SAN DIEGO (CNS) - New Councilwoman Myrtle Cole is calling for as much as $1 million in the upcoming fiscal year to develop two plans to speed up infrastructure projects in southeast San Diego, according to city documents released late Wednesday.
In her first day in office Monday, Cole wrote a memo containing her budget priorities for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Her seat was vacant for five months while the spending plan was created.
In her memo, Cole calls for an expenditure of $500,000 to $1 million to allow Civic San Diego, the successor to the city's redevelopment agencies, to create a specific plan and master environmental impact report for her historically under-developed district.
The result will be streamlined permitting that will attract investment, she wrote.
"There are several areas in the fourth district that have been waiting years to be developed and in some cases, decades!'' Cole wrote in her memo.
She also called for new sidewalks on Market Street east of Euclid Avenue, a community center for Tooma Park in Bay Terraces and a new fire station in her district -- as recommended in a consultant's report. Her memo also asks for $100,000 each for a pair of programs meant to reduce gang violence.
The City Council is scheduled to adopt a budget for the next fiscal year on Monday.
Cole won the office in a special runoff election last month and succeeded Tony Young, who resigned at the beginning of the year to become CEO of the American Red Cross, San Diego and Imperial Counties Chapter.
