San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo here: happy Friday!

 

Welcome to this week's Raul Roundup, your go-to source for the latest news, updates, and insights from our community and City Hall. Here’s what’s been going on this week:

You might have seen the San Diego Union Tribune article on my recent comments at City Council regarding Committee Assignments. I’d like to thank the Union Tribune for covering my frustrations and want to share, with you, my thoughts on my removal from the Land Use and Housing Committee. 

 

As many of you know personally from being at council meetings, I am never shy or hesitant to bring up critical details and ask questions that the public deserves answers to. As a result of my hard-hitting advocacy for District 7 and the rest of the residents of our City, I find myself no longer on the committee that deals with land use, zoning, housing issues, parking, and accessibility and fire safety laws in our neighborhoods.  

 

“I want a more accessible and more transparent San Diego — one where ideas can be debated openly at length, not punished for being expressed,” I said on Wednesday as I was officially removed from that committee.  

 

Council Committees are where real work and innovative solutions to our city’s problems are introduced and improved through scrutiny and expertise. I am proud that for one year, I used my seat on Land Use and Housing to ask hard questions. I voiced the concerns of residents related to infrastructure and fire safety challenges that come with new housing that, while politically inconvenient for this Council, are still important to conversations that impact everyone. I think it’s reasonable and practical to discuss these concerns while working in every possible way to meet our city’s urgent need for affordable housing. In many ways, I am being punished for not going along with a predetermined program. This is not transparent or accessible governance, and ultimately, it is not me who gets silenced. It’s you.  

 

I will continue to fight for transparent and accessible government on the committees that I do have the privilege of serving on; in fact, many of the policies I am working on now have come from you—your ideas. I encourage you to continue to reach out to my office with your ideas and concerns. A city cannot work for you unless we listen to you. I will always have an open ear. And now, I feel even more urgency to push for answers that the public wants to know.  

The San Diego Union Tribune also published an opinion piece, written by Jan Goldsmith, on my transparency proposals. As stated by our former City Attorney: “In addition to preventing a future bait and switch, Campillo has gone further in his plan to help the city regain credibility. He wants more clarity in city notices of proposed increases in existing fees and residents’ right to protest. Instead of burying information in complicated legalese, he wants the notice forms to be clear and concise. That is a much-needed reform.” 

 

Thank you, Jan, for your support and your thoughtful suggestions as well.  

 

Click here to read it in its entirety: “Opinion: Reforms needed to help city regain credibility with residents.” 

Last week, I joined Father Joes Villages’ panel at the Regional Task Force on Homelessness Conference to discuss our joint effort to bring more behavioral health beds to San Diego.  

 

The 4th Annual Regional Task Force on Homelessness Conference convened over 1,000 attendees from more than 165 organizations, including policy leaders, service providers, healthcare professionals, and individuals with lived experience to discuss solutions for our region’s homelessness crisis. 

 

Father Joes Villages’ panel, led by Josh Bohannan (Chief Strategy Officer at Father Joes Villages), Megan Partch (Chief Health Officer at Father Joes Villages) and myself aimed to share the current behavioral health bed statistics, analyze common barriers to new program start up, and apply creative solutions to the challenges, like my suggested adjustment to the Municipal Code that allowed Father Joes Villages’ detox center to be built easier and quicker. 

 

Find more information on the Regional Task Force on Homelessness here. It’s a critical event with a lot of learning opportunities. And big thank you to Father Joes Villages for inviting me to speak on this important issue! 

In September, I stopped by Good Pressure Brewing to chat with the owner, Erik, about his excitement to open shop in San Carlos and the challenges of getting a small business off the ground. 

 

Good Pressure Brewing is now officially open, and I highly recommend you stop by. It’s the perfect place to grab a crisp beer after a hike at Mission Trails or meet with friends and family for a fun, local night out.  

 

Congratulations, Erik and the whole Good Pressure Brewing team! I wish you great success.  

It was two years ago that my wife, newborn son and I were the victims of a terrifying 65-miles-per-hour hit-and-run drunk driver. The holidays are an especially dangerous time to be on the road. I beg everyone to consider the dangers and consequences of driving while intoxicated and to ensure your friends and family members do not drink and drive. There is ALWAYS a better option than driving impaired. 

 

Speaking of better options, MTS is offering free public transit on New Years Eve. Rides will be free across all of their services and hours are being extended past 1:00 AM to safely transport people home. Learn more here.