By Jerry Rindone
As a lifelong Chula Vistan, I am very passionate about the city I call home. I have dedicated my entire adult life, as a 38-year educator, 16-year city councilmember, and six-year deputy mayor, to making it a wonderful place to live, work and play. I am running for Mayor because I want to continue this work to keep moving Chula Vista forward. In order to do this, we must address three key issues: jobs, housing, and education.
Every day 83,000 Chula Vista residents commute out of the city to work elsewhere in the county. This creates congestion on our highways, removes much needed sales tax revenue from the city, and reduces the amount of time that Chula Vista families have to spend together. We must bring jobs back to Chula Vista. With the advancement of the Bayfront plan, The Millennia Village, and the four-year university project, we can generate much needed higher paying jobs for our residents.
The added attractions at the Bayfront will increase tourism for the city and the amount of revenue collected for basic city services such as street and sidewalk repair. The university will work as an innovation and research incubator that will attract new businesses thereby bringing new quality jobs to the city.
The Bayfront and Millennia Developments will not just create jobs, they will also provide much needed housing for our current and future residents. These projects will provide safe and affordable living spaces as well as dedicated areas for business and commerce. These, too, will increase city revenues that can be used for infrastructure and additional police and fire staffing.
As an educator with 38 years of experience, it has been a lifelong dream of mine to bring a four-year university to the city of Chula Vista — a dream that was sparked when my father founded Southwestern College 1961. It is extremely important that the residents of our city have access to higher education.
In our efforts to bring a university to Chula Vista, we must look at all possible options, including cross-border opportunities that will allow us to create a bi-national university. Furthermore, one of my key goals is to have the university form strategic partnerships with local elementary and high schools so that we are working hand-in-hand to foster academic achievement and the desire of our students to learn. As we create the “University of the Future” in Chula Vista, we will be investing in the futures of our children and grandchildren, affording them greater access to higher education as well as an opportunity for better lives in our community!
It is a very exciting time to be living in Chula Vista. The city deserves a mayor who has the experience and leadership necessary to make sure that these critical projects come to fruition. I have the skills and non-partisan approach necessary to create partnerships and get things done. Together, we will bring new jobs, affordable housing, and a new university to our growing city. I would be honored to have your support. Please remember to vote on November 4.
Jerry Rindone is a candidate for Mayor of Chula Vista. He is a lifelong educator in the South Bay, a 16-year member of the Chula Vista City Council and a four-year member of the San Diego County Board of Education.
