As District 8 City Councilmember David Alvarez completes his two terms, voters will have the opportunity to choose a new champion for our community.

At EHC’s first-ever candidate forum, community members packed the Sherman Heights Community Center to meet Antonio Martinez, Vivian Moreno and Christian Ramirez, the City Council candidates for District 8. District 8 includes Barrio Logan, Sherman Heights, Logan Heights and more, and is one of EHC's core neighborhoods.

For two hours, our leaders asked each candidate important questions about how they intend to make our communities healthy and safe places to live, work and play. Together we discussed the Barrio Logan community plan update, access to affordable transportation as well as safe places to walk and bike, equity in the City's climate action plan, the increase in temporary homeless shelters, protecting families from displacement and policies that would mediate community air pollution and route trucks out of our neighborhoods. 

• Panchito, Barrio Logan leader: In order for change in underserved communities to be sustained over time, we need to maintain a pipeline of leadership in all sectors that will continue to champion the causes of our community. How will you create an environment in District 8 that encourages and/or prepares youth to be the leaders of tomorrow focused on building better communities?
  
  
• Silvia, Sherman Heights leader: The issue of affordable housing, homelessness and how to provide supportive services to homeless individuals is directly impacting many residents of District 8. How will you address this community concern?
  
  
• Philomena, Barrio Logan leader: Residents in District 8 deal with many burdens due to close proximity to both the Port of San Diego and the Naval Base. One of these is the impact of limited parking in the community due to shipyard and Navy workers parking throughout the community due to lack of designated parking at their workplaces. . What would you do to solve this ongoing issue?
  
  
• Roddy, City Heights leader: The City of San Diego passed a Climate Action Plan in 2015 with a strong requirement for social equity that EHC members fought hard for. What would you do to prioritize Climate Justice in the implementation of this plan?
  
  
• Maria, Barrio Logan leader: Land use and zoning that allows industries to locate next to homes results in health and safety issues If elected what would be your strategy and plan to address this issue?

Toward the end of the two-hour event, candidates were given the rapid-fire questions on the chart below and the options to choose yes, no or give a 15-second explanation. Candidate initials were marked in the columns for their chosen answers.

Each of the candidates said yes to:

• Meeting with the EHC Community Action Teams in Sherman Heights and Barrio Logan within 90 days of assuming office and attending at least two meetings each per year after that
• Supporting the 2013 community-developed Barrio Logan community plan update
• Supporting the Children’s Right to Lead-Safe Housing Ordinance Amendment to make housing lead safe at the point of sale
• Hiring a climate justice staffer to support the City climate action plan
• Supporting the Barrio Logan clean air and safe streets ordinance to set strictly enforced truck routes
• Opposing the expansion of the 94 freeway
• Supporting a free youth transit pass policy in San Diego
• Standing against community threats from Border Patrol or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
• Supporting community members when they say they need a street light or a stop sign
• Fighting for better bus and transit stops that include shelter and shade for people waiting
• Opposing the continuation of temporary homeless shelters being disproportionately placed in District 8
• Advocating for better retention practices in the San Diego Police Department
• Supporting a joint-use park at Perkins Elementary School

Throughout the evening, community members shared their thoughts and takeaways on Twitter. 

Thank you to each candidate, to our moderator and Barrio Logan College Institute CEO Jose Cruz and our fearless community leaders and volunteers who made this evening possible.

Don’t forget to use your voice and vote for our next community champion on June 5. If you have any questions about how to vote, contact Jorge Gonzalez at Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo. or 619-474-0220 x 122.