Toni Atkins

for State Assembly

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Biography

Toni Atkins was first elected to the City Council of San Diego on November 7, 2000, to represent the Third District. She was re-elected to a second term on March 2, 2004. She was chosen by her council colleagues to serve as Deputy Mayor of the City of San Diego from July 25 to December 5, 2005, during a vacancy in the Mayor’s Office.

During her tenure on the City Council, Toni chaired the City Council’s then-newly formed Committee on Budget and Finance, and sat on the Audit, Land Use and Housing, Natural Resources and Culture committees.   She also served as Chair of the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee for two years.

Toni represented the City of San Diego on the board and executive committee of the Metropolitan Transit System. She sat on the San Diego Association of Governments (SanDAG) Regional Housing Working Group and the Regional Planning Committee and served as an alternate to the Transportation Committee. Toni continues to serve on the San Diego River Conservancy as an appointee of former State Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson.

Affordable Housing

Toni is widely viewed as a leader in the fight for affordable housing. On August 6, 2001, a day referred to as "Housing Day in San Diego," she led the charge to enact the nation's first Housing State of Emergency, helped push through the City's first inclusionary housing policy, and engineered a housing policy that resulted in $55 million in housing set-aside funds for the construction of new affordable housing units citywide.

Workers' Rights

Toni is also a strong advocate for workers’ rights. On April 12, 2005, she led the Council as they approved a Living Wage Ordinance which requires companies with 12 or more employees who contract with the city to provide services to pay employees who work under these contracts at least $10 an hour with benefits, or $12 without benefits.

Neighborhood Services and Revitalization

In her district, Toni made neighborhood revitalization her top priority. She allocated millions of dollars for projects and programs that will pave streets, fix sidewalks, install streetlights, plant trees and landscape medians.

Toni and young friends at the Morley Tot Lot.

Toni worked to get an additional $12.5 million to complete and open three new community parks along the I-15 corridor and improve and upgrade more than a half-dozen other neighborhood parks throughout the district. An additional $8.2 million was allocated to build a Veterans Memorial Garden in Balboa Park and to revitalize and restore four major Balboa Park facilities.

	Toni worked to restore the North Park Theater.

Toni made redevelopment of her district's older urban neighborhoods a top priority as a councilmember. In North Park, the famed North Park Theatre reopened in October 2005, and a newly built 388-car parking structure opened across the street from the theater on February 10, 2006. Two mixed-use, residential/commercial projects are also underway: the North Park Renaissance project at El Cajon Boulevard and 30th Street, which includes senior housing, affordable multi-family units, market-rate town homes, retail space and a community center; and La Boheme, which offers 224 for-sale condominiums (45 of which will be affordable), approximately 15,800 square feet of ground level commercial space and a minimum of 371 parking spaces.

In City Heights, the state-of-the-art Regional Transportation Center at 40th Street and El Cajon Boulevard opened in the summer of 2003, and the Metro Center job-training center and Metro Villas affordable housing complex at 39th Street and University Avenue were completed in the spring of 2004. Two housing projects—Hollywood Palms and Urban Village Townhomes–have added much-needed affordable rental units for families in Mid-City; and the Talmadge Senior Village project will add 90 units of affordable senior housing to the mix in early 2006.

In 2002, Toni successfully lobbied the California Public Utilities Commission to approve a plan to dramatically speed up and increase the number of utility lines to be placed underground annually. The first major project to be started under this plan—30th Street in North Park between University Avenue and Laurel Street—was completed in early 2004. And in the summer of 2002, Toni partnered with the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council to introduce the City's first-ever pothole program, filling 340 potholes throughout the district in less than three months.

Financial Reform

As Chair for three years of the City’s first-ever Budget and Finance Committee, created as a result of the adoption by voters of the “Strong Mayor” form of government, Councilmember Atkins was key to the Council’s accomplishments regarding financial reform and transparent budgeting. Under her leadership, the budget process was reformed to provide residents with an increasing level of information about how the City spends its money and protect the public’s right to participate in decisions about possible cuts to programming and services.  She also oversaw the Council’s adoption of critical reforms such as the implementation of policies regarding City Reserves and Debt and a prioritization process for capital improvements.  The Budget Committee also monitored City revenues and expenditures on a monthly basis as well as providing oversight for the implementation of both the Managed Competition outsourcing program approved by voters and the Living Wage Ordinance, which guarantees basic levels of compensation for those who work for city contractors.

Atkins was also a member of the newly created Audit Committee which ensures accuracy of the City’s financial reports, monitors the City’s internal financial controls, and directs and reviews audits of individual programs and units of the City.  Along with her Committee colleagues, she took steps to ensure more effective compliance with federal securities laws as well as with the requirements of state and federal granting agencies.  She was also a leader in developing policies to protect auditor independence.

LGBT Accomplishments

As the Councilmember representing the largest concentration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) residents in the City, issues of concern to the LGBT community have been a high priority for Toni.  She successfully sponsored a Council resolution honoring LGBT Pride each year in July, expanding that recognition from a single year to, in 2007, recognizing the entire month of July as LGBT Pride Month.  Atkins has also been a leader on the issue of medicinal marijuana, in 2001 spearheading the formation of a City Medicinal Marijuana Task Force to implement Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use of Marijuana Act. She led the Council in the adoption of guidelines protecting qualified patients who use medical marijuana in the City and in filing a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the City in litigation challenging the County of San Diego’s refusal to implement state medical marijuana guidelines.

One of Councilmember Atkins’ key accomplishments on behalf of the LGBT community was her work to persuade the City Council and the Mayor to add the City of San Diego to a friend-of-the-court brief in support of marriage equality in 2007. 

Awards and Honors

Toni was recognized in 1997 as San Diego Lesbian & Gay Pride's "Woman of the Year." She has also received the San Diego Democratic Club's "Doug Scott Award for Political Action" and was recognized in 1998 by the Non-Profit Federation for Housing and Community Development (now the San Diego Housing Federation) for "Outstanding Achievement in Affordable Housing and Community Development." Toni also received the Nicky Awards' Board of Governors' Award in 1999 and 2002, and served as Honorary Chair of Ordinary Miracles in 2001.

In 2001, Toni was presented with a Historic Preservation Award from the American Institute of Architects; the "Nobody Does It Better Award" by the Municipal Employees Association; and the Co-Presidents Award by the Tom Homann Law Association. She was also named one of San Diego Magazine's "50 People to Watch in 2001."

In 2002, Toni was presented with a Special Recognition Award from Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C-3) for her work on affordable housing, Balboa Park and infrastructure; the Advocacy Hero Award by Senior Community Centers of San Diego; and the "Outstanding Leadership" award by the San Diego Housing Federation. She was also presented with an Azalea Award for Outstanding Community Support by the Azalea Park Neighborhood Association, a Teralta Spirit Award for Outstanding Community Leadership by the Teralta Concerned Citizens Association, and was given special recognition by the Talmadge Maintenance Assessment District, VillaView Community Hospital, San Diego Leadership Initiative, Rebuilding Together, and St. Paul's Senior Home & Services.

In 2003, Toni was presented with the Public Agency Partnership "Open Door Award" for facilitating consistent and timely communication between the City and the Engineering and General Contractors Association; and was recognized by the Adams Avenue Business Association for her valuable contributions to and ongoing support of the continuing revitalization of the Adams Avenue Business Improvement District.

In 2004, Toni was given an A+ (104 points) by the San Diego Baykeeper for her perfect environmental voting record, the highest score on the City Council. She was also honored with the A. Brad Truax Human Rights Award by the San Diego Democratic Club, the Beacon Award by the California First Amendment Coaltion, and the Distinguished Service Award by the Live and Let Live Alano Club.

In 2005, Toni received the Coastal Champion Award by San Diego Coastkeeper, the “Distinguished Alonzo” Award from the Downtown San Diego Partnership, and was named as a “Beacon of Light” by the San Diego Living Wage Coalition. She was also presented with a Pan Pac Leadership Award by the San Diego Police Department Pan Pacific Law Enforcement Agency and a special Appreciation Award by the Korean American Chamber of Commerce San Diego.

In February 2006, Toni received the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Award from the national Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund in honor of her recent service to the City of San Diego as Deputy Mayor.

Just recently, in March of 2008, Toni was recognized by Senator Christine Kehoe as the “Woman of the Year” in the 39th Senatorial District.

Background and Education

Toni is originally from Southwestern Virginia. She graduated from Emory & Henry College with a degree in political science with a focus on community organizing. In July 2004, she completed the Senior Executive Program at the prestigious John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

A 24-year resident of Council District Three, Toni currently resides in South Park/Golden Hill with her spouse, Jennifer LeSar and their standard poodle, Haley.