2023 Community Project Funding Requests
Project Name: Bayshore Bikeway: Barrio Logan
Request Amount: $3,500,000
Intended Recipient: San Diego Association of Governments
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 401 B St, Suite 800, San Diego, CA 92101
Request Explanation:
The Bayshore Bikeway is a regional Class I multi-use bicycle and pedestrian path that extends 24 miles around San Diego Bay. The Barrio Logan Segment of the Bayshore Bikeway is a 2.4-mile, Class 1, shared-use path that will serve people walking, biking and using other non-motorized modes (E-bikes are OK). Currently 85% of the entire bikeway is complete. This project will close a major gap in the Bayshore Bikeway with a connection to downtown San Diego, the Bayfront promenade, convention center and direct access to Naval Base San Diego and many working waterfront employment centers, businesses and activity centers. The shared-use path will be built along Harbor Drive between Park Boulevard and 32nd Street within the City of San Diego and Port of San Diego Tidelands. It also will provide a safe place for pedestrians where there are few areas with sidewalks. The bikeway also provides a first and last mile connection to the San Diego Trolley. Additional improvements include new medians, restriping of lanes on Harbor Drive, new lights, new safety and wayfinding signage, urban greening and stormwater treatment elements, upgrading and improvement of railroad crossings, and relocation of existing utilities and storm drains. The Barrio Logan project directly benefits disadvantaged communities and provides safer, non-motorized connections to and from these areas. Bayshore Bikeway Barrio Logan provides several benefits. Firstly, this is a needed mobility and streets safety project that will benefit a historically underserved community, additionally it provides an opportunity for people to travel between employment centers, residential areas and transit stations without needing to drive and park. The project can help meet regional, statewide and national goals of greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled reductions. Another important benefit of the project is serving Naval Base San Diego personnel and families with a useful transportation and recreational amenity.
Project Name: Beyer Park Phase II Construction
Request Amount: $4,000,000
Intended Recipient: City of San Diego
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 202 C Street, Floor 11, San Diego, CA 92101
Request Explanation:
This project provides for the design and construction of approximately eight useable acres, out of approximately 43 total acres, of a community and neighborhood park on Beyer Boulevard. The project is split into two phases, with Phase I expected to include a children’s play area with rock climbing wall, skate park, community gathering space, sports courts, and amphitheater seating. Phase II includes a pedestrian walkway, dog park, comfort station, parking lot, exercise stations, and athletic fields. Phase II is the phase requested for this funding. Phase 1 will be funded separately. The property is currently an open space that is fenced off from public use. The City owns the property but has not been able to develop the land due to a lack of funding within the community. There is one parcel that is owned by the County and is a natural preserve. Once completed, the project will deliver a much-needed park in a historically disadvantaged community.
Project Name: Brandt Road Bridge Replacement Project
Request Amount: $4,800,000
Intended Recipient: The County of Imperial
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 940 W. Main Street, Suite 209, El Centro, CA 92243
Request Explanation:
With the opportunity to develop lithium from the Salton Sea in California, the State created the Lithium Valley Commission to review, investigate, and analyze opportunities and benefits for lithium recovery and use in Imperial County. The Brandt Road Bridge is a main collector route which, at present, is primarily used by the agricultural industry to cross the Alamo River. However, the 72-year-old timber bridge will be a critical connection to the Lithium Valley development in the coming years. The age of the structure, coupled with the harsh environment and increased development, puts this bridge at risk of failing. The proposed new single span bridge would be built to current standards and improve the operational safety of the road and bridge crossing.
Project Name: Light Up San Diego Streetlight Improvement Program – Logan Heights
Request Amount: $1,500,000
Intended Recipient: City of San Diego
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 202 C Street, Floor 11, San Diego, CA 92101
Request Explanation:
The City has over 50 series circuits citywide that are well over 70 years old. This type of electrical infrastructure is obsolete based on current electrical standards and are in need of replacement. When issues occur on these circuits it generally impacts all of the streetlights on the circuit resulting in a high number of streetlight outages. Replacing this old infrastructure would improve the reliability of streetlights, lower the City’s maintenance effort, and lead to savings associated with outages where series circuits currently exist. Approximately 30 streetlights throughout Logan Heights would realize these benefits upon conversion.
Project Name: Zero Emissions Bus Division Project – Planning Phase
Request Amount: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient: San Diego Metropolitan Transit System
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 1255 Imperial Avenue, Suite 1000, San Diego, CA 92101
Request Explanation:
This project would develop a new zero emission bus division for expanded service and operations needs for the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS). MTS currently has five bus divisions. The primary functions of a bus division include bus operations, bus maintenance, and administrative support offices. MTS and regional plans envision a vast expansion of bus service including improved headways, requiring an estimated 200-300 additional buses over the next 30 years. Currently, MTS’s five bus divisions are insufficient and could not support additional regional service nor support additional buses. In 2019, MTS approved a plan to convert its entire bus fleet to a fully zero emission fleet by 2040. In addition to the conversion to a fully zero emission bus (ZEB) fleet, MTS is planning a variety of future expansions to its bus operations, including adding Rapid route conversions; and planning for additional frequencies, new routes and better levels of service on existing routes. In order to accommodate and maintain a fully ZEB fleet and other future expansions, it is critical for MTS to develop an additional bus division to resolve current capacity issues and keep up with future expansion needs in order to continue providing vital, clean, and efficient transportation services to the communities of San Diego. With a heavier focus on our disadvantaged communities, MTS’s ZEB Transition Plan ensures that the deployment of battery-electric buses and/or other ZEBs are prioritized in historically marginalized low-income and minority communities that are most affected by environmental factors such as the communities that surround MTS’s proposed site for the new zero-emission bus division. This specific funding request would fund the planning phase of the project. As a regional priority project, the New Zero Emission Bus Division will provide critical additional space to achieve regional climate and mobility goals as well as zero emission bus expansion.
Project Name: Beach and Boat Launch at Harbor Park
Request Amount: $4,000,000
Intended Recipient: San Diego Unified Port District
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 3165 Pacific Highway, San Diego, CA 92101
Request Explanation:
The Port of San Diego’s Board of Port Commissioners have approved a Coastal Development Permit for Harbor Park that allows the completion of the design, the bidding and awarding of construction contracts, and the start of construction. Harbor Park will be an expansion of the existing 12-acre Bayside Park and is designed to allow access to the State’s public tidelands as required under the public trust doctrine. Project features include: 1) An enlarged and improved beach that will allow visitors especially those from surrounding disadvantaged communities to have easy access to the bay; 2) a pocket marsh and salt marsh planting; 3) a pedestrian boat launch for kayaks, paddleboards, and other personal watercraft; 4) meadows studded with picnic tables; 5) terraced headlands surrounding the beach that offer seating and sunset views; and 6) park lighting, furnishings, and signage.
Project Name: San Ysidro Community Activity Center Enhancements
Request Amount: $4,000,000
Intended Recipient: City of San Diego
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 202 C Street, Floor 11, San Diego, CA 92101
Request Explanation:
This park is in San Ysidro community within Council District 8. The project proposes implementation of the General Development Plan on an existing 0.35 acre Colonel Irving Salomon San Ysidro Community Activity Center facility to include a children’s play area, tetherball, foursquare, hopscotch, handball courts, & bike rack, landscaping, grind the surface of the existing parking lot and overlay, restripe existing parking lot, and provide ADA accessible parking spaces fronting the existing sidewalk, installation of additional of security lighting in parking medians, replace an existing curb ramp to serve relocated accessible parking spaces, install wheel stops at parking spaces fronting the sidewalk, identification sign pole adjacent to onsite accessible parking. The project is currently in design. Design is anticipated to be complete in November. Funding is needed to advance the project to construction.
Project Name: Targeted Foster Family Recruitment
Request Amount: $500,000
Intended Recipient: San Diego County
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego, CA 92101
Request Explanation:
Resource parents are a valued partners in Child Welfare Services. They provide a safe and nurturing home while parents actively work in reunifying with their children. Through no fault of their own, there is a current shortage of Resource homes for a segment of the foster youth population. Many LGBTQ youth, larger sibling groups, medically fragile youth, and children of color linger in group homes unnecessarily. This earmark would support the active recruitment of Resource homes for LGBTQ youth, larger sibling groups, medically fragile youth, and children of color. The funding would provide strategies for engagement, ongoing support, and training for Resource parents. The engagement would involve using traditional and social media platforms. Being a Resource parent is not only beneficial to the youth and biological families, but to the community at large. Resource parents make a positive impact as they provide safe and nurturing homes for youth who frequently interact with the community at large on many levels. It provides an opportunity to change lives for generations. While keeping the children connected to people that mean so much to them.
Project Name: San Diego Community College District Dreamer Resource Centers
Request Amount: $1,200,000
Intended Recipient: San Diego Community College District
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 3375 Camino Del Rio S., San Diego, CA 92108
Request Explanation:
College-bound undocumented students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) status are courageous, resilient, and resourceful. SDCCD has created centers on their campuses dubbed Dreamer Resource Centers to provide a safe haven and resources to those in need. Dreamer Resource Centers provide holistic support for undocumented students, but not only for academic resources. These centers are one-stop-shops for legal services, health, matriculation, basic needs, textbook support, advocacy support, and ultimately, and probably most important, a safe space for undocumented students. Many DACA students are understandably cautious and need high-touch wrap-around supportive services to walk them through the steps to be successful in college. These steps include applying and registering for classes, financial aid, and general college and career readiness efforts. SDCCD proposes to establish a districtwide Dreamer Support Program (DSP) to coordinate community outreach and engagement activities, promote targeted support for students, and track academic success outcomes for undocumented students. Grant funds will be used to scale existing services available on the college campuses, further develop the Dreamer Resource Centers at City and Mesa Colleges, establish a Dreamer Resource Center at Miramar College, and provide cultural competency training to ensure that the campuses at-large are knowledgeable and equip to serve undocumented students, their families, and community members. SDCCD will use its existing outreach structure to develop new partnerships with community organizations currently serving undocumented immigrants and expand outreach services at feeder high schools. These services will include college application workshops, assistance with completing the Dream Act application and AB540 affidavit, information about college resources, and assistance with completing important pre-enrollment steps (assessment, orientation, and education planning).
Project Name: Summer Math Academies for Student and Teacher Success
Request Amount: $1,125,360
Intended Recipient: Regents of the University of California; University of California
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093
Request Explanation:
Summer Math Academies (SMA) for Students and Teachers are a way to 1) deepen grades 6-12 Black, Latinx, low-income, and military-connected students’ mathematical knowledge in San Diego’s lowest income serving communities (e.g., Barrio Logan, Chula Vista) and to 2) elevate mathematical teaching and learning in San Diego County. SMA for Teachers begins with a one-week, research-based institute that focuses on critical areas in the teaching and learning of mathematics. It continues with a three-week SMA for Students where the participating teachers (working in pairs) apply their new knowledge with a group of students (up to 25) and reflect daily (with a mentor) on their students’ thinking and their instruction. SMAs have been held at Sweetwater Union High School and Barrio Logan Elementary School. The Barrio Logan SMA, held virtually in July 2020, engaged 12 rising 5th grade students in a reconceptualization of mathematics, including content from game theory. This new award, if funded, would allow for a significant SMA scale up in CA-51. An additional 32 teachers and nearly 400 students would benefit directly in up to 16 locations throughout San Diego County, including Barrio Logan, Chula Vista Elementary School District and Sweetwater Union High School District. SMAs are effective because they support improved teacher practice and mindsets while providing students opportunities to deepen their mathematical learning. SMAs also work towards sustainability by focusing heavily on in-depth teacher professional development. Daily mentoring of SMA teachers reinforces lessons learned in the initial training and ensures that thousands more Black, Latinx, low-income, and military-connected students benefit from improved teaching practices. Each SMA high school math teacher works with 120 to 150 students per year beyond the summer students served. This “multiplier effect” produces a large return on investment to justify the use of taxpayer funds for this purpose.
Project Name: UC San Diego Health CommUnity Mobile Unit [UCSDH CommUnity MU]
Request Amount: $1,094,000
Intended Recipient: Regents of the University of California; University of California
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093
Request Explanation:
Working in partnership, UC San Diego Health (UCSDH) and UCSD Center for Community Health propose use of a CommUnity Mobile Unit (MU) to increase healthcare access, improve preventative healthcare services delivery, and build capacity for local community-based organizations (CBOs) serving San Diego residents in California’s 51st District. CA-51 has one of the lowest life expectancy ranges, indicating extreme health disparities and significant health risks. To help advance health equity, and address these disparities, this project proposes to implement a scalable healthcare mobile unit that adds capacity to existing local community-based organizations. In this model, services would be a la carte and selected by the CBO for monthly scheduled events that serve the gaps in care that are locally most important to address. Based on needs and priorities expressed by community partners, it is anticipated some initial offerings would include; preventive healthcare inclusive of primary and secondary prevention efforts (diabetes, blood pressure screening, cancer screening, memory care), mental health and wellness; nutrition and health; and access to a broad range of health educational resources (with attention to the needs of low literacy individuals), including information about clinical research opportunities and ongoing and timely information. Experiences delivering vaccines in the COVID-19 Mobile Vaccine Unit over the past year taught them the importance of taking healthcare to those who need it and helping to increase capacity of our community-based service organizations who have trusted relationships, culturally inclusive approaches, and proximity to the communities served. Expected outcomes for improved healthcare access include but are not limited to positive impact to the economy, savings to health systems, and quality health outcomes.
Project Name: UC Riverside Critical Mineral Analytical Training Center
Request Amount: $2,500,000
Intended Recipient: University of California Riverside
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 900 University Ave, Riverside, CA 92521
Request Explanation:
The University of California Riverside (UCR) requests funding to purchase equipment for a critical minerals analytical facility to meet the needs of the emerging lithium (Li) industry in the Salton Sea region of the Imperial Valley. In addition to providing data essential to the initial development and day-to-day operations of Li extraction, the facility will train generations of students for the lithium-based workforce in the region. In addition, this one-of-kind facility yields novel chemical and isotopic fingerprints for the sources and fates of harmful dust derived from the Salton Sea. With this unique data, UCR will be able for the first time to map the spatial reach of related health impacts in the surrounding region. Lithium development will require an exceptional lab in the region for extraction method development and optimization, operations, and battery research and manufacturing, and will require a highly skilled staff. There is currently nothing similar in place or planned in the region. The three tiers of instrumentation will provide unprecedented training. The requested combination will cover topics spanning from the highest-end research questions to the most routine and frequent analyses of the most common and straightforward samples from the energy industry. The lab provides an essential opportunity for training a workforce for the Li industry and, more generally, preparing students from the region for a wide range of high-end lab jobs. The facility also provides a bridge for students from regional community colleges who may seek to obtain four-year degrees. From that position, and with the training and mentoring, these students will be well positioned for high-level laboratory jobs as analysts and managers in diverse fields. Those opportunities in both the public and private sectors include the environmental sciences; mineral and energy resources, such as the Li industry; and positions in the health sciences.
Project Name: San Diego County Twin-Engine Firefighting Helicopter Project
Request Amount: $750,000
Intended Recipient: County of San Diego
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego, CA 92101
Request Explanation:
The funds will be used to purchase a twin-engine firefighting helicopter. This is a coordinated request with the entire San Diego County delegation (Reps. Peters, Levin, Issa, Jacobs, and Vargas), with our offices collectively seeking a total of $3.75 million for this project. San Diego County’s existing helicopters are being aged out and must be replaced. Each one is a single engine helicopter that is built out of a 1970s airframe. Because they are single engine, the helicopters don’t have the ability to drop water at night. A twin-engine helicopter allows for firefighting both day and night, and increases the amount of water deployed with each drop. In cases of engine failure, a single engine significantly increases the risk to the crew and anyone being hoisted during a rescue. A twin-engine helicopter can still function and safely land if one of the engines goes out. In rural San Diego County, there are thousands of acres of forest at risk of fire. There are also over 100,000 structures in the designated high fire risk area in the County. Over 80% of the area qualifies as a disadvantaged community. These forests and communities have suffered from devastating wildfires and fire risk is only getting more severe. During the past two decades, over 600,000 acres have burned, nearly 5,000 homes have been destroyed, and dozens of lives have been lost.
Project Name: Smugglers Gulch Dredging
Request Amount: $4,000,000
Intended Recipient: County of San Diego
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego, CA 92101
Request Explanation:
Significant amounts of sewage, trash, and sediment have entered the Tijuana River Valley (TRV) in the U.S. While the U.S. and Mexico have enacted treaties and policies towards addressing this international issue, the Tijuana River remains the most polluted river in the San Diego region. In 2017, California Senate Bill 507 provided funding to the County of San Diego to conduct a study focused on the improvement and protection of natural lands in TRV. The study identified projects on the U.S. side of the border to intercept and divert transboundary flows to protect properties, habitats, and communities as well as human and environmental health in the TRV and coastal waters. In May 2021, the California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC) funded the Smuggler’s Gulch Improvements Project ($10 Million), which is a combination of Projects 10 and 11 from the study. While the SCC has funded the implementation of a sedimentation basin, trash booms, and improvements to the culvert under Monument Road, there is still a need for dredging of the channel prior to, or shortly after, implementation of the improvements. While the City of San Diego and County of San Diego have regularly dredged these areas, there is a need for a more extensive and coordinated effort to collect the decade’s worth of sediment and trash that has accumulated. Completing this dredging prior to implementation of the SCC-funded Smuggler’s Gulch Improvements will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of those solutions. The requested funding ($4 Million) will serve all residents and visitors of the TRV and will also benefit nearby residents in Imperial Beach. Currently, this area in the TRV is subject to regular flooding during rain events which could leave residents and visitors to the local, state, and federal facilities stranded without a safe opportunity to leave. The project will also address sediment in TRV and could lead to positive downstream impacts to beachgoers and recreational users.
Project Name: Wildfire Fuel Management and Control Strategy
Request Amount: $3,000,000
Intended Recipient: County of San Diego
Full Street Address of Intended Recipient: 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego, CA 92101
Request Explanation:
San Diego County has experienced several catastrophic wildfires over the past two decades. At the time, the 2003 Cedar Fire was the largest and most destructive wildfire in the history of California. The 2007 wildfires lead to the unprecedented evacuation of over 500,000 people. Multiple devastating fires have occurred since then. County Fire established the Community Risk Reduction Division in order to better safeguard homes and communities through a cohesive pre-fire strategy, focusing on public education, defensible space inspections, structure hardening and fuels management. If funded, fuels projects would consist of identification of at-risk communities within rural areas of the County. After communities are identified, specific fuel treatments would be evaluated to determine which is best suited for that community. It is anticipated that 10-12 communities would benefit from this project which would follow the County’s cohesive pre-fire strategy. This could range from a community/subdivision fuel break, evacuation corridor protection (roadside fuel management), and the use of prescribed fire. Additionally, some funds would be used to maintain existing high value fuel breaks. The funds would initially be spent to conduct environmental analysis of the area to be treated. As projects move forward funds would be used to employ contract hand crews as well as heavy equipment companies to conduct mechanical treatments. It is anticipated that these funds would facilitate fuels treatments as described above for 3-5 years.