saved, which is great. Even more importantly, we prevent people from being impacted by the problem they might otherwise face. Our push to expand tenant protections is borne from our desire to avoid people falling into homelessness, being displaced from San Diego, or generally uprooted unnecessarily.
Expanding tenant protections won’t “fix” the homelessness and housing crisis by itself, but doing so is an essential piece of the puzzle and a very important way to slow down and eventually make progress.
With gratitude,
Sean
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Housing as a Human Right
On October 31st, our office brought forward a Housing as a Human Right resolution and a framework on how to strengthen tenant protections for discussion at Council.
Resolution: Council President Elo-Rivera believes housing is a human right. Our office partnered with Council President Pro Tem Monica Montgomery Steppe, Councilmember Joe LaCava and Councilmember Raul Campillo to bring forward a draft resolution that will serve as a guiding principle for the Council as it pursues solutions to our housing and homelessness crisis. The council voted to direct the City Attorney to draft an official resolution that addresses some concerns that were raised for Council to vote on at a future date.
It also means that, if the resolution is adopted, the Council will establish a commitment to taking action on making housing accessible and affordable for everyone, and invites accountability to meet that goal.
Tenant Protections Framework: Tenant protections are the missing part of the discussion on addressing our homelessness crisis in San Diego. Our office developed a framework for strengthening tenant protections to help keep housed San Diegans who pay their rent and follow all the rules. Currently, San Diego has weaker protections than what is in place statewide and families are at risk of displacement due to no fault evictions. Some examples of how we hope to keep families housed through tenant protections include:
- Addressing the current delay in tenant protections by affording tenants with protections immediately (currently there is a 2-year delay in receiving any protections)
- Providing meaningful relocation assistance to assure continued housing stability for renters who pay their rent and follow all the rules but are evicted for no fault of their own (currently none is required, even for no fault evictions)
- Tenant protections must be strengthened to prevent renters who have done everything right from losing their housing stability and potentially falling into homelessness through no fault of their own. Our office brought the framework forward to hear input from Council and the public and now will develop a tenant protection ordinance for future consideration by the Council.
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Council District 9 Updates | |
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Capital Improvements Program (CIP) Policy Updates
In our last newsletter, we provided an update on our office’s priorities for the City’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget (you can read our budget memo here). We included many projects, programs, and services that would serve residents throughout Council District 9 and citywide, including:
- Housing and homelessness
- Youth Services
- Public Safety
- Climate Action
- Mobility and Infrastructure
- Equitable public services
A key piece of many of these priorities are projects that create or improve physical structures, systems, and facilities. In City-speak, we call these capital projects and such projects are managed as part of the Capital Improvements Program (CIP).
Among our capital project priorities in District 9 are:
- Park development and improvements in City Heights
- A new recreation center in Mt. Hope
- Stormwater system upgrades throughout the Chollas Creek watershed
- Road reconstruction and improvements through the district, including in Kensington, Talmadge, Rolando, and the College Area
- And more!
Don’t see your priorities? Don’t worry! Our office will be submitting an update to our priorities in January 2023. You’ll be hearing from us soon about that.
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Illustration by Adriana Heldiz | |
City Redistricting Information
Every 10 years, the City goes through a redistricting process to update council district boundaries. This is led by the independent Redistricting Commission. After over a year of discussions, the final map for the new City Council district boundaries was approved by the commission on December 15, 2021. The new map will then go into effect this December 12, 2022. You can view the new maps here: https://districtr.org/plan/92973
District 9 will have significant changes. We will be gaining the following neighborhoods: Stockton, Redwood Village, Rolando Park, Normal Heights, and Mission Valley East. We will be losing Southcrest and most of the Mountain View neighborhood.
We are working on having as seamless of a transition process as possible with our colleagues. The City's district GIS page will update with inauguration, but you can check out the County's dashboard for the City's district if you are in a neighborhood that will be impacted: https://gis-portal.sandiegocounty.gov/arcgis/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=f6024e57eddb42ddb75dd0ff1193d338.
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HipHop Festival Recap
On October 23rd, our office was excited to participate in the annual San Diego Hip Hop Health & Wellness 5K/ Festival. Hosted at the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA, this event was launched in 2015 to encourage southeastern San Diego residents of all generations to commit to fitness, health, and resource awareness.
Our office was there bright and early to cheer on those joining the 5k and offer resources at our table for youth, families, and community members at-large. Whether it was the great musicians playing on stage or the delicious food offered by various vendors, there was so much to enjoy and be inspired by.
If you missed this event this year, make sure to stay engaged and plugged in. You can count on them returning next year with all the fun and excitement that they always bring! Check out their webpage: https://www.sdhiphop5k.com/.
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Voter & Election Day Information
You don’t have to wait until Election Day to vote in person! Voters can take advantage of early voting at 39 vote centers. The centers are countywide and will be open daily from 8am - 5pm.
On Saturday, Nov. 5, another 179 locations will open for a total of 218 vote centers open daily from 8am - 5pm. All will be open again on Election Day, Nov. 8, when voting hours change to 7am - 8pm.
Learn more about voting and/or find a vote center near you:
www.sdvote.com
Phone: (858) 565-5800
Toll Free: (800) 696-0136
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Student Loan Forgiveness
In late August, President Biden announced a plan to address the burden of growing college costs. With the final extension of the pandemic student loan repayment pause set to expire on December 31, 2022, now is the time for borrowers to take advantage of the programs currently available.
Debt Relief
Last week marked the official launch of the One-Time Federal Student Loan Debt Relief Program. This program will provide up to $20,000 in debt relief to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education and up to $10,000 in debt relief to non-Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income (or married filing separately) is less than $125,000 or $250,000 for those who are married and filing jointly, heads of household, and qualifying widows.
Repayment Plan Adjustments
The Biden Administration is working to propose a rule to create a new income-driven repayment plan to reduce monthly payments for certain borrowers. Under the new proposal, borrower payments would start at 225% of the federal poverty level and would equal up to 5% of their discretionary monthly income on undergraduate loans. Simply stated, those who make about the annual equivalent of a $15 minimum wage for a single borrower wouldn’t have to make a payment. The plan would forgive unpaid monthly interest and provide loan forgiveness after 10 years for borrowers with loan balances of $12,000 or less.
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