Amy Steward has a favorite coffee mug. “Coronado,” it reads. “The end of the rainbow.”
Years ago, as a military spouse, she would sip from the mug in the mornings, looking out the window at whatever duty station she was living in at the time, with one goal in mind: returning. When she and her husband, a retired US Navy SEAL, moved to Coronado for good 35 years ago, she knew she had made it home.
Now she has a new goal: Winning a seat on the Coronado City Council.
“Because I’ve been fully engaged in this community for so many years, I have a historic perspective of what’s been done, what’s been tried, what works, and why,” Steward said. “Because I have that long-term perspective, I’m able to contribute in a way that will make a difference.”
Steward was a teacher in Coronado for 28 years. She is perhaps best known for founding Emerald Keepers, a local nonprofit organization that advocates for environmental sustainability. She’s already a fixture at meetings of the Coronado City Council, often speaking during public comment. Sometimes, she’ll bring props, like bins of trash collected during beach cleanups. Other times, she’ll accompany Emerald Keepers interns to support them as they implore the council to consider a plastic reduction ordinance.
But she’s not a single-issue candidate, she said, nor is she a single-issue resident.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, for example, she and her husband co-chaired a movement to divide Coronado into 194 blocks, with a block captain on each.
She is also co-founder of Take a Veteran to School Day, an effort to connect veterans and students in a special way, she said. At the very first one, a Vietnam War veteran and Purple Heart recipient approached her with tears in his eyes. She asked if he was okay and he said he’d never been thanked before.
She said she hopes to bring her leadership skills to the city council. Of course, environmental issues are a huge part of her campaign, she said, because the environment impacts so many things. But she wanted to be clear: She cares about all aspects of Coronado’s governance.
She hopes to move discussions of the Tijuana sewage crisis from short- to long-term solutions. With funding in place and repairs underway, she hopes to look at the growing population of Tijuana – which will increase the need for wastewater infrastructure – and begin planning to accommodate future needs now.
She also hopes to position Coronado as a leader on the matter.
“Coronado has been a little late to the table on its advocacy,” Steward said. “You can’t expect the state to declare an emergency when you haven’t even declared an emergency.”
A chief goal of Steward’s would be to establish a sustainability director for the city. Many other cities have them. At a recent meeting, the city council discussed how Coronado works with local nonprofits like Emerald Keepers to address sustainability, rather that planning for it in house.
“You have all these different aspects that make up a community,” Steward said. “If you have someone looking at all these things that may happen, and how to plan for them, it can impact our future.”
For example, Steward said, the storm that hit Coronado in January of this year and caused significant flooding is an incident that should have the city looking toward the future. With climate change, incidents like this will only become more common, and she wants Coronado to prepare.
“You have to decide: Are we going to retreat? Or are we going to be proactive now?” Steward said. She hopes the city can have realistic talks about whether it needs to invest in different infrastructure or building codes to safeguard its future.
The thing is, Steward said, she may not be a single-issue candidate, but most of the major issues at stake now are interrelated with climate change and resource allocation. She said she hopes to look at all the facets of government and how they impact one another – “much like an ecologist would.”
“I believe that council members need to prioritize and be fiscally responsible,” Steward said. “Public safety is a huge issue, and I want to prioritize all issues and look at the greatest potential for impact for the community.”
She plans to push for regulation around electronic bikes and to address density in the city, which strains infrastructure.
After years serving as president of Emerald Keepers, Steward will step back from her role in December. She will remain involved in the organization as a volunteer, but she hopes to push her advocacy further in a new role.
“This is a perfect segue for me,” Steward said. “With Emerald Keepers, I’ve been so involved in recent years, but now I can take that advocacy to the next level.”
Another strain on infrastructure that Steward is wary of is that the U.S. Navy is considering allowing aircraft carriers to be in port in Coronado for more days out of the year. Traffic is already an issue in Coronado, and extra sailors in port will exacerbate it.
She said her approach would be to work collaboratively with Navy leadership to find a solution. She would support reinstating ferry service to Naval Air Station North Island, which would pull cars from the already-congested Coronado streets.
Other ideas, she said, are establishing carpool lanes on the way into the city or creating shuttles. She said she doesn’t approach meetings with a solution in mind, but rather, to find mutual solutions.
“I already have a record of working collaboratively,” Steward said, referencing times she’s worked other governing bodies and nonprofits on projects and initiatives for Emerald Keepers and other community endeavors. “I believe in building relationships. That is key to affecting real change. One person or city can’t do it all; you’re always stronger when you get others involved.”
She intends to be present in meetings throughout the county in effort to build relationships and ensure that Coronado’s perspective is heard.
“My overall goal would be to preserve Coronado’s charm and ensure the city is prepared for the future,” Steward said.
