As the Councilmember of San Diego’s 2nd District, it has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve as your representative of the Mission Beach and Pacific Beach communities! In my first year as your representative we have made great strides in the way of community outreach, budget successes, and fiscal responsibility.
With the ongoing drought in California, El Niño is bringing some much needed rain! Unfortunately sometimes it rains too much and too quickly. To combat flooding my office joined with the Urban Corps of San Diego to deliver more than 800 sand bags to seniors, the disabled, and anyone else in need, and we will continue our efforts until El Niño is over. My office spearheaded the efforts to address the growing issue of short term vacation rentals. San Diego is a great place to visit, but it’s also an amazing place to live. Without neighborhood protections, vacation rentals can diminish the character of our communities and disrupt the lives of its residents. I will continue to advocate for measures that will protect our beach and bay neighborhoods, and I expect the City Council to take up the issue in March. Flies are not only annoying, but they can also pose a health hazard. In Mission Beach, my office worked with Mayor Kevin Faulconer to address the growing issue of flies. Together we allocated $40,000 to address the prevalence of flies by increasing street vacuuming services as a first step to solving this community nuisance. My office will continue to work towards finding a long term solution to the problem so that Mission Beach can continue to be the beautiful and clean destination that San Diegans and tourists love. In Pacific Beach, I joined with community groups in opposition to the DecoBike locations on the boardwalk. I am committed to working with city staff and the community to identify viable alternative DecoBike locations that will continue to support the success of the program, while not interfering with small bike rental businesses, or congesting the boardwalk. Last year my colleagues and I made neighborhood repair efforts a priority, and repaved over 300 miles of roads as part of our goal to repair 1,000 miles in five years. My office has also been proactively patrolling neighborhoods to report and fix potholes. San Diego deserves better roads and I will continue to work towards making that a reality. We have also made the city more sustainable by passing the Climate Action Plan to protect San Diego for future generations. The Climate Action Plan is one of the most ambitious and forward thinking plans in California, and aims to increase public transportation and convert all of the city’s energy to renewable within 20 years. In closing, I believe that 2015 was a terrific first year for myself and our communities! I look forward to working with Discover PB, the Pacific Beach Town Council, the Mission Beach Town Council, and all of you in 2016 and the years to come!
Councilmember Lorie Zapf represents San Diego’s beach and bay communities including Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, Point Loma, Midway, and Clairemont.