CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — Harborside Park has been fenced off since 2022, leaving many in the district pondering its future.
Rachel Morineau, the newly appointed city council member representing this area says she has plans to utilize it. This is similar to her successful efforts at Lauderbach Park, where she helped create a safe community space.
“I don't have all the answers I'm not a politician. I'm not a career politician,“ Morineau says.
Morineau says she became an advocate for her community when she realized her neighborhood was lacking, and her children didn’t have the resources other communities had. “It started when my kids couldn't have the 2-5 year old bumble bee sports," she says.
She took that passion to fight for different causes, and years later she got involved with the South Bay Community Services where she serves as the Community Engagement Director.
Having lived in this district for decades, Morinequ says she knows the challenges this community is up against.
“I've always seen that we do not have the same opportunities here - especially when they did the redevelopment I was here before we had the other east side," she says.
Morineau entered the political arena by applying for the District 4 seat left vacant after Council Member Andrea Cardenas resigned and pleaded guilty to grand theft charges related to COVID relief funds misuse.
One of Morineau's priorities will be to re-open Harborside Park, which is just one of the many changes she hopes to bring to District 4.
“I've been to several cities where there is this beautiful little pocket then you go a couple of streets, because you don't want to go there, because it's scary," she says. "District 4 need love. We need to find the funding and redevelopment we need to bring new businesses, and we need to regenerate new jobs.”
