Community Project Funding For Fiscal Year 2023

Listed below are the funding requests for important community projects in California's 50th congressional district Rep. Peters has submitted to the Appropriations Committee. The projects are listed in no particular order.

Light Up San Diego Streetlight Improvement Program

$2,000,000

City of San Diego - San Diego, CA 92107 and 92109

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will replace 70+ year old infrastructure, which will improve the reliability of the City’s streetlights, enhance public and pedestrian safety, lower the City’s maintenance effort, and lead to savings associated with outages where series circuits currently exist.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NOT FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

 

Ocean Beach Library Expansion

$4,000,000

City of San Diego - 4801 Santa Monica Ave, San Diego, CA 92107

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because the library is well-used due to its proximity to schools and the walkability of the community. A plan for an expansion has been in the works for over 30 years. This community desperately needs a large community meeting space to accommodate entities such as the Town Council, Friends of the Library, Planning Group, and other civic-related entities. Ocean Beach is a demographically and economically diverse neighborhood that is unusual among San Diego’s coastal communities and civic pride is deeply engrained in the community culture.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

 

Gateway to College and Career for Transition Age Foster Youth

$1,550,000

San Diego College of Continuing Education Foundation - 4343 Ocean View Blvd., San Diego, CA 92113

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because aging out of the foster care system puts transition age foster youth at an incredible disadvantage with huge obstacles to their success. Gateway to College and Career for Transition Age Foster Youth will prevent vulnerable transition age foster youth, who choose to participate in the program, from descending into poverty, homelessness, unsupported mental health challenges, and lack of opportunity to enter adulthood as “happy, healthy and prepared to reach their potential.”

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

 

Installation of Airport Ground Support Equipment (GSE) Charging Stations - Phase 1A (19 gates)

$3,300,000

San Diego County Regional Airport Authority - 3225 N. Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because as passenger and air traffic continue to increase at San Diego International Airport, airline ground service vehicles will increase in both quantity and activity level. This project will eliminate current and future use of fossil-fuel airside vehicles based on current costs and is therefore a cost-effective use of taxpayer dollars to achieve long-term emissions reductions.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

TechHire San Diego

$800,000

The San Diego Workforce Partnership - 9246 Lightwave Ave, Suite #210, San Diego, CA 92123

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because technology employers are keen to diversify their workforce in the current climate, but they are unsure of how to do so. The TechHire program connects employers with the talent they otherwise would not have found while also giving them a chance to test out their skills before hiring employees full-time. TechHire San Diego enrolls people in training programs related to information and communications technology career goals and provides them with internships at these companies that can convert into full-time placements. These paid internships support employers with a no-risk trial to bring diverse talent to their workforce and provide an average wage of $18/hour for the intern.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THE PROJECT

Parker Pump Station

$3,000,000

City of Coronado - 800 Coronado Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118

Project Justification: The project will provide funding to fix aged, failing sanitary sewer and storm water pump station as well as assist with the climate resiliency of the station. Additionally, this project will prevent pollution to the ocean from failed sewer operation. Lastly, the new pump station will prevent flooding and pollution to the adjacent Naval Air Station North Island (Naval Base Coronado).

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

Central Mobility Hub

$4,000,000

San Diego Association of Governments

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will serve as the linchpin to the regional and intra-regional transportation network with a future direct transit connection to the San Diego International Airport - the busiest single-runway airport in the nation. The San Diego International Airport is one of the only major metropolitan airports that does not have a direct convenient connection to regional transit.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

Freedom Park at Navy Pier

$2,000,000

Port of San Diego/USS Midway Museum - 910 N. Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will be used for the development of the largest public veteran’s park on the West Coast, and the only park honoring veterans in the City of San Diego.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

MTS Imperial Avenue Division Zero Emission Bus Infrastructure Project - Charging Equipment

$1,880,000

San Diego Metropolitan Transit System - 100 16th Street, San Diego, CA 92101

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because to zero-emission buses (ZEBs) will provide clean, zero emission transit services and contribute to the region’s climate action goals benefitting all communities MTS serves. This project request directly supports the next step in advancing the overall project by funding the purchase of ZEB charging equipment to initially charge the first 30 zero emission buses and ultimately the entire fleet of up to 230 zero emission buses from MTS’s Imperial Avenue Division.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

Mobile Solar Powered Electric Vehicle Chargers

$3,500,000

City of San Diego - 202 C Street, San Diego, CA 92101

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because the recent IPCC GHG reduction targets will require a significant conversion of private internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric vehicles (EV) in the next 5-10 years. By utilizing off-grid solar EV charging units as a solution in areas where deployment of grid-tied EV infrastructure will take longer helps bridge the immediate need for greater charging capacity for workers especially those who are unable to install charging at home due to residence type (multi-family), lack of ownership control (renters), or cost for new wiring/panel upgrades etc. at home.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

Downtown Mobility Phase 3A

$3,144,000

City of San Diego - W. Hawthorne St, W. Grape St, India St, Kettner Blvd, State St; San Diego, CA 92101

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will help build out the city’s downtown mobility plan by implementing the cycle track network. Improving bicycling conditions is a key policy goal of the City’s Climate Action Plan and Vision Zero efforts.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

San Diego County Twin-Engine Firefighting Helicopter Project

$750,000

County of San Diego - 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego, CA 92101

Project Justification: 

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.  Although significant investments have been made to better protect lives and property, the County is still utilizing outdated single engine helicopters for aerial fire protection.

In addition to providing aerial fire protection to the local and State Responsibility Area, the County’s firefighting helicopters also serve hundreds of thousands of acres in the Federal Responsibility Area, which includes the Cleveland National Forest, BLM lands and other federally owned and managed acres.  The helicopters also provide fire protection to the many tribal nations in San Diego County, which don’t have their own air assets. Devastating wildfires are not contained in a single government responsibility area, including the Cedar in 2003, which started in the evening hours on federal lands and spread across state, county and municipal areas.

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.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

Curriculum and Remote Module Development for Future STEM Leaders

$2,160,000

University of California San Diego - 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because San Diego is a thriving hub for the Life Sciences industry; however, diversity in recruitment and hiring is lagging, suggesting that the economic benefits of the industry are not accessible to all communities in San Diego. Furthermore, advances in biotechnology, diagnostics and therapeutics are increasingly driven by cutting edge technologies and instruments that are expensive to access and technically difficult to learn. Support for this project would help democratize access to these cutting-edge technologies, and to prepare a diverse and talented pipeline of working professionals for San Diego’s growing Life Sciences industry. This will be achieved by developing, and making widely available, high-quality remote training modules in key technologies such as mass spectrometry, flow cytometry, cryo-electron and light microscopy, genome engineering, assay development, and data analysis, as well as by providing in-person hands-on training in how to use these technologies.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

Mobile Crisis Response Team

$2,240,000

County of San Diego - 409 Camino Del Rio South, Ste. #201, San Diego, CA 92108

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because thousands of calls involving a behavioral health crisis are made annually to law enforcement agencies. However, many of these calls do not require law enforcement intervention and deployment of behavioral health professionals can be a more effective solution in addressing non-violent behavioral health situations. Mobile Crisis Response Teams are comprised of clinicians, case managers and peer support specialists who travel to individuals anywhere who are experiencing a mental health, drug, or alcohol-related crisis. The MCRTs provide assessment, crisis intervention services and connections to treatment and other services, as needed, including transportation.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT

Aerosolized Coastal Water Pollution Impacts Pilot Study

$1,500,000

University of California San Diego (Scripps Institute of Oceanography)

Project Justification: The project would be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because many pollutants, toxic species, and microbes (viruses and bacteria) become enriched in a thin film at the surface of rivers, estuaries, and the ocean. Breaking waves and winds produce numerous bubbles that burst and release some of these waterborne species into the atmosphere in relatively high concentrations. Once airborne, these components can travel miles, exposing millions of residents via inhalation. The public health ramifications of this under-studied airborne pathway are enormous. The current pandemic has alerted the public and medical communities to the importance of airborne exposure. As the climate continues to warm, there is expected to be a commensurate increase in infectious respiratory diseases. Tax dollars spent on researching and modeling these pollutants will directly contribute to our understanding and ability to mitigate against their harmful effects.

CERTIFICATION LETTER STATING THERE IS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST IN THIS PROJECT