San Diego Century Plan / Blueprint for the Next 100 Years

By Jim Morrison

San Diego's economy is a satellite of Los Angeles' economy. The Mayor and City Council should enact policies that strengthen the middle class by enabling our region to attract and retain manufacturing companies

1. INCREASE CARGO SHIP ACTIVITY. Los Angeles moves more cargo in two weeks then San Diego does in a whole year.

2. BUILD RAILROAD LINE TO EAST. Sacramento and Caltrans have complained for years that San Diego sends too many trucks up I-5.

3. ESTABLISH 5 BORDER CROSSINGS. Border traffic congestion is causing businesses to lose 100s of millions of dollars every year.

4. MOVE SAN DIEGO AIRPORT TO MIRAMAR. The Port District should trade San Diego International Airport to the Department of Defense for Marine Corps Aircraft Station Miramar. This is a win-win. The Marine Corps would have an airbase next to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Their airships are all vertical lift helicopters and the new F-35 jet. Large Marine Corps airplanes could land at North Island Naval Air Station. Miramar gives San Diego the space for a truly international airport with direct flights of passenger and cargo jets from all over the Pacific Rim, bypassing Los Angeles.

5. IMPROVE SAN DIEGO'S WATER SYSTEM. Water in San Diego is another defining issue and key component to manufacturing and agriculture. Deepening drought is a fact of life in Southern California. We need to be smarter about how we use water. San Diego cleans its waste water and pumps it into the ocean. We should build reclaimed water pipelines and deliver that water to the farmers and ranchers of North and East San Diego County. We should lobby Governor Brown and the State Legislature to build a water pipeline to the headwaters of the Missouri River in Montana. Desalination is too money and energy intensive.

The middle class needs help from the Mayor and City Council. Our economy will not grow if people do not buy homes and have disposable income to generate property taxes and fees that address the City's one trillion dollar infrastructure repair and new building backlog. This is a plan for the San Diego's future generations. We need to become a self sufficient and independent city on the Pacific Rim.