By TR Robertson
Bolstered by a strong work ethic instilled in him by his grandparents and parents, Daniel O’Donnell has decided to take his dedication of community involvement, public service, and commitment to families and neighborhoods to announce his candidacy for a Vista City Council position for District 4.
Dan is a graduate of Illinois State University and has a Masters of Public Administration from National University in San Diego. He is currently the Business Support Manager for Boar’s Head Brand and his wife, Allie, works at CSU San Marcos. They are Shadowridge residents. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Vista, the Vista Chamber of Commerce, and a volunteer for the Vista Boys and Girls Club. He is also the founder of Make Vista Sparkle, a citizen led coalition that works to keep city streets, waterways, parks and open spaces free of litter. He mentioned the tremendous amount of trash the group had removed around the former Burlington Coat Factory and the surrounding area. He is also a founding member of Clean Vista!, another citizen task force developing proactive solutions to prevent litter in our community.
In a sit-down over coffee, Dan stressed he wanted to continue to make Vista more vibrant, encouraging businesses to move into the area and working to fill the numerous empty locations in some of the shopping areas. He said working to bring restaurants, breweries and other businesses is crucial to keep the economy growing. Along with this, Dan emphasized that a divisive council is not a way to make this happen and partisan politics should not play a part in council decisions for positive growth for Vista. He did say the growth of Downtown Historic Vista is an example of the kind of positive changes and additions that other parts of Vista need.
His key points of interest that Dan pointed out as significant concerns for all Vista citizens in the coming election deals with candidates proposals in the areas of 1) Dealing with the continuing homeless situation in Vista working with the Sheriff’s Department, social workers and other organizations, especially looking at the rising Senior homeless issues; 2) Establish community safety for the citizens and looking at ways to assist with this concern; 3) Continued growth in the areas of homes, apartments and businesses while establishing effective and workable traffic flow throughout the city and 4) The continued evaluation of public transit for the city, working with county officials to deal with the feasibility of workable programs.
Dan said he felt there was not enough government transparency in Vista on issues that affect the entire community and more community involvement is needed. He is committed to increasing the number of opportunities for community input, including more City Workshops and Town Hall meetings held on issues that impact our residents, to help council members make the best decisions they can for all of Vista. He pointed out he and his wife love Vista, love the community and chose to live here because of this. Anything they can do to improve Vista is at the top of their agenda. “How can our city representatives work to build stronger neighborhoods, stronger families and a stronger economy that makes Vista a great place to live, work and raise our families?” He added in closing – “We need to move forward and tackle hard Issues. I’m committed to doing the tough work of hearing out every stakeholder and facilitating a path forward to sustainable, equitable, tangible solutions. I won’t stop until I get the job done.”
For more information go to:
www.DanforVista.com
