Chula Vista Mayor John McCann delivered his first State of the City address Tuesday at the Chula Vista Athlete Training Center starting by saying that this is “Chula Vista’s decade.”
McCann said Chula Vista is now the economic driver for the region, now building San Diego County.
“We are currently building the largest hotel under construction in the United States on our bayfront, the Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center,” he said. “This will be followed by the Pacifica Bayfront project, then the Bayview Project. These projects alone equal an investment of over $3.5 billion with our bayfront.”
McCann said the city is attracting jobs to the Innovation District by setting aside 2-million square feet to attract industry leaders to provide high quality jobs in South County.
“We started construction on the four-story Univer-CITY Library which will lay the foundation for phase one of attracting a university,” he said. ‘We are building the future for our residents and for San Diego County.”
McCann said he “declared” that Chula Vista is now fully open as the city and its residents move further from the challenging years of the pandemic, now on a path of vitality and economic growth.
McCann said that he was grateful to be part of City Council that master planned the Bayfront, with Gaylord opening in 2025.
“From the I-5, you can see that the Gaylord Pacific Resort is fully under construction,” he said. “This $1.3 billion project is creating 4,000 construction jobs and over 3,000 permanent jobs.”
Though the city has large bayfront projects in the works, McCann said the blood of the city’s economy is still its small businesses.
“We are revitalizing our Downtown by adopting outdoor dining innovations with the Curb and Sidewalk Cafes that have invigorated our restaurant community,” he said. “We continue to support our established businesses and are working to attract new restaurants and new enterprises to draw regional consumers to our city.”
McCann said city staff has worked hard in creating prosperity through focusing on quality projects and creating efficient and effective ways to process projects, with more than 7,300 building permits issues so far this year.
“We have streamlined three of the most commonly requested permits to be completed fully online,” he said. “Solar permits via SolarApp+, re-roofing permits, and Short-Term Rental licenses. Our goal is to provide the best customer service.”
He gave praise to the Public Works Department that has focused on the quality of life for Chula Vista residents.
Engineering conducted maintenance on over 750 traffic signals, street lighting improvements and street programs focused on improving traffic flow in severely congested areas.
Engineering moves to connect our streetlights to communicate with our first responders in order to improve safety and increase the response time for 911 emergency calls.
Public Works has covered over 5,000 potholes, sealed 20,000 pavement cracks, and completed 9,500 ACT APP Requests.
One of McCann’s “passion projects” is restoring the historic Chula Vista Woman’s Club.
“The club was first built in the 1920s and has been an active meeting place and event center for Women for over 100 years. The facility is a civic treasure that needs significant improvements, and Public Works is now developing a plan to restore the center,” he said.
One of Chula Vista’s strengths is being “a good steward” of taxpayer’s money, said McCann.
“I strongly supported plans to fully fund our operating reserves and am proud to announce we have reached our 15% goal,” he said. “I am proud to have led common sense pension reforms by removing pension spiking and eliminating our unfunded pension liabilities to protect the City’s health during future downturns in the economy. I am grateful to work on refinancing Community Facilities Bonds in our new communities saving taxpayers collectively millions of dollars in interest charges.”
McCann said he is proud that Chula Vista is now a leader in sustainable initiatives.
“In 2019, I was the deciding vote to have Chula Vista be a founding member of San Diego Community Power. I believe with the high price of energy bills, our citizens need to have a choice for their energy provider,” he said. “Now as Chula Vista’s representative at Community Power and the chair of the Finance Committee, I have worked to provide sustainable energy at affordable prices. We now provide a majority of clean renewable energy to San Diegans, at lower prices than SDG&E.”
McCann said this year, the Chula Vista Fire Department graduated 23 fire recruits from the Fire Academy, and that the city is currently renovating Fire Station 1, the city’s oldest station, and planning on opening two new fire stations on the Bayfront and in Otay Ranch.
He said public safety is the first responsibility of government, and addressing the staffing challenges at the Chula Vista Police Department was urgent, saying that CVPD Chief Roxana Kennedy has “done a tremendous job” in bringing the department national recognition for its Drone Program and LIVE 911 implementation, de-escalation tools that give police officers real-time information to determine best course of actions for incidents.
“We won a significant accomplishment by approving a critically needed pay raise for our police officers in the middle of an existing contract, making them one of the top paid police departments in the county at that time,” he said. “Law Enforcement is a team effort with our community service officers and police dispatchers. Our police dispatchers are the behind-the-scenes link between residents and the police. To address a substantial retention problem, we also approved a competitive compensation rate for police dispatchers.”
Going back to library services, McCann said the groundbreaking for the Univer-CITY library is the first library built in Chula Vista since 1995, scheduled to open in 2025.
“This was a true collaboration project and I appreciate our partnership with Senator Steve Padilla and Assemblymember David Alvarez in our efforts to lay the foundation for attracting a University to the South County,” he said.
McCann looked forward to the holiday season, announcing that the Starlight Parade and Festival is back, and being held on Dec. 3.
“This is a long-standing Chula Vista tradition which was suspended since 2019, but one of my promises was that I would bring this back,” he said. “As a kid, I participated in the parade as a member of the safety patrol. The Starlight Parade is part of our history. It’s part of our heritage. I am honored to bring this back for our families and children,” adding that this year’s Grand Marshall is native-Chula Vistan Tommy Sablan, Castle Park Class of 1982, and a member of the radio hall-of-fame.
McCann said that homelessness is one of the city’s most challenging issues, but that the city has become the regional leader in implementing innovative solutions in getting homeless individuals off the streets.
“In 2016, with our Police Department and non-profits, we created the HOT Team, the Homeless Outreach Team,” he said. “In May, we opened the County’s first Tiny Village Bridge Shelter providing 65 tiny homes for the homeless. Recently, the City Council unanimously agreed to purchase the Palomar Motel, to provide permanent supportive housing for the unsheltered. Additionally, the motel parking lot will be utilized for Safe Parking, allowing homeless who are currently living in their cars, to receive services to assist in getting off the streets.”
McCann said something that mattered to him as a child, was Parks and Recreation.
“We currently have 66 parks, nine community centers, and two aquatic facilities. We are opening beautiful news park facilities, but we are reinvesting in our older parks as well,” he said.
He said as a child, he played at Lauderbach Park, which was just renovated and reopened with new basketball courts, pickleball courts, and a new lighted multi-purpose turf field. He said the Norman Park Senior Center was another renovated park with the addition of pickleball courts, bah-Chee ball and solar lighting. He said he learned to swim at the Loma Verde Pool as a child and celebrated the nearly complete remodel and renovation of the facility, scheduled to reopen in October. The renovation includes a 50-meter competition pool, a separate recreational pool, a new gym, and a remodeled game room.
Another passion project, McCann said he hopes to honor the Filipino community, in particular, Filipino military veterans.
“Filipinos have a long and storied history of serving in our military, especially in the Navy, and I think it is only fitting to honor their service and their patriotism by naming the park Filipino American Veteran Memorial Park,” he said. “I have been working with the Filipino American Military Officers Association, community members, and Home Fed to make this a reality. Together we have identified a 5-acre park in Otay Ranch to be named Filipino-American Veteran Memorial Park.”
In closing, McCann said this is Chula Vista’ decade, and together, are building the future for San Diego County.
“I grew up in old Chula Vista, the son of a single mother who worked at the Rohr factory. Chula Vista has always been for me, a city of warm and familiar memories. Chula Vista always inspired me. I care deeply about Chula Vista, and I care deeply about you. Chula Vista inspired me to a life of great ambitions and to take a path that was never easy, but always rewarding. Now, I stand before you as someone who has achieved a lifelong dream. As Mayor of Chula Vista, I now have the opportunity to help others achieve their ambitions and dreams. And to work with all of you to build the Chula Vista of the 21st century,” he said.
