SAN DIEGO -- To support the many veterans who live in the city, Councilmember Carl DeMaio released his "Welcome Home Plan" today at an event held at a training facility run by GC Green San Diego, a company focused on providing employment for veterans.

By releasing this plan, DeMaio said that he hopes to bring the issue of veterans' unemployment to the forefront as military spending cuts and the draw-down in Afghanistan promises to make the problem even more challenging in coming years.

“We can honor the service of our veterans by helping them transition to new jobs once they return,” DeMaio said in a statement.

"As veterans are coming back from their service, we need to commit to get them back to work."

In the plan, DeMaio outlines support for seven specific veterans’ job creation proposals:

• Launch a “Veterans-Helping-Veterans” initiative to provide mentors to help vets transition to employment
• Expand opportunities for veteran-owned small companies to bid on city contracts.
• Partner with San Diego 211 to increase coordination between the city, county, and multiple disjointed local veterans’ organizations that provide assistance.
• Study changes in local licensing and certification processes, so that skills learned on the battlefield can be more easily translated into a civilian job.
• Work with the USO to provide a permanent facility in San Diego.
• Reconvene the City’s Military & Veterans Affairs Advisory Board, including members who specialize in veterans’ job training programs.

DeMaio is submitting his proposal to the city council’s recently created Economic Development and Strategies Committee.

"City leaders should not stand idly by as returning veterans face unemployment rates twice as high as the rest of the population,” said DeMaio. "Employment challenges faced by our veterans will only increase as tens of thousands of soldiers return home from Iraq over the coming year.”

Welcome Home Plan[1]

As a matter of full disclosure, SDGLN Publisher Johnathan Hale has a personal relationship with Carl DeMaio. Their relationship in no way impacts the editorial decisions made by Ken Williams, SDGLN Editor in Chief, and does not influence our political coverage. Williams can be reached at ken@sdgln.com, @KenSanDiego on Twitter or at (877) 727-5446, x713.