Facing a staggering backlog of necessary street improvements after years of neglect, San Diego's potholes have emerged as a defining topic in this year's mayoral campaign, reports Tony Perry.
With potholes becoming "as much a symbol of San Diego as Shamu at Sea World or the pandas at the zoo," it should come as no surprise that the campaign slogan of Councilman Carl DeMaio, the candidate leading the current polling to be San Diego's next mayor, is "Pensions, Potholes and Prosperity."
According to Perry, "Even before the campaign began, DeMaio released a seven-point "Save Our Streets" plan to dedicate $335 million to $497 million during the next five years to fix the city's roads. He created a smartphone app for residents to report potholes, was photographed helping city road crews and promised to appoint an inspector general for potholes."
And it's not just DeMaio who's made tackling the city's sorry streets a focus of his campaign. Each candidate has developed their own strategy for solving the street repair problem, including Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, "who has promised an 'infrastructure strike force' to oversee the seven city departments that do repair work."
Read the full story: San Diego's potholes are a major mayoral campaign issue
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