The transition of power on the San Diego City Council dais was smooth, with members unanimously supporting District 1 representative Joe LaCava as their new president. Sean Elo-Rivera passed the gavel after a historic three-year term.
LaCava moved into the president's seat on Tuesday, hours after he and the other councilmembers representing odd-numbered districts were sworn-in for second terms, along with the mayor and new city attorney.
"I’m very excited to be in this role. We have a lot of work to do," said LaCava, a civil engineer by trade, who represents the area including La Jolla and Pacific Beach.
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He is now in charge of setting the council agenda. Among the first orders of business is addressing the $258 million budget deficit the city faces in its upcoming fiscal cycle.
“I will not mask the difficulty of the task before us,” LaCava said. “People expect us to deliver city services, and what we are going to try to do is to balance the budget and still deliver those services. Realistically, some of those services will have to be cut to balance that budget.”
While the city squares its budget, councilmembers will also be expected to deliver on campaign promises to increase housing supply, lower the cost of living and help people get off the streets. LaCava said he is looking to create a committee dedicated to the cost of living (it is under the council president's purview to assign members to committees).
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“We'll have to stretch our limited dollars further than ever,” said LaCava, who joined a growing chorus of city colleagues calling on the county and neighboring municipalities to step up their homelessness efforts by opening shelter spaces or helping the city of San Diego fund their operations. “We need to solve the problem, and we're going to need resources beyond what the city can afford to do.”
