City Councilmember Joe LaCava to hold Pacific Beach town hall meeting on Tuesday

Pacific Beach residents will have an opportunity to share their priorities and concerns with City Councilmember Joe LaCava on Tuesday evening.

LaCava began representing Pacific Beach in December due to District 1 boundaries being redrawn following the 2020 Census.

He is holding a town hall meeting with residents from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 21 in the Pacific Beach/Taylor Library, 4275 Cass Street.

According to LaCava’s Pacific Beach representative Carrie Shah, the councilmember plans to introduce himself to residents, talk about his fiscal year 2024 budget priorities and listen to his constituents’ concerns and ideas.

In a memo LaCava sent to the City of San Diego Independent Budget Analyst Charles Modica in January, he wants the city to focus on basic services such as trash pick-ups, brush management, weed abatement, permit applications and comfort station maintenance.

LaCava wrote the city needs to fill over 2,000 vacant budgeted positions at competitive salaries in order to deliver city services at the level expected and needed. He also wants one-time and ongoing revenues identified and secured to pay for what residents and businesses “demand and deserve but the General Fund does not cover.”

Some of the public safety priorities he listed including filling 300 vacancies in the police department, upgrading police facilities, hiring more lifeguards and constructing the North Pacific Beach Lifeguard Tower.

Regarding arts and culture LaCava wrote that the city “must deliver on the promise of Penny for the Arts by fully funding the approved 9.52 percent allocation within five years.”

As for homelessness services and prevention, LaCava listed meeting the needs of those living in shelters and on the streets as one of his priorities. He said the city needs to be proactive in preventing homelessness by utilizing various funding sources and effectively leveraging the limited resources already available.

Among community specific infrastructure projects, LaCava listed installing roundabouts on Foothill Boulevard at its intersections with Vickie Drive, Tourmaline Street and Opal Street in Pacific Beach. He also mentioned installing pedestrian beacons at Ingraham Street and Fortuna Avenue in addition to repairing the seawall from South Mission Beach to Crystal Pier. Repaving projects he listed include Mission Boulevard from Loring to Chalcedony, Grand Avenue from Rose Creek to Mission Bay Drive and Ingraham Street from Riviera Drive to La Playa Avenue.

Under Climate Action Plan items, was restoring salt marsh land, tidal wetlands and riparian habitats. This includes initiating the planning and permitting for a 220-acre wetland restoration project in the northeast corner of Mission Bay to help meet the city’s 2035 goal of 700 acres of new wetlands.

Among neighborhood issues, LaCava mentioned repairing and/or replacing streetlights throughout his district, especially those on Rose Creek Trail, Hornblend Street from Mission Boulevard to Ingraham Street and along Felspar Street. He also wants the third phase of the Pacific Beach Pathways project completed. These include the connection at Olney Street to the Campland entrance; the Cass Street component between Tourmaline Street and Pacific Beach Drive; and the connection at Diamond, Fanuel and Reed streets.

LaCava also mentioned installing community bike racks at Garnet Avenue, Cass Street and Grand Avenue; installing continental crosswalks at Garnet Avenue where it intersects with Haines, Ingraham and Jewell streets; and installing traffic calming features to make the “Diamond Street Slow Street” permanent.

Also listed in the memo was closing the gap at Crown Point Drive for the Mission Bay Bike Path to provide a complete bicycle path around the bay. Installing Pacific Beach entrance signs at the Ingraham Street Bridge and southbound La Jolla Boulevard were also among listed priorities, as was support of “placemaking” around Pacific Beach schools and parks.