CRamirezForDistrict8

Great question! District 8 is unique, we share the busiest land-border crossing in the world with Tijuana and one of the most polluted bodies of water, the Tijuana River. The time has come for county, state and federal officials to work with our counterparts in Mexico to address urgent infrastructure needs in our booming binational metropolitan region.

In the north of District 8, for decades the city has allowed toxic polluters to set up shop next to homes, places of worship and schools. I will actively work to allow residents in District 8 to enjoy the same zoning regulations that the rest of the residents in San Diego have in place.

The State of California has set up air monitor systems along the San Ysidro-Tijuana border region to better understand the levels of pollution along our shared border region, this is an important first step, towards addressing health and environmental concerns in the southern part of San Diego.

San Diego is one of the wealthiest cities in our state, it is shameful that we have allowed unsheltered children, women and men to be mistreated with such callousness and disregard for human dignity. The fact that hundreds of our neighbors were hospitalized and 20 more perished, due to a Hepatitis A outbreak is a disturbing example of the indifference that exists in City Hall when dealing with unsheltered San Diegans.

The city of San Diego should refurbish the old downtown library, the abandoned Charger training facility in Murphy Canyon, or Qualcomm stadium as emergency shelters for our neighbors in need. We have a shelter crisis in the city of San Diego, we must move unsheltered San Diegans from tents into more safe and dignified structures like tiny-homes, similar to what the City of San José recently implemented.

Yes and all people in the United States are entitled to due process rights. Immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers should have the right to appeal their cases before an immigration judge. Aggressive enforcement practices, that separate families and devastate communities should be halted.

Too cold and we have better beer anyway.

San Diego has one the lowest TOT (Transient Occupancy Tax) in the state, we need to invest resources to ensure that unsheltered San Diegans are afforded dignified shelter. Additionally, the city has several abandoned and underused buildings that should be converted to provide shelter to our fellow San Diegans, including the old library downtown, the old Charger Training Facility, and Golden Hall.

Edit: Just to clarify, yes, I advocate raising the TOT tax, which would increase the tax for people staying in hotels in San Diego, but not tax residents themselves. I'd propose having San Diego's tax rate be more in line with the TOT tax rate of Los Angeles and San Francisco.