Dear Inquirer,

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:

Why I Called on City Staff to Reform Contracts – and How They’ve Taken Action

Some of the time at the City Council, we vote on the sorts of things that make headlines – but more often than not, serving on the Council is about doing the little things that make our government run smoothly so that we can deliver core services to residents.

 

One of those more ‘boring’ duties is to consider all sorts of different contracts – everything from roads to homelessness services and much more. I’d like to zoom in on some contracts we considered this week, which all are related to chemicals that we use to treat our wastewater, because I think they really get to the heart of how the old way of doing things did not serve the public in the best way – and how now, we’re charting a new course.

 

To explain this story, let’s rewind to October 27, 2022. At the time, I was serving on San Diego’s Environment Committee, which handles these sorts of wastewater contracts. City staff had brought an item to amend a contract we had previously agreed to in 2018 by retroactively raising prices 21% for these chemicals.

 

So when I was reviewing the contract, I said to myself (and later, in public at the hearing itself): if the City had already locked in a good contract, why would we retroactively raise prices?

 

That’s not how any business worth their salt would operate. The contractor assumed risk by agreeing to a contract with the City – so if their prices have gone up, unfortunately that’s more or less their problem, not the City’s.

 

I made my thoughts known. City staff took note. And just this week, some similar contracts came before us again – but in a totally restructured way that protects taxpayer dollars.

 

Now:

  1. These sorts of contracts are agreed to for one year only with four optional one year extensions, which can be triggered by the City – putting control in our hands
  2. Price increases cannot exceed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or 5% -- vendors cannot just come forward with any price increase they want
  3. We’ve formed a working group with other cities and water agencies in the region to compare prices and make sure that nobody is getting charged unfairly

I know probably half of you are falling asleep reading this. If this wasn't my job, I probably would too. But I tell this story because time and time again, I’ve heard people say: why don’t you just tighten your belts and look for more ways to save money? Well, here is a real life example of how I’ve made sure we are stewarding taxpayer dollars with care.

 

Good governance matters. I’ll continue to scrutinize every contract that comes before me to make sure the taxpayer is getting the best deal possible.

Faith in Action: Bishop Pham’s Example

This week, Bishop Michael Pham officially assumed his role as San Diego’s newest bishop — and I offer my heartfelt congratulations.

As the first American bishop appointed by Pope Leo XIV, Bishop Pham embodies the very best of the Catholic tradition: compassion, courage, and service. A former Vietnamese refugee, he carries with him the memory of what it means to live in fear — and the moral clarity that comes from being welcomed with dignity.

Just last month, on World Refugee Day, Bishop Pham led a delegation of clergy to San Diego’s immigration courthouse — not with fanfare, but with quiet conviction. In a space so often marked by anxiety and uncertainty, their presence transformed the atmosphere. The hallways grew silent. And that day, no one who had followed government orders to appear in court was detained. That is the power of peaceful witness.

Bishop Pham reminds us that dignity and enforcement are not at odds — and that authority, when exercised, must remain tethered to humanity.

As Scripture commands: “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born” (Leviticus 19:33–34).

Thank you, Bishop Pham, for leading with grace, strength, and unwavering principle. You inspire me — and all of San Diego.

 

Credit: OSV News photo/Chris Stone, NCR

Apply to Serve on San Diego’s Commission on Police Practices

Our office is looking for interested District 7 residents to apply to serve on San Diego’s Commission on Police Practices (CPP).

 

Created in 2020, the CPP serves as an independent community oversight committee of the San Diego Police Department. The Commission's mission is to hold law enforcement accountable to the community and increase community trust in law enforcement, resulting in increased safety for both the community and law enforcement.

 

Please note that serving on the Commission on Police Practices is a serious time commitment, including in-person meetings on the first and third Wednesday of each month from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM and additional administrative responsibilities. Together, the duties of this role may total 25-30 hours per month.

 

If you are interested, please fill out the interest form linked here by this coming Wednesday (7/23) COB. Note: you must be a District 7 resident to apply.

What You’re Saying…

In response to last week’s Raul Roundup blurb about how City employees have used the expanded parental leave in the past two years since I led the effort to double it, Tara, a City employee, wrote back:

 

I was one of those who had a chance to take advantage of that parental leave, and I want to say thank you so much! It made an incredible difference! – Tara

 

So happy you were able to spend that extra time with your baby, Tara! I appreciate you writing in -- hearing from folks like you directly is what this is all about.

 

A couple folks also wrote in about Acheson St. Here’s one response from Linda Vista resident Lynn:

 

Regarding Kramer and David Street being repaved. The same area has a street off of Burton, Acheson Street! This street has been in need of a repaving more than Kramer or David Street for years! Why is no one addressing that street? Lynn

 

Thanks for the flag, Lynn – we're aware of the problems with Acheson St and have passed along residents' concerns to the Transportation Department.

 

In general, this is a good moment to explain something: the City has different types of repairs that it uses depending on the quality of each road, as determined by its Pavement Condition Index (PCI) score. For streets that aren’t so bad, we can use more cost-effective repairs like slurry seals to extend the life of the street – but that won’t cut it for streets that are truly in bad shape. For those sorts of streets, we have to use more costly repairs like mill and paves or asphalt overlay.

 

Think of it like maintaining your car. You bring it to the shop and get the oil changed every once in a while in order to keep it running well longer-term – and that doesn’t cost too much money. But every now and again something more fundamental, like the brake pads or tires, need to be replaced – and that costs a lot more money.

 

Roads are like that, too. While every single stretch of road around the City should really be in good condition, the reality is that we’re dealing with limited funds here – and City staff have to balance the maintenance of decent streets so that they don’t fall into worse shape with the truly deep (and more expensive) repairs of streets that are in bad condition.

 

Per streets.sandiego.gov, Acheson St has a PCI score of 19.80. Keep in mind that the PCI falls from 0-100, so to have a score of 19.80, a street has to be in truly bad shape.

 

Here's the good news: Acheson St is scheduled and fully funded for a mill and pave this fiscal year (i.e. at some point between now and June of next year). That means road crews will literally grind up the top layer of asphalt and lay down a brand new surface that should last a long time.

 

Keep an eye out for when that'll be scheduled -- we'll be sure to let residents know once we know more. Thanks again for the email.

Moment of Kindness: How a Local High School Student Made a Difference at Lake Murray

As a Dad and a former 5th grade teacher, I can’t tell you how much I truly believe in our youth – and stories like Avery McEntee’s only help reinforce my optimism about our next generation.

 

Avery is a rising senior at Patrick Henry High School. A couple of months ago, she reached out to our office for help because she had noticed that at Lake Murray Park, a tree had been removed – and she wanted to know what she could do to help make sure it was replaced. Anthony from my staff put Avery in touch with the City’s Parks and Rec Department, who worked with the San Diego Parks Foundation to provide a new tree for the site.

Just this past week, that tree was planted by none other than Avery herself. Thank you, Avery, for stepping up to aid our environment and imcommunity space enjoyed by so many!

 

This email series is called the 'Raul Roundup.’ I'll be sending along a few things I'm seeing online, reading about in the news, and doing as your City Councilmember. These fun, informative, and short emails will arrive straight to your inbox every Friday.

 

Hope you have a great weekend.

 

All the best,

Raul

 

P.S. Feel free to forward this email to a friend, family member, neighbor, colleague, etc., who might find this Roundup interesting or informative. And if you’re the person who has been forwarded this email, you can subscribe here!

 

Office of Councilmember
Raul A. Campillo

City Administration Building
202 C Street, 10th Floor
San Diego, CA 92101

 

619-236-6677

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