I want to start this month’s District 7 Dispatch by thanking all of you who reached out by email, phone, and on social media following the recent, tragic traffic incident on Jackson Drive. Many of you contacted me to share your concerns about neighborhood pedestrian safety, reflect on your fears as parents, grandparents, teachers, and community members, and propose solutions to traffic issues not just in San Carlos, but throughout District 7 and City of San Diego.

 

Last Friday, stop signs were installed at the intersection of Jackson Drive and Lake Badin Avenue per my urgent request to Mayor Gloria and the City's Transportation Department. Permanent traffic calming measures are on the way, as well as more comprehensive traffic assessments—especially around schools—and potentially new policies that change the framework around our assessment of risk.  

 

I will provide more updates as I have them. Again, I deeply thank the entire community for your outreach.  

Help shape the future of recreation in San Diego! 

 

Provide your feedback on Parks and Recreation programming, accessibility, communications and more at a series of upcoming town halls hosted to collect your feedback. The meetings will include a presentation, an accompanying questions and answer session, and interactive tables where you can provide your feedback. Attendees will have the chance to win a $25. Light snacks and childcare will also be provided. 

 

There will also be smaller, virtual focus groups to collect more pointed feedback. These community focus groups require registration. 

 

There is also an online survey if you are unable to attend an in-person town hall or a virtual group session. All information on the town halls, focus groups, and the online survey can be found here: City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department — Community Recreation Needs Assessment | Keen Independent Research 

I had the pleasure of stopping by Carson Elementary School’s first Fall Festival, which included a trunk or treat, games, music, and plenty of other activities for families to enjoy. I attended with my Linda Vista Community Representative, Miles, who judged the costume contest. 

 

I am so grateful for the faculty, school administration, parents, and vendors who organized this wonderful event, the first of many more fall festivals. Our communities thrive because of these investments in togetherness and joy. 

Looking good, Linda Vista. Last month, Acheson Street was completely repaved! 

 

This 0.44 lane-mile stretch was in rough shape, with pavement condition scores as low as 17.8 out of 100. Thanks to our City’s mill-and-pave teams, who literally grind up the old asphalt and lay down a brand-new surface, the street is now smooth and safe for years of use.  

 

Just weeks ago, I specifically included Acheson Street in my budget priorities memo as a high priority road for repaving due to its poor condition. I’m so glad to see this street get the fresh pavement that residents deserve, and I’ll continue to work to get streets repaved all over District 7! 

Last month, residents reached out to my office about unsafe encampments and trash along Escala and Friars Road. Safety for everyone is a core priority of mine, and so I am grateful that my Community Representative worked with city staff to coordinate an outreach effort to connect those individuals to housing resources and organize a cleanup thereafter. 

 

This month, I plan to meet with PATH—the non-profit organization we task with homelessness outreach in the City of San Diego—to discuss their progress in mitigating unsafe camping and their success connecting people experiencing homelessness to health, housing, and economic resources. PATH’s work is absolutely invaluable, and I am deeply grateful for their efforts to build a safer San Diego.  

Last month, San Carlos residents on several blocks took advantage of a major bulk item clean up. The City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department (ESD) provides these opportunities throughout the district. This one was particularly successful, as many of you reached out with positive feedback and ESD reported collecting an astounding 66.25 tons of bulk waste. I extend a big thank you to ESD staff for organizing this service and to the residents who took advantage of it.    

  

Interested in having a Mini Bulk Cleanup on your block? ESD hosts one to two a month and determines the location by referencing a running list of residential requests. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office with your request. We are happy to pass your street name along to ESD. 

The City Council recently voted to accept $32.4 million from the State for Starling Place, a project to convert short-term vacation rentals into permanent supportive housing in Serra Mesa. Of the eighty units that will be coming online, forty will be reserved for veterans experiencing homelessness and the other forty will be for San Diegans in general with behavioral health challenges who are at risk of, or currently experiencing homelessness.  

 

The funding for this project comes from Proposition 1, which I fought hard to pass. With the Starling Place project, we’re seeing the direct impact of Prop 1 for our communities: delivering the exact kind of housing that we need to end homelessness, one person at a time. I’ve been proud to be a supporter of this project from the beginning. Starling Place shows us that we’re most effective in addressing homelessness when we work together.  

Every year, several non-profits, community organizations and local businesses team up to host Tierrasanta’s Monster Dash 5k race, which features a number of fun activities for the family to enjoy. The Tierrasanta Monster Dash boasts live music, a beer garden, costume contests (for furry friends, too!), and free food, not to mention the competitive and non-competitive races. 

 

Members of my staff attended the event to cheer on runners, talk with folks in the community, and enjoy the fun. They also had the opportunity to congratulate the winners, Sophie Rabins (left) and Anthony Benitez (right), pictured below.  Sophie ran a speedy 22:40. Anthony won for the second year in a row with an astounding 16:02.

 

Thank you to everyone involved in pulling this beloved annual event together, and to all of those who participate! 

 

Thank you to the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation team for coordinating this event, which brings park lovers together, supports our local small business and arts economy, and contributes to important programming and trail maintenance in Mission Trails.