SAN DIEGO—Mayor Bob Filner addressed 360 members and guests of NAIOP San Diego, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, at a breakfast meeting on Tuesday, February 5, 2013. The overriding theme of the Mayor's comments was his desire to fix the local economy and “get San Diego excited about moving forward again.”

Filner outlined his key strategies to improving the economic health of the city:

• The Port. By increasing the working waterfront, Filner sees thousands of jobs being created, especially in the skilled labor area, which would provide high wages. He plans to work with the Port and the San Diego City Council to this end.
• Aqua Jobs. A blending of green (sustainable industry) jobs and blue (ocean and water industries) jobs, Filner wants SanDiego to be the first city to have an aqua economy. “People say government can't create jobs,” said Filner. “What we can create is an environment for jobs.” He cited the example of his plan for all city buildings to be solar powered within five years and how such an initiative will spur the economy in other areas.
• The Border. According to the Mayor, $6 billion is lost annually by people not traveling across the border to San Diego to shop and use other services due to border wait times. “With the proper staff and technology, we can make the border wait 10 minutes,” he predicted, adding that he is “trying to get the situation moving forward.”

The Mayor also addressed building permitting in San Diego, an issue important to NAIOP. Filner recognized the need for a faster system with fixed fees and told the audience “I want to involve you” in the process for developing such a system.

Filner also took questions from the audience, which addressed a variety of issues, including:

• Homelessness. Filner called the issue “an economic issue but also a human problem.” His goal is to build permanent housing, starting with facilities for veterans. Filner's game plan is to get people off the street and then work with agencies to address the other issues of homeless, such as drugs and mental health. He noted that the city is putting permanent public restrooms back in downtown as well as storage units for the homeless population to use.
• Infrastructure. The Mayor noted that he is trying to put as much as he can toward the city's failing infrastructure. “We know what has to be done…we need to shift the money around” to get things done, he said.
• Neighborhoods. Filner sees the need for the creation of a new city department that deals with the urban development andinfill and looks at such things as livability, walkability, affordable housing and so on. He believes such a view of development makes the city stronger and saves money.
• Regulations. While he acknowledged that he can'tnecessarily affect legislation at the state level, Filner warned that businesses and individuals can't just look at the tax structure of the city or the state. He believes that all of the attributes of the city need to be taken into account, such as environmentalbeauty and arts and culture.
• Plaza de Panama. Filner sees that the 100^thanniversary of Balboa Park is a great opportunity to showcase the city on an international level. While he disagreed with the approach put forth by Irwin Jacobs to revamp the parking and pedestrian issues, as well as other issues, the Mayor agrees that changes are necessary. “I want a low tech solution to keep cars out of the park and have it in time for the celebration,” he said.

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