Welcome, good afternoon.

Welcome to the community and neighborhood services committee meeting of June 24th, 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 being 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.

We appreciate the public's cooperation.

Chair?

Thank you.

I will now call the community and neighborhood services committee meeting of June 24, 2026 to order.

And I will now call the role.

Councilmember Campillo.

And I am here also, Jennifer Campbell, Chair of the Committee.

Also present today with us is Sergio Alcade from the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst.

Deputy City Attorney Jane Boardman with the Office of the City Attorney.

Senior Policy Advisor Chris Ackerman of Vila with the Office of Mayor Gloria, and Lazelle Gloria, our committee consultant, and Natalie Kessler, our committee liaison.

And Natalie, please continue with the public comment instructions.

I will now go over how the public can offer their public testimony during today's meeting.

If you're in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of the committee room and place it in the tray indicated at the front of the room.

Please submit your speaker slip in a timely manner to ensure proper meeting management.

In person testimony will conclude before virtual testimony begins.

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

To join the Zoom webinar by phone, please dial 16692545252 when prompted, input webinar ID 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.

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

If you need 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 call 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.

A quorum is now present, and we will be hearing items a little bit out of order today.

After the consent agenda, we will hear item three, which is an information item, and then we will hear item two, a discussion item.

So the order of items today is one three and two, and we will now take up non-agenda public comment.

The 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.

For 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 we have not received any speaker slips from any individuals in the committee room, but we do have four hands raised in the virtual queue for non-agenda public comment, and I've started the five-minute timer.

We will begin with Madison.

Please unmute and provide your comments.

Expanding marijuana retail moves us in the opposite direction.

More retail locations means greater visibility, greater normalization, and greater exposure for children and teens who live, learn, and play in these neighborhoods.

Research consistently shows that young people's perception of risk declines as marijuana becomes more visible and normalized in their community.

At the same time, today's marijuana products contain much higher levels of THC than in previous decades, and are associated with increased risks of cannabis use disorder, mental health problems, psychosis, and cognitive impacts on developing brains.

As parents, we work hard to teach our children healthy behaviors.

We should not be making it easier for them to view marijuana as just another everyday consumer product.

Neighborhoods should be centered around families, schools, parks, libraries, small businesses, and places that strengthen community connections.

San Diego already has marijuana retailers operating throughout the city.

Expanding beyond the current footprint does not improve neighborhood quality of life, but it does increase youth exposure and further normalizes a substance that carries real health risks.

I encourage this committee to prioritize prevention, youth well being, and healthy neighborhood development over additional marijuana commercialization.

As a mother, I want my children to grow up in communities where their health and future are valued above industry expansion.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, phone number ending in 8700.

Please press star six and begin.

Uh can you hear me?

Yes.

Oh, thank you.

I didn't know I crushed if I stressed it right.

Uh thank you again.

Uh Joy Asanyata.

Uh, first of all, uh, and then I'll get more serious.

Uh I wanted to uh encourage you to do what President Lakava seems to be doing more of um he works with the speakers, the public speakers, and he he like with me, he gave me clear information on this F D G and E care program.

It was like a correction, but it helped me grow and to learn uh from him, and and and I just really appreciated it.

So I think all of you who are chairs, uh if you could incorporate that, feel comfortable.

I know you can't have a dialogue, but what he's doing really, really feels great.

So I wanted to put that out there to all of you.

Uh now here's the serious part.

Um I need a lot more time, but I'll try to condense it.

Uh uh I think some of you uh know that I have been speaking a little bit about um one of the uh young men that committed suicide uh after the mosque attack, his name is Caleb Vasquez.

And uh I bring this up because I want to talk about uh fat families and and troubled youth and so forth.

So after reading the UT article and learning what he went through with his family and the school system that year before the mosque attack.

Uh i it just really really hit me hard.

And and I've been thinking about today's generation and and troubled use.

And I I don't I can't speak to it personally how we can what we can do about it.

I guess what I wanted to put out there is that the whole thing is troubled.

It's it's not just troubled use, it's the system of education.

It's the parents.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This does conclude your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, uh Blair Beekman.

Uh, thanks for the meeting today.

Um, yeah, I thank you that Joyce is trying to find ways to talk about um the shooting incident, um, how we can be healing ourselves.

Uh good luck how we can do that.

Uh you know, it's my personal feeling that we're actually in San Diego, you know, because of people like Council First of Bon Wilker, we've been making really good attempts actually, I think to better address gun violence and how youth I think are more realizing that uh the use of guns in order to solve issues and to create a mass whatever.

Um it isn't very practical and um I think we're understanding that better.

This incident did happen, but I'm hopeful we're we're learning that better.

And maybe Joey can learn to think of that and incorporate that of how our young people are actually learning important lessons of this time and um how we grow that idea.

I I think I think we're on the right track.

We gotta keep working on it.

Good luck how we can do that.

And I think Council President Von Wilford for gun control items is a real help in that I think it offers a real guidance for all of us.

So good luck how we talk about uh our things decently and progressively and uh I it it makes a difference to people they hear that and understand what are good.

Um I wanted to compliment our earlier public meeting today that uh we um uh really are trying to work on the on the strong mayor issue and how to develop a possible strong mayor strong council for our future and the ways that we really need organization very quite possibly it may take a a little bit longer to do that a little bit longer but uh good luck that we can be working on it.

It seems like we are and um boy uh it it takes all of us to do it.

Good luck that we do it together.

I hear the mayor's words he's offering you know that kind of work if we work together.

Um that's that's a big step so good luck how we could be working.

Um good luck to the meeting today what we could be talking about.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The five minute timer concluded we have two hands remaining in the virtual queue we will take no additional callers after these two.

Tony please unmute and begin.

Tony I see you've unmuted we cannot hear you Tony it's very quiet.

Uh we can we will come back to you.

Thank you.

We will move to Michael Schmidt.

Michael Schmidt please unmute and provide your comments.

Hi can you can you guys hear me?

Yes.

Hi.

Well hello to all you that I enjoy seeing um I was gonna point out um for district for Joe Locava's district um there is a down on off of Delmar Heights Road um the Mango drive um panel sign um needs to be replaced with the new one because it is faded and um not paint not um painted the whole entire thing um but as soon as possible that would be great for the city of Delmar.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

We will return to Tony to offer him another opportunity and he is our final speaker in the queue for the additional callers that raised their hand you raised your hand after the five minute timer concluded you can submit a comment to council committee at Sandiego.gov I will return to Tony I've given you permission to speak can you please unmute and try again.

Oh is that anything better on the can you hear me is that any better oh that's much better.

Can you continue?

Yes.

Hey um I just I just wanted to say I was I have been having some difficulties um with the Zoom on my end but I really appreciated the discussions that were had this morning.

I really appreciated the clarification um and the exchange we between um council member Raul Gambil and uh council member Sean Ila Rivera um in in some of the discussions that took place regarding um the uh campaign contribution reform thank you so much for asking that um and I also wanted to say with regard to some of the um strong uh mayor voting propositions I think um we need a we need a stronger leash on the strong mayor um and obviously that's what the people want obviously city council is at odds with um how it can move forward with certain processes as we've seen with the budget um and obviously we know that the mayor uh is a bit overhither with regard to his capacities and with regard to his ability, and that's no slight on him.

It's just a realistic assessment of where we're at citywide.

Um and I would hope that the reasons why um Locata and uh Councilmember Gambio voted uh uh did not vote to pass that in um uh rules committee this morning.

I hope I hope that's not tied into uh the aspirations for higher office.

But uh if it is, I mean, please don't fool yourself into thinking that you're not biting off more than you can do because obviously managing all of the finances and all of the fiduciary responsibilities in conjunction to all of the legislative responsibilities is more than any one person can handle.

There's a reason why lawyers were lawyers and CPAs or CPAs, and uh you usually don't have both, and um and I don't necessarily know that I want both, especially not out of Audigoria.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes non-agenda public comment.

Thank you, Natalie.

Uh, we will now move to committee members, mayor staff, city attorney, and independent budget analyst.

Do we have any comments at this time?

Hearing none.

Uh do we have any requests for continuance?

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

Do I have any request to pull items from the consent agenda?

Hearing none, uh there's only one item on the consent agenda at this time, that is the minutes of the last meeting.

And uh Natalie, please proceed with public comment.

Thank you, Chair.

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

The consent agenda consent agenda includes item one approval of the committee minutes from May 20th, 2026.

And we have not received any speaker slips from individuals in the committee room.

There are two hands raised in the virtual queue.

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

Blair Beekman, please unmute and begin.

Hi, Flair Beekman.

Uh yeah, on your meeting minutes uh last time.

Uh well, on your meeting last time, you had an issue on maintenance assessment districts annual reporting for parks and rec.

Uh, and then I I think for one other item you're doing for and for parks and rec things, um it that eventually made council that you guys voted on and received a present full presentation again.

Um good luck with that item.

Uh however there can be relationships with, you know, uh the future of our uh rec centers and our senior centers that I think um they've been having very serious deep yet private discussions with community on the future of uh biometric tech that's going to be placed in those in those facilities.

Um can that conversation be considered as more open and regular and that we talk about biometric tech more openly and regularly in our future.

Um, it's important, I think, for our future.

I'm just trying to make it clear so we can.

Uh thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is phone number ending in 870.

Please press star six and begin.

Hi, uh Joy Sanyata.

I usually don't do this one, but I I did uh go back and look at the minutes and uh I just thought it was great because I saw seven public comments uh there.

And uh they were just written so well, and there was almost a cadence or a rhythm to them, uh, because I just could feel each of their intense uh intentions as they spoke and and you caught that and you were able to condense it into that very short uh summary and and also I was on that list of seven, and I just wanted to tell you that's the day uh I spoke to um this committee on my vision statement that I'm coming forward with to for us to get a vision, a noble vision, and you did a good job on my vision.

So thank you so much for that and allowing us to speak on the minutes.

Love to thank you.

And our final speaker in the queue is Judy Strang.

Please unmute and begin.

Good afternoon, community and neighborhood services.

Thank you.

Oh my gosh, I'm at my work site, and it's always a little confusing.

I did speak, and it's noted in the meeting notes for May 20th regarding what was happening at Board of Supervisors.

And I appreciate that you captured that because I always wonder if what's happening in health and Human Services at Board of Supervisors gets relayed over to you at San Diego City Council, who tends to bear the brunt of those things that the county is supposed to be funding in your behalf, and most especially the role that Mayor Wanagus is playing among our young people, which is where I work, and that's the school site I'm at.

And I'm hoping that there's some coordination.

So the health and human services at the county level recognizes the impact that we're experiencing here in our city of San Diego.

And if there's a mechanism in place for there be a to be a better exchange of information from the Board of Supervisors regarding their services.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes public comment on the consent agenda.

Thank you so much.

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

We have a motion by council member Raul Campillo and a second by council member Henry Foster.

Thank you so much.

And I think we'll just take the vote by voice.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

That passes unanimously.

And we will now, as I mentioned previously, go a little bit out of order in here.

Item three first, which is the item on our information agenda.

Natalie, please introduce item number three.

Item three, retired senior volunteer patrol program.

Wonderful.

Staff uh please make yourself comfortable, turn on your mic, and when you're ready, please introduce yourself for the record and then let us know how much time you need.

Hello?

Okay, so on.

Yes.

Good afternoon.

My name is Lieutenant Travis Easter.

Uh maybe 10 minutes, a little bit.

That's great.

Thanks.

Thanks, officer.

Uh thank you for having me here.

Uh I work out of our community and youth services division, and I oversee our volunteer services unit, which oversees the retired senior volunteer patrol program.

Uh it's one of four uh adult volunteer services programs that includes our volunteers and policing, um, our crisis intervention, and our reserve officers.

But for the reserve retired senior volunteer patrol, this is a bit more specific.

Uh what it comes to is they increase crime prevention and community visibility without replacing sworn police officers.

So as you know, uh, we have a bit of a staffing issue, and because of the staffing issue, what our volunteers do for us provides a lot of great benefits in so many ways.

Uh our numbers are not as great as we'd like.

We're trying actively trying to recruit as many people as possible because they provide a number of services for us, and uh many of our volunteers are our community members.

Uh so when it comes to their responsibilities, they patrol and observe neighborhood activity.

Um, they are that extra presence to be present in what separates them.

They have uniforms, uh their vehicles are all white, just like in that last slide.

And uh what they'll do again, they have police radios, they can monitor the radio, they're listening to calls, and they're riding around, and they're kind of our eyes uh for us in many ways.

They'll let us know if something's going on, if there's people on vacation and they can check the homes, check the homes, and they put in requests with the division or people can put in the request with the division that they where they reside.

So, for instance, if it's our uh Claremont or La Jolla, they can reach out to the division and say, hey, we need somebody to come by and check our homes.

That's where our RS and I was refer to them as RSVPs.

Our RSVPs step in and they provide those home checks.

They go around and they make sure that everything's okay.

And if something's out of place, they'll notify one of our sworn police officers.

Uh that you are not alone.

We have sometimes they call them YANA visits, where if there's somebody who needs assistance, uh whether it's food or if they're kind of on their own, they take that up too.

Those requests come in and they make the visits, they make the house calls.

Uh they help us out with doing safety talks, they go to community events.

Uh being at community and youth Services, one of our main priorities, we are engaged with the community, and we utilize our RSVP volunteers many times, many times.

Again, service doesn't have an age limit, and they help us out in different aspects.

Um, and one that hits home for me is they assist with traffic control.

So having been an officer and a sergeant in patrol, when there's a major incident that's going on, we don't have what we have officers who are focused on that critical incident, that problem.

It is not uncommon to hear one of our volunteers, our RSVPs get on the radio and they will go shut down a street or block traffic so that way we can focus on the job that needs to happen and make sure everything is handled safely.

And they also get to do some parking enforcement.

Now other agencies allow their RSVPs to do more enforcement.

We only have ours that do three, which is red zone, uh disabled parking and registration.

That's all that they do at this point, but again, that's part of, you know, if they're doing the neighborhood checks, what they can see when they're out there, and they help our detectives.

They kind of get paperwork uh from station to station.

Uh if a detective needs information that's passed around, say like a be on the lookout flyer, they help out with creating the paperwork and and moving them along, and then the get it done requests.

The get it done request, that's uh the app that many citizens have.

If there's something going on in the neighborhood that uh maybe our patrol officers can't get to immediately, our RSVPs have really taken the call with that program and they have trimmed our numbers tremendously when it comes to the get it done app, and they've actually been very happy to do it because our volunteers want to help our RSVPs.

They want to be active, they want to do something, and with all of the responsibilities that they have, the get it done is really give them something to do even more so outside of their regular responsibilities.

And again, who are they?

They're community members, they're community members who want to be a part of something, they don't get paid, they want to contribute to something that's profitable and benefit their community, and we are thankful for them.

Now, again, who are they?

Anybody age 50 and up.

Uh, when I say it has no age limit, we we have some RSVPs who are actually up to in their 80s, and they will still show up and go to work.

Uh they have to be either retired or semi-retired.

Um there is a background investigation, and right now we're in the process of revamping the program.

We're trying to make it more accessible.

Uh we've had a polygraph test uh that we polygraph examination, a lot of detector tests that we've taken out, but we still may use if necessary, but we're looking at every way to try to get as many people in and be as thorough with the background process because it is thorough.

If they're gonna be with the police department, we want to make sure that we're bringing on the best people possible, even when it comes to our volunteers.

Uh they have to have a valid California driver's license and a good driving record.

You cannot drive a police car and have a bad driving record.

That's still we are still responsible.

And uh there's an academy as well.

The academy is about two weeks long, they have to go to an academy.

Uh, part of that academy, one of the first days they get training on uh equal employment opportunity discrimination, they also learn radio codes.

Because if they're gonna ride in the car and listen to the radio, then you can know what they're listening to.

Uh how to do traffic control and then how to conduct that minimal parking enforcement that's necessary.

So we don't want to have anybody out here doing something without knowing what they need to do and being properly trained.

And they have to be willing to do 20 hours a month.

It's four or five hour shifts.

Um even that amount of time, 10 hours goes by fast, at least for us.

The five hours can go by even faster.

But what they do in those five hours helps us out tremendously and allows our officers to focus on the needs of the community as they come in.

So, as I said, right now we can really use more.

And if anyone is interested, uh the phone numbers on the screen, it is 619 446-1016.

If anyone is interested, please give us a call.

You can find us online.

Uh, there are many ways that people can serve, and this is one of them.

So thank you for the time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, I'm sorry, go ahead.

Any questions?

Thank you so much for the presentation.

I it's just full of good information.

Was that number 619 446, 1046?

1016.

Oh, almost at it.

1016.

Excellent.

So anybody interested in uh finding out more, 619-446-1016.

Thank you so much.

Um we really appreciate uh your presentation and Natalie.

Uh please go ahead with our public comment.

Thank you, Chair.

The public comment period for item three is now open, and we have not had any speaker slips submitted here in the committee room.

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

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

Our first speaker, Catherine Douglas, please unmute and begin.

Travis, there's one of my favorite SDPD um people, and thank you for the presentation.

Um RSVP is a another force multiplier.

When there's a traffic accident in front of my house, which happens often, uh, one patrol car can come and one RSV car can come rather than two patrol cars.

So that gives them two vehicles and one officer uh to control traffic and keep people safe after a bad incident has happened.

So I'm entirely supportive.

I don't have time to do this because I do a lot of other things in public safety.

But uh I really they're nice people.

I encourage my neighborhood watches in my community to avail themselves of the home check while people are away.

We had an incident up on um up in the uh Mirrorlands area uh last week.

Uh well, probably in the last 10 okay, thank you.

This does conclude your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is phone number ending at 870.

Please press star six and begin.

Uh thank you.

Uh thank you to the officer who spoke.

Uh your enthusiasm is sh showing, and I thank you so much.

Uh I'm a senior and I love cars, and unfortunately, my vision isn't as great as it used to be.

So uh that's my obstacle.

Otherwise I'd be out there in a moment.

So uh a lot of important responsibility.

Uh with your revamping uh uh a suggestion or question.

Uh fixed income seniors.

Uh is there any way we can get grant money for them like we do with our other interns, make them sort of interns, because perhaps people, you know, around 50 or so would be looking for work.

Maybe they're unemployed and so forth, and they could learn something about policing and uh I just think that that you could get more people uh somehow and fixed income people really knew that, need that money, so uh it's it's just a great great program.

And thank you for everybody that volunteers for that love to all.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, thank you, Blair Beekman.

Uh my three questions.

Uh do they carry a gun?

I'm not a big uh supporter of guns, so I I prefer them not to carry guns to address issues.

Um if that could be addressed.

Uh what's their background check like exactly?

Uh what do you have to go through?

If that could be explained, that would be helpful.

Um I think there's a certain standard that we have to respect.

I don't know what that is exactly, but if that could be explained, that would be nice too.

Uh, good standard is is always needed.

And um I with these kind of uh police officers, public safety officers, when they're at situations where there's an accident or something, and I try to ask them questions.

Nine times out of ten lately, they're very uptight, either in San Diego or other cities, and just say no comment.

You know, they don't want to explain what's going on with accidents.

I think it would help public safety a lot if they could offer simple brief explanations what's happening in a situation.

It makes the situation safer, basically, instead of being uptight and non-committal.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And our final speaker in the queue is Tony.

Please unmute and begin.

Yes, can you hear me?

It's quiet, but yes, we can hear you.

Yes, my question to this committee is when is enough enough.

I appreciate the volunteer policing and I appreciate the efforts of this community member, and I understand our intentions to try to rein in on the lawlessness in a country that has a child molester as the president.

And we currently have not had a single arrest for anyone in the SD files.

So I understand that we're trying to overcompensate with having the most policed country in the entire world.

But if we are the freest country in the entire world, why do we have more policing and more surveillance and more security apparatus than any other country in the entire world?

That is not a reflection of freedom.

That is a reflection of surveillance and oversight by the police who are already overfunded, who already have the biggest budget of any department of public safety, and whose role is really questioned by the autonomous automatization of all of these quote unquote force.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This does conclude your time.

And Chair, this concludes public comment on item three.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

And and thank you, Lieutenant Easter, also.

I'm gonna speak first and then I'll ask my my colleagues for their comments and questions.

It's a shining example of what community partnership with the police department looks like.

RSPV, got that backwards.

RSVP volunteers bring a lifetime of knowledge, a strong sense of civic pride, a genuine commitment to help others.

Their willingness to give back allows a police department to provide an extra level of service to San Diegans.

I want to commend the police department for maintaining and growing this very important program and for can continuing to recruit community members who have the heart to serve.

To all of our current RSVP volunteers, thank you.

Your dedication and service do not go unnoticed.

I will now turn it over to committee members for questions and comments.

And uh first, maybe I would like to ask the lieutenant can you explain that the about the uh RSVP volunteers whether or not they carry guns.

No, they do not.

The scope of their responsibility, it is not enforcement.

The only enforcement is a parking ticket.

Uh they do not have guns.

Uh like I said, they are really much pretty much our eyes and ears.

Uh, the scope of their responsibility does not allow that to be anything other than what was described.

Great, thank you so much.

I was sure that was the answer, but I just wanted to get it out there.

It's a good question.

Uh and now we have Councilmember Campillo, who has some uh comments and questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Lieutenant Easter.

Appreciate your presentation on this.

Um just wanted to reiterate what uh the chair said.

My constituents regularly ask for RSVP to go around the neighborhoods uh to be the eyes and ears as uh you mentioned, um, and it instills a sense of confidence in them.

First, just the visibility that their police department is listening to them, second of all, uh, to identify uh potential safety issues that the general public might not know.

And I know they go through a good amount of training and do this uh as a volunteer basis, so I really do uh appreciate them for taking all that extra time.

Um in San Diego, they could be at the beach, they could be golfing, but instead they are in a patrol car going around trying to be helpful.

Um so I I thank them and thank you for your presentation and and uh continue the good work.

Thank you.

Great.

Thank you so much for that, and thank you again for the presentation.

It's just wonderful to learn about this program.

I've seen them out there, and I I just think wow, this sounds like a really good thing.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

Like I said, we're always looking for more.

And even for the the lady who had the question, even if the driving isn't great, we have other programs where somebody can help serve as well.

So do not hesitate to reach out.

That's great.

That number, that phone number again, 619 446-1016.

You got it.

Thank you so much.

Alright, this brings uh brings a conclusion to item number three.

And we will now go on to item two.

Natalie, please introduce item two.

Item two authorization to apply for and accept up to four million dollars in San Diego River Conservancy Proposition 4 grant funds for bear park development phase two project.

Chair.

Thank you.

Thank you, staff.

Please introduce yourselves for the record and let us know how much time you'll need.

Good afternoon, Chair and Council Members.

Um Venus Molina, Chief of Staff for Councilmember Campbell, and Manny Reyes and your policy advisor, also Councilmember Campbell's office.

I believe it'd probably be about five minutes.

It's wonderful.

I just go ahead with the presentation.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

As a brief history, Councilmember Jennifer Campbell has served on the San Diego River Conservancy Board for the past six years.

The San Diego River Conservancy is a state agency that was established in 2002 to protect and enhance the San Diego River watershed and its tributaries.

The San Diego River Conservancy is one of four river conservancies in the state.

Proposition four, formerly the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024 was approved by the voters to fund initiatives that restore natural resilience, expand public's asset access, and improve water quality.

Councilmember Campbell became aware of this funding opportunity and worked with the city staff and river conservancy staff to identify projects that could be competitive for this grant, and buyer park was identified in Council District 8.

So grant summary, the grant funding is up to $4 million in Prop 4 funds.

The funding will be for buyer park development phase two, and the San Diego River Conservancy will be managing the grant.

The grant deadline is two years after the award, and the city already has submitted a letter of interest to the grantor for the review and approval.

The city now has been invited to submit the full application and a city council resolution with certain required language, authorizing application is a submittal requirement.

So project status.

The project includes two phases to the uh for of work, and both are underway.

Phase one includes the construction of children's play area, picnic area, basketball court, fitness equipment, skate park, on-site parking walkways, pedestrian lighting, right-of-way improvements, utilities, public art, habit uh habitat restoration, and landscaping improvements.

And the cost of phase one is 22.9 million dollars.

For phase two, which provide will provide an additional additional amenities, including pedestrian walkway, a dog park, a comfort station, picnic facilities, maintenance building, parking lot, and athletic fields, and that cost will be 18 million dollars.

The construction is currently underway for phase one, and it's uh estimated to be completed in the summer of 2026, and then upon that completion, phase two will start with construction.

So the funding um between two phases of work will be a total of 40.9 million dollars.

And there are a variety of existing funding sources in the CIP, including the local diff, citywide park diff grant funding, and other miscellaneous funds.

And the four million dollars in new grant funding will be will fully fund phase two.

Um, on this slide there is the chart of all the breakdown of the different funds.

So for today, we ask uh and request um your proposed action to allow council district two staff to work with the city attorney's office to draft a resolution authorizing the city to apply up to four million dollars for and accept San Diego River Conservancy proposition for grant funds for buyer park development phase two project S23008.

Thank you.

That concludes our presentation.

Thank you so much uh for the presentation and Natalie uh oh, excuse me.

I would like to ask Sergio Alcalde from the IBA's office if he has some comment.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, Sergio Alcalder from the IBA's office.

So the Bayer Park Development Phase 2 project is currently estimated to have a total cost of $18 million, which is fully funded given the addition of $4.2 million from restricted funding sources in the fiscal year 2027 budget.

We know, however, that the project will still need to undergo a construction bidding process and final construction costs may exceed the current cost estimate of $18 million.

If that occurs, this proposition four grant may cover any unbudgeted costs.

Additionally, if the city ultimately receives more proposition four grant funding than is needed to cover those unbudgeted costs, the leftover grant funds could be used to offset existing allocations for this project, which in turn would free up those restricted dollars to be used for other eligible projects.

That concludes my comments, and we're happy to answer any questions.

Thank you so much.

Natalie, will you please go ahead and proceed with any public comment?

Thank you, Chair.

The public comment period for item two is now open, and we have not received any speaker slips from individuals in the committee room.

There are two hands raised in the virtual queue, and I've started the five-minute timer.

We will begin with phone number ending in 870.

Please press star six to unmute.

You'll have one minute to speak to item two.

I'm sorry, sweetie.

What did you say?

How much time?

One minute.

One minute, thank you.

Okay.

So yes, this is this is great for buyer park.

Thank you, uh, Chair uh Campbell.

Uh great work.

Uh we love our parks.

Now, Prop 4 uh grant is 48 million dollars uh to the SDRC San Diego River Conservancy, and a minimum of four percent at the minimum, uh, goes to vulnerable populations or disadvantaged communities.

So the question is, is that happening?

Are we making sure that we get at least four percent of that money?

Which I think if I did the math real quick, that's nice about 19 million dollars.

So if grant if if buyer park needs more money, uh hopefully uh they'll be able to get it.

I think you said they can get more money.

Uh I'm not sure uh the presenter, thank you for presenting.

I'm not sure.

I think you said something on that.

So, but hopefully they can get more money if they need it as they move along because these park uh unfoldments can can be complicated and financially changing.

Thank you for that concluding statement.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

This does conclude your time, and our next speaker is Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, uh Blair Beekman.

Um thanks for this item.

Uh I I visited Bayer Park before.

Uh, thank you for what you'll be doing.

Um I've mentioned before uh the city of Davis, which is right near Sacramento.

They uh at the beginning of uh, you know, surveillance and technology accountability policies and practices.

They came up with uh practices for wildlife procedures uh with surveillance tech that was just bar none.

It was like the standard that people local governments across the state would they go to visit Davis just to see this model in action that uh just again to remind yourselves of that uh it could really help in how whatever tech may be there in the future that to practice wildlife tech on Davis's good model examples uh can be of help.

And that I think can make a real good example in how we practice our our day-to-day city lives with tech accountability in the future as well.

Uh just a reminder of their good work.

Uh good luck with this item.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes public comment on item two.

Thank you so much.

And uh I want to again thank you for the presentation and just say a few words uh if I could before I call on my colleagues.

Uh as chair of this committee, uh we oversee this aspects of the city's park system.

So it's important that we support this possible grant funding for buyer park phase two.

Access to quality parks and open space is essential to the well-being of our communities.

This project will deliver much needed recreational amenities to our city residents who live in that area and others who go to visit it.

I'm proud to have served on the San Diego River Conservancy Governing Board, representing the city of San Diego, along with my wonderful colleague, Councilmember Campillo, for the past six years.

And in that role, I, along with the board and staff, have worked to advance projects that improve watershed health, restore habitat, extend public access throughout the San Diego River watershed and its tributaries, and including the Sweetwater River, the Otai River, and the Tijuana River watersheds that are in the southern part of San Diego.

This grant opportunity is exactly the kind of partnership we should be pushing and pursuing at a time when the city faces significant fiscal challenges.

It's critical that we leverage state funding whenever possible to deliver important community projects.

Securing these funds would fully fund phase two of Byer Park and help bring the community's vision for this park to completion.

And I'm happy uh to be part of a project that's it's not my district, and so first thing I'd like to do is make a motion to accept staff's recommendation.

And the next thing I'd like to do is have uh one of you explain exactly where is this park located in case our listeners don't know.

Yeah, so the park is located down in South uh San Diego and District D in the San Isidro area.

However, again, as you have stated it, uh the San Diego River Conservancy Board oversees the San Diego River and its uh tributaries, which includes the Tijuana River shed, which uh is near this park, and so that's how they were able to identify that this park uh project was uh eligible for Prop 4 grant through the San Diego River Conservancy.

Thank you so much, and we're we're so happy to to help our uh other parts of our city as well as our own districts and work for the good of all.

And um, so we have a motion by myself, and I will now ask uh my fellow council members if they'd like to say a few words.

Councilmember Campillo.

Thank you very much, Chair, and thank you to your team for their good work on this, serving alongside you on the San Diego River Park, uh, San Diego River Conservancy.

It's fun every other month to get in there and realize just what uh progress we can make, whether it's down in Ocean Beach or all the way up to Julian.

Um and as Mr.

Torres pointed out, we can help other riversheds as well.

Originally, the original state law that was crafted didn't allow for that, but thankfully uh our uh local luminary Tony Atkins expanded it so that we could use this money to help other riversheds around the county.

So uh thank her for that.

Uh clearly uh this is good, this is money well spent.

It's state taxpayer dollars coming back home.

Always always a good thing to get that back here for uh communities.

Um, and so I'm happy to second the motion and uh get it spent quick.

I know that's not part of the motion though, city attorney.

Thank you so much.

Any other comments or questions?

Okay, so we have a motion by myself, a second by councilmember Campillo, and we'll take a voice vote.

All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

That passes unanimously, and uh, we will send that on to council.

Thank you so much for the presentation for all the hard work that our staff did.

Really appreciate you.

Thank you.

All right.

That brings us to the end of today's agenda.

So thank you to members of the public and staff for your participation, and I'll now adjourn this meeting of the community and neighborhood services committee to our next regularly scheduled meeting, which will be Wednesday, August 26th, 2026 at 2 p.m.

We are adjourned.