SAN DIEGO — Some San Diego District 4 residents say they feel forgotten after they were hit hard by the January 22 storm.
The people living there said the issue has been made worse by the fact they don't have a city councilmember representing them at a time when the council is setting future budget priorities.
Monica Montgomery Steppe submitted a lengthy list of budget priorities for District 4 before she left City Council to serve on the County Board of Supervisors. The list included storm channel maintenance and street repairs.
While that list of priorities was not recently updated, because right now there's no elected representative for the district, the council's president said that those District 4 residents are very much a priority.
"It's understandable why folks feel like that right now," said San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, adding that more needs to be done.
"While some support is being provided, it's not nearly enough," he said.
Currently, District 4, which includes hard-hit southeastern San Diego communities like Mountain View, lacks representation on the city council, after former city council member Monica Montgomery-Steppe was elected to the County Board of Supervisors, to fill the vacancy left by Nathan Fletcher.
"There isn't a council member on the dais," he said. "But that does not mean they are forgotten. The folks of District 4 are very much on my mind."
Elo-Rivera pointed out that the District 4 office is still staffed, even without an elected representative.
"The current District 4 staff is doing incredible work," he added. "They're out in the field and they are helping people."
Elo-Rivera also said that the budget priorities for District 4, including more funding for storm channel maintenance, will be forwarded to the mayor as he hammers out the upcoming budget.
"We made it abundantly clear, I'm going to continue to make it abundantly clear, that these folks are in desperate need of support, and that the city as a whole has a responsibility to support them in the best way that we can," Elo-Rivera told CBS 8.
He added that he plans to work closely with whomever is ultimately elected to represent District 4.
The primary election is set for March 5. If none of the three candidates gets more than fifty percent of the votes, then a run-off will be held this summer.
(Note: Not all southeastern San Diego communities impacted by the January 22 flooding are in District 4. The community of Southcrest, for instance, is part of District 8, which is currently represented by Councilmember Vivian Moreno).
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