Friend,
Here are five things that caught my attention:
Harder today: Every combat veteran thinks about the friends they lost every single day. But the remembrance of the actual day you lost them hurts more. It is probably a combination of texts from others who remember, talking to the surviving family members or maybe just the out loud acknowledgement that they are gone. Either way, it is important we not forget the sacrifice that so many made. RIP Jeremy Wise. KIA–Afghanistan 12/30/2009. Miss you brother.
Reflecting on Change: End of the year is time for reflection. For me, it’s a time to take inventory of and remind San Diegans of the things we’ve accomplished as a community. Together we made unprecedented and long-overdue investments into our mental health and substance abuse services infrastructure to ensure that children, veterans, those struggling with addiction had access to treatment. We invested more than ever into housing the homelessness, increasing the supply of housing in the right places in our region, renewed our commitment to climate action as a county, and refocused our county to better serve traditionally underserved communities. What we did together these past few years amounts to nothing short of fundamental change in the role of county government in the lives of San Diegans. The press coverage likes to put me at the center of this change, but it's really people like you that made this happen. So as we close this year and as we plan and resolve to build on our progress, I want to thank you for driving the change that we desperately needed in San Diego County. The best is yet to come. Happy new year!
Making it official: Last week, I said in Fletcher Friday Five that Die Hard was a Christmas movie. But it didn’t feel complete or official. So on Christmas Eve, I used my vast powers as Chair of the Board of Supervisors to officially proclaim Die Hard a Christmas movie throughout San Diego County. It really shouldn’t have had to come to this, but sometimes you do have to legislate the obvious:)
A Nice Gesture: I feel for the stranded travelers at our airports this week! All of us that travel frequently have some sort of travel nightmare story but it's especially stressful during the holidays and for those traveling with children. The San Diego Harbor police took it upon themselves to provide pizza and drinks to some of those trapped by flight disruptions. It’s a nice little gesture to extend a bit of San Diego hospitality from some of our local officers.
The Sizzler: I appreciate my wife – she takes care of our entire family and never stops working to make us all feel loved and fed:) Sometimes we go above and beyond to show her how much we love her – like taking her out to The Sizzler:)
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Have a great weekend!
Best,
Nathan