San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo here: happy Friday!

Welcome to this week's Raul Roundup, your go-to source for the latest news, updates, and insights from our community and City Hall. Here’s what’s been going on this week:

Firefighters respond to brush fires in Mission Valley, Grantville (CBS 8)

I can’t emphasize enough how grateful I am for the good work of our first responders in dealing with these fire conditions. This week, two brush fires broke out in the Mission Valley/Grantville areas, but thanks to our Fire Department, the fires did not spread. Please continue to stay vigilant as more dry conditions are in the forecast for this coming week.

Homeless deaths dropped in San Diego County for the 1st time in a decade (Axios)

One of the gravest trends we have seen in San Diego is the dangerous conditions faced by folks living on the street. The high numbers of homeless deaths, driven in part by frightening drugs like fentanyl, is among the reasons why I have been banging the drum so consistently for more action on behavioral health.

In encouraging news, there are signs that we are finally beginning to turn the tide on this issue. According to the San Diego County Medical Examiner, the number of homeless deaths fell in 2024 for the first time in a decade. This news tracks with other data we’ve seen recently, such as the fact that more people were housed than fell into homelessness for the first time in years and the fact that overdose deaths overall are down.

While we know we still have lots of work to do to address our homelessness crisis, these three data points do begin to paint a picture that we are making progress. We need to keep working in order for that progress to become orders of magnitude faster, though, because the situation on our streets remains unacceptable.

The path forward lies in more housing that takes our neighborhoods forward, more behavioral health treatment capacity, and more of an emphasis on good jobs and a stronger economy in general so that fewer people fall into homelessness.

Powerful Holocaust Exhibit

The RUTH (Remember Us the Holocaust) exhibit at the La Jolla Riford Library is a powerful reminder of the history of the Holocaust. The exhibit was created by Sandra Scheller, whose mother, Ruth Goldschmiedova Sax, was a survivor of three Nazi concentration camps.

Thank you to all who attended and especially Sandra Scheller, Sam Landau, Paul Nussbaum, and David Beck Brown for creating and curating the exhibit. Let us never forget!

For San Diegans across generations, these community gardens offer refuge, passion and ‘wonderful friendships’ (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Last year, it was such an honor to open San Diego’s very first community garden in a public park: the Linda Vista Community Garden. My team and I worked hard to make this happen, collaborating with local stakeholders like Bayside Community Center, the San Diego Parks Foundation, and the Carpenters Union.

When we talk about the impact of a community garden, it’s so important to emphasize that it’s about far more than just the food; it’s about connection and community-building. Maura Fox of the Union-Tribune did a great job diving into those themes this week in an article that focused on people like Kelicia Pitts, someone who at one point was living in her car, but who found incredible meaning from her community garden.

“This garden is not only something that I have developed a passion for — but I lived here, and it was my place of refuge,” she said. “So I’m also giving back to an organization that stretched out their hand to me.”

Over the last 10 months, Pitts has become one of the garden’s primary caretakers. She visits every other day to tend to the flowers, fruits and vegetables growing in six lush beds along a dirt path — butternut squash, kale, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, strawberries and more. She’s even bought some of the plants for it herself.

…

For Pitts, the Door of Hope garden has been important not just for the community but for her own well-being.

The garden has been a refuge while she’s living in her car and has helped her discover a love of gardening she didn’t know she had.

It’s also opened doors. In between working at a flower shop and for Instacart and applying for other jobs, she’s recently been accepted into the San Diego County Master Gardener training program on a full scholarship. She begins classes this month.

While Kelicia Pitts’ garden was a different one from the Linda Vista Community Garden – hers was the Door of Hope garden, which is operated by the Salvation Army – I appreciate the way that the article frames the impact of community gardens in general and on someone like Kelicia Pitts. Thanks Maura for covering this important story!

More Acres for Mission Trails Regional Park

This week, the City Council voted unanimously to purchase 14.9 acres of land in the East Elliott area. The acquisition of this land will help expand Mission Trails Regional Park and protect vulnerable local species by preserving their natural habitats. This purchase was made possible thanks to the Habitat Acquisition Fund, a funding stream for these specific types of acquisitions.

Since taking office in 2020, approximately 320 acres have been acquired and dedicated as open space as part of San Diego’s Multiple Species Conservation Program.

And in other good Mission Trails news: this week, the Hike-a-Thon wrapped up, raising over $40,000 all in all and clocking more than 17,000 miles hiked. Thank you to all who participated and donated!

Road Transformation of the Week: Quito Ct