As the Trump Administration cuts Medicaid and withholds billions in healthcare funding from California, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted today to fight back — overcoming opposition from Supervisor Jim Desmond.

In a historic bipartisan decision, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors has approved a U.S.-side treatment system to combat decades of toxic sewage from the Tijuana River. 

If you have a kid, know a kid, or have ever watched a group of middle schoolers fly past you on e-bikes and thought, “Wow, that seems fast” - you aren’t alone. 

After years of ramping up the County’s role in treating toxic Tijuana River pollution as a public health crisis, Lawson-Remer and Aguirre are proposing the next major phase of the cleanup: long-term action.

Gas was 32 cents a gallon. The median home cost about $14,000. The Beatles were touring. America was racing to the moon. The year was 1966 — and here in San Diego, the Tijuana River pollution crisis was starting to make San Diego beaches unswimmable.

You shouldn’t be able to leave government on Friday and get paid to lobby your former coworkers on Monday.

And you shouldn’t be able to learn something confidential because you work for the public — then use that information to place a bet and make yourself richer.

San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer today advanced the County’s planned $240 million Behavioral Health Wellness Campus, moving the project into its next phase of procurement, design and construction.

— On a unanimous vote, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today approved a new anti-corruption proposal that cracks down on lobbying and insider trading on betting apps like Kalshi and Polymarket. 

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors today approved Chair Terra Lawson-Remer’s proposal to support state legislation aimed at preventing the rapid growth of Big Tech data centers from driving up electricity costs for working families.

On a 3-2 vote, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today passed a critical proposal by Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Chair Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre to ban federal immigration enforcement agencies, including ICE, from using County facilities for firearms target training. 

Surrounded and supported by several community groups and leaders, San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Chair Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre  today announced a landmark proposal to ban federal immigration enforcement agencies, including ICE, from using County facilities for firearms training. 

President Trump has spent billions expanding a mass deportation force while cutting healthcare and other services families depend on.

And what has that expansion looked like?

I know “a fact check on claims about County Charter reform” sounds like something you would read only if you had a newborn, no sleep, and no better options at 2 a.m.

Some people spend summer catching up on great books.

But my reading list has been a little different lately.

Between feedings, diapers, and sleepless nights with my newborn, I’ve found myself consuming a lot of fiction — not novels, unfortunately, but wild claims about the County of San Diego.

Statement from Chair Terra Lawson-Remer

San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer issued the following statement after the San Diego Board of Supervisors today approved placing the Citizen’s Measure on the November ballot:

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors today approved a $9.16 billion balanced budget that protects library hours, park access, behavioral health, public safety, homelessness response, food assistance, veterans services, fire and medical services, roads, infrastructure, and other core County services.  The Board used great fiscal discipline to build this year’s budget because the worst of the Trump Administration’s cuts are yet to come. 

Five weeks after delivering her daughter, San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer returned to deliver a balanced County budget and lead one of the most consequential Board meetings of the year — with votes on Charter accountability reforms and major voter decisions affecting the future of health, safety, and local government.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors today voted to send a final Charter reform package to the November ballot, giving voters the chance to strengthen independent oversight, transparency, and accountability in County government.

San Diego County is on pace to meet its state housing mandate years early — but the teachers, healthcare workers, and families who need housing most are still being priced out. Today, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted to change that, adopting the County's first-ever Inclusionary Housing Ordinance requiring new residential developments to support the County’s affordable housing goals.

 A County-backed housing model championed by San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer became reality today as Shoreline Community Services opened Compass Commons, a first-of-its-kind cabin community for people working their way out of homelessness.

The six individual sleeping cabins will provide safe, secure, and dignified housing for members of Shoreline’s Community Care Crew — people who are earning wages, cleaning streets, supporting local businesses, and rebuilding stability in one of San Diego’s highest-cost beach communities.

The San Diego Chapter of Women Leaders Association, a chapter of a national organization dedicated to rising women leaders, named San Diego Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Chief Administrative Officer Ebony Shelton as top women leaders for their impact on the region and for their partnership in advancing services and initiatives that strengthen communities across San Diego County. 

We pushed hard to deliver this: San Diego County’s new balanced budget plan closes the gap without cutting the core services families rely on.

Despite millions of dollars in federal cuts and cost shifts, this budget keeps local finances in check, and protects libraries, parks, emergency response, behavioral health, homelessness services, veterans services, and food assistance.

Here’s how we did it.

 The San Diego County Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement today filed the County’s first major lawsuit against several sushi franchise companies operating sushi counters inside grocery stores statewide alleging that businesses exploited sushi chefs through deceptive labor practices.

They’re everywhere! Kids on e-bikes, adults on e-bikes, groups of people on e-bikes — flying down streets, weaving through traffic, close calls that make your stomach drop (sometimes without a helmet).

San Diego County made legal history today in the fight for immigrant rights and government accountability, winning one of the first major court tests of California’s new law authorizing local public health inspections of private immigrant detention centers. 

Summer is fast approaching — which is great news for kids, and a disaster for every family's daily schedule 

With an alarming increase in e-bike and high-powered illegal electric motorcycle accidents causing serious injuries and sometimes death, San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer today announced the County’s Public Health Officer has issued a Public Health Alert warning families, health care providers, schools, and community partners about the growing safety threat.  Read the public health alert link HERE.

San Diego County voters are one step closer to deciding whether to modernize the County Charter for the first time in decades, after the Board of Supervisors approved a historic package of governance reforms Tuesday on a 3-2 vote.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors today unanimously accepted the $99.5 million award from California’s Proposition 1 Bond funding to build a Behavioral Health Wellness Campus that will serve as a model for the state. It will provide mental-health and addiction services in one location for more than 20,000 residents ranging from unhoused veterans, to working-age adults and justice-involved residents working to overcome addictions. 

The County Board of Supervisors voted today to authorize negotiations and implementation planning with the region’s four Managed Care health plans to fund homeless outreach and housing services currently delivered by County social workers.

In an effort to protect thousands of local jobs, lifesaving clinical trials, and more than 1,700 active research projects at UC San Diego, Scripps Research, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, San Diego State University, and local startups, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today voted to support a proposed $23 billion state research bond to help counter sweeping federal cuts to scientific research and development. 

Thousands of young children will continue receiving developmental screenings, speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral services, and family support after the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today unanimously approved a $4.3 million bridge funding plan advanced by Chair Terra Lawson-Remer.

San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer released the following statement on the horrific shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego:

San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Vice Chair Monica Montgomery Steppe, who serve as members of the Board’s Sustainable Fiscal Planning Subcommittee, released the following statements today after the County released its recommended Fiscal Year 2026–27 budget.

The federal government tried to gaslight the public into believing we had no authority here. Now we know this isn’t true.

After a year of work by community organizations, labor leaders, business leaders, governance experts, public safety advocates, and residents to strengthen accountability and modernize County government, Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer warned today that Supervisor Joel Anderson’s proposed amendments would gut many of the reforms that gave the Charter proposal real meaning.

In the first major court test on whether federal agencies can block authorized county public health inspections of California’s private immigrant detention centers, a federal judge today affirmed San Diego County does have the police authority to conduct inspections of Otay Mesa Detention Facility and there will be irreparable harm if the inspections do not move forward.  

In a move that will bring arts and culture programs to every area of San Diego County including diverse and underserved communities, the Board of Supervisors today approved up to $2.75 million in total funding, with $2.25 million in ongoing annual investments, to launch and sustain everything from an artist grant program, to investments in the Black Arts and Culture District, to an artist space grant program & a binational creative economy investment and artist in residence program.

As May marks the start of National Bike Safety Month, the San Diego Board of Supervisors today recognized the month by presenting a proclamation to community groups while also raising alarming concerns about a surge in e-bike accidents.

San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer released the following statement after organizers submitted 151,000 signatures to place the San Diego Health and Safety Act on the November ballot.

A lot of money is directed to reducing homelessness. But which investments are actually making a difference?

With melodies setting a captivating tone along with ballet and break dancers , San Diego County leaders Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe today unveiled an innovative arts and culture initiative poised to revolutionize the arts scene, especially within diverse and underserved communities.

Here’s something I bet you didn’t know: Wall Street has been quietly taking over the fire truck industry. It’s delaying equipment firefighters need and costing taxpayers millions, including here in San Diego County.  

On a 3- to-2 vote, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today approved a partnership with the Mexican Consulate to expand options for immigrant legal defense services and increase access to critical “Know Your Rights” information.

The County Board of Supervisors today unanimously approved expanding San Diego County’s successful regional Homeless Diversion Fund, authoring a contract with the San Diego Housing Commission to administer a $2 million effort funded by San Diego philanthropic institutions, the County of San Diego, and the City of San Diego. 

After hours of supportive public testimony by a large, nonpartisan group of community leaders, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today approved significant Charter Reforms on a 3-2 vote.

San Diego County is one of the largest, most complex local governments in California, but its governing structure was designed for a bygone era. 

You’ve heard me talk about this for a while, how our mental health system doesn’t work the way it should.

In an unusual display of nonpartisan solidarity, community, civic, business, labor, environmental, public safety, health, and student leaders, with a wide range of political beliefs, today stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the San Diego County Building in support of Charter reforms.

When Washington cuts funding and changes eligibility rules, families here don’t stop needing food, healthcare, or help making ends meet.

So instead of waiting around, we got to work — finding a smarter way to stretch every taxpayer dollar and help protect the services San Diegans rely on.

San Diego County fire trucks that once arrived in a year now take four years to deliver and cost twice as much, leaving departments across the region waiting years for trucks they’ve already paid for.

Across the country, people are feeling squeezed — by rising costs, by global instability, and by a growing sense that the rules are not being applied fairly. 

Here in San Diego, we are confronting that reality directly. 

San Diego, San Diego County is on track to meet its entire eight-year state housing requirement years ahead of schedule, after permitting 6,577 homes — 98% of its total housing target — just halfway through the current housing cycle.

A Los Angeles jury today held Meta and YouTube liable for what parents across this country have been saying for years: that these companies knowingly designed platforms to hook children, watched kids struggle, and chose to keep going because it was profitable.

San Diego County will more than double youth crisis mental health care capacity under a sweeping expansion led by Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer — the largest investment in youth behavioral health services in County history and a major shift toward prevention-focused care.

On a 4-to-1 vote, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today joined the state’s largest counties after approving Chair Terra Lawson-Remer’s proposal to create a Consumer Fairness and Public Protection (CFPP) unit to crack down on illegal practices like scams against seniors and veterans, junk fees, denied health insurance claims and predatory financial practices.  

Acting on direction from Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors advanced an ordinance to extract Behavioral Health Services from Health and Human Services Agency as a standalone department. 

Tuesday, the Board votes. Here’s what’s at stake, and how you can help before then. 

A San Diego woman's doctor ordered a cancer screening. Her insurance company's algorithm said no, without a human ever opening her file. She appealed. She waited. She paid out of pocket. And there was no local agency with the power and focus to fight that battle for her.

A celebratory news conference was held today to usher in San Diego County’s new streamlined approach to treating mental health and addiction at the soon-to-be-built Behavioral Health Wellness Campus. 

After the Trump Administration destroys and dismantles consumer protections for working families, San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer is proposing the creation of a Consumer Fairness and Public Protection unit to crack down on illegal practices like junk fees, scams against veterans and seniors, denied health insurance claims, and predatory financial practices.

A new San Diego County report released today finds that the average daily population at the Otay Mesa Detention Center has increased by approximately 200 percent in recent years — a dramatic surge County officials say is intensifying overcrowding, raising public-health concerns, and significantly increasing the cost of providing legal representation to protect constitutional due-process rights.

This week, San Diego County filed a lawsuit in federal court after we were blocked from conducting a lawful public health inspection at the Otay Mesa immigration detention facility. 

This may sound like a narrow legal dispute. It isn’t.

A federal judge has scheduled an April 15 hearing at 1:00 p.m. in San Diego County’s lawsuit that could become the first major court test of whether federal agencies can block state-authorized public health inspections of immigration detention facilities.

In a monumental breakthrough to expand access to mental-health and addiction treatment for everyone in San Diego, from unhoused veterans to adults working to overcome addiction, the County of San Diego today was conditionally awarded $99.5-million in the second round of Proposition 1 Bond funding to develop and construct the new Behavioral Health Wellness Campus that will serve more than 20,000 residents each year.

San Diego County today filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump Administration after federal officials blocked a lawful public health inspection of the Otay Mesa Immigrant Detention Center.

You may have seen recent news coverage about county charter reform. I wanted to speak to you directly about what folks are working on and why it matters.

The Trump Administration failed to respond by a 5:00 pm deadline tonight to San Diego County’s request to allow a full public health inspection of the Otay Mesa Detention Center scheduled for this Friday. 

Six months after modernizing its reserve policy to align with national best practices, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today approved $47.4 million in one-time investments under the reformed structure.

As part of its ongoing efforts to provide clean, renewable energy at the greatest possible value for its customers, the San Diego Community Power Board of Directors today voted unanimously to strengthen workforce standards in new renewable energy and battery storage procurement agreements. 

The Civil Liberties Enforcement and Accountability Rules (CLEAR) ordinance spearheaded by San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer will take effect tomorrow (Friday Feb. 27), including the roll-out of signs in multiple languages stating federal ICE agents are restricted from entering non-public areas of County facilities without a judicial warrant.

At the weekly Courage in Community Rally, San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer joined the large crowd and described being denied entrance to Otay Mesa Detention Center last Friday along with Board Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre.

If you’ve opened a bill and found a surprise fee, gotten a robocall pretending to be your bank, or signed a contract that didn’t match what you were promised — you know how quickly a small deception can turn into real financial harm.

Federal immigration officials today blocked San Diego County from fully exercising its lawful public health authority at the Otay Mesa Detention Facility, after initially clearing County officials to enter.

The Coronado City Council unanimously voted today to become the newest member of San Diego Community Power, beginning the process to offer residents a choice in where their electricity comes from, with the potential of lower rates and access to programs.

Does it harm your health? Does it put you in danger?

San Diego County Board Supervisor Paloma Aguirre (District 1) Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer (District 3) condemn the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem’s visit to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. While the Secretary utilized the visit to highlight federal drug and border enforcement metrics, the Supervisors emphasized that true public safety requires a commitment to community trust and the protection of civil rights.

Today, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors advanced a substitute motion authored by Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer to clarify the County’s position as San Diego absorbs a $300 million annual loss in healthcare and food assistance funding caused by federal tax cuts for the wealthy.

San Diego County has initiated the public health inspection process at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. The County’s Public Health Officer today sent a letter to the facility’s senior warden, after County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer directed staff to assert the County’s authority to examine health and safety conditions inside the privately operated immigration detention facility. 

San Diego County is heading into a difficult budget year, driven largely by steep cuts in federal funding for Medicaid and Food Assistance that are squeezing counties across America. 

The San Diego Board of Supervisors today approved a proposal to modernize County technology and capture up to $7 million in ongoing annual taxpayer savings. This comes as San Diego County confronts a difficult fiscal year driven by deep federal funding cuts that threaten healthcare, food, and other services for thousands of County residents.

In response to the ongoing Tijuana River sewage crisis, the San Diego Board of Supervisors today recommended funding for infrastructure repairs at the Saturn Boulevard hotspot - a known source of toxic airborne emissions - and critical public health studies.

With beaches in Imperial Beach closed for a third consecutive year, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today approved the establishment of a County Pollution Crisis Chief position to bring urgency, accountability, and coordination to the County’s response to the Tijuana River Valley sewage crisis.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors today unanimously approved the Civil Liberties Enforcement and Accountability Rules (CLEAR) ordinance to restrict federal immigration agents from accessing non-public county spaces.

San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer this morning ordered County flags to be lowered to half-mast through the conclusion of this week’s Board of Supervisors meetings in recognition of the tragic deaths of Renée Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti, resulting from recent federal immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis.

It’s official – the poop is in the air. 

The stink you smell when you’re in Coronado or the South Bay isn’t just the odor of missed days at the beach due to the Tijuana River Valley environmental crisis, or the stench of first responders getting sick just doing their jobs.

Today, San Diego County Board of Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Paloma Aguirre announced a l proposal advancing immediate infrastructure action at the Saturn Boulevard hotspot, alongside critical public health studies, accelerating the County’s response to the Tijuana River sewage crisis.

As national scrutiny intensifies around deaths in ICE custody and limits on federal oversight of immigration detention facilities, San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer has directed the County to conduct a public health inspection of the Otay Mesa Detention Center under California law.

The inspection will be conducted by County public health officials pursuant to California Health and Safety Code §101045, which authorizes counties to inspect detention facilities operating within their jurisdiction to ensure compliance with basic public health and sanitation standards.

We all feel it. Groceries are up. Water is up. Power bills are climbing — and wildfire risk is a big reason why.

Across California, utilities are spending billions to reduce wildfire danger from power lines and to harden an aging grid. These safety upgrades are overdue, unavoidable, and happening statewide — and corporate utilities are passing the full cost straight on to customers.

At a time when electricity costs are rising across California — driven by escalating wildfire mitigation mandates, infrastructure upgrades, and climate-related risks — the San Diego Community Power Board tonight unanimously approved electric generation rate options designed to limit price increases and keep Community Power’s most affordable tier up to 10% lower than SDG&E’s generation rates.

San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, reappointed today as Chair of the San Diego Community Power Board, led the effort to prioritize affordability and protect residents and small businesses from even steeper utility cost hikes.

San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer tonight was unanimously reappointed chair of the San Diego Community Power Board and will continue leading the Board’s efforts to expand clean energy, lower power bills, improve customer service, boost transparency about energy sources and launch programs for solar/battery adoption and energy efficiency. 

Community members will once again gather Thursday morning outside the federal building in downtown San Diego as part of an ongoing, peaceful weekly action calling for due process, transparency, and accountability amid growing concern that the federal government is operating without adequate oversight or respect for constitutional limits.

As federal funding becomes less reliable and costs continue to rise, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today approved a targeted pilot aimed at reducing avoidable maintenance and construction expenses.

The action, introduced by Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, is part of the County’s broader effort to closely examine operations and identify savings where possible before making difficult budget decisions.

The San Diego Board of Supervisors today unanimously approved California Special Assistant Attorney General Damon Brown as the new County Counsel, who comes to San Diego with two decades of experience, including public safety, civil rights, consumer protection, immigration, education, and voting rights. 

At its first meeting of 2026, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today unanimously voted to reappoint Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer as Chair of the five-member Board, signaling a commitment to stability and continuity as the County faces a challenging budget year driven by major federal funding cuts.

I want to share this recent San Diego Union-Tribune article on a big idea I believe deeply in: fairness is a core American value — but it doesn’t enforce itself. That’s why San Diego County is stepping in.

I’m proposing to create a new Consumer Fairness and Public Protection Unit — a local watchdog that will take on polluters, predatory landlords, abusive insurers, and scammers, and recover money for San Diegans. 

Ahead of a weekend expected to include demonstrations nationwide following the killing of a U.S. citizen and mother in Minneapolis, San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer urged San Diegans to raise their voice in protest peacefully, safely, and with care for one another.

After a national joint search, California Special Assistant Attorney General Damon Brown has been selected to lead the County Counsel’s office pending a vote by the Board of Supervisors on January 13.

The past year tested all of us.

Washington pulled back. Funding was cut. Programs people rely on were suddenly at risk. And for a moment, it would have been easy to feel like so much was out of our control.

But that’s not what San Diego did.

As I join many of you in celebrating the holidays with friends and family, I’ve been taking a moment to slow down and reflect on the year behind us, and the one ahead. 

Our coastline is one of San Diego’s greatest treasures — essential to our economy, our environment, and our way of life. But right now, it’s facing one of the most serious threats we’ve seen in decades. The federal government has proposed reopening Southern California’s waters to new offshore oil drilling, reversing long-standing protections and putting our communities at real risk. We will not stand for this. We’ve beaten back Big Oil before, and with strong community support, we’ll do it again. Thank you for staying informed and standing with us in this fight.

With one in four SDG&E customers already behind on paying energy bills, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today passed Chair Terra Lawson-Remer’s proposal that will help solar developers expand small scale affordable, clean power to customers in disadvantaged communities to lower their electricity bills. 

In San Diego County where its pristine coastline is essential to its identity, the Board of Supervisors today went on the record to strongly oppose the Trump administration's reckless proposal to expand offshore oil and gas drilling for 2026-2031, that will be costly, destructive and puts beaches at risk of another devasting oil spill that makes people sick and drives a stake through San Diego’s tourism economy. 

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors today received its First Quarter Operational Plan Status Report, which outlines early fiscal trends for the year and identifies areas where departments must adjust spending or financial plans. Despite continued budget uncertainty at the federal level, most County business groups are pacing within budget and are on track to finish the fiscal year in good financial standing.

To ensure that seniors and people with disabilities can continue receiving consistent, high-quality care at home, today the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a new labor agreement that strengthens recruitment and retention for the region’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) caregivers.

The County Board of Supervisors approved a major expansion of its Emergency Medical Services Corps program today, strengthening the region’s pipeline of future Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), paramedics, and first responders — industries that are short-staffed and expected to face increased demand in coming years.  

Residents in the city of Encinitas tonight stood their ground at a robust ‘Peoples Hearing’ vowing to fight the Trump Administration over plans to renew offshore oil drilling on the San Diego coast.  They have no intention of backing down. 

San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, who represents almost the entire coast of San Diego County, joined their protest at the Encinitas Community Center. 

The following statement was released by San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer on President Trump’s plan to open California’s coast to new oil drilling.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors today took a major step to legally block the Trump Administration from cutting off Medicaid funding for hundreds of thousands of San Diegans trying to get critical health care services like cancer screenings provided by Planned Parenthood and other local clinics. 

With federal cuts from the Trump Administration threatening food assistance, housing support, and healthcare access for hundreds of thousands of San Diegans, the Board of Supervisors today unanimously approved Chair Lawson-Remer’s plan to launch a first-of-its-kind partnership between the County and San Diego Foundation to protect essential services.

When Washington walks away, San Diego steps up.

Congress passed H.R. 1, the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a law that slashes funding for food assistance, adds expensive new red tape to Medicaid, and leaves our County facing over $300 million in new yearly costs.

Have you ever felt bounced around, told to call one number, then another, then another, just to get the help you need?

For too long, San Diegans struggling with mental illness or addiction have been forced to navigate a maze of disconnected programs, overcrowded ERs, or even jail, without ever getting the complete care they were seeking.

If you’re like me, you’re making last-minute tweaks to your kid’s Halloween costume right now (or, let’s be honest, your own costume). 

But tomorrow will be far scarier than tonight.

On Saturday, November 1, nearly 400,000 San Diegans will lose access to food assistance because Republican leaders in Washington have shut down the government and refused to extend vital healthcare and nutrition programs.

Every minute matters when a wildfire strikes — especially after dark. 

This week, the County Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of a night-flying Firehawk helicopter, expanding our region’s around-the-clock firefighting power and giving firefighters a critical new tool to protect families, homes, and communities. 

With Halloween right around the corner, there’s one costume that is generating real fear.  

Across the country, people have begun posing as federal immigration officers and are showing up at homes, flashing fake badges, and threatening residents for profit.

This week, San Diego County launched a $75 million initiative,  the first of its kind in California,  to train 3,000 new behavioral health workers to serve our region.

It’s the largest local investment in the mental health care workforce in state history, and it tackles the one thing that will make or break our progress: staffing.

San Diego families like ours are feeling the squeeze, from the checkout line at the grocery store to the jaw-dropping price of after-school soccer (seriously, how does a tiny uniform cost more than my first suit?!).

Since taking office, we’ve worked to turn decades of failure and underinvestment around:

For decades, families along our coastline and in South County have been forced to live with the consequences of international inaction — toxic sludge in the Tijuana River Valley, contaminated air, and closed beaches.

The water’s still dirty. But the momentum is shifting. This week, we took another step forward because hundreds of you raised your voices and demanded it.

When we talk about justice, most of us picture fairness, dignity, and the right to be heard. We don’t picture a child standing in front of a judge with no one to speak for them.

In just a few weeks, children as young as four could be standing in immigration court alone, without anyone to defend them. That’s because President Trump cut the program that once provided unaccompanied migrant kids with lawyers. Here in San Diego, about 300 children will lose their attorneys after September 30.

On Tuesday, I chaired a Board of Supervisors meeting where we got the type of update I’ve been waiting years to hear: San Diego is transforming how we respond to mental illness, addiction, and homelessness, and it’s happening faster than anyone thought possible.

In March, we set one of the boldest goals in County history: nearly doubling our treatment system by 2030, so people get help before it becomes a 911 call or a night on the street.

On Wednesday morning, ICE agents arrested a father during school drop-off, within sight of children walking into Park Dale Lane Elementary. Kids saw “armed masked men” take someone’s parent away.

Most of the people ICE detains are not violent criminals. Raids like this don’t make us safer — they turn schools into traps, drive families into the shadows, and leave kids too scared to show up for class.

First, they took food off San Diegans’ plates. Now they’re sticking us with the bill.

That’s the strategy behind President Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” — and last week, we finally saw the price tag.