Future looks like more of the same

The mayor’s speech had as much bite as a geriatric snail. As much flavor as a soggy rice cake and as much insight as a Justin Bieber dissertation on neurological degenerative disorders in 19th century indigenous populations farming the Great Plains. In other words it was about what I was expecting but less than what I was hoping for.

State of the City addresses are, by most accounts, pep rallies. They’re big on big ideas and even bigger on the rah-rah. Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas’s talk was no different and, in that regard, Casillas Salas succeeded — she achieved status quo.

But where she came up short and squandered an opportunity was distinguishing herself from predecessors, the most recent ones seated together in the audience watching Tuesday night as she delivered the Big Speech.

It wasn’t a surprise when she mentioned work and progress on the bayfront. That project has been a significant talking point for at least two prior administrations (that’s roughly 12 years).

“The port, city and RIDA Development are hard at work to bring a world-class hotel and convention center to the bayfront.

“This means we will have thousands of good paying jobs that Chula Vista needs and deserves … as well as a new source of revenues,” she said.

But what kinds of jobs was she talking about. Permanent? Transient? Part-time service jobs that pay minimum wage or full-time careers that can move families from the ranks of working poor to the dwindling middle class? While it would have been unreasonable to expect exact numbers and detailed workforce demographics, it would have been insightful had she suggested she was talking about hotel maids, unionized convention staff or restaurant, bar and property managers.

In other words, who is going to benefit most from the bayfront once the construction crews have gone? The single mom raising a kid, the high school graduate skipping university and getting on with his life. or the college graduate who wants to come home and make her hometown a better place for her children?

Judging by Tuesday’s speech, those details are yet to be determined, or if they have been they’ll be revealed at a later time.

Casillas Salas was equally vague when discussing the growth and transition on the east side. The Millenia development and eventual university were also alluded to in a promising and hopeful tone. But if you were hoping to get a sense of what kinds of people and jobs would be walking the paths and driving the streets there, well maybe those insights will come at next year’s State of the City.

There should be plenty of the same to talk about then, as has been for the case for the last decade or so.