Amanda Rigby is running as the endorsed candidate of the Republican Party of San Diego County for Vista City Council District 3.
A native of San Diego County, Amanda grew up in Imperial Beach but slowly migrated north, landing in Mira Mesa, where she lived for over a decade and where she thought she would stay. However, while working for the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program (SDVLP) as an advocate for victims of domestic violence, Rigby fell in love with the city. In 1993, Amanda and her husband, D’Arcy, agreed to relocate to Vista, having their twins were born the following year.
Both of their children were active in the community, including serving on the City’s Youth Commission, each serving that body as Chair. Her daughter also served on the Public Arts Commission, and was Miss Teen Vista 2008 and Miss Vista 2013. D’Arcy is a U.S. Army veteran, having served in Vietnam, and was an executive with Motorola, Inc. for 34 years, until his retirement in 2011.
Amanda has always been an active volunteer in her community, serving in many capacities including on the Parks & Recreation Commission, Vista Unified School District School Board subcommittees, coaching Vista Pop Warner Cheer, providing pro bono legal services to the indigent, working with the Marines at Camp Pendleton, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the US Olympic Committee, and as a Girl Scout and Boy Scout leader. Amanda is proud to be celebrating her 21st year as an active BSA Adult Scout, having served 10 of those years as a Cub Scout Summer Camp Director.
In addition, Amanda used her legal training at the Domestic Violence Restraining Order Clinic (DVTROC) as a volunteer but was later hired as the senior staff paralegal, where she continued to assist victims of abuse and also trained volunteer attorneys and paralegals, as well as local law enforcement, on the process and rapidly evolving laws. She also volunteered many hours providing pro bono legal services to the indigent community, through the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) and the North County Courthouse. For this service to the community, Amanda was honored to receive the Wiley W. Manuel Award three (3) times from the California State Bar.
A published author, Amanda received her graduate paralegal diploma with a specialization in civil litigation from the University of San Diego, has a degree in Social Science, and is a certified etiquette consultant, having studied at the prestigious American School of Protocol in Atlanta.
A consummate professional and tireless advocate for her community, Amanda is honored to have been recognized with multiple awards from various organizations as well as on the lists of Who’s Who of American Women, Who’s Who in American Law, and as one of 100 Strong, Smart, Bold Women in San Diego County. Amanda is proud to currently serve her City as Deputy Mayor.
Amanda’s priorities and accomplishments include:
- Fiscal responsibility: Rigby has eliminated the city’s debt, increased reserves, increased the city’s credit rating, and restructured bonds saving taxpayers $1M per year in repayment obligations.
- Public safety: Rigby has increased the number of deputies in our station and reinstated our 4th ambulance back into service.
- Homelessness: Amanda took the lead in the city with $2.4M committed to addressing homelessness, including hiring a dedicated staff member to facilitate our in house programs. She also created a Homeless Master Plan.
- Economic growth & recovery after COVID-19: Amanda eased or eliminated restrictions on signage and use of public space for adherence to social distance mandates. The city went from approximately 2.7% unemployment rate on March 1st to nearly 31% due to COVID-19 shutdowns so getting as close to back to normal as possible is crucial.
- Housing stock and affordability: Amanda will continue to advocate for state reforms that increase housing availability and decrease the costs of housing.
- Addressing our aging infrastructure: Rigby has been working on a new approach to partner with residents on storm drain issues and acquire funding to make necessary repairs without residents going bankrupt.
