It was a busy and productive week at the Board of Supervisors. We honored 2 great groups with proclamations, met with our Service Employee International Union Local 221 members, and three of our policies were passed by my colleagues!

Public Land for Public Good

Since taking office in 2021, I’ve worked to make affordable, attainable homes a priority for the Board of Supervisors. One of the strategies we’ve used is to use public land for this public good.

This week the Board supported my resolution to create affordable homes on one of the most prominent, publicly-owned parcels in San Diego County: the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Leadership from the City of Del Mar and the owner and operator of the Del Mar Fairgrounds – the State of California 22nd District Agricultural Association – were pleased to hear the Board of Supervisors passed this resolution.  As the negotiations unfold between the Del Mar and the 22nd District Agricultural Association, I stand ready to help.

By encouraging the construction of 100 percent affordable homes on some of the land, we are helping to create a region where working families can live comfortably and raise their children.

Some of the reasons the fairgrounds are ideal for affordable housing are:

• Its proximity to community amenities within a one-mile radius such as groceries, high-quality schools, parks, and job centers.
• It’s within a half-mile of transit stops on the North County Transit District 308 and 101 bus lines, as well as planned seasonal COASTER access that is anticipated to serve the fairgrounds.
• It’s located in an area resilient to the impacts of climate change.

Healthy People, Healthy Communities 

I authored a new policy to support increased levels of mental health and addiction treatment at future housing developments the County supports financially.

Passed by the Board this week, this will have a positive, long-term effect on the people we’re helping with behavioral health services, and the communities where the housing is located. We saw the need for this recently at the Windsor Pointe apartments in Carlsbad.

To review the entire policy, click here.    

Pay Up, Polluters

The Board voted to approve a policy from me and Chairwoman Nora Vargas to hold polluters accountable for fouling our water and coasts.

As we fight to reverse decades of sewage fouling our beaches from the Tijuana River Valley, San Diego County is now on record as officially supporting a new bill to take corporate polluters in California to task for the harm they bring to our communities and environment. 

I wrote about California State Senator Steve Padilla’s Senate Bill 1178 last week, and on Tuesday the Board joined me in calling for this legislation to be passed in the state capitol.  

SB 1178 would require large corporations of more than 2,500 employees to publicly disclose their wastewater discharges and directs the State Water Resources Board Control Board to create a “California Water Quality and Public Health Impact Surcharge” that will quantify the costs of mitigating that contamination.

For polluters, the bill is coming due. More needs to be done to protect our beaches, ocean, and bay, and this bill will make San Diego County and California waters safer. SB 1178 is set for a hearing at a state legislative committee on April 17. 

In service,

Terra