Planning Commissioner Announces Run for City Council

Planning Commissioner Racquel Vasquez said Saturday she will run for a City Council seat in the 2012 election.

Vasquez plans to focus her campaign on three issues: public safety, quality neighborhoods and economic development.

“I want to serve my community more—to have a hand in supporting public safety,” Vasquez says. “There are some serious issues here in Lemon Grove that need to be addressed—crime prevention, specifically. Also, ensuring projects move forward to improve the quality of our neighborhoods. And, encouraging redevelopment within our city.”

Vasquez, 41, was appointed to the five-member Planning Commission in 2007 and is serving her second term, which expires in 2013. The group is responsible for reviewing potential development projects in the city for appraisal and approval.

As a public information officer with the city of San Diego’s Engineering and Capital Projects Department for 11 years, Vasquez says she wants to put her experience to work on the City Council to guide Lemon Grove toward smart growth.

“I have a desire to see the city grow,” Vasquez says. “I strongly believe in order to foster smart growth you have to have the community involved. And that’s my goal—to engage the community and get them involved in the process.”

To do that, she plans to hold Saturday morning community coffees and utilize social media to draw in the city’s younger generation.

According to her campaign website, Vasquez has received endorsements from City Councilman George Gastil and planning commissioners Jennifer Mendoza and Moises Aguirre, among others in the community. Her biography says she is the vice president of the Spring Valley-Lemon Grove Democratic Club and a member of the Soroptimist International of Lemon Grove.

She and her husband, Jose Vasquez, who has served in the Navy for 21 years, have lived in Lemon Grove since 2001. They have two daughters: a 17-year-old who just graduated from Helix Charter High School and is on her way to San Diego State University to study biochemistry, and a 10-year-old.

The announcement was made Saturday during the at the Lemon Grove Branch Library.