Good afternoon.

Welcome to the community and neighborhood services committee meeting of April 22nd, 2026.

Our committee liaison, Natalie Kessler, will provide information and instruction for the public to participate in today's meeting.

Natalie.

Thank you, Chair.

While members of the public are able to attend the meetings in person, this meeting is being televised and live streamed on the city's website, and Council Administration will continue to make arrangements for the public to comment using the Zoom webinar platform.

Members of the public who wish to provide virtual testimony must enter the virtual queue by raising their hand before the virtual queue closes.

The queue will close when the last virtual speaker finishes speaking or five minutes after in-person testimony ends, whichever occurs first.

This will allow for better meeting management between the two platforms and ensure the committee is able to manage and conduct city business.

Councilmember Foster.

Members of the public can join the webinar by computer, tablet, or smartphone by accessing the link listed online in the preamble language of the agenda on the city's web page.

To join the Zoom webinar by phone, please dial 1669254, 5252.

When prompted, the webinar ID is 160429-1678 pound.

This information is also available on the agenda and will appear on the screen during the public comment period for each agenda item.

Please note that if you're watching via City TV Channel 24 or online, there may be a delay.

Please participate via the audio on your phone and mute your TV or computer when it is your turn to speak.

If you wish to speak on a particular item, wait for that item to be called and then raise your hand to speak by tapping the raise your hand icon, or if you're a column participant, press star nine on your phone.

If you raise your hand during a non-comment period, your hand will be lowered.

Chair.

Thank you, Natalie.

Quorum is now present, and we will start with non-agenda public comment.

Council members respect and appreciate the public's input and are fully committed to protecting every participant's free speech rights at council and committee meetings.

Natalie, please proceed with non-agenda public comment.

Per rule 2.7, non-agenda public comment is an opportunity for members of the public to comment on items that are not on the agenda but within the subject matter jurisdiction of the committee.

Each speaker will have two minutes.

And Chair, we have not received any speaker slips from any individuals for non-agenda public comment here in the committee room.

So we will move to the virtual queue.

And there are seven hands raised in the virtual queue.

I've started the five minute timer.

Blair Beekman, please unmute and begin.

Hi, uh, Blair Beekman.

Thanks for the afternoon meeting today.

Um I hope my public comment at this time, non-agenda public comment can be uh appropriate and helpful, and um, it's a little strong.

I hope it can be of service.

Um, yesterday at uh city council, we had an important uh agenda items on Denham Day, and um having to rename Cesar Chavez Day to um respect women's rights, basically, and respect um just what we're trying to do as a society, how we move forward.

And um Andrea Ebbing has been coming to public meetings explaining what she's been going through the past few weeks.

And it sounds like she's gone through something pretty horrific.

And I think um I mentioned a few times and several other people have that um the way her situation was addressed initially with the police, and then as she was taken in by the police and brought to a hospital.

Um both items uh are are of serious concern and question, I think.

And I hope you guys are taking the effort to really look into the situation.

And then it may be time, you know.

I've I've heard many stories of police over-harassing people in their individual stops of people.

And it happens throughout all cities, but is it time for some sort of review of how you know police de-escalation practices work and what exactly they're doing in their uh interchanges with with everyday people and everyday situations?

Um, and then uh to rede uh to you know work on the paramedic issue, where I mean, um uh sexual violations were being accused of, you know, or questioned.

And so uh what's going on in that department?

Is that something that needs a bit of study and understanding?

Um, I hope we're ready to have these open conversations.

We have kind of a duty to that.

I mean, in this process, let's work on it if we can.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, Madison, please unmute and begin.

Hi, thank you.

Good afternoon.

I would like to talk about parks a little bit, and I appreciate the time and attention that you give to the condition and safety of our parks.

For many families like mine who live in multi-unit housing, parks are one of the few places where our children can run freely, play sports, and simply be kids.

We love our parks and are so grateful to have them.

Parents should be able to bring their children to these spaces without worrying about what might be on the ground or happening nearby.

Clean, maintained parks are not just about appearance, they are fundamental to public health and quality of life in our neighborhoods.

A growing concern among families is the presence of drug use and related waste in park areas.

When parents and children encounter discarded vape cartridges, cigarette butts, alcohol containers, or other signs of substance use.

It changes how safe those spaces feel.

Children are naturally curious, and even small overlooked items can pose real risks.

At a time when young people are already facing increased screen time, stress, and social isolation.

Access to safe and welcoming outdoor spaces matters more than ever.

What can we do to continue prioritizing our parks?

Consistent maintenance, visible staff or security presence, adequate lighting, clean and functional restrooms, and timely responses to reports of unsafe conditions, including substance use.

When a park is clearly cared for, it sends a strong message that families and neighborhoods are valued.

Thank you for your leadership and commitment to this important issue.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Becky Rapp, please unmute and begin.

Yes, good afternoon.

My name is Becky Rapp, and I'm here to bring to your attention a new reason some new research on the effects of marijuana use on youth.

And um and ask for stronger community-based prevention and education efforts.

A recent study that was conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, followed more than 11,000 children across the country over seven years, beginning at ages nine and 10, using repeated cognitive assessment and study measured memory, attention, and processing speed, skills that are essential for academic success and healthy development.

Once again, the findings are alarming.

Adolescents who use marijuana demonstrated a slower pace of cognitive development compared to their peers.

This study stands out specifically because it didn't rely solely on self-reporting.

It included toxicology testing, including hair, urine, and saliva samples, and found that roughly one in three youth did not disclose their marijuana use.

This proves that youth usage may be more widespread than commonly reported.

Given the committee's role in supporting the health and well-being of our neighborhoods, I urge you to prioritize the expansion of services focused on prevention and education, supporting parents with accurate information and partnering with local health care professionals and schools to ensure our community is well informed about the risks associated with early marijuana use.

Addressing this issue early through education and prevention can help reduce long-term impacts on our schools, our public health systems, and our families.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The five-minute timer concluded.

We have five hands remaining in the virtual queue.

We will take no additional callers after these five.

Francine Maxwell, please unmute and begin.

Good afternoon, Francine Maxwell.

Your committee is supposed to look at infrastructure.

And as I was talking to my Webster neighbors, they were saying, how come the 47th and Fairmont fire station that's been proposed hasn't been brought to council?

So it was interesting conversation, you know, with infrastructure being public safety, and we know that public safety is the number one issue that a lot of people on the survey talked about.

Again, public safety, engagement, outreach to the community is also under your charge.

So the CPP has no attorney.

The CPP hasn't been able to have a presentation from the SDPD in reference to Marcus Evans.

Again, rumor has it, allegedly, the canine that did not bite Marcus Evans had health issues and is no longer working.

That's a valuable tool that we invested in, the foundation invested in, and CPP should be able to have some answers for that.

Again, we want full transparency when it comes to measure B.

We understand that meet and confer can take three, four, five years.

POA gets to do whatever they want to, but it doesn't negate what the city council is responsible for for measure B that we voted on.

Community engagement says that you have some interaction with the Human Relations Commission.

When is the last time that you had an annual report?

When is the last time that you engaged with the human relations uh current chair or the executive director?

Again, if you're looking for commissions to fill the stopgap, that means that you have to communicate and interact with them so that they can bring you the latest and the greatest of what's occurring in our city from boots on the ground.

Again, thank you for allowing me to speak, and we would love to have some answers one day soon before the next legislative break.

Have a great day.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, Peggy Walker, please begin.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

As a public health professional and mentor, young people are my priority.

Today I attended a UCSD presentation on county behavioral health needs and reviewed the county well-being report for children and teens, along with other massive data.

These shows San Diego is not immune to what major medical institutions are calling a public health crisis emerging from early initiation of marijuana use.

The new county report shows 40% of county marijuana-related ER admissions were used 12 to 17.

Behavioral health issues, including suicide attempts, were among the most common reasons for ER care and hospitalization.

Brady's hospital, children's hospital reports, 600 youth presented for cannabis treatment last year.

The county recently predicted a 129% increase in youth substance use and treatment needs, pointing to a marijuana problem among youth who data shows will access pod when it's available.

Considering the mounting data, I came to urge this committee to consider that every marijuana business is providing the next POT dose leading to the next ER admission, the next hospitalization, the next suicide.

Our kids deserve to be drug-free.

It would be a service to neighborhoods if this committee would consider stricter policy regulations to reduce youth exposure to marijuana's harms.

And to reduce availability.

Thank you, committee members and Councilman Campillo for your work with delivery issues.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, phone number ending in 870.

Please press star six and beginning.

Thank you, Natalie.

Uh Joy Sanyata, a CD3.

Happy Earth Day.

Earth Day covers eight of the nine areas of responsibility for this committee.

This year's Earth Day theme is our power, our planet.

I love that.

On this beautiful day of celebration, I want to speak of the human condition and our power as humans.

For me, that power comes from the earth.

We call it nature.

We are nature.

And like the earth and nature, we are resilient.

That's a great gift.

A great power.

It helps us navigate to the ocean of challenges we face every single day.

So today, I not only celebrate our earth, I celebrate all of you.

I celebrate all of us as humans working to live the human condition.

So it's a great day.

I've been celebrating all day in whatever little ways I can to serve my community and to celebrate.

So thank you so much for listening.

Love to all.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Judy Strang.

Please unmute and begin.

Good afternoon, community and neighborhood services committee.

I too wanted to thank you on behalf of Earth Day.

It is a special time to reflect on the value that we have here in our community, the beauty of us.

Any of us who've traveled know how happy we are when we return here.

So thank you for your role in making our community and neighborhoods a little safer.

And safety is one of the things I wanted to address today.

I recently, as part of my help, my uh work in public health, read an article in the Journal of American Medical Association.

And it talks about the role of using marijuana and the damage it does to the brain's working memory.

Now, working memory is a little different than short-term memory.

And another problem that can occur with marijuana use.

It's very scary.

And we've had certainly in our neighborhood have had accidents involving e-bikes that damage the uh person walking as well as the e-bike rider.

It gives the example that with working memory, if you have to look to the right and look to the left and keep that information in your mind while you make a decision about going forward.

That's what's interrupted that quickness of gathering the information and making a decision quickly.

And that's what the impairment of the working memory is all about.

So I think it's important for those of us who value your community and neighborhood services work to point out the role that marijuana has in the impairment of working memory and thus the safety and quality of life in our neighborhoods.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And our final speaker in the queue is Zoom user.

Please state your name for the record and begin.

Oh Henry here.

Thanks for taking my call.

Yeah, I love the Zoom option from the city of San Diego.

It's working really good for talking to the groups and stuff.

And congratulate you guys for having Zoom.

I'm trying to get the county to do it because they have a weird system to call in.

But anyway, the community thing.

I was thinking about uh you guys giving out for having more participation at the meetings and the big meetings.

How about if you guys give out free trolley passes?

Like when you vote, you get a trolley pass for a day pass.

You guys could give out when guys come to the meetings, you can give them a free trolley pass just for coming down and talking to take the trolley so they don't have to park.

It would open up and it would show and you guys want to, you know, support the community coming down there.

Be a good idea.

And also in the community, when I I grew up in San Diego in the 50s, 60s, we had voting neighborhood polling spots, like the garage of one of the neighbors was the head where you went and you cast your ballot there.

You walk down there and you poll and you cast your ballot.

These guys knew your family.

We knew his brother.

When I was 18, I went down to San Carlos and voted in this guy's garage.

You got paid for it, people were there.

It was really built community in the in the in our neighborhood, which we're really lacking now.

We should move back into voting to build community.

And just have one day voting, walk down to the YMCA, one of the neighbors.

Right now I'm living in condo projects with garage.

One of the neighbors could have his garage and have a polling place.

Just like in the olden days for new people, you'd run into the store.

You weren't all voting by mail and getting in your car and disappearing.

It was really a good thing to build community.

Um local voting.

One day voting, and it would really build community.

It'd be a good project to take on.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes non-agenda public comment.

Thank you.

And we will now move to committee members, mayor, staff, city attorney, and the independent budget analyst comment if there are any.

Here hearing.

Oh, we have one from Council Member Von Wolper.

I just wanted to echo um Joyce and Yada.

Happy Earth Day to everybody.

Uh, thank you.

What a great day to have the CNS committee.

Um, but thank you to all the folks that are doing great work on behalf of Earth and Sustainability, and hope everyone enjoys the day.

Thank you so much.

It's a great reminder.

And uh, do we have any other comments?

No, and uh do we have any requests for continuance?

Hearing none, we will now uh dispense with approval of our consent agenda.

Do I have any requests to pull the item from the consent agenda, which is the minutes from the last meeting?

Hearing none, we will proceed with any public comment.

Thank you, Chair.

The public comment period for the consent agenda is now open.

The consent agenda includes item one approval of the committee minutes from March 18th, 2026.

We have not had any speaker slip submitted in the committee room for item one.

There is one hand raised in the virtual queue.

I've started the five-minute timer.

Blair Beekman, please unmute.

You'll have one minute to speak to the consent agenda.

All right, Blair Beekman.

Um I don't know if I was at this meeting last time, but uh to quickly comment on its items.

You have a $850,000 for a clean safe parks initiative from the uh HUD, and you have four um $4,300,000 state grant funds for growth neighborhood park CIP issues.

Um, so that's a lot of money at stake.

And I hope that um, you know, we really take to heart good tech accountability practices.

I think you guys have set a good standard in the beginning of the Trump administration.

I hope you want to continue that good standard and really ask what is our data collection about?

How can that be a shared process with a community?

Not just fiddling among yourselves on best practices, but asking community what their input and their help.

I mean, that's building our community future, guys.

It was really the definitions of sustainability.

It isn't a national security secret to keep to yourselves uh technology.

Thank you.

Thank you, and Chair.

This concludes public comment.

Thank you.

I'll now turn it over to committee members for any questions, comments, and to entertain a motion on the consent agenda.

I'll move approval of the consent agenda, Chair.

Thank you.

And we have a second from council member Foster.

Thank you.

And so we have a motion and a second, and we will now take the voting by using the voting screen.

Are you working?

Yeah.

Okay.

And that passes unanimously 4-0.

Great.

We will now take up our discussion agenda.

Natalie, please introduce item number two.

Thank you, Chair.

Item number two, acceptance of donations from the San Diego Parks Foundation during fiscal year 2025.

Chair.

Thank you.

Please introduce yourselves for the record.

Come on up, have a chair.

And please let us know how much time you'll need after you introduce yourselves.

Good afternoon, Chair and Committee members.

My name is Sarah Irazo.

I'm the deputy director with the Parks and Recreation Department.

With me today is Kim Mathis, Vice President of Programs with the San Diego Parks Foundation.

And we're here today to share an update and look for action on the fiscal year 2025 report of donations from the San Diego Parks Foundation.

Council Policy 100-02 donation acceptance requires City Council approval for donations with an aggregate value of 250,000 or more.

In fiscal year 2025, the San Diego Parks Foundation contributed 1,875,0500 in in-kind donations to the Parks and Recreation Department.

These contributions directly supported programs like Come Play Outside events like Parks After Dark and other programs such as nature camps and fishing trips that are helping connect youth with the outdoors and environmental education, opportunities that they may not otherwise have access to.

This partnership allows us to leverage external resources to print to bring more programs and improvements to our communities without additional uh impacts to the general fund.

The foundation's contributions are grouped into three main categories.

Recreation programs, where 334 programs were sponsored at 493,000, serving over 56,000 youth.

Community events with $9,500 supported by the foundation, providing 122 co-sponsored events with over 40,000 attendees.

And lastly, park improvement projects, in which 467,000 funded, eight community projects.

Hello, everybody.

The park foundation was established back in 2018 to provide critical support to the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department.

The support helps focus foster community health and connection by providing opportunities for exercise, spending time in nature, social interaction, and accessing resources.

Our mission is to improve the quality of life for our communities throughout the city of San Diego through equitable investments in parks, green space, and recreational opportunities.

Our vision is for every San Diegan to access to have access to quality recreation facilities as part of a safe, healthy, resilient, and thriving community.

If we Sarah had it all in three groups, but if we break it down for recreation programs for 493,000, one thing that we do, we sponsor all the citywide sports programs.

So that encompasses every single recreation, all city councils on that all the way across, and that's for all seven sports that are offered through the park and recreation department.

One of the big things that we've kind of started doing, and there was a big event yesterday at Balboa Park, is the drone program.

That's kind of an up-and-coming program, and the national we had the nationals in BPAC at Balboa Park Activity Center with a total of 800 kids for the two days.

It was an awesome event.

We had teams from all two different countries and all over the United States out at uh Balboa Park yesterday.

And those start at the recreation centers, and then they build up for this championship that happened yesterday.

So the drone program is something that we're very passionate about.

Most of them we've ran in at uh over at Mountain View at South Crest and then in Balboa Park right now.

Another thing is fishing trips.

For us, the fishing trips is an opportunity for a lot of kids in San Diego, believe it or not, have never seen the ocean and definitely have not done deep sea fishing.

So an opportunity for them to go out and experience with professional fishermen.

We have rangers out there with us that do a presentation on the California shoreline and the importance of keeping our ocean safe and clean.

So a great opportunity for our kids to go out and we do 50 uh trip when we do the fishing trips.

Level Up was a program that we did in conjunction with Sandy Unified School District.

The kids registered through Santa Unified School District, and it was an opportunity to have a free camp during the summer.

And then we received, we hired the vendors to offer the camps at different locations.

And at Sara Mesa Penn and South Crest is where we did it last year.

And so there was up to 30 to 60 kids at each one of the recreation centers that came there for free that was paid for for them to have a full summer camp experience.

Nature Camp, one of my favorites.

Last year we ran this at 18 recreation centers, same curriculum at all 18 recreation centers, but it's different parts of San Diego.

Kids get two field trips for this, they get one to San Diego Zoo and to the Science Nature Center.

I have the Humane Society come out and do a presentation about animals, and all of the activities are STEM and nature based, and a very popular camp program that fills up.

City staff runs it.

We run it at all the recreation centers and extremely popular program.

Park ambassadors, another great program.

I'm actually in the middle of a cohort right now.

Once I comp we complete this one, we'll have gone, I'll have we've had put 150 kids through this program, and about 75% of them work for the city now as either interns, recreation aides, leaders, or recreation leader twos.

And we currently have two that are assistant center directors in park and rec out of our first graduation class in 2023, which is my goal is to have them all supervisors are working someplace at one time in park and rec.

Swimming lessons, we sponsor swimming lessons at all the pools and then uh for park after dark at City Heights and Memorial Recreation Centers.

Teen Night, this is an awesome program.

Started about 17 years ago.

We run it in Friday nights during the summer at 10 different recreation centers.

It's from five to eight.

It gives the teen kids some place to go to hang out in a safe space.

We have they have music, entertainment, arts and crafts, sports, games, activities, and all of them get to eat too.

They're all fed.

So and they go on a few field trips throughout the course of the summer also.

Staff appreciation, it's just a little something we like to do with the city to thank all the city staff for the work that we do together and provide to each one of our communities once a year.

And just a few pictures.

Um you have the deep sea fishing trip is one of the pictures on here.

I can see uh some of our park ambassador graduation class, and then summer um some of our camps, as well as citywide sports.

The one in the middle there is a flag football pitcher from Rob Field.

Community events.

These are an opportunity for us to get together with the communities and help sponsor some and enhance some of the programs that they offer.

I Love My Park Day is a big one.

We rotate that every year.

This year will be our third year.

We're gonna do it at South Bay Recreation Center this year.

Last year we did it at Martin Luther King, and it's a big festival to support and basically kick off summer.

Gives all the recreation centers an opportunity to bring out their flyers and programs to say this is what we're gonna offer during the summer in your areas.

We have about 20 community resources out there, park rangers, the police, and then we have all kinds of activities, crafts, games, jumpers.

It's just a festival just to kick off summer and get everything ready to go.

Movies in the park.

Sarah and her group, they have movies, about 170 movies during the course of the summer.

We try to sponsor or enhance a few of them.

These are the ones we were able to do last summer.

And what does that mean?

We try to create a little mini special event for these.

So with jumpers, popcorn, maybe face painters and something to kick off before the movie starts at all of these parks just to kind of give it a little bit more excitement and stuff.

Park after dark, I think people are familiar with that.

We do it at five recreation centers throughout the course of the summer.

Last year we did 99 events on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for seven straight weeks from five to eight every day.

And it's a special event every night at these recreation centers.

So we work very closely with Park and Rec department in order to provide all of those service.

And there's a lot of activity on that one.

Last summer we did um over 36,000 folks came out to park after dark.

Seasonal community events, that means the events such as the Halloween carnivals, the winter festivals, the spring egg hunts that we just did, Martin Luther King Day celebrations, other celebrations that happen in different communities.

We help sponsor and be a part of it just to make it bitter and bigger and better for the community community members to come out.

A few more pictures on that one.

The one on the top left, we do movie at the cemetery at Mount Hope Cemetery, one of the most popular movies in the park that we do.

Um, all the folks that are in orange shirts, those are from I Love My Park Day last year.

And there's some pictures from Park After Dark as well with kids coming down the slide, the pony rides, and all that.

So just a little bit of everything we do with the events.

And last but not least is our park improvements.

We really kind of bump this up this year.

And the park improvements, the way these uh come about is the communities come to us at the parks foundation and ask for help doing some projects, or some of the city staff, whether it be upper manage it, deputy directors, district managers of things that they need in their area and ask us for help for.

We've partnered with organizations to get these particular items done.

So if we use San Isidro as an example, we got the retractable backboards and we worked with um Pachenga to do that.

So we worked with them in order to get those out there.

Golden Hills Recreation Center, their floor got messed up after all the rains, so we will get the gym floor done over there.

Marcy Park, we partnered with council district to do the ribbon cutting at that particular location.

Mission Hills, the community came forward on that one, and they donated money to do the cobblestone that goes up the historical cobblestone that goes up Mission Hills, and city forces did the labor, and then we paid for um all the supplies that were needed to do those particular projects.

Montgomery Waller partnered with the San Diego Padres who came to us to re-leaser laser level their fields and put in new field dirt.

Rancho Bernardo, we had a private donor that wanted to change the old um lawn bowling and make it a more uh sport oriented because Rancho Bernardo doesn't have a lot of space, so we did that with a private donor.

Southcrest Community Park, I partnered with uh Dick and Lisk in order to do their basketball courts, the lights on the basketball courts and on the field to change them all out to LEDs.

And we did do the gym floor actually before when I was still a city employee, we did the floor over at uh Southcrest um before I had left.

Tory Hills, we've done the outdoor basketball courts, and that was a private donation from the community, and then NTC, we get a lot of donations for trees.

So we try to plant trees in as many parks as possible, but we did them in NTC last year.

The last slide that we have just shows some of the baseball fields with the renovation, the big green one that comes in the area that's actually Rancho Bernardo's turf area.

Got the basketball standards, the South Crest Court, which is the very colorful one, which came out really good.

That court wasn't usable for 10 years before that because the court was in such bad shape.

Some of the projects that we have right now that we have for 26 that we're working on is redoing the basketball court at Willie Henderson Sport Complex in conjunction with San Diego FC.

Um in Canto Skate Plaza, we have some private um public donations for that one to do the skate park, and then out at uh Fanniel Park out at the beach, we just got our right of entry permit, and we had a meeting about that today.

So we're gonna do the playground enhancement out there at the beach area.

So those are just a few of the ones we have starting right now.

Thank you, Kim.

Thank you, Kim, for the overview and the foundation's continued support.

Before you today is an action to accept the 1,875,500 in donations from the San Diego Parks Foundation for fiscal year 2025.

This includes 493,000 for recreation programs, 915,500 for community events, and 467,000 for park improvement projects.

The recommended action is to adopt a resolution authorizing the mayor designee to accept those donations.

And this concludes our presentation for today.

As you can see, these contributions significantly enhance our ability to serve San Diegans across the community, expand access to parks and recreations.

Parks and recreation community-wide.

This partnership allows us to increase equity-driven investments and deliver programs like Come Play Outside and Parks After Dark, which directly improve quality of life, youth development, and most importantly, community safety.

We are grateful for the foundation's continue investment in our communities, and that concludes our presentation.

We are happy to take any questions.

Thank you so much for that presentation.

It's just heartwarming, and thank you for the all the hard work you've done and the great donations.

It's so nice.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

The public comment period for item two is open, and we did receive one speaker slip from individual in the committee room.

Vicky Granowitz, please approach the lecture, and each speaker will have one minute to speak to item two.

I'm Vicky Granowitz.

I'm the co-chair of the San Diego Parks Foundation.

I just want to say I've been around longer than any of you.

I've been through budget cuts, and it takes forever to get back to where we are.

If we lose our DCAs, what you see before you will go away.

And um all the good works will be gone.

And I personally, let me give you one example.

We know this park system.

When we say that we do swimming lessons in the um pools now, it's because we told park and rec, we're not funding your what would they call the little pools that you guys did.

Because the portable pools taught no one to swim.

And we don't work for Park and Rec, and we said no.

You have to do better.

And so we are doing better.

So we know the system.

And I can tell you if the cuts get made that are being proposed, they are going to be bad.

And I also question, can I have thank you?

This this does conclude your time.

Thank you.

I I wanted to conclude in-person public testimony.

We will now move to the virtual queue.

We have three hands raised in the virtual queue, and I've started the five-minute timer.

As a reminder, each speaker will have one minute to speak to item two.

Phone number ending in 870.

Please unmute by pressing star six and begin.

Joyce and Yada.

Thank you, Vicki, for all your service.

Thank you, Park and Rick.

What a great presentation.

This is a celebration in itself.

It's just how so heartwarming, as the chair said.

So uh thank you for the word equity.

Uh I'm sure you're doing oversight and monitoring of the use of funds.

That's critical.

800 kids out there at Balboa Park on the drone program.

They get it.

The kids get it.

Thank you.

Keep it up.

Nature Camps Park After Dark.

Your list was so beautiful.

And I thank you so much.

And a big, big shout out to all the uh philanthropists and everyone that that gives us these donations and helps our park system.

You're critical, these are uncertain times.

Please hang in there with us and give us more funds.

And yet thank you for all you're doing for us.

Now love to all.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

All right, thank you, Blair Beekman.

It sounds like we really needed to hear a few additional words from the first public comment person.

Good luck in uh meeting efficiency that 130, a minute 30 can be okay for public common time in the future, and not just one minute.

Um, I wanted to comment.

I was really impressed at the uh city council budget meeting where all the community came out uh to talk about art issues, and um, you know, the fact that you know uh surveillance tech is taking away from from art issues, basically.

And so there will be a lot of surveillance tech with these uh foundation things, and I hope we're working on that, and that we're working on the concept.

I think we are that you know, art funding used to be able to support technology uh placement, actually, as some sort of art form, and that was a really questionable process.

I don't know if I'm being a bit paranoid, but we shouldn't be doing that.

Uh, hopefully we can be working towards best practices with an art can be a part of this uh park foundation program, I think.

Good luck how to bring those things together.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Francine Maxwell, please unmute and begin.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Oh, I'm sorry, I was in a bad area.

Francine Maxwell, Southeastern San Diego.

Thank you so much for the wonderful presentation.

Thank you for the equity that absolutely is shown across the freeway.

There's not one event that something is so much different than the last event in another community.

And it is just so um expressively appreciative, and we want to applaud um the Parks Foundation, their board, and their contributors.

Thank you so much.

Oh, yeah, right here.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, Becky Rapp, please unmute and begin.

I too.

Just want to echo the previous callers.

Um again, my name is Becky Rapp, and I just want to say thank you to this committee.

Thank you for all the hard work and the philanthropists for all the uh generous donations.

These are the types of programs that bring a solid foundation forward for our youth growing up in our city.

Um, I just want to say thank you for the for the work and things like this need to, or programs like this need to have more attention drawn to them.

Uh, so that community members can see and hear the positive things that are going on in our city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes public comment on item two.

Thank you.

I'm now going to turn over to committee members for any questions, comments, and to entertain a motion.

Uh, we'll start with Councilmember Campillo.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to our presenters uh for showing us the good work that's already been done this year.

Um I'll move approval of the item.

I do have a uh just a funny question about this.

These are all in-kind donations, right?

That is correct.

From budgetary point of view, I think it's funny that we have to legally accept in-kind contributions.

What happens?

We give them back to you if we don't accept this.

You've already done it.

You've already delivered it.

So I really appreciate just the substantial impact that these have had, especially in my district, especially in Linda Vista, which is always in need of more resources, and the Parks Foundation has been an excellent partner top to bottom on these sorts of things.

Do you need a few more seconds to finish off what you were saying about the contribution here?

It's ancillary.

It's ancillary.

Okay.

We'll talk afterwards then too.

Happy to have the ancillary conversation afterwards.

But thank you for being here and thanks for advocating so strongly.

I think one of the most important parts of this, and I'll just wrap this up is is how a lot of these are infrastructure upgrades and field improvements.

It's not though it can be playgrounds, it can't be swing sets, it can be uh those those sorts of things.

But a lot of the things that people think the city ought to be doing in terms of infrastructure investment.

We have outside people who are helping us with that, which is incredible, and which takes a lot of time and planning, uh, engineering, math, all the sorts of different things that uh the city should be doing.

So uh on behalf of my constituents, thank you for doing part of the job we ought to be doing for us uh because uh it's it's really improving the lives of our communities.

Um with that, I will conclude my motion in support of staff's recommendation on this item, Chair.

Thank you so much.

And we'll now move to Councilmember Von Wilper.

Um thank you.

I'm happy to second the motion to accept the very gracious uh contributions from the Parks Foundation.

Thank you also to our Parks Department and all the work that you've done.

Uh in Riancha Bernardo, we were wonderful to see the old lawn bowling field, which had been defunct for nearly a maybe over a decade at that point, uh, be used again since we do only have one community park of in Rancho Bernardo.

Um and it's been fantastic.

We have you know our Earth Day Festival is actually going on very soon, and we're gonna be able to use that portion of the park because of the Parks Foundation.

Um but thank you also for focusing on on equity.

You know, every child in San Diego deserves access to good high quality parks.

And uh very glad to hear that we're doing more and more with swim lessons uh because the Prevent Drowning Foundation still every year reminds us that you know, even one child lost is way too many.

So uh very, very honored to have your uh partnership.

You know, parks are such an important part of our culture here.

It's during the pandemic, um, I celebrated Christmas with my family at Kate Sessions Park because we could all send our own individual picnic blankets six feet away and uh still be together.

So we're very lucky to have uh this in San Diego and very lucky to have the Parks Foundation.

Um, I do have have one question for you is is how can we here at the City Council continue to help the foundation?

I mean, obviously the budget discussions are a huge part of it, but even the logistical parts.

You know, uh we have uh rec councils that advise us, and you know, are there anything we can do to be helpful in in promoting the Parks Foundation getting the word out, you know, to some of the communities that they are interested, because you know, lots of times people will say, Oh, we didn't know that you guys do this or that.

So putting that out there that this is something that we can help with, and then they can come to us like I'd love to donate to that or be part of this if given the opportunity, that would be great.

And then as always, you know, we'll have for keeping our recreation centers open and keeping the hours in place so we can do these things on a regular basis, especially in the programming fields areas, you know, with our with the rec staff and that we partner with every day.

Okay.

Fantastic.

Uh thank you.

I'm happy to help put the word out too.

And when we do announcements at the community fairs, we need to make sure we're recognizing, for example, the Parks Foundation so people know they can help and contribute.

Um, and I think Dr.

Jen, you had said something earlier this week about about government, a famous quote from you know JFK uh ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.

And you really have stepped up to say, ask what your city can do, uh what you can do for your city.

So we just appreciate you so much for stepping up and helping us out and very happy to second this motion.

Thank you.

That that was not me that quoted it, but what a wonderful quote that is, and how wonderful.

Um to remember President Kennedy, who because I'm so damn old.

I used to talk to him on the phone, actually.

Used to call my mom, so I got to talk to them.

Um someday I'll I'll write a memoir and you can see what he said to me.

But in the meantime, I would like to call on council member Foster.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, and thank you, staff, for the presentation.

And um just want to say thank you to the Parks Foundation.

Um I'm in constant contact with the foundation.

Um totally appreciate everything that you do for District 4.

Totally appreciate everything that you do for District 4.

Um in parks are very important to me, important to my community.

So a lot of the things as you guys were first put into place, it was for a specific mission and a goal.

And you guys are delivering on that mission and goal.

And so I just want to note my appreciation and look forward to the continued work that you do.

And all the way down to folks need to understand you, you know, brought Wi-Fi to certain areas and certain things.

Right.

So that's what you are doing and continue to do.

And I just look forward to continuing to work with you and thank you for everything you do for our community.

Thank you.

And I would like to ask you if you could tell our public, anyone who's listening, and all of us, how to get in touch with the Parks Foundation so they can volunteer and help out.

Well, we too.

There's a couple of different ways.

They can go on to the San Diego Parks Foundation.org and they go out to the website.

And we have an Instagram account too that can access all of that.

So if they went to San Diego Parks Foundation on Instagram or Facebook, then it can link in and access that way also.

That's wonderful.

And thanks.

Yeah, I mean, worst case scenario, if they wanted to, they could send an email to me and I could push it over to them.

So that would be Kim, K I M at San Diego Parks Foundation.org.

Okay, great.

Thank you so much.

Really appreciate that information.

I hope people will step up and help us out.

And uh we have a motion by Councilmember Campuse, second by Councilmember Von Wilbert, and we will now take the vote using the voting machine.

I guess I could call it a machine screen.

Should I call it?

Voting screen.

And that passes unanimously.

Thank you so much.

That concludes item number two.

And thank you for that.

We will now take up our information agenda.

And Natalie, uh, could you please introduce item number three?

Thank you, Chair.

Item number three is presentation by the San Diego River Conservancy.

And if you're watching on City TV or the life stream and would like to call in to speak for item three, please call 16692545252.

When prompted, the webinar ID is 160478 pound.

Chair.

Thank you.

When you get settled in, if you'll please introduce yourselves for the record.

And uh I just want to say a few words first.

I I want to welcome our top executive officer of the San Diego River Found uh Conservancy, which is Julia Richards.

Hi, Julia, if you just wave yay.

And thank you for joining us today.

And as a board member on the Conservancy, along with my colleague, Councilmember Campillo.

We represent our city on that council, on that board.

We truly appreciate your partnership and the important work you do to preserve, restore, and enhance the San Diego River watershed.

And thank you.

And if you guys will please introduce yourselves, let us know how much time you'd like.

Okay, I'll introduce myself.

As she said, I'm Julia Richards, executive officer for the San Diego River Conservancy.

And to my left, would you like to introduce it?

So hi, I'm Joan Jones.

I'm the executive director of the San Diego Regional Fire Foundation.

I'm Jennifer Morrissey, uh, the executive director of the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation.

Thank you so much.

Um would you please go ahead and with your presentation?

Thank you very much.

Good afternoon, members of the city of San Diego's Community and Neighborhood Committee.

I appreciate the invitation to share information about the San Diego River Conservancy.

I will provide an overview of who we are, what we do, and the projects the Conservancy has funded.

Are there any questions before I begin?

Okay.

Uh the governing board for the San Diego River Conservatory consists of 18 members forming a diverse partnership representing San Diego County, the City of San Diego, state agencies, and the public at large.

The San Diego River Conservancy Conservancy is an independent government agency.

The Conservancy's mission is to restore and protect the San Diego River watershed.

This includes conserving land, preserving open spaces and wildlife corridors, protecting native habitats and water quality, and supporting both recreation and education.

This is codified in the San Diego River Conservancy Act.

The watershed includes 440 square miles, four cities, one county, several local regional state parks, a national forest, and Native American tribes.

But it is important to note we rely on local partnerships, volunteers, and agencies to develop and implement projects to improve the overall health of these important ecosystems.

Without them, none of this would be possible.

Photo top right.

That is our chair and vice chair of the San Diego River Conservancy, Chairman Ben Clay, Vice Chair Raul Campillo, Executive Officer of the Mission Trails Regional Park, Jennifer Morrissey here, and me.

We were established in 2002, and we are guided by the San Diego River Conservancy Act in our five-year strategic plan.

The presentation will highlight a few program areas from the strategic plan, but first let me highlight our grant programs.

On this slide, we discussed Proposition 4, also known as the 2024 Climate Bond, which allocated 73 million dollars to the San Diego River Conservancy, 48 million dollars for nature-based solution grant program, and 25 million for wildfire and forest resilient grant program.

The Conservancy completed solicitations for round one.

The next round of funding will be in 2027.

Future grant opportunities will exist every other year until the funds are expended.

Notice the funding availability will be posted on the Conservancy's website for the next rounds.

One of our program areas that is a priority for the governing board is land conservation.

Since 2002, over 840 acres has been conserved in the County of San Diego with assistance from the Conservancy.

Our partners include the City of Santee, the City of San Diego, and nonprofit organizations.

You will see on the picture on the left is a beautiful landscape of Mission Trails Regional Park.

We awarded two grants to that organization to help conserve 108 acres.

Other grant awards include conserving land at Walker Preserve in the city Santee, Tumescole Creek in the upper watershed with the San Diego River Park Foundation, and El Monte Valley with the City of San Diego Public Utilities.

The next program area I'd like to share with you is recreation and education.

The Conservancy prioritizes multi-benefit opportunities, the balanced local nature access with low-cost, no cost outdoor recreation, nature recreate nature education and improved public access.

This includes working with local, regional, and state parks.

We continue to work on the San Diego River Trail with partners in community trail networks.

We also support, as you see at the bottom right picture, interpretive and educational signage.

It is very important to share this information with visitors.

We have funded interpretive signage at both Mission Trails Regional Park and River Park at SDSU Mission Valley.

The Conservancy also supports the Eco Ambassadors Program at Mission Trails Regional Park.

We'll mention this a little bit later.

The Conservancy Board recently awarded $2 million for improvements to Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor Center, the parking lot, and trail maintenance.

We are excited about the access improvements coming to this regional park.

Preserve natural resources.

This program protects biodiversity, climate resilience, and implements nature-based solution projects and forest and fire resilience project.

As you see from the pictures, the projects we fund spanned the gamut.

Left is reforestation project at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and the upper watershed.

The coyote here is traveling between Lakeside Santee and Mission Trails Regional Park and was captured about 30 days ago on one of the wildlife cameras.

The middle picture there is showing fire safe councils, which are so important to our community for clearing the hazardous fuels surrounded by our canyons and residences.

Fire Safe Councils are volunteer organizations that provide free chipping and dumpster services to the local communities.

The bottom right picture is a prescribed fire in Cleveland National Forest in Mount Laguna.

These efforts in the upper watershed to reduce flammable fuels, dead dying trees, and put fire on the ground will help us protect our communities and neighbors in the future.

These are essential to taking care of the entire San Diego River watershed.

Next slide.

Water quality and flood conveyance.

The Conservancy supports water quality by funding restoration projects, removing invasive species, managing flood risk, and partnering with research institution to monitor pollutants.

The picture in the upper left side is Elvarado Creek, which is a tributary to the San Diego River.

We've worked with San Diego State University to help improve the water quality of this tributary.

The middle picture, you see a little bit of flooding, which ended up in the right corner of the trucks being underwater and the facility.

That was a flood from 2010, Sycamore Creek and Santee, and it's right next to Padre Dam Municipal Water District.

Removing the invasives in that creek helped reduce the risk of flooding and save them money in the future years.

And as we all know, when we get the heavy rain events in San Diego, or a whole bunch of rain in a short period of time, we get flooding on the river, most notably in Mission Valley.

So I like the picture of this with the sign that says Path May Flood, and behind that, complete flooding.

So we work with what we can to help those communities.

Oh, I missed one in the middle photo.

So that is the trash boom down in the Tijuana River.

As we know, the Tijuana River has a lot of challenges.

Besides the contamination in the water, there's a lot of trash and refuse that gets left and comes downstream.

So community members and agencies have worked together to put the boom in, and this is one rain event and the trash that is collected during that time.

So important to keep all this trash and rubbish off from our oceans and beaches.

And we do that by providing the stopgap measure between the river and then the Pacific Ocean.

Okay.

Sorry.

Boop.

Outreach and capacity.

SDRC also supports water quality monitoring with partner organizations.

You hear, you see here two pictures, one with SDSU University taking water samples in Alvarado Creek in the San Diego River.

And the picture on the right here, you see some students.

That is Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation's Eco Ambassador Program.

It was created for high school students in San Diego County who love the outdoors and are interested in exploring various paths towards a nature-related career.

Dustin Harrison from the Conservancy attended and provided presentations and field experiences for the past few cohorts.

And at the bottom is a groundbreaking ceremony for a modular laboratory that will be located at the river park in SDSU Mission Valley.

I would like to send a special shout out to the City of San Diego and the council members for making the land available for this incredible opportunity.

It is within walking distance to the river and the water board and SDSU.

We expect great things from them.

Without nonprofits, our agency would have a lot of difficulties.

We currently are an agency of two looking to hire for another one, so we're working on that, Dr.

Jen.

But we don't have staffing capacity to carry out or implement any of these projects alone.

So we rely on the nonprofits in San Diego to get that money to the agencies quickly and turnaround.

So here I would like to do a shout-out for two organizations, the San Diego Fire Rescue Foundation, which supports the city lifeguards and firefighters.

And I also have today here Joan, as I mentioned from the San Diego Regional Fire Foundation.

They support the MIDI City Fire Safe Councils in, they include, I'm going to mention a handful of them, but those ones are within our service area.

And they include Del Cerro Fire Safe Council, Normal Heights Fire Safe Council, Kensington Fire Safe Council, Alvarado Estates, Fire Safe Council, Telmidge College East, and College Canyon Fire Safe Councils.

Now, just so you know, those are the ones located in the Conservancy's area, but this lady here supports Fire Safe Councils in the entire county.

The next one.

So I was asked to put together this presentation for Dr.

Jin, and I wasn't sure what they wanted.

So I started looking at our grants that we've awarded since 2020.

And to my surprise, we realized that we awarded over 18 million dollars in grants since 2020 to benefit people and communities in the city of San Diego.

We are so proud of this partnership with the nonprofits to quickly get that money to the city.

And here's a listing of what the different organizations were to support.

17.2 million was awarded to Mission Trails Regional Park for land acquisition and conservation, fire resiliency, invasive primrose removal at Kumeyai Lakes, interpretive signs, improvements to the visitors center, and a few other things that I'm sure I forgot to mention.

Thank you, Jennifer.

3.9 million to San Diego Canyonlands, which I'm sure you're familiar with.

That was support for doing restoration in Navajo, Shepherd, Ruffin, and Rueda Canyons, focusing on the brush management zone.

Six million dollars to San Diego State University, San Diego State University Research Foundation, and San Diego Ecology and Restoration Group.

Wow, that was a mouthful.

With those funds, we supported the one water lab that I just mentioned about and habitat restore restoration over multiple acres, including land on SDSU and also land in the Del Cero neighborhood.

$93,000 to San Diego Fire Rescue Foundation.

Over 30 acres of hazardous fuels have been removed, plus firefighter equipment purchased and PPE.

This also provides support for the City of San Diego Life Guards, Swisswater, Swiftwater Rescue Times for PPE, dry suits, DIB, which are those yellow boats they use to rescue people.

So those things need to be purchased on like a four to five year cycle.

We're so happy we're able to assist our with the first responders providing this important uh gear that they need for their own protection.

Uh $380,000, $82,000 to SD City of San Diego Public Utilities for Chaparral Canyon, Habitat Restoration, and I think they did some trash cleanup and things like that.

Lastly, but not forgotten is San Diego Regional Fire Foundation, again, supporting those five to six mid-city fire safe councils that are within our watershed.

These are the pictures.

These are the people that make it happen.

Again, I can't stress how important this is.

That it's not our agency, it's the people here locally that do the hard work to develop the projects, apply to the grant program, and get these things done and completed.

So these photos highlight that and the success.

The top row is San Diego Canyon Lands working on restoration and Navajo Canyon with cruise volunteers, and then they do a training program for the youth and aspirisk folks.

I think it's very supportive to get these people into the green environment and careers.

Then we have this lovely lady here with the chainsaw in front of the dumpster.

She's from Kensington.

She was there at 9 a.m.

on a Saturday morning, ready to help to get things done.

Again, volunteers, love them.

Okay.

The bottom two are a reference and showing the beautiful things in Mission Trails Regional Park.

I'm sure you guys are already aware of those, but we just wanted to show what a great, beautiful landscape that exists within the city of San Diego.

Very amazing.

Most large cities don't have that.

When I bring people down from Sacramento, this is one of the places I highlight.

I take them out, they can't see anything, they're in the middle of nowhere.

And I said, But you're in the city of San Diego, right?

So it's important to get that message out to Sacramento, what we're doing down here and the importance of it.

That's kind of what I had for today, but I'm happy to entertain any questions or provide any additional follow-up if that's needed.

Thank you for the opportunity to present and thank you again for your partnerships.

I think 18 million dollars speaks uh a lot of what is needed down here and the state trying to meet that need.

Thank you, Dr.

Jen.

Thank you so much.

That that was wonderful and so heartening and uplifting.

Uh I would like to ask if there are any public comments.

Thank you, Chair.

The public comment period for item three is now open, and we have not received any speakers' lips here in the committee rooms, but we have two hands raised in the virtual queue, so I have started the five-minute timer.

Each speaker will have one minute to speak to item three.

Blair Beekman, please unmute and begin.

Hi, uh, Blair Beekman.

Thanks a lot for this item.

Um, nice to hear.

Um Sacramento people come from Sacramento to check out the program here.

Uh, interestingly, I was gonna mention that the city of Davis, right near Sacramento.

I mentioned a few times has a really good uh wildlife uh surveillance technology program, uh, you know, for the trails and you know, it's it's it's not wildlife, it's not tech surveillance tech for law enforcement, it's it's around you know, wildlife concerns and trail concerns.

I'm sure it's a part of your uh needs and concerns and and to know that Davis is available with best practices and those things can really help yourselves in building best practices and how you have to do that in San Diego, whatever you have to do, just a reminder of that.

And and good luck how um art can be a part of the future of of this of the river conservancy process.

I think some good things can happen and towards best practices, not towards cynicism, but best practices.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, phone number ending in 870.

Please press star six and begin.

Uh thank you, uh Joy Sanyata.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Chair.

And the presentation was just awesome.

Thank you to all three of you and to the rest of your group for everything you do to protect our river watershed.

I wanna and thank you so much for talking about the TJ River trash boom.

That is terrific.

I Googled it and just now, and uh it said that uh, excuse me, uh by March 2025, it had successfully intercepted over 250 tons of debris.

So I I know you work for that if you if you were the pioneer, but I just can't tell you how much I love you.

Um a key speaker years ago talked about watching the fish die in the estuary, uh, the TJ estuary.

So my heart is with you and keep it up in love to all.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes public comment on item three.

Thank you so much.

Um I just like to say a few words.

Um as a as an independent non-regulatory state agency, there are four river conservancies in the state of California and the San Diego River Conservancy's being one of the lucky four.

Play a vital role in protecting one of our region's most valuable natural resources.

Your commitment to conserving land, reducing wildfire and flood risks, supporting local projects through your grant program is critical to the health and resilience of our communities from the mountains all the way down through the city to the ocean.

Thank you for your leadership, your collaboration, and your continued investment in the future of San Diego, the river, and the communities it serves.

And I look forward to continue to work with you.

And I I wondered if um our two guests would like to uh uh say a few words or at least let the public know how they can uh volunteer to help.

Go first, Joan.

So um so as Julia said, um my organization, the San Diego Regional Fire Foundation supports fire safe councils throughout the uh entire county, of which there are now 57 of them.

And um we are thrilled with the uh these people that do the hard work.

Julia showed you a couple pictures of people out there chipping, collecting debris to make the community safer.

And and this is what makes me so passionate about this part of the work that I do in supporting the fire safe councils because these are people out in the community that care so much about the safety of their community.

They know their communities, they know what their communities need, and they're willing to put in the backbreaking work to make them safe for all of our region.

And we have to always remember that as a region we're only as strong as our weakest link.

And we uh have um, you may or may not realize, but the model that we have here in San Diego is respected throughout the world in terms of the level of cooperation that we have between all agencies within the city businesses, the fire departments, how well they work together with the military and so forth.

So people come from near and far to learn what we do and how we do it.

So I'm just so delighted to be able to be part of the um the work that I do.

And if I may, I I um would like to uh make two comments.

And one would be that you have a great fire chief in uh Chief Logan.

He's fantastic, he is so collaborative.

Um, and he is willing to go above and beyond working with the uh community, the all of the all of the broader community.

He's he's a wonderful fire chief and very well respected.

And the work that you've put in place as a city with your new community wildfire risk reduction program with uh uh assistant fire marshal Alex Kane.

He is doing a fantastic job.

We have so many new fire safe councils in the mid-city area, and as well as up in the coastal part of the city, Del Mar, uh Sereno Valley, and he's and La Jolla, and he is out meeting with individual people, homeowners, HOAs, to talk to them about what they can do to make their community, their neighborhoods safe.

And that's what's so powerful about the Fire Safe Council is people working to make their communities safe.

And another thing I I guess that I would like to ask for your support on is we have something called these uh dump-athons that Julia mentioned.

And we've had some challenges in some of our particularly in our mid-city areas with permitting in the past.

We've had issues with the uh nesting season and when people can actually uh clear uh debris from their own property, and we were able to break through that roadblock last year and work out uh being able to have dump a thons in this in the spring time period that people could clear um debris, vegetation, green waste uh from their properties.

The latest issue has been the um some of the narrow streets that we have in the mid-city area and getting permits to put the fire to put the um dumpsters that you saw the lady in front of uh where we put the green waste.

So this is an area that I don't know exactly what the purview of this committee is, but we're still we have had some challenges recently with the permitting process so that people could locate their dumpsters for the convenience of the community to collect all this uh green waste.

Wonderful.

I could answer that in some ways, at least to tell you that each council office has neighborhoods, neighborhood representatives for each area of our district, each neighborhood in our council districts.

We have nine council districts, and each area within our districts, we have representatives from our office.

And so if you call the council member for that district and get in touch with the representative for that neighborhood, they can help you through the process.

Okay, thank you.

So, yeah, that that's the way to do it.

And just I guess, and just in closing, that um what a great partner we have with the San Diego River Conservancy.

Um Julia's vision about the safety of not only the city of San Diego, but the entire region is phenomenal.

And be because of her commitment to the safety of this region, we've been able to not only support fire safe councils, but fire departments.

The uh conservancy has supported putting in uh acquis acquiring fire engines, brush engines, type six engines, PPE for fire firefighters.

So it's just really been a terrific partnership, and she's a very wise lady.

Appreciate working with her.

Wonderful, thank you.

And I agree completely.

And and kudos also to the chair of the board, uh, Ben Clay, and our vice chair, yes, Councilmember Campillo.

Yay.

And Jennifer, if you'd like to say a few words about uh the mission trails, which I used to be on that board with PIO, yes.

Jennifer Morrissey, Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation.

I just wanted to um recognize the River Conservancy for really being a game changer, um, not only for our organization, but for Mission Trails Regional Park.

I mean, what we've been able to do the last few years has been amazing, and um, it's really thanks to the River Conservancy and their support and their belief and trust in us and the work that we're doing.

Um, we have had a multi-year invasive and brush removal program that goes through next fall, and it's removed hundreds of acres of invasive uh plants, and we're going over the areas multiple times to really um decrease the seed bank so that they won't come back.

Um, and then we'll do a habitat restoration at the end of the um three and a half years.

Um, so that's been a huge endeavor at the park, and it's really um made made mission trails certain areas just it's like the before and after pictures.

We are so um love sharing them because it's just incredible to see how different it feels, and it just feels like it's get getting the attention it needs and deserves.

Um also with the invasive and brush removal program.

We have the um on Kumeya Lake, it was almost completely covered with invasive primrose, and so earlier earlier this year um we had a crew come out and they have removed the primrose, they've trained the rangers.

made made mission trails certain areas just it's like a the before and after pictures we are so um love sharing them because it's just incredible to see how different it feels and it just feels like it's get getting the attention it needs and deserves um also with the invasive and brush removal program we have the um on Kumey Lake it was almost completely covered with invasive primrose and so earlier earlier this year um we had a crew come out and they have removed the primrose they've trained the rangers we now have equipment and training for the rangers to keep up um this process and ensure that it doesn't come back um another program I would like to mention is the interpretive panel program um which um we are really just getting started um we have them on outgrove loop trail but what what we've done is we have the text the educational text in English and Spanish with a QR code to all of the threshold languages of San Diego County so no matter um if you speak uh Vietnamese or um Chinese um Arabic um that information is available to park users which actually are there are more than two million park users every year um just wanted to note that mission trails is um more than 8,000 acres we're continuing to grow it thank you thanks to the river conservancy and um and it does need um the city support as well as the community support we the foundation have been around for more than 35 years and much of what we do um is um possible because of individual donors so just like the parks foundation we need the community to come forward and support us so that we can get the work done to write the grants to get these projects happening so um would love it if you all can just spread the word uh as well about the mission trails regional park foundation uh because we are a notprofit that exists to support and enhance a city asset and we would love for you all to just um help us bring it to the next level thank you that's wonderful thank you so much and and now I would like to call on uh council member campillo thank you very much chair star on both mission trails and the board for the river conservancy you give me too much uh credit um you just listen to the people who know what they're doing and then vote yes on the things that they recommend funding uh no julia and her team um do all the heavy lifting and determining what what really deserves the different dollars uh coming in from the state and of course they're they're all excellent um projects um I think first besides a big thank you to uh helping in each of the different three organizations that do so much for our region um when you say two million people visit mission trails regional park every year that's over five thousand people a day it's it's packed um some days more than others but um I I mean it's really thinking about that if you it's it's humongous um I think you know before I was elected I actually knew what the San Diego River Conservancy was thankfully because uh Cody Peterson said you should really come watch this if you're gonna hopefully be the district seven uh representative and one of the first things I did was raise my hand to make sure I got that seat as well and was there with Dr.

Jen because of how much good work is going on and when I tell people what we do there what Julia and her team do there you know public health is protected by the River Conservancy water quality and habitat restoration reducing pollution and improving people's places to exercise public safety with wildfire resilience and getting rid of hazardous vegetation and creating dispensable space um you know sometimes buying a fire engine for uh a local agency up in up in the hinterlands of the county um and flood protection we obviously have had big issues with that um public education by creating spaces around the river where people can learn have the trails to learn habitat interpretation uh supporting other organizations that really put forward uh the um tools of learning and then public stewardship by helping buy the land and protecting the water and working with our Native American tribes to ensure that uh we keep that uh millennia long stewardship moving forward uh and quite frankly I know that um climate change and global warming is uh an issue close to Julia's heart and I really do think that the work we do there being on that board it does our region's part to make sure that we are preserving uh the environment into the future so that the um you know you can't we one group place can't stop global warming all on its own but each place has to do its part so I really do think we do that um I just wish we had more money uh but the money we're spending is really done well so this is a the river conservancy does a darn good job of spending the taxpayers dollars and sometimes you see a helicopter pulling a palm tree out of a canyon um or sometimes you don't smell the river uh in certain places it works in both ways you see great things and sometimes you don't notice the things that are good um and that's the way it should be um so uh I just want to thank you Julia for your good work and and um just know that I'm always excited to show up at the county building and sit next to you uh and when Ben Clay can't be there do my best Ben Clay voice impression so um thank you for coming today and thank you for keeping our constituents uh present and future in good shape for years and years to come thank you thank you so much and just a reminder this is an information item only so no motion is necessary and I'd like to call on council member von Wilper for any comment.

Um so uh I just want to thank you, Julia, for your good work and and um just know that I'm always excited to show up at the county building and sit next to you uh and when Ben Clay can't be there, do my best Ben Clay voice impression.

So um thank you for coming today, and thank you for keeping our constituents uh present and future in good shape for years and years to come.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

And just a reminder this is an information item only, so no motion is necessary.

And I'd like to call on Councilmember Von Wilper for any comment.

Um thank you very much, and yeah, what an incredible presentation to have on Earth Day.

Uh and I want to thank you for all for your work and your volunteerism above and beyond your your jobs.

I know that you put in a ton of effort into this.

It's more than 40 hours a week and care deeply about the public spaces that we have in the open spaces and the people and the animals who use it.

So I've just been very, very proud to work alongside incredible groups like Fire Safe Councils.

Um, you know, in Scripps Ranch, you know, we lost hundreds of homes in the Cedar Fire and hundreds more in the Witch Creek fire.

So having the Fire Safe Councils is huge.

I actually had a town hall meeting in a cul-de-sac last weekend, in which hundreds of families came to learn about a new fire evacuation route.

And what better to do it than in the cold de sac where we're gonna have a new fire evacuation route.

Um so the fire safe council in Peñasquitos was the one who had that idea.

I said, How about we get out of our our offices and go out to where we need to be?

And uh, you know, with the very high fire hazards going on every day.

We just had a fire in Del Sur, for example.

You know, I'm trying to do my part to make sure that our aerial operations for our fire department, all helicopters are fully funded and off the ground, but we can't do without the cooperation of people in the communities and to need to know what to do when there is an emergency.

So uh just thank you for your work on this.

Uh, thank you for your work in the incredible river.

Um, you know, I'm a former Peace Corps volunteer, and our Peace Corps group has an expert um in bats.

He's one of the foremost experts in in in bat science in the nation and took us on a tour of the San Diego River at night and explained to us that San Diego County has the most diverse bat population in the nation.

And we were able to identify quite a few species of bats.

So uh you the learn something new every day about San Diego County.

It's an incredible place.

And I just want to thank you so much for your work because it wouldn't be the place it is without all three of you.

So thank you.

Thank you so much.

Chair, one last thing that I think everyone ought to know is the fact that when the city struggles to pay for our lifeguards uh river rescue suits, it's the San Diego River Conservancy that pays for them so that our city employees stay safe and aren't exposed to toxins as they go save people who are potentially drowning in the river, and that is a huge, huge contribution to our city employees.

It's amazing how many people are saved, not just in storms, but thank you for that help.

Um our lifeguards rescue thousands of people every single summer at the beaches.

And just in March, just this past March, when it was so hot, they saved 700 people at the beach from drowning.

It was incredible.

That was our biggest March save.

But thank you for everything you do to help.

And I hope that uh this helps our citizens out there who are listening.

If they'd like to get more in nature and and volunteer, or even just make a fire safety council for their area in the city, we would love to hear from them.

So um please let us know, and any way we can help, we will.

And this brings us to the end of our uh agenda today.

And I want to thank our staff and members of the public and our members of the committee for participating.

And we'll now adjourn this meeting of community and neighborhood services until next regularly scheduled meeting, which will be Wednesday, May 20th, 2026 at 2 p.m.

We are adjourned.