San Diego County is facing an electric bike (e-bike) safety crisis, and children are paying the price.

E-bikes are currently on pace to be the leading cause of trauma cases at Rady Children’s Hospital 

in 2026.

To enhance the fairness, civility, accessibility, and efficiency of County meetings, I propose a 

series of amendments to the Board of Supervisors’ Rules of Procedure. These recommendations 

focus on restructuring meeting schedules, streamlining the order of business, and clarifying 

procedures for Tuesday and Wednesday sessions.

When a San Diego parent buys their child an electric bike (e-bike), they should be able to trust that 

they are getting a safe, legal bicycle, and not an unlicensed motorcycle in disguise. But shady 

retailers are deceptively marketing and selling high-powered, electric motorcycles as "e-bikes," 

pocketing the profits, while families are left with the devastating consequences.

The Tijuana River Valley (TJRV) and surrounding communities continue to experience severe 

impacts from untreated sewage, toxic urban runoff, and noxious airborne emissions from the 

Tijuana River, resulting in recurring contamination of coastal waters and nearby neighborhoods. 

These conditions pose significant risks to public health, degrade environmental resources, and 

disrupt local economic activity in coastal and border-adjacent communities.

The Tijuana River Valley pollution crisis continues to impose significant and far-reaching 

environmental, economic, and public health burdens on communities throughout San Diego 

County. The situation has escalated into an entrenched regional emergency marked by chronic 

infrastructure failure and severe transboundary contamination polluting water, air, and soil in the 

Tijuana River Valley.

The Trump Administration is threatening Medicaid and the health care safety net on two fronts. 

First, H.R. 1, signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025, enacted the largest reductions 

to Medicaid in the program’s history. The law imposes new work-reporting requirements, 

requires more frequent eligibility checks, restricts eligibility for certain lawfully present 

immigrants, and makes other significant changes to Medicaid financing.

Across San Diego County, families are afraid to seek help from the very public institutions

meant to protect them. Parents worry that taking a child to school, reporting a crime, or showing 

up for a medical appointment could expose a loved one to immigration enforcement.

Public service is a public trust. San Diego County (County) officials are entrusted with over $9 billion in 

taxpayer dollars, sensitive nonpublic information, and the power to make decisions that impact peoples’ 

lives.

On December 9, 2025 (11), the Board of Supervisors (Board) adopted the meeting calendar for the

2026 calendar year and further amended the calendar on May 19, 2026 (11). It is necessary to

amend the 2026 meeting calendar to cancel the July 14, 2026, meeting as there are no anticipated

agenda items for that date.

San Diego County has grown into one of the largest and most complex county governments in the 

nation, managing more than $8.6 billion in annual public spending and delivering essential services 

to over 3.3 million residents. With that scale comes an even greater responsibility to ensure public 

dollars are used effectively and decisions reflect the needs of the people we serve.

San Diego County has built a world class biomedical research and life sciences innovation hub

through decades of sustained investment in its research universities and institutions, its scientific

and technical workforce, and its ecosystem of entrepreneurs and companies committed to turning

scientific discovery into real treatments and technologies. Today, the foundations of San Diego’s

innovation engine are under threat.

On April 21, 2026 (14), the Board of Supervisors (Board) considered a proposal to amend the 

County Charter, and, by a vote of 3 to 2, adopted a resolution and approved the introduction of

an ordinance to submit proposed County Charter amendments to County voters on November 3, 

2026. 

This item is part of a broader effort by the County to identify every reasonable efficiency, costsaving opportunity, and new revenue source before any service reductions are considered. This

effort has already produced millions in ongoing savings through modernizing County 

communications technology, centralizing space management, and right-sizing our vehicle fleet.

Civic leaders bet on arts and culture in the midst of the Great Depression, and the landmark County

Administration Center stands as the legacy of that choice.i Today, the County faces that choice

again.

San Diego County has grown into one of the largest and most complex county governments in

the nation, managing more than $8.6 billion in annual public spending and delivering essential

services to over 3.3 million residents. With that scale comes an even greater responsibility to

ensure public dollars are used effectively and decisions reflect the needs of the people we serve.

On August 26, 2025 (24), the San Diego County Board of Supervisors established the Ad Hoc

Subcommittee on Social Safety Net and Behavioral Health Systems Transformation (Ad Hoc

Subcommittee) and directed it to advise the Board on two priority areas: developing a coordinated

Countywide response to anticipated federal changes to public benefits eligibility systems, and

guiding the multi‑year transformation of Behavioral Health Services (BHS) into a standalone

organizational structure.

San Diego families turn to the cemetery industry in their most difficult moments. They trust the

deceased will be treated with professionalism and their burial rites and traditions will be properly

observed.

As the federal government withdraws key investments and budget uncertainties grow nationwide,

local governments are being asked to do more with less. The County of San Diego (County) cannot

control instability in Washington, D.C., but we can control how responsibly we steward public

resources and protect the services our residents depend on.

The County of San Diego (County) is preparing for a difficult fiscal year largely caused by significant federal funding reductions. Particularly as the County’s upcoming budget cycle approaches and decisions must be made, maintaining public trust requires demonstrating that every reasonable efficiency, consolidation, and cost-saving opportunity is pursued before any service reductions are considered.

San Diego County is at a critical inflection point in the evolution of our safety net health systems. Federal changes under H.R. 1, coupled with related State implementation actions beginning in 2026, are expected to increase healthcare coverage loss and administrative barriers for residents enrolled in Medi-Cal and other public programs.

The Tijuana River Valley (TJRV) and surrounding South Bay communities continue to experience severe impacts from untreated sewage, urban runoff, and toxic airborne emissions, resulting in recurring contamination of coastal waters and nearby neighborhoods. These conditions continue to pose significant risks to public health, environmental resources, and economic activity across affected cities and unincorporated communities.

The County of San Diego (County) is preparing for a difficult fiscal year driven largely by significant reductions in federal funding. As the County approaches the upcoming budget cycle, maintaining public trust requires demonstrating that every reasonable efficiency, consolidation, and cost-saving measure has been identified and pursued before any service reductions are considered.

San Diego County Fire (County Fire) delivers around-the-clock fire protection and emergency services across 1.5 million acres, operating twenty-two fire stations in one of the most fire-prone regions in California.

Mounting energy bills puts San Diego working families in the impossible situation of choosing between keeping the lights on and paying rent. Electricity rates in San Diego rank among the highest in the nation and their trajectory is alarming.

On November 20, 2025, the Trump Administration released its Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing

Program that would reopen Southern California’s coastal waters to new oil and gas drilling for the

first time in decades. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) proposal includes six

large new leasing zones in federal waters off Southern California, reversing decades of bipartisan

California opposition to offshore drilling and putting long-standing coastal protections, local

economies, and energy affordability at immediate risk.

Washington’s actions are pushing San Diego’s communities to the brink. H.R. 1, signed by the Trump Administration, guts the very programs that keep people healthy, housed, and fed. This law rips hundreds of millions each year from the County of San Diego, cutting off lifelines like food assistance, Medicaid, and other essential supports families depend on.

Across the country, a little-known section of the new federal budget law, H.R. 1, has thrown the nation’s reproductive health care system into crisis. The law imposes a one-year ban on Medicaid reimbursements to nonprofit providers that also offer abortion services, cutting off all Planned Parenthood services from their critical source of funding.

Across the country, more than 42 million Americans, one in eight people, rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to afford groceries each month. These are working parents, seniors, and children who depend on modest food benefits to make ends meet. Now, because of Washington’s dysfunction, they are being told to go hungry.

Over the past year, communities have witnessed an alarming escalation in raids carried out by masked, unidentified agents. A CNN investigation released in October 2025 found that incidents of fraudsters and predators impersonating Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have surged this year, more than in the past four presidential administrations combined, with reports ranging from assault and kidnapping to extortion.

Every year, entertainment events vendors employ hundreds of stagehands to build and break down stages, rig lighting and amplification systems, and move heavy-duty equipment at large revenue-generating events in County of San Diego (County) parks, work that can turn deadly when safety corners are cut.

County facilities are where San Diegans turn for help, to apply for food assistance, enroll in healthcare, report wage theft, meet with a caseworker, or speak with a public defender. They are meant to be safe, welcoming, and rooted in trust, reflecting the County’s highest purpose: that the noblest motive is the public good. Yet across the country, troubling incidents have shown what happens when that trust is violated.

After months of public engagement and deliberation, the Board of Supervisors and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) delivered a structurally balanced County budget. The Adopted Operational Plan for Fiscal Years 2025–26 and 2026–27 maintains essential functions, such as keeping deputies on patrol, firefighters on call, and home health aides supporting older adults. The Adopted Operational Plan also makes strategic investments, from behavioral health workforce expansion to emergency response infrastructure.

For nearly eighty years, the Tijuana River Valley has absorbed raw sewage, industrial waste, pesticides, heavy metals, and hazardous chemicals carried across the border. These pollutants have settled into the soil, wetlands, and estuary, creating a toxic legacy that endangers public health, fragile ecosystems, and the regional economy.

Across San Diego County, communities are increasingly living in fear as federal immigration crackdowns escalate, tearing families apart and destabilizing neighborhoods. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests in the County have increased by over 400% this yeari, with indiscriminate raids hitting neighborhood restaurants, Home Depot parking lots, and even near elementary school drop-off zones. San Diegans have voiced in strong opposition to these actions, as families are displaced and loved ones detained, often with no criminal record, by agents carrying out violent and chaotic arrests.

Beginning October 1, 2025, hundreds of unaccompanied immigrant children, some as young as toddlers, will be forced to stand before an immigration judge without an attorney. They will face federal prosecutors alone, with their futures and safety on the line.

San Diego County has grown into one of the largest and most complex county governments in the 

nation, managing more than $8.6 billion in annual public spending and delivering essential services 

to over 3.3 million residents. With that scale comes an even greater responsibility to ensure public 

dollars are used effectively and decisions reflect the needs of the people we serve.

As federal immigration enforcement expands, more San Diego families are being pulled into

detention and removal proceedings without legal representation. Unlike criminal defendants,

individuals facing immigration removal proceedings have no constitutional right to appointed

counsel.

For too many San Diego families, a single missed paycheck, an unexpected car repair, or a landlord

unwilling to negotiate is all it takes to tip from housing instability into homelessness. In a region

where rents have climbed steadily and the cost of living continues to squeeze working families,

the margin between housed and unhoused has never been thinner.

Hyperscale data centers—vast warehouses filled with servers for running compute-intensive 

artificial intelligence (AI) applications—are exploding in number and size. Meta recently 

announced one of the largest ever, a four million square foot data center in Louisiana that 

delivers five gigawatts of AI computing power.