Welcome to the Second Edition of the District 7 Dispatch! 

I've been in office for two and a half months, and I am honored to have been appointed to serve on a number of Citywide and regional Committees and Boards to ensure that the voices of the residents of District 7 are heard in our government. I am fighting every day for quality of life for San Diego families so that San Diegans can afford to live where they work. I am working with my staff and colleagues to come up with real, workable solutions for the homelessness crisis plaguing our City, to fix our roads and get our utilities underground, and to provide relief and resources for struggling small businesses as we all work together contain the COVID-19 outbreak as best we can. 

This past Monday, I was pleased and honored to make the motion to expand the City's Emergency Rental Assistance Program with $83 Million of new funding to help keep San Diegans in their homes with another $9 Million for outreach and communications to ensure that we can communicate with our most vulnerable residents to ensure that they understand the benefits available to them during these difficult times. 

Just the next day, on Tuesday, I was also honored to second our Council President's motion to create a new ordinance regulating Short Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs) in our City. This ordinance will finally give our City the ability to regulate STVRs appropriately, as our previous inability to do so posed a public safety concern. We will now be able to hold bad actors accountable. The ordinance adopted this week will require hosts to educate their guests about local regulations to ensure that they are good short-term neighbors in the communities they are visiting.

We continue to strategize day in and day out about how to best achieve an electricity and gas franchise agreement with SDG&E after extending the prior agreement to June 1. In this process, as in all others, I will put the needs of the residents of District 7 first, ensuring homeowners and businesses will have the electricity needed, at affordable rates, to take care of their families, employees, and customers. We are fighting for a franchise agreement that San Diegans want and deserve.   

-Raul A. Campillo

Mark your Calendars for Bill Brunnhoelzl Day this Saturday, Feb. 27! 

At our last City Council meeting, it was my privilege and honor to bring forward a resolution to proclaim February 27, 2021 as Bill Brunnhoelzl Day in the City of San Diego. Mr. Brunnhoelzl has been a resident of District 7's Serra Mesa neighborhood for over 50 years. He is a WWII veteran, having joined the Navy in the year 1939 and been at sea in the Atlantic and Pacific for the entirety of the War.

Mr. Brunnhoelzl served admirably for 20 years in the Navy and moved to San Diego in the 1950’s. To this day, even at the age of nearly 100, he remains fully self-sufficient, doing his own home and car repairs and spending time with his 3 children, 6 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. I thought it was extremely fitting that we recognize the 100th birthday of this great San Diegan and great American.

Participate in an upcoming forum as part of our First 100 Days Town Hall Series! 

As part of our First 100 Days Town Hall series, we will be holding 8 Town Hall meetings. We have already had four of them: the first of which was a forum for District 7 residents to have their voices heard by myself and Mayoral staff on the franchise negotiations currently underway with SDG&E. After this, we began our neighborhood-specific Town Hall series to have a meeting specific to each neighborhood in D7. To register for a Community Town Hall, please click on the one you would like to participate in below:

Franchise Discussion, 2/11 - THANK YOU!

Linda Vista, 2/18 - THANK YOU!

Mission Valley, 2/23 - THANK YOU!

Del Cerro, 2/24, THANK YOU! 

San Carlos -  3/1 - REGISTER TODAY!

Tierrasanta - 3/3 - REGISTER TODAY!

Serra Mesa - 3/4 - REGISTER TODAY!

Grantville/Allied Gardens - 3/23 - REGISTER TODAY!

Neighborhood Updates:

Del Cerro:

We are pleased to report that we have been able to take action on a number of issues that have been plaguing the Del Cerro community in the past month.

Many residents are already familiar with Jared Miller-Sclar who is my representative for Del Cerro. Jared has been busy these past two and a half months being all over Del Cerro joining community meetings, providing updates from my office to various groups, and of course photographing potholes and other structural deficiencies for reports to the City and working with residents who have already made reports to the City to see those reports through to completion.

Jared has been responsive to the needs of our constituents that have reached out to my office. As I mentioned, by using the City’s Get it Done app he’s been able to report missed trash collections for Del Cerro residents that were quickly rectified, streetlights that had been out of service for over a year causing safety concerns for residents, missing No-U-Turn signs that were causing confusion and danger, and potholes and cracked sidewalks that were a nuisance and a danger to the Del Cerro community. We are keenly aware of the condition of College Avenue at Del Cerro Boulevard and we are actively looking into how we may be able to improve that road. We have submitted numerous reports to the City and hope to have a substantive update on that soon.

Jared has also connected residents to our local Community Relations Officers (CROs) with the San Diego Police Department to address issues of safety in their areas. One of those issues that we have been hearing from Del Cerro residents a lot about recently is the issue of vehicle speeding and racing. This has been an issue across different parts of District 7, and I would like to share an update that CRO John Steffen passed along to members of my team earlier this week in regards to a complaint from a District 7 resident about racing on Mission Gorge Road: Officers responded out to the scene and witnessed 3 specific vehicles conducting an exhibition of speed.  This resulted in three drivers being arrested and cited for Misdemeanor charges and three vehicles being impounded for 30 days and evaluation by the DMV. 

If you witness exhibitions of unsafe speed in Del Cerro or any other neighborhood, please report it to SDPD immediately. 

If you have any questions or concerns you would like to bring to our attention, please email Jared at JMillerSclar@sandiego.gov. 

Tierrasanta:

In the last month, our Senior District Representative, Vic Vettiyil, has been able to address a number of issues in the Tierrasanta area. He worked with the Streets Division to repair a street light on Menorca Drive that had been out for seven months. He was also able to confirm that a VCALM sign, which illuminates traffic speeds in both directions, will be installed on Viacha Drive. Finally, I spoke with Webelos Cub Scout Pack 22 in Tierrasanta about the work San Diego's City Council does and the work of the Transportation & Stormwater Department and strategies to address homelessness. After speaking with the group, I presented commendations to them, as they are about to graduate to Boy Scouts. As issues continue to come up, please do not hesitate to reach out to Vic at 619-236-6749 or VVettiyil@SanDiego.gov.

Serra Mesa: 

Serra Mesa has been keeping our Senior District Representative, Vic Vettiyil, super busy. In the last month, our office was able to request a Speed Study for Greyling Drive and Hammond Drive to address safety conditions. Greyling Drive has been approved for VCALM signs in both directions, which will illuminate how fast a driver is going to raise awareness of speeding. We are also very excited to report that the illegal parking lot on Raejaen and Murray Ridge Drive has officially been taken down. Finally, our office worked with the Streets Division to get to the bottom of the lighting issue on Mission Village Drive near the stadium. The Streets Division found a blown fuse, and replaced it to return light to the hill. Lastly, our office worked with Parks and Recreation staff to remove graffiti from Serra Mesa Parks and Recreation. Here are before and after photos below. As issues continue to come up, please do not hesitate to reach out to Vic at 619-236-6749 or VVettiyil@SanDiego.gov.

Grantville/Allied Gardens:

Our District Representative, Sanna Loando, has been hard at work keeping the Grantville/Allied Gardens and San Carlos communities informed and raising their concerns with the City. 

We have a recent update to share as it relates to the Grantville ShoreLINE Apartments, a 153-unit affordable rental housing development to be located at 4470 Alvarado Canyon Road. A preliminary bond authorization for this project was approved at the City Council meeting on January 26th. If funding is secured, construction will start in September of 2021. This project will then need to come back to Council for final bond authorization, but we are hopeful and optimistic about this addition of much-needed affordable housing in District 7. 

 
We also have an update to share about the Mission Gorge Neighborhood Park, which is part of the Shawnee development on Mission Gorge Road. This was recommended for approval at the Parks & Recreation Board meeting on January 21st. 

Nadia and I were thrilled to join Chris Galuppo and Christine Carino of the Allied Gardens Grantville Community Council for a fun neighborhood beautification project painting utility boxes on Zion Ave on February 7th.

Sanna, Nadia and I were grateful to be of service to the families of Allied Gardens on January 30th by joining Pastor Rick Fry and the Ascension Lutheran Church Food Pantry for their distribution event. Together, we were able to help over 70 families!

I am also happy to report that at the request of members of the community, the following intersections met the criteria for the installation of stop signs:
1. Intersection of Millbrook Street and Cartwright Street (on Cartwright Street facing westbound traffic).
2. Intersection of Millbrook Street and Alfred Avenue (on Alfred Avenue facing westbound traffic). These items are currently in a 30 day public comment period, and we look forward to providing an update on these and other safety measures in our next monthly Newsletter. 

For inquiries or concerns related to Grantville or Allied Gardens, please contact Sanna directly at SLoando@SanDiego.gov. 

San Carlos: 

I am pleased to report that the illegal dumping case brought to the attention of our office by a District 7 constituent at 7074 Golfcrest Drive has been closed. A trash can had been placed on private property, but the issue is now rectified. Thank you to the resident who brought this to our attention. 

For inquiries or concerns related to San Carlos, please contact Sanna directly at SLoando@SanDiego.gov. 

Linda Vista:

District Representative Anthony Hackett remains hard at work for the residents of Linda Vista and Mission Valley. He recently used the Get it Done app to report graffiti and missed trash collections in Linda Vista that residents made him aware of. 

On February 4th, I had a great time joining the Bayside Community Center Food Bank for their food distribution event. Thank you to Kim Heinle and the rest of the team for facilitating this event during which we were able to serve over 60 families, and thank you also to San Diego Co-Harvest for the fresh produce!
 

Thank you again to the more than 40 Linda Vistans who participated in our Town Hall on February 18th. We look forward to continuing to work with residents and the local Town Council to ensure that the voice of this wonderful and culturally rich community is heard at the City level. 

Working in close collaboration with the Bayside Community Center, we have identified the need for a shuttle transport service to address the needs of the growing elderly population as well as the struggling working-class members of the Linda Vista community. I am currently drafting a letter to the San Diego Municipal Transit Authority to request a feasibility study to determine if this is possible or if perhaps an alternative approach can be pursued to address this issue. I look forward to reporting back to the community when I receive an update from MTS.  

Lastly, I am happy to provide an update on the Linda Vista Community Garden. Last week, Amy Zink from Bayside Community Center met with the District Manager, Area Manager, ADA liaison and Park Designer from Parks and Recreation to discuss the next steps in bringing the item to the Parks and Recreation Board for approval, and then again for a General Development Plan (GDP) Board amendment to the Linda Vista Park Plan. They will need a construction plan for ADA work as well and the overall design and construction plan. Once that has all been accomplished, the proposal can return back to the Parks and Recreation Board for approval and move further along in the process of bringing the garden to our community. 

If you have any questions or concerns you would like to bring to our attention as they relate to Linda Vista, please email Anthony at HackettA@sandiego.gov.

Mission Valley:

With regard to his duties in Mission Valley, Anthony also worked with the Escala Master Association Board to help install no parking signage in their community. My office is always happy to work with HOAs and community groups to improve safety and signage on City streets. 

We also connected the Hye Park HOA residents to our Community Relations Officer for the San Diego Police Department to address the break-ins happening in their community.  The residents have also requested to install a fence or gate to provide extra security and I am currently working with the City of San Diego’s Development Services Department to determine if an installation is possible. We take the issue of property crimes very seriously in our office and encourage those who have been the victim of them to report them to SDPD right away. Once you have made a report to the police, please also let our office know so that we can follow up with SDPD on your behalf if necessary. 

Thank you to the SDSU Mission Valley Community Advisory Committee for inviting to me attend your meeting on February 9th. I enjoyed being updated on the progress of the SDSU Mission Valley site and was informed that the new site will include an off-leash dog park, which is something that is sorely needed in District 7! 

It was an honor to participate in the San Diego River Foundation's annual modified unsheltered census alongside PATH on February 22nd. To alleviate the homelessness crisis, it is critical that we leverage the resources at our disposal to get people experiencing homelessness around the River in permanent supportive housing and wraparound services as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

If you have any questions or concerns you would like to bring to our attention, please email Anthony at HackettA@sandiego.gov.