San Diego City Councilman David Alvarez is leaving his job representing southern communities such as Barrio Logan and San Ysidro after eight years. On a rainy morning last week, Alvarez's office was a mess. He had pulled everything down off the bookshelves, and it was now covering his desk. He and his staff worked to box up the documents that had passed through their office in the past eight years to all be archived by the City Clerk. Alvarez took a break from packing for this exit interview.
Read MoreThe 15-acre Cesar Solis Park, off Del Sol Boulevard, is the result of more than a decade’s work. “It actually feels a little bit unbelievable,” Councilman David Alvarez said of the park’s opening. “It’s one of the most satisfying days of the eight years on the council.” Alvarez, whose district includes Ocean View Hills, was instrumental over the years in pushing for funding for the roughly $17 million park.
Read MoreSan Ysidro is home to a new center that offers free services to residents who are on the hunt for a job. Councilman David Alvarez, whose district includes the low-income community, said he was excited to welcome the center to San Ysidro. “This employment center will help enrich our community’s workforce and overall bring new opportunities,” Alvarez said.
Read MoreSan Diego is facing decreased funding for infrastructure combined with a longer list of needed projects. Councilman David Alvarez of Logan Heights said he’s troubled that the city isn’t seeing a downward trend in infrastructure needs, despite sharply increasing capital expenditures on projects in recent years.
Read MoreCity and community leaders recently broke ground on a highly anticipated library in San Ysidro. Councilman David Alvarez, whose district includes San Ysidro, said the project has been a “top priority” of his since he was elected in 2010. “I was proud to work with the community to secure the site and funding for this long-awaited project,” he said in a statement.
Read MoreCity officials broke ground Friday on a library in San Ysidro, following more than two decades of discussion and planning. Councilman David Alvarez, who represents San Ysidro, spearheaded fundraising efforts for the library, which is expected to open in 2019, the mayor said. Alvarez said building a new library was one of his top priorities upon being elected.
Read MoreThe first step in fixing our sidewalks is taking responsibility for all of them. We must do everything we can to fix them before the next major accident results in serious injury to a resident and costs the city millions of dollars in a settlement.
Read MoreAn effort to overturn San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s budget veto failed to win support Tuesday, despite strong criticism from angry Democrats on the council. Councilmember David Alvarez called the mayor’s action to slash district funds ‘shameful’, and criticized the mayor for “failing to show his face here.”
Read MoreIn the last couple of weeks, the buzz on some of the San Diego street-threads is on the subject of sidewalks. Some residents say that they have to split the expense with the city. Councilmember David Alvarez wants the City of San Diego to foot the bill 100%. Last month he proposed to “determine best how best to revise Council Policy 200-12, the Sidewalk Maintenance Policy.”
Read MoreCouncilman David Alvarez criticized his colleagues for not being more aggressive in the face of the SDSU report, which showed that blacks and Hispanics are significantly more likely to be searched and questioned in the field after being stopped by police. "I'm not seeing us take any real action," said Alvarez, urging his colleagues to be more bold. “The City of San Diego needs to accept this uncomfortable reality and must address it with swift and decisive action.”
Read MoreOfficials broke ground on a project that will bring two new playgrounds, accessibility upgrades and more to a San Ysidro playground.
Read MoreIn an effort to address the retention problem San Diego police departments are facing, Councilman David Alvarez proposed further pay increases and better training programs for officers. The city has spent or committed $140 million over four years, only to see more officers leave the police department, Alvarez, who represents San Diego’s District 8, said.
Read MoreSouth and Central San Diego residents gathered with their City councilmember Wednesday, pressing the City to fix what they called dangerous and hazardous cracked sidewalks in their neighborhoods. "Sidewalks have often been forgotten," Councilmember David Alvarez said. "We are standing at what I would consider one of the worst sidewalk issues here, and this community actually has a sidewalk. There are a whole bunch of communities that don't have sidewalks. And that's also a problem."
Read MoreAlvarez’s office said residents have been waiting for a park with facilities since the neighborhood was built. Development began in the late 1990s. Parks have become a priority for the councilman, who said his district lacks sufficient park space. “Residents are tired of waiting for improvements in their neighborhood,” Alvarez said. “Currently, park deficiencies across the city is one of the best examples of our lack of equity in every community.”
Read MoreIn this first of two parts Councilman David Alvarez discusses the minimum wage, upgrades to Chicano Park, Barrio Art Crawl and creating a place to be on Sunday afternoons in Barrio Logan.
Read MoreCity Councilman David Alvarez called them together Wednesday afternoon to announce the city finally had all the money it needed to build a sidewalk on the hill between San Ysidro High School and San Ysidro Middle School. “This sidewalk is extremely important to the many students of San Ysidro who use it to go to and from school,” Alvarez said. “And obviously, just as important to the parents, the grandparents and those who care for those kids.”
Read MoreLast November, in partnership with Californians Aware, an open government advocacy nonprofit, I proposed amendments to our City Charter that would have made San Diego a leader in open government. It would have allowed the voting public, not the government or its agencies, to decide how open their government should be.
Read MoreCity Councilman David Alvarez, a mayoral candidate, said he believes the department has racially profiled recently, too. He cited the lawsuit over the 2010 City Heights traffic stop during a debate in the fall. Alvarez wants to see the department take profiling issues more seriously.
Read MoreThe 33-year-old Democrat has spent much of his adult life fighting for social, economic and environmental justice and began his career as a social services worker and after-school teacher. "San Diego has a bright future. In the next decade, I believe that we have the opportunity to invest more heavily in our neighborhoods and communities that have been neglected for years in favor of large downtown projects and special interests," Alvarez said.
Read More"I've always been about putting neighborhoods first. When I ran for Council four years ago, that was what my campaign was about. We have underinvested in neighborhoods and put all of our money downtown. It is time to focus our attention on putting money back into neighborhoods," Councilmember Alvarez said.
Read More"I think it's time for us to start growing this city in a way that is good for everybody," said Alvarez, standing by the weedy lot. "And I think there are a lot of people north of Interstate 8 that feel the same way."
Read MoreAs a teenager, David Alvarez once heard another student ask of Barrio Logan, “Why would anyone want to live here?” Soon after, he attended his first community meeting. “I just felt like there was something really wrong and nobody was fixing the wrong,” Alvarez said.
Read MoreIn nearly three years on the City Council, mayoral candidate David Alvarez has pushed for a foreclosure registry, consistently opposed downtown interests and brokered a last-minute tourism marketing deal.
Read MoreCommunity members have complained for decades about San Ysidro's infrastructure. Old and inadequate streets and the absence of sidewalks and pedestrian pathways were mentioned in the community plan when it was revised in 1990. Since taking office in early December, Councilman Alvarez says most of the calls he’s received from San Ysidro residents have concerned infrastructure. “This is supposed to be the international gateway— America’s front door —but look around at the sidewalks and the streets,” he says. “No one really feels like it’s a gateway. How could they?”
Read MoreThe decision by Mayor Jerry Sanders to cut off free trash collection for about 14,200 San Diego households by canceling deals struck decades ago has angered residents who say they are being discriminated against because of where they live. Councilman David Alvarez, whose district has about 1,400 residences that will lose service, said he’s concerned about senior citizens in mobile-home parks that will be affected.
Read MoreWhat will David Alvarez bring to the San Diego City Council? We speak to Councilmember Alvarez about his goals for District 8, and we discuss how he thinks the council should go about cutting the city's $73 million budget deficit. "The district is actually, I think, one of the most exciting in the City of San Diego. We've got everything from a border with Mexico from in the southern portion in San Ysidro and Otay, we've got agricultural land in the River Valley area, we've got bayfront both down in the south, and also in the Barrio Logan part of town, we've got historic neighborhood, in Barrio Logan and the northern portion of the district. Then we've got bran new communities in Bay Side and in Ocean View Hills. And so it's a very diverse district. So I'm really, really excited about the opportunities and challenges that that brings."
Read MoreLast weekend, hundreds of San Diego residents picked up shovels and paint brushes to successfully beautify and activate four alleyways in North Park and Logan Heights. Councilmember David Alvarez made an appearance and Radio Pulso del Barrio, the new grassroots community radio station, came with microphones and a recorder to collect stories from all the participants. Each site had at least ten different projects/activities happening at any given moment, too many things to list in this article.
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