por Jay Wilson

The Del Cerro Action Council (DCAC) met in January. Police Community Relations Officer John Steffen reported that while there were no violent crimes recently reported in Del Cerro, there were two burglaries and six car citations. On April 28, there will be a prescription drug takeback at the Eastern Division Police Station at 9225 Aero Drive. SDSU police lieutenant Rob Broussard reported that there were 28 service calls in January to Adobe Falls and 49 security checks during peak hiking times.

DCAC chair, Mark Rawlins, said he was just updated on the proposed Maintenance Assessment District (MAD), sponsored by The Friends of Del Cerro. The city of San Diego is still analyzing the lawsuit involving the La Jolla MAD. The court found that the La Jolla MAD did not provide any special benefits, just general benefits. The city needs to determine what a special vs. a general (standard) benefit is. Once determined, the Del Cerro report can be revised as needed. The Engineers’ Report and the Del Cerro petition can then be circulated. Check friendsofdelcerro.com for more information.

Rawlins reported that the ColRich 24-unit housing project on College Avenue was approved by the City Council.

Liz Saidkhanian, director of community outreach for Councilmember Scott Sherman, stated the city has doubled the size of the quality of life team to help the homeless. It is assumed that only 10 percent of the homeless will take the offered services. The city is removing about 10 tons of trash a week from the homeless river camps. About $250,000 a month is spent on these cleanups.

Zach Bunshaft, Rep. Susan Davis’s representative, reported that Davis voted against the federal budget because it did not, among other things, include any wildfire disaster relief. Rep. Davis is on the higher education subcommittee and wants to make college more affordable. One way to do this, she suggested, is to have apprenticeship programs so that students can earn while they learn.

Michael Vogl, the deputy director of customer service of the San Diego Water Department, and David Bryant addressed water consumption concerns. Vogl said the water department encourages feedback and wants bills to be accurate; they are reviewing high bills. They invited everyone to sign a list and said that they will call back to hear any individual concerns.

The November/December bill added extra days; a one-time change wherein the billing period was up to 72 days instead of the normal 55–60 days. Vogl said they prorated the tiers so residents weren’t negatively impacted by the longer billing period. The water department will meet you in your home and make suggestions as to how you can save water. This issue has continued to escalate in the past two weeks and the water department has been directed to conduct an audit of the billing program.

Rachel Gregg, the community relations manager at SDSU, discussed the SDSU EIR update. A link to the file is on the DCAC website. Rawlins urges everyone to review the document as it relates to Adobe Falls and to submit a comment. Search for Adobe Falls on the document.

Gregg said SDSU is not planning with this project right now. The focus is Mission Valley and not Adobe Falls. Asked why SDSU had to expand locally versus building another campus in Chula Vista or using more satellite campuses such as Brawley and Calexico, Gregg responded that while SDSU will not build more satellite campuses, she did not know about Chula Vista; but she thought the matter had been put to rest because another campus would entail another set of administrative costs.

Asked if SDSU would trade the Adobe Falls land if they got the Mission Valley land, Laura Shinn, the director of planning for SDSU, stated that since SDSU was at their cap of 25,000 full-time equivalent students (FTEs), to get to the next cap level of 35,000 FTEs, SDSU had to use all its resources.

— Jay  Wilson is secretary of the Del Cerro Action Council. Visit delcerroactioncouncil.org.