The Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation, in conjunction with my office and the San Diego Parks and Rec Department, began a Hike-a-Thon this week to raise money for the park! Nadia and I have already donated to the effort, which has already raised nearly $20k of the Foundation's $100k total goal! Get involved and learn more here.

If there’s one idea we can all agree on, it’s that everyone deserves to have a safe place to sleep at night. This week, the City Council allocated $4.5 million in state grant funds to deliver a critical lifeline to 131+ people experiencing homelessness along the San Diego River and I-15. These funds will be used to provide supportive services and help our unhoused neighbors get into housing. What’s more, this funding comes at absolutely no cost to the City as it is entirely paid for by state grants.

Together, we can make progress on housing the homeless and preventing people from entering homelessness in the first place. I’m focused on achieving both those aims by building more housing, creating an economy that uplifts everyone, and addressing the behavioral health crisis we are facing -- which brings me to...

As a country, we sadly suffer from a mental health and substance abuse crisis. This complex and deeply tragic issue plays out every day in our city, whether it’s another overdose or the many people who suffer silently from mental health challenges. I personally have a connection to this crisis, as my brother Alex died of an opioid overdose ten years ago. It's one of the things that first inspired me to run for office: to build a more prosperous, safe, and caring city because if scripture teaches us anything, it is that we are our brother's keeper.

I believe strongly that not only can we do better as a society, but that the City of San Diego has a role to play in that progress. Over my first term, I have led the way on behavioral health by slashing red tape so that more detox beds can be built in order to better serve our communities, by rallying the cry for billions of dollars in behavioral health investment statewide, and more. Overall, I've made it clear that just because other levels of government have traditionally been 'in charge' of behavioral health doesn't mean that the City can't be part of the solution, too.

Watch me talk more about this subject here.

If you’re a regular reader of the Raul Roundup, you follow me on social media, or you’ve been to any one of my Coffees with Campillo or Town Halls, you’ll probably have heard me talk about why I’m a big supporter of technology like Smart Streetlights that keeps my constituents (i.e. YOU!) safe.

Well, if you are curious to see the actual proof that this technology works, take a look at this article from Times of San Diego about a news conference that Mayor Gloria, Chief Wahl and other city leaders held this week to emphasize the impact of Smart Streetlights. According to the Mayor and SDPD, the technology has contributed to 229 cases, resulting in 166 arrests and counting so far this year alone.

The job of City Councilmember comes with many responsibilities: voting on policy, helping constituents with issues, writing you a weekly newsletter… okay, maybe that last part is going a little above and beyond! But hey, I enjoy writing it and keeping you informed 😊

Anyway… the point is that the safety of our communities is the most important responsibility that I hold as your City Councilmember. Without safety, our neighborhoods cannot prosper – and I will always prioritize ways to support the work of our first responders so that San Diego can remain one of America’s safest big cities.

While we’re on the subject of keeping our neighborhoods safe: this week at City Council, city leaders and staff presented an update on Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVROs). GVROs keep our community safe by allowing a judge to issue a temporary restriction on a person’s ability to purchase or possess a firearm when they are deemed a danger to themselves or others.

Before I was a City Councilmember, I was a Deputy City Attorney – and part of my work was to prosecute GVROs, so I know their effectiveness firsthand. They are an innovative tool that not only has made San Diego safer, but has been adopted by other cities across California because leaders far and wide recognize the positive impact of GVROs.

The gist of the report to City Council this week was about the Gun Relinquishment Task Force, which is a partnership of various law enforcement agencies that aims to “ensure compliance with firearm-prohibiting court orders, investigating failure-to-relinquish cases, conducting threat assessments, and performing operations to ensure compliance with court orders.”

A Union-Tribune article from August goes into more depth about the Task Force and GVROs in general.