Bill Simon to Visit St. Vincent’s
Tour Will Focus On Educational, Affordable-housing Programs

   SAN DIEGO — GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon will visit St. Vincent de Paul Village on Friday, Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. The tour will begin at the Village’s Jinny Jo Park, located at the corner of 17th and Commercial.

   The campaign stop is a repeat for Simon, who visited earlier this year. This time he will focus his tour on Harbor Summit, the Village’s on-site public elementary school, as well as two affordable housing complexes – the 44-unit Village Place Apartments and Villa Harvey Mandel, a 90-unit project currently under construction. Both buildings are owned and managed by St. Vincent’s.

   Simon has identified education and affordable housing as issues that must be addressed in California.

   "Despite 10 years of reforms in public education, many schools continue to fail to meet the needs of our students, particularly in our cities and rural areas," Simon said. "To improve all schools across the state, we should cut state and district bureaucracies and empower local schools, teachers and parents to determine the best educational program for them."

   Affordable housing is of particular interest to San Diegans living in a county where homeownership eludes approximately half of its residents and monthly rental rates continue to spike.

   "Homeownership is the cornerstone of family security, stability and prosperity," Simon said, adding soaring home prices and a housing shortage go hand in hand, as California over the past decade has accumulated a deficit of nearly one million homes.

   For more information on Bill Simon’s visit to St. Vincent de Paul Village, call (619) 525-1608.

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