The almost mile-long stretch of Pica-
dor that Vigil drives was supposed to be
smooth by now. City offi cials promised to
repave it and 100 more miles of broken
roads by this summer. Now, the city says,
they’ll all be fi nished by next summer.
City offi cials say they were unprepared
to spend the money and a disorganized and
ineffi cient bureaucracy made initial delays
worse. They say they’ve solved their bu-
reaucratic diffi culties and are ready to take
on even more work. They have plans to bor-
row $500 million more for lagging repairs.
“We know it’s a serious problem,” said
Tony Heinrichs, head of the city’s public
works department. “We’re committed to fi x-
ing the problem.”
A er decades of decay, there’s money to
spend and the promise of much more to come.
But the lumbering pace of repairs reveals
a problem rarely discussed while the pot-holes and cracks grew. It takes more than
money to fi x San Diego. The city still has to
fi gure out how to spend it.
So far, San Diego’s leaders have over-
promised and under-delivered. If they can’t
get it right, the parts of the city that resi-
dents touch and feel every day will contin-
ue to crumble faster than they can be fi xed.ROAD TO RUIN
Before the rain comes, San Diego police
offi cer Luis Roman takes out a makeshi
plastic tarp.
Water soon will stream from the sta-
tion’s roof at the Police Department’s City
Heights station, and Roman needs the tarp
to funnel rain into a 36-gallon trashcan. If
not, it’ll drip onto the carpet in the division
captain’s offi ce.
“This place leaks like a sieve,” Roman
said.
While Roman waits for the city to spend›› A CITY IN DISREPAIR
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 107142 SanDiegoMagazine.comNovember2011
SO FAR, SAN DIEGO’S
LEADERS HAVE
OVERPROMISED
AND UNDERDELIV
ERED. IF THEY CAN’T
GET IT RIGHT, THE
PARTS OF THE CITY
THAT RESIDENTS
TOUCH AND FEEL
EVERY DAY WILL
CONTINUE TO CRUM
BLE FASTER THAN
THEY CAN BE FIXED.STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP
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Extent and nature of circulation: a. Total number of copies. Average number copies each issue during preceding 12
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November 2011 issue of this publication.
I certify that all information furnished is true and complete.
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