PO Box i52?53 San Diego, CA 92195?291 9 - oivzecuv - Facebook:LmJ?EK?LLD??D?hp?Lk?d September 2019 Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer City Administration Building 202 Street, 11?h Floor San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: 619.236.6330 Email: RE: Request for consistent removal of dangerous illegal encampments in North Chollas Regional Park Dear Mayor Faulconer: The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the present threat to the life and property of those residing near North Chollas Regional Park in the 4??1 Community Council District and to request your prompt action to reduce this serious threat. On August 25'? of this year, a swiftly moving wild?re with ?ames reaching as high as 30 feet ripped through the western side of North Chollas Regional Park. Had strong winds been blowing from east to west that day (as is the case during Santa Ana weather conditions) the ?ames would have reached the houses adjacent to the park almost immediately. Although, to our knowledge, no of?cial cause for the ?re has yet been determined, we believe that it was most likely started by a camp?re, a lighter, a cigarette or some other Page1 smoking device. At the scene, a ?re?ghter noti?ed us of the ?re origin (which is where illegal encampments have commonly been observed over the years). For nearly the last three years, concerned citizens have spent hundreds of hours repeatedly reporting illegal activity, litter, and human waste in North Chollas Regional Park. The response received from the City has typically been unacceptably poor. We have organized regular community cleanups to remove hundreds of pounds of refuse from our park. The ongoing illegal activities in North Chollas Regional Park have caused some citizens to refrain from using the park for recreational purposes due to fear for their personal safety. On the 12th of August (13 days prior to the tire) two illegal encampments in the vicinity of the ?re were reported through GET IT DONE (report numbers 02691613 and 0269165?) by a concerned citizen. Parks Recreation and Environmental Services were also noti?ed separately. The following are the details as they appear in the GET IT DONE site followed by our comments: ?Reported": August 2019 "Referred to": Parks and Recreation "Date Corrected?: August 16th As of September 5th, this inactive encampment was still present. Apparently, it was subsequently removed during a community cleanup. ?gte; A photo as well as a map location had been provided. Contact information for the citizen who reported the encampment was provided. That citizen was not contacted. MW "Reported": August 2019 ?Status": Closed ?Closure Reason": "Your report was evaluated and no violation was found?. "Date Corrected": August 16th mm This active encampment was still present approximately one week after closure of the report. Note; Two photos, a map location, and the contact information for the citizen who reported this encampment had been provided. Page 2 We have used GET IT DONE frequently and have typically found it to be useless in addressing illegal activity in our park. We continue to use it primarily because we recognize that it at least provides for a public record. The SDPD has informed us that much of the information (including map locations) in a GET IT DONE report is not visible to their of?cers. We have dealt with three City departments over the years: Parks and Recreation, Environmental Services, and the San Diego Police. Currently, each of these departments claims that one or two of the other three departments are responsible for the removal of inactive encampments. We believe that the prolonged presence of inactive encampments (sometimes more than a month after being reported) encourages others to illegally camp in our park. The ?message? that this sends is that illegal activity is not taken seriously. There also is some indecision among the three departments regarding active encampments. Some encampments are small (often not including a tent). Small encampments typically contain bedding, personal articles, trash, smoking articles, empty alcoholic beverage containers and, not uncommonly, evidence of ?res. We believe that the size of an encampment is not necessarily indicative of the severity of the risk and that therefore ALL illegal encampments pose a danger and should be removed Repeatedly, valuable time is lost while departments point ?ngers at each other and no action is taken. We find the current disagreement and confusion among the three noted City departments to be totally unacceptable in light of the present threat to the life and property of our fellow citizens as fires are lit within the large amounts of dry, unmanaged brush in this area. We therefore submit the following urgent requests to you: 1. We request that we be informed of the speci?c responsibilities assigned to San Diego Police, Environmental Services, and Parks and Recreation relative to the removal of illegal encampments and their contents (day encampments or overnight encampments, large or small, active or inactive) as de?ned by current Administrative Regulations and Policies and subsequent amendments. Page 3 2. We request that reports of illegal activity that include evidence of ?res being lit are responded to in less than 48 hours. If this is not possible, then we would like an of?cial statement regarding what is reasonable when homes are in danger of fast-moving brush ?res. 3. We request that other illegal activity (where there is no evidence of ?res being lit) be responded to in less than ?ve business days. 4. in addition, we request that the de?ciencies of GET IT DONE be corrected to provide law enforcement (and all other pertinent City personnel) with ready ac- cess to ALL information provided by citizens submitting a report and to ensure that legitimate requests are being processed properly. 5. Finally, we request that the temporary homeless storage facility NOT be installed at the Lea Street terminus. We believe that a more suitable location can be found that does not put the sheltered and unsheltered among us at greater risk than they presently are. The expected increase of illegal activity and consequent ?re risk within our park are among the multiple negative impacts that we believe would be the result of installing the facility at this location. We have met with Monica Montgomery, our City Council member representing the 4th District, to discuss our concerns. Council Member Montgomery?s of?ce fully supports our petition. Within the package submitted to you with this letter, we have included our petition with signatures, email records. and photographs (dating from early 2017 to the present). and links to local media coverage (which include interviews provided by two concerned citi- zens), as well as other supporting material. Mayor Faulconer, we know that you have the ability through the executive powers of your of?ce to ensure the safety of our community members and to provide clear guidance and leadership among related city agencies. We ask that you ad- dress your constituency?s concerns and help us remain safe in our homes. Page 4 Sincerely and on behalf of the concerned citizens of the Oak Park and its neighboring communities, Richar Diaz, President Oak Park Community Council Responses to this letter should be directed to: Keith Burke Oak Park Community Council member cc: Eric C. Young ll, Community Representative for Mayor Kevin Faulconer Council Member Monica Montgomery, District 4 Henry Foster, Chief of Staff, District 4 Coun- cil Member Georgette Gomez, District 9 Mara Elliot, City Attorney Aimee Faucett, Chief of Staff Kris Mitchell, Of?ce of the C00 Ron Villa, Assistant Chief of Operations Of?cer David Nisleit, Chief of Police Colin Stowell, Fire Chief Edwards, President, Rolando Town Council Lauren Kimmons, President, Redwood Village Community Council Linda Godoy, Chair, Eastern Area Planning Committee Page 5