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NATIONAL CITY, Calif. — A heated debate is brewing over the city’s spending in National City. Some councilmembers are proposing to receive a $100,000 annual budget, something that’s never been done in National City.

“We as council, I’m asking all of you in the public, I’m telling you, I need help,” Councilmember Marcus Bush said.

The proposed $100,000 district budget for each of the four councilmembers would be used for things like staff, events, training and travel. However formal guidelines for spending have yet to be set.

“Some of us were elected citywide, some of us were elected for a particular district,” Councilmember Jose Rodriguez said.

It’s for that reason Vice Mayor Luz Molina raised concern over the ability for two councilmembers to potentially spend the money citywide, while the other two would be limited to their district.

“I would like to consider putting aside this call for a district budget until we are fully districted,” Molina said.

Councilmembers Bush, Rodriguez and Ditas Yamane were unified in pushing for the budget.

“We are not cutting off anything, we are enhancing services,” Yamane said.

“The city of Chula Vista, they do have district budgets. The city of San Diego has district budgets. What we’re proposing is smaller, is to scale, and our residents deserve good representation,” Bush said.

Councilmembers in National City are part time and historically have not received an annual budget. They share one assistant.

Mayor Ron Morrison holds the only full-time position on council and receives an annual budget of $131,000. The budget covers an executive assistant salary and benefits, events like state of the city, travel and other expenses. Councilmembers votes to reduce Morrison’s budget to $115,00 in the next budget.

“I’m getting close to the end of my political career. We have got to look at what we’re leaving for the legacy in front of us. This looks like a whole lot of let’s serve ourselves, instead of let’s serve the community,” Morrison said.

A majority three councilmembers may have voted to get their own $100,000 budgets, but that is just one proposal in the entire citywide budget. The city budget will be voted on at next week’s National City council meeting Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Armando Vergara was a longtime employee of South County community

Armando Vergara, a longtime National City employee who had just been promoted to city manager, died Thursday. He was 51.

The cause of death is unknown, Mayor Ron Morrison said in a statement.

“On behalf of the City Council, it is with deep sadness and shock that we are called upon to inform you of the unexpected loss of our City Manager Armando Vergara,” he said.

Details about his death remain limited and the public is asked “to respect the privacy of the Vergara family while they work through their tragic loss,” he added. According to city employees who had worked with him for several years, Vergara had been battling diabetes.

Vergara was not at City Hall Thursday; he was taking the first of a couple of vacation days off, Morrison said in an interview.

Upon learning of his death, the City Council held an emergency meeting Thursday where they appointed Deputy City Manager Scott Huth as acting City Manager, said Councilmember Jose Rodriguez.

Vergara had been serving as interim city manager since former City Manager Brad Raulston and the city agreed to part ways in late May. On Tuesday, City Attorney Barry Schultz announced that the City Council had agreed to begin negotiating an employment agreement to hire Vergara as the permanent city manager.

“There was so much excitement,” said Rodriguez. “He had a really cool personality. He listened really well and that was so refreshing for us. And he impressed everybody so much that we decided to go with him as the permanent city manager.”

James Kim, a graffiti maintenance worker with the city, said he knew Vergara since high school and worked with him for the city for 17 years.

“He was like a brother to me,” said Kim. “He treated people with respect and always kept a smile. Even though he had some health issues, he did have diabetes, it was something that he was strong in dealing with and it didn’t stop him from achieving great goals.”

Before joining the City Manager’s Office, Vergara previously worked as the South County city’s director of community development and served as deputy city manager.

Brad Raulston had announced earlier this month that he would take a leave of absence to care for his family

Brad Raulston has resigned as city manager of National City, city officials announced Tuesday night after a closed session of the City Council.

His last day is May 31.

“I’m proud to have served National City and I know the legacy that we have created will leave a lasting mark,” he said in a statement that City Attorney Barry Schultz read in open session. “I wish the staff well as I take care of my family and prepare for new professional opportunities.”

Raulston announced in an April 6 memo to city employees that he would be taking administrative leave for an unspecified time to help his mother relocate from her home in Seattle to a senior facility in Boise.

“She needs me right now, and I always put family first,” he said in a previous statement.

The City Council agreed in closed session to appoint Armando Vergara as interim city manager while the city considers filling the position permanently, said Schultz.

Vergara took over as acting city manager at Raulston’s request. He previously worked as National City’s director of community development and served as deputy city manager.

Schultz said the city and Raulston agreed to “mutual release provisions which preclude either party from filing a claim or a lawsuit arising out of his employment with the city.”

The agreement comes with a six-month severance payment and a deferred compensation payment, totaling $127,601. He will also continue to receive $1,200 per month in health benefits through the end of the year or until he gets a new job, as well as a $750 per month car allowance through May.

Council members unanimously approved the agreement.

Tuesday’s vote comes after three previous closed session meetings since January where the City Council reviewed Raulston’s performance, which has been under scrutiny in recent years.

In 2021, the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council and Service Employees International Union Local 221 urged the City Council not to renew Raulston’s employment contract. Dozens of city employees, many represented by the unions, said that the city manager had not done enough to provide workers with competitive salaries.

In a 3-2 vote that year, the City Council agreed to extend Raulston’s employment contract for an additional two years. The contract was to end May 22, 2024.

This year, council members have been critical of several administrative proposals brought before them, questioned the city manager’s signing authority on agreements and why money is being spent on outside agencies for services they believe the city should undertake.

Despite their differences, the city thanked Raulston for his 16 years of service to National City. He oversaw many projects, including several bike and pedestrian improvements, the construction of the Paradise Creek apartments, a partnership with the Port of San Diego and the creation of the city’s balanced plan.

“The city is very thankful for the dedication and leadership Brad provided during his time as city manager and on behalf of the entire City Council, we wish him well in his future endeavors,” said Mayor Ron Morrison.

The San Diego Rescue Mission’s 7-acre property in National City — where a homeless shelter is set to open next spring — will be divided into two parcels, with the possibility of part of the site being used for multifamily housing.

Planning commissioners on Monday unanimously approved dividing the land in half. It is located at 2400 Euclid Ave. near 24^th Street, surrounded by mostly single-family homes.

At 3.7 acres, the northern lot closest to 24^th Street will be used for the 162-bed shelter. The second parcel, at 3.5 acres, is vacant and has a wetland habitat on its southern portion.

The land previously was home to the South Bay Community Church, which had a kitchen, laundry, bathrooms and a playground. The church, two of its buildings, and a parking lot occupied about half of the 7 acres.

Last year, the Rescue Mission bought the property for $6 million with plans to convert the two buildings, one about 19,000 square feet and the other 3,300 square feet, into a navigation center that will offer shelter and meals. It will accept people from National City, Chula Vista and Imperial Beach. In December 2021, the National City Council granted the organization a conditional-use permit. The nonprofit is working toward raising about $12 million to cover operation and renovation costs, said CEO Donnie Dee. Its Every Heart Campaign will also raise funds for an East County navigation center and operations in Oceanside.

The 3.7 acres are sufficient for the shelter, said Edvin Liku, the Rescue Mission’s vice president of operations, and there are no set plans for what to do with the second parcel.

“One, we could develop (it) ourselves and build more affordable housing,” said Liku. “Or we could partner with a developer that has the money to do that. Or we could partner up with another nonprofit that provides affordable housing with a developer that can do that.”

The vacant lot’s zoning would allow multi-family residential development of up to 15 units per acre, said David Welch, a city associate planner.

With wetlands onsite, Commissioner Ricardo Sanchez raised concerns about their preservation should construction occur in the future. About a third of the 3.5-acre lot would be off-limits because of easements and the wetland, said Welch.

“Even if a good portion of the lot is not available for development, there’s still quite a bit there to provide for … multifamily housing,” he added.

Dee said the nonprofit’s priority is to open the National City navigation center before selling or marketing the second parcel to a housing developer.

“My guess is it would be something related to housing because that’s the greatest need, but that’s going to have to be a housing development that’s comfortable being next to a 162-bed shelter,” he said.

The City Council will not be required to vote on the matter.

The long-awaited upgrades include new play areas, a perched beach and what would be the first splash pad at any park along the San Diego Bay

NATIONAL CITY —

Pepper Park, National City’s only recreational link to the San Diego Bay, is one step closer to getting the facelift hundreds of residents have spent years advocating for.

On Tuesday, the Board of Port Commissioners approved a coastal development permit that will allow them to hire a construction contractor to transform a portion of the 5-acre park into a more desirable waterfront destination.

“We have been working so hard to get to this day,” Port Vice Chair Sandy Naranjo, National City’s appointee on the board, said in a statement. “Pepper Park is where National City residents and visitors go to enjoy San Diego Bay and this project will enhance the park and give us even more to see, do, and experience.”

The park is located on Tidelands Avenue, next to Pier 32 Marina in the city’s southwest corner. It currently offers a playground, boat launch ramp, small fishing pier, floating boat dock, restrooms, a few picnic tables and an aquatic center.

The project centers on a two-acre area on the park’s west side. Two pirate-themed play structures will replace an existing playground, and the surrounding area will have rubber surfacing instead of the current sand and rubber mixture. A 1,160 square-foot splash pad will be installed nearby, the first in any park along the San Diego Bay, according to the port.

Plans also include a 1,450-square-foot perched beach with umbrellas and lawn chairs along the southern edge of the park. A retaining wall will keep sand from blowing into the Sweetwater Channel, according to the permit.

The park is also getting two more picnic areas, an entry plaza, new landscaping and a 760-square-foot terrace with seating that will give visitors an elevated view of the channel and bay. A hillside playground with climbers and a slide is also planned.

The new features will give residents the type of recreation options they’ve spent about a decade asking for. Vice Mayor Luz Molina, whose District 1 includes Pepper Park, said National City has had “unequal use of our port lands for so long.”

“When my kids were younger, for example, we would go to parks with splash pads in nearby cities,” she said. “I am so excited that families in National City won’t have to go outside of our city to cool off, and our children will be able to create beautiful memories of their hometown for generations to come.”

The Port of San Diego is a special district that is a landowner, regulator and law enforcement agency. It controls 3,500 acres of water along the bay and 2,400 acres of land in Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach, National City and San Diego.

National City’s bayfront, consisting of 273 acres of land and 167 acres of water, is among them. Along with Pepper Park, the area is also home to Pier 32 Marina and the Marine Terminal, which serves as the nation’s main entryway for importing cars.

The bayfront has long served as an economic driver for the port. For years, however, National City has pushed for the port to make amends for decades of environmental injustices caused by its polluting industrial operations. Residents have long spearheaded efforts to transform Pepper Park into a more appealing and cleaner green space.

Between May 2021 and June 2022, the port heard from hundreds of residents who enthusiastically shared their ideas about the changes they wanted to see. One thing was clear: the community wished for plentiful green open space.

“Parks are the lungs for communities providing a breath of fresh air away from the bustling urban environment,” said Naranjo while recognizing years of community advocacy.

The agency is funding the $6.1 million project with $3.85 million in federal stimulus dollars, $2 million from its Balanced Capital Program and a $250,000 contribution from Austal USA, which operates a ship repair facility on the bayfront.

Port officials said the district plans to award a construction contract in January and start work in March. The project is expected to be completed in May 2025.

A larger effort, dubbed the National City Balanced Plan, aims to rework the city’s bayfront. Under this plan, Pepper Park would grow by an additional 2.5 acres to accommodate a nature play area and more lawn and picnic spaces.

Late last year, port commissioners approved the long-awaited project, which also calls for building the city’s segment of the Bayshore bikeway along Marina Way and McKinley Avenue, reworking streets to better separate industrial work from park goers, and bringing hotels and a thriving commercial zone.

The plan still needs approval from the California Coastal Commission before the port and city can implement it.