A California appellate court has declined to give Chula Vista a new hearing after ruling last month that the city unfairly rejected a cannabis company seeking a license. The judges were unaware at the time that Chula Vista had no more licenses to give out, because the city hadn’t mentioned it. But knowing that now didn’t make a difference.
In a new filing, the judges said they would not reexamine the arguments and consider newly submitted evidence, calling the city’s request “an abuse of the resources of this court.” They also clarified that their ruling in July did not order the city to invalidate any of the licenses it already awarded.
Legal translation: not my problem, go figure it out.
Earlier this month, Voice contributor Jackie Bryant wrote about the city’s scramble to fix its cannabis licensing system, which has been plagued by complaints and lawsuits.
“What ever happened to …” These topics were once front page news, but have since slipped out of the spotlight. So we’re checking back in.Read more stories in our series here.
Chula Vista elected officials have for years called for clarification of the city’s campaign finance rules, so no one gains an unfair advantage.
But with another election coming up, officials have yet to make any changes to the city municipal code, despite promising last summer to do so.
In July 2021, the City Council voted unanimously to create a campaign subcommittee on the advice of City Attorney Glen Googins. Googins said the issue had been nagging at him for some time, but other priorities kept getting in the way.
“There’s really no convenient time to take up this update,” he said. “We’re either going into an election cycle or we’re coming out of one.”
To get things rolling, he suggested Mayor Mary Salas and Councilman Steve Padilla serve on the subcommittee. The confusion over the rules has led to complaints that some candidates have gamed the system to win office.
At the time, Googins said he hoped to convene the subcommittee within 30 days, then return to the full City Council by the end of 2021 with recommendations. More than 13 months later, elected officials have yet to consider any proposals.
Googins didn’t return a request for comment, but Anne Steinberger, the city’s marketing and communications manager, said the city attorney is continuing his efforts. “There is no update at this time, but plans are to bring this item to City Council before the end of his term,” she wrote in an email.
The problem, as I reported last year, is with campaign debt, or more specifically, unpaid bills. Sometimes candidates trying to get their names in front of Chula Vista voters spend more than they raise in donations, and the difference is listed on disclosure reports as an accrued expense — essentially a credit. Then once they secure a position of influence, they go back out and raise more money or pay the difference out of their own pocket.
Ending a campaign with unpaid bills isn’t usually a problem in local elections, because most cities offer politicians a grace period. San Diego, for example, gives candidates 180 days to pay back their vendors or become personally responsible for the money.
The Chula Vista municipal code, on the other hand, treats unpaid bills as an “extension of credit” but it doesn’t offer a timeline for when those bills are due. A strict reading of the municipal code suggests that the costs of campaign goods and services become donations, subject to a $360 per person cap, if they’re not paid upfront.
Political operatives said there are legitimate reasons a bill might go unpaid in the short term but acknowledged there’s a public interest in stopping bad actors and clearing up the confusion. Dan Rottenstreich, a consultant, offered a hypothetical situation: “A lobbyist sends $50,000 worth of mail on behalf of a candidate and says, ‘No, don’t worry, I’ll send an invoice, you can pay me whenever.’ That is something you would want to stop.”
This otherwise obscure provision reared its head again in the 2020 election after Andrea Cardenas ousted Mike Diaz, the incumbent, for City Council. Diaz ended the campaign with a slight surplus. Cardenas, a political consultant, finished with bills totaling $36,691, mostly owed to a communications firm specializing in mailers.
Cardenas’s campaign debt was worth more than Diaz had raised over the course of the entire election. Though Diaz was feuding with the local GOP at the time and ultimately re-registered as an independent, he cited his opponent’s debt-spending as a reason he lost.
Months after winning office, Cardenas loaned her campaign $33,500 and accepted a pair of donations from another political consultant, John Wainio. Her latest campaign finance report, filed in July, still shows $700 in accrued expenses. Cardenas didn’t return a request for comment.
She’s not the first Chula Vista politician to spend considerably more than she took in. Councilman John McCann, who’s now running for mayor, finished the 2014 election owing $40,662 for literature and mailers. Both Salas and Padilla have also finished campaigns owing thousands of dollars to lawyers or consultants. Googins, too, finished his 2010 campaign with more than $20,000 in debt but paid it off before taking office.
Salas and Padilla are termed out later this year, which was part of Googins’ justification for proposing they join the campaign subcommittee.
“You’ve both gone through a lot of elections and have a lot of different experience with this,” he said.
“More than we’d like to admit,” Salas joked.
Googins also said he wanted the subcommittee to make suggestions on how to fine-tune the procedures for enforcement. The current system in place was the one proposed more than a decade ago to address complaints as they arise.
For starters, the city’s Board of Ethics appoints a panel of outside attorneys. If they conclude that the complaint meets a “knowing and willful” standard, it goes to the district attorney’s office and could be punishable as a misdemeanor. But if the complaint meets a “negligent” standard, one of the attorneys on the panel reconsiders it as a possible civil and administrative matter. The point is to isolate city staff so the people reviewing the complaint aren’t biased.
Peter J. Watry, Jr., a Chula Vista resident, filed two such complaints last year. One was against Cardenas for her unpaid bills. The other followed on the heels of a La Prensa article and was against McCann for using a donor-supported legal defense fund to pay legal bills after he lost a defamation case that he initiated. As the Star News reported, the complaint alleged that McCann solicited contributions from companies and individuals who had business before the City Council.
McCann didn’t return a request for comment but told the newspaper last summer that he acted within the bounds of the law and declined to discuss specifics of the lawsuit.
An outside attorney investigating the complaint against McCann for Chula Vista kicked it to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, arguing that the question of legal defense funds was a state matter, not a local one. That investigation is still open.
As for Cardenas, another outside attorney concluded there was probable cause that her campaign debt spending violated the municipal code on a negligent standard, but it’s not immediately clear what happened after that. I asked Cardenas and city officials for an update and didn’t hear back.
Last week, I also asked Padilla and Salas, the two members of the city’s campaign subcommittee, for an update on its progress. Salas didn’t respond. An aide for Padilla said he was unavailable for comment because of a personal matter.
The only elected official who agreed to comment on this issue was also the only elected official who hasn’t reported any unpaid bills.
In a statement, Jill Galvez, who joined the City Council in 2018, said: “I’m looking forward to hearing the recommended language clarification from the subcommittee and voting on it soon so that there is an even playing field between candidates. I think the language is pretty clear as it stands, but there is no question that enforcement of the Chula Vista municipal code provisions on candidate fundraising and debt has been lacking.”
Chula Vista’s veteran deputy city attorney, Simon Silva, died earlier this month of cancer. But because he’s still on the November ballot and Democratic Party leaders, including Mayor Mary Salas, are still encouraging residents to vote for Silva, it’s entirely possible he’ll win — which raises a number of procedural questions.
The City Council may need to appoint an interim city attorney and hold a special election next year. In that event, Fox 5 reports that a stand-alone city-wide election could cost almost $2 million.
Current City Attorney Glen Googins, who’s termed out, told the Union-Tribune after Silva’s death that he recommended his city colleagues use an independent attorney to figure out how to proceed and avoid a conflict of interest.
At a meeting earlier this week, Salas defended her decision to keep backing Silva over Republican Dan Smith. She said critics were disrespecting Silva’s history and goodness.
Meanwhile in the mayor’s race: Councilman John McCann held a press conference to announce that a private investigator had captured footage of his opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, for 32 nights straight going to his girlfriend’s home in Bankers Hill.
McCann argued that Campa-Najjar doesn’t live in Chula Vista, but his presser isn’t getting the reception he expected. “John McCann stalks political opponent” was KUSI’s headline. The TV station also noted that Campa-Najjar’s visits to a condo in San Diego are not illegal.
Campa-Najjar called McCann’s efforts a “circus show.”
The Chula Vista City Council approved new rules this week intended to guide officials on how they can use and acquire surveillance technology. It comes in response to the public push-back over a Union-Tribune report in late 2020 revealing that officials had shared license plate data with federal immigration authorities.
For years, bigger cities across California have been grappling with how to implement technology into their day-to-day operations while being open about the risks to civil rights and liberties. Often, devices and software capable of monitoring and identifying individuals have ended up in the hands of police and other officials with little to no discussion or meaningful oversight.
Rather than an ordinance akin to what San Diego passed over the summer, which activists had been calling for, Chula Vista pressed ahead Tuesday with a policy aimed at boosting awareness and transparency of surveillance gear.
Among other things, the policy establishes an advisory commission and a process for writing the rules around specific devices and software. It also requires the city to create an impact report before buying surveillance technology and allows officials to restrict the use and sale of sensitive personal information to third parties.
The framework for the policy came from a 12-person task force whose public meetings and briefings were facilitated over a roughly six-month period by Madaffer Enterprises, a firm that’s also helping Chula Vista with its smart city initiative. But in the end, the policy didn’t include everything the group recommended.
The task force, for instance, urged the city to create a new full-time position — a chief privacy officer — but officials said they would need to consider that proposal during budget hearings. In the meantime, the city plans to hire a consultant who can serve as a liaison to the advisory commission.
Others warned that the policy, unlike an ordinance, didn’t have much teeth to it should the technology or data be abused. In response, officials characterized the policy as a good start, something that future leaders might want to build on, and acknowledged on Tuesday the work of activists on the ground.
“We’re recognizing the community spurred us forward, and rightly so,” said Councilman Steve Padilla.
Chula Vista candidate for mayor John McCann speaks to reporters at the Republican election party held at the US Grant Hotel in San Diego on Nov. 8, 2022. / Photo by Brittany Cruz-Fejeran for Voice of San Diego
Update: We added new numbers for the mayoral race in Imperial Beach.
Councilman John McCann took an early lead in the vote count against Ammar Campa-Najjar in the Chula Vista mayor’s race. The candidates fought a heated battle for the seat with accusations flying in both directions since the beginning of the race. McCann, a Republican, ran a campaign that focused on his experience on the council. He told Voice back in May that Chula Vista was in need of common sense leadership.
National City: Late Tuesday night,Ron Morrisonheld a lead over opponents for mayor in National City. As of Wednesday afternoon, Morrison had a less than 6 percentage-point lead over Councilman Jose Rodriguez.
Morrison is a councilman and former mayor of the city. If the lead holds as remaining votes are counted, he will beat the sitting mayor, Alejandra Sotelo-Solis, and fellow councilman Rodriguez. Sotelo-Solis lost the support of labor unions and the Democratic Party and her colleague, Councilman Marcus Bush. But the battle that ensued between Rodriguez and Sotelo-Solis, two Democrats, allowed Morrison to likely prevail.
In Imperial Beach: Tuesday night Paloma Aguirre had a less than 4 percentage-point lead over Shirley Nakawatase in the race for mayor in Imperial Beach. But that gap shrunk to less than 1 percentage-point by Wednesday.
Significant tensions between city officials erupted during Monday’s City Council meeting, after months of behind-the-scenes discussions failed to solve a disagreement over an appointment to the city’s Audit Committee.
City Attorney Mara Elliott alleges that Stewart Halpern, cannot serve on the committee because he sits on similar bodies for the San Diego Association of Governments, creating a conflict of interest. The Audit Committee includes both members of the public and the Council.
But a former interim city auditor, and Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, both alleged that the idea of a conflict of interest was a pretense, and Elliott was really pushing Halpern off the committee for political retribution.
“The question is, ‘Why?’” she said. “When he was appointed, there was no conflict found. So why are we here now? I believe this is retaliation because Mr. Halpern has challenged the city attorney’s opinion on the city auditor’s need for independent legal counsel. And if we go along today not bringing forward a reappointment for Mr. Halpern to the audit committee, we are complicit in that retaliation. It will have a chilling effect across the city. Every current or future board or commission member will have been put on notice that if they dare to criticize the city to much, that this Council is willing to allow them to be punished.”
That was one of many uncommonly direct accusations throughout an hourlong discussion. It also included the city’s independent budget analyst saying Elliott’s version of a meeting between them was “simply not true,” Councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe saying Elliott chooses the terms of attorney-client privilege to suit her interests, and Elliott saying that her office is too often turned into a scapegoat and that the Council needed to make a decision based on the city’s best interests, “not friendships, or politics, or animosity to the person delivering the message.”
The divided Council ultimately voted to bring Halpern back for a vote to be reappointed to the Council, and to ask the state attorney general for clarity on whether his appointment really constitutes a conflict of interest.
San Diego’s longtime city clerk retired last month, weeks after four of her now-former staffers filed a lawsuit accusing her of discriminating against some employees.
The lawsuit, first reported by the Union-Tribune, accused Liz Maland of repeatedly denying promotions to employees who weren’t white or Latino and who were over 50. The suit also alleged that other city officials failed to halt retaliation, harassment and discrimination after issues were flagged.
Maland told the Union-Tribune that she considered the allegations “so repugnant and just antithetical to what I stand for” and said she had already planned to retire early this year for other reasons. The lawsuit, Maland said, “was just the breaking point for me.”
The New Councilman on the Block
The entrance of Chula Vista City Hall on Nov. 29, 2022. / Photo by Gabriel Schneider
The Chula Vista City Council voted Tuesday to appoint Alonso Gonzalez, a broker, to the city’s District 3 seat. Mayor John McCann was the only no vote.
The seat was left vacant after Councilman Steve Padilla was elected to the state Legislature. The city received more than a dozen applications for the position. The Council interviewed 10 finalists last week and heard from dozens of residents in a meeting that went on for hours.
Gonzalez was sworn in immediately after the vote on Tuesday. Speaking from the dais, he said he accepted the challenge and hoped to, “rise to the occasion.”
His appointment followed hours of public comment from residents demanding that the City Council vote to hold a special election instead of appointing a candidate.
In Other News
The general managers of two rural water districts in San Diego County argue they are being forced to pick up an unfair share of the tab in a new op-ed. The GM’s say their districts, Fallbrook and Rainbow, pay a higher rate for water than the rest of the county. And, they say, the San Diego County Water Authority wants to tax them for leaving. (Voice of San Diego)
Mount Hope residents have waited more than a year for repairs after a neighborhood play area was burned down. (inewsource)
San Diego Gas & Electric announced that gas bills that have recently surged are likely to drop significantly in February. (Times of San Diego)
El Cajon launched a program this week connecting those who dial 911 with non-life threatening requests to nurses who can assess their medical needs and offer recommendations. (NBC 7)
U-T reporter Kristen Taketa wrote a Twitter thread summarizing a series on childcare the paper published throughout January. Key takeaways: Much state money goes unspent, providers are scraping by on the thinnest of margins and many families who qualify for subsidies can’t get into a program. Taketa also explored solutions San Francisco is working on to fix the state’s broken system. Link to the full series here.
National City is one-upping San Diego in the race to hire new police officers. National City will hand out $30,000 in hiring bonuses to any officer who leaves another department to come to National City. That is double the amount San Diego is paying to attract new officers. (NBC 7)
The Morning Report was written by Andrew Keatts, Lisa Halverstadt and Will Huntsberry. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.
Early next week, the San Diego City Council is set to hear a proposal from Council President Sean Elo-Rivera and Mayor Todd Gloria to step up tenant protections in the city.
What they seem unlikely to hear are many enthusiastic arguments why it should be approved as is.
Jesse Marx and Lisa Halverstadt checked in with landlord and tenant advocates this week and learned they aren’t thrilled with the proposal. There’s already lots of talk about amendments, an indirect litigation threat from two former city attorneys and even a ballot measure.
Gloria and Elo-Rivera, meanwhile, emphasize that the proposed ordinance isn’t a silver bullet and represents a careful balancing act of the city’s various housing interests.
Chula Vista Is Finally Opening Its Homeless Shelter
Chula Vista is set to open its first homeless shelter next month.
The emergency bridge shelter between 27th Street and Broadway will begin accepting clients on May 15, city staff said Thursday at a special City Council meeting. But, first there will be a ribbon cutting on May 11.
This was the first time we’ve gotten an update on the shelter’s opening date, which officials had previously said would be in early 2022, then fall 2022, and then Mayor John McCann told our Lisa Halverstadt that it would open January 2023.
At the meeting on Thursday, McCann said he was constantly asked when it would open.
“I know sometimes I’ve gotten a little ahead before the supply chain issues, and I’d say it was gonna open February of this year and so I’m finally glad that we actually have a date that we are going to open it up,” McCann said.
According to the city’s groundbreaking announcement in July 2022, it would take three to five days to build the pre-fabricated pallet homes once the property was ready. Staff explained that it did take them a “tiny bit” to open it, but that there were obstacles because of Covid.
Staff played a drone video of the built units, community rooms and case manager offices. The rooms were recently furnished by IKEA. That was one of the last steps to get the shelter up and running, staff said.
With Fletcher Gone, MTS Fails to Select New Leader
San Diego Councilman Stephen Whitburn at an MTS board meeting Thursday, April 20, 2023. Whitburn is currently acting chair of the board. / Photo by Ariana Drehsler
Attempts to install a new leader at the Metropolitan Transit System failed twice Thursday as the agency prepares to investigate its own role in sexual harassment allegations against the former chair, Nathan Fletcher.
That means the acting chair, San Diego City Councilman Stephen Whitburn, will continue to serve as its temporary leader until next month, when the board will try to take another vote. Whoever serves as MTS’ new chair will lead the agency through an investigation into claims made by former employee Grecia Figueroa, who sued the agency and Fletcher claiming her firing was retaliatory.
Whitburn, who promised to push for an independent investigation, came up one vote short of the 10 votes he needed to secure the chair role. His City Council colleagues – Councilmembers Vivian Moreno, Sean Elo-Rivera and Moncia Montgomery Steppe – instead backed La Mesa City Councilwoman Patricia Dillard, who is relatively new to politics and the board.
Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, Mayor Todd Gloria’s alternate on the board, evoked the need for “stable new leadership” in the face of alleged misconduct by Fletcher.
“She represents the sort of diversity that MTS so badly needs right now,” Moreno said.
But Dillard and Stephen Goble, the third chair candidate and an El Cajon City Councilman, managed to secure only five votes during the first round of voting. When the first vote failed board members re-nominated the same three candidates for a second vote, which delivered the same result.
“The value of providing new leadership positions MTS much better to regain the trust that Nathan broke,” Elo Rivera said in his support of Dillard.
If Gloria supports Whitburn, he could attend the next MTS meeting instead of Moreno and cast the deciding vote on his behalf.
In Other News
The Housing Commission is eyeing three Extended Stay hotels that it hopes to convert into supportive housing for unhoused residents using state Homekey funds. Commissioners voted Thursday to execute a purchase and sale agreement and begin due diligence on three hotels in Mission Valley and Kearny Mesa that could supply 412 units of permanent supportive housing. As we’ve reported recently, San Diego is desperately in need of more supportive housing to house its homeless residents amid a “resource desert.”
The city of San Diego is selling far fewer short-term rental licenses than its self-imposed cap allows. The City Council expected much higher demand when it passed these regulations two years ago, setting that cap at 6,501. It’s issued 4,586 as of April 12. Note: This one is only for subscribers. (Union-Tribune)
Police say crime in the city of San Diego dropped by 7.5 percent over last year. There were marked drops in offenses like theft, rape, murder and burglaries. But robbery, typically defined as theft committed with the presence of a weapon or other violence, climbed 18 percent. Car theft also rose by 2.6 percent. (ABC 10)
The Port of San Diego inherited 8,000 acres of new waterway previously held in trust by the California State Lands Commission. That could create room for longer piers, more places for boats to anchor or perhaps new water taxi transportation as well as conservation. (Union-Tribune)
A darker sky granted by a new moon and forecasted clear skies have set the stage for a spectacular viewing of the annual Lyrid meteor shower this weekend. The shower reaches its peak early Sunday. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, MacKenzie Elmer and Andrew Keatts. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.
The City Council on Tuesday voted to repeal a 1992 law that banned car cruising on all city streets. The Union-Tribune has more on the response from advocates who have long-fought to lift the ban.
Now, remember: National City adopted its anti-cruising law in 1992 because police and some business owners were concerned that weekly car cruises were draining police resources and attracting crime and gang activity. Lowrider advocates long argued that the law was racist and had no place on the books of a majority-Latino city in south San Diego.
There were multiple efforts over the years to get the City Council to scrap the ban. Other cities in the state had already done it. But National City could not because officials couldn’t separate the conversations around lifting the ban with the city’s ability to control large-organized events.
Last fall I wrote about this specific dilemma. It was apparent that joining those two ideas — the decriminalization of cruising with police resources — was holding the city back; in fact, a San Jose city councilman who watched from afar made sure not to do that and successfully lifted the ban in his city. Read my story here.
It Took a ‘Tiny Bit’ But Chula Vista Is Finally Opening a Homeless Shelter
The entrance of Chula Vista City Hall on Nov. 29, 2022. / Photo by Gabriel Schneider
On Thursday, an agenda item for a special meeting of the Chula Vista City Council caught my attention. I had just emailed the city about its plans to open a homeless shelter – and was told that “in the near future” they would announce the opening date of the city’s first shelter, which will provide 66 individual units for homeless individuals.
Here’s why I was curious: Our Lisa Halverstadt checked in with Chula Vista Mayor John McCann in December 2022 on the status of the project. He told her then that the city planned to open the bridge shelter in January 2023. But several months into the year, we hadn’t heard much about it.
Other opening dates had been thrown around before and reported in the news, but the city had not met those deadlines. McCann said at the meeting that he was constantly asked when it would open and acknowledged that it took longer than the city had anticipated.
The ‘million-dollar question’ answered: After staff played a drone video of the bridge shelter located between 27th Street and Broadway, a councilmember asked, “So, when does it open?” to which staff responded, “that is the million-dollar question.”
The shelter will begin accepting clients on May 15. The city will host a ribbon-cutting event and tour on May 11.
So, why did it take a “tiny bit” to open it? A city spokeswoman told me, “COVID presented manufacturing and supply issues with some of the equipment needed due to the impact to workforce in the industry.”
Mayor Todd Gloria delivers 2023 State of the City address at the Civic Theatre on Jan. 10, 2023. / Photo by Ariana Drehsler
Meanwhile in San Diego … I told you last week that a proposed ban on camping on public property will make its way to the City Council. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria had a message about his approach to the city’s growing homeless crisis: “I will not house the homeless population for every other city in the county of San Diego. A part of this enforcement ordinance is about making sure we are taking care of our people, because we are compassionate folks, but I’m not gonna be mopping up the messes in other people’s cities.”
The VOSD Podcast hosts break down what this all means and how the mayor’s stance on homelessness has shifted. Listen to the episode here.
Bonus: We’ve started uploading short clips of the VOSD Podcast to our YouTube channel for those who like watching the show. You can watch those here.
Other Chisme to Start Your Week
Jesse Marx and Lisa Halverstadt teamed up this week on an insightful story about San Diego’s proposed tenant protections. This is the proposal that would bring the city’s tenant protections up to and beyond what the state of California provides. So, what did they find? Well, a lot of groups representing landlords and tenants have beef with the proposal. Marx and Halverstadt write that some are already talking about amendments, litigation and a ballot measure. Read the story here.
Will Huntsberry had a story on three North County charity executives who have repeatedly cut deals that have allowed them to make a lot of money. Grab some coffee and read the full story here.
The board of the Metropolitan Transit System can’t agree on who should lead it. The board put forward three candidates to serve as the board’s chair, but none got enough votes. We rounded up what happened in the Morning Report. Read about the vote here and subscribe if you aren’t already to stay on top of the latest news.
Voice of San Diego contributor Sandra Dibble wrote about the ever-tense topic of narcocorridos for Tijuana. The norteño ballads that narrate the exploits of drug traffickers are more popular than ever, despite efforts to curb the music. Read the Border Report here.
Two months after the city of Chula Vista opened its first homeless shelter, less than a third of the 65 prefabricated units are in use because the site is capped at serving 20 clients at a time.
Chula Vista Village in Otay is a major part of the city’s efforts to move people off the street. The exact number of clients staying at the shelter ranges from five to 20 people daily, a city official said.
It’s unclear exactly how many people the shelter has served to date.
City officials and shelter operator City Net would not comment on the exact number of people currently staying at the shelter or how many people have transitioned to more permanent housing.
Angelica Davis, Chula Vista’s housing and homeless solutions manager, said the site can only serve 20 clients at a time because of ongoing plumbing and electrical projects. These projects, she explained, were stalled due to supply chain issues from the Covid-19 pandemic. If it weren’t for those issues, Davis said, the shelter could have been opened in March or April.
View through the fence of the Chula Vista Village at Otay on July 18, 2023. The site has 65 white, prefabricated shelter units for the homeless. / Photo by Ariana Drehsler
By the middle of next week, Davis hopes all units will be available. This does not mean, however, that all 65 units will be occupied by then. The shelter employs four case managers who can do five to six intakes a day, Davis said.
“We don’t want to do 65 intakes in one day,” Davis said. “It would be tricky for me to say when the shelter will be at full capacity. Timing depends on each client and how much help they need.”
It took a long time and $5 million in government funding for the city to open its shelter. Chula Vista Mayor John McCann told Voice of San Diego last year that the shelter would be open by January of this year – it began accepting clients on May 15.
Per the January 2023 point-in-time count there were 318 unsheltered people living in Chula Vista, the second largest city in the county. This project is a new endeavor for the city, which only established its department of housing and homeless solutions six months ago.
The village contains 64-square-feet prefabricated units equipped with heating and air conditioning, power outlets, a lamp and two twin beds.
The city’s Homeless Outreach Team refers clients to the shelter. Davis said the team prioritizes unsheltered Chula Vista residents city staff know who have been chronically homeless and are committed to changing their situation.
City Net shelter manager Andy Valdez shared some insight into how the shelter operates.
Each of the case managers can handle up to six intakes a day and the length of time it takes for clients to transition in and out, he said, depends on each client’s needs. His goal is to transition residents into permanent housing within 90 days. He would not say if there were requirements for clients, but that clients are not allowed to use drugs or alcohol on the premises.
Being committed, Davis explained, means that someone wants to change their situation and is willing to work with case management.
Clients who make it through the vetting process and move into the village are required to agree to a set of conduct rules. Valdez and Davis declined to share the conduct rules.
If a client agrees to and can adhere to the rules of conduct, Valdez said, they are provided case management through City Net. Services provided include three meals a day plus snacks, connections with medical and mental health care providers and job training while at the shelter.
In Oct. 2020, Chris Osuna reached out to Legends Hospitality, which runs concessions at Chula Vista’s amphitheater.
Osuna was dismayed. A cousin was using his dead brother’s name and likeness to operate a nonprofit. The nonprofit provided supposed volunteers to work concession stands at the amphitheater. Osuna informed Legends that his cousin paid the presumed volunteers under the table and, he believed, reaped profits. Her group had essentially become a catering service.
“It is my fear that with the help of your organization, Lilianna [Osuna] and her accomplices are personally enriching themselves using my brother’s name, causing further pain and suffering to my family,” Osuna wrote in an email.
A Legends representative responded less than an hour later.
“I will investigate and ensure they were properly certified to volunteer at one of our venues,” Rose Magallanes wrote.
Osuna never heard from them again, he said.
Lov4Jaro, Lilliana Osuna’s group, continued to provide presumed volunteers to Legends and North Island Credit Union Amphitheater in Chula Vista for the next three years.
It’s unclear what actions Legends took, if any.
Legends – which is part of a group called Midway Rising the city chose to redevelop its land around Sports Arena – did not comment for this story.
Lilianna Osuna previously told Voice that some volunteers receive a “donation” for working at the amphitheater, but not all volunteers are compensated. She also donates to some people who don’t work at the amphitheater, she said.
One other group – that wasn’t a nonprofit at all – also paid cash wages at Petco Park and Snapdragon Stadium, until Voice revealed it in August. Between the three groups, they have provided staffing at some of San Diego’s largest venues: Petco, Snapdragon, the amphitheater, Sports Arena and the former Qualcomm Stadium.
Stadiums across the country use volunteer groups to staff many of their concession stands. In exchange for providing volunteers to work a stand, the charity gets to keep roughly 10 percent of the stand’s proceeds – at least in theory. Voice’s reporting has revealed a shadow work force, provided by supposed charities, is pervasive in venues throughout San Diego County.
Concessions business insiders say this volunteer system can be easily abused.
Concessionaires across the country “are profiting to tune of billions of dollars a year by utilizing so-called volunteers instead of hiring employees and paying at least minimum wage,” Jordan Kobritz, a minor league baseball team owner and sports management professor, previously told Voice. “They milk the system.”
During a concert in October, the vast majority of stands within Chula Vista’s amphitheater appeared to be staffed by volunteers, who wear a different uniform than paid employees.
Legends has declined to say how many volunteer groups it utilizes at the amphitheater.
The amphitheater is owned by Live Nation, which merged with Ticketmaster in 2010, under a parent company called Live Nation Entertainment.
Osuna, in his email, wanted to know who is responsible for nonprofit compliance.
“Is there someone within your organization that vets these organizations and follows up with their compliance?” Osuna asked. “If there is no standard at your company for nonprofit compliance, the least I ask is that my brother’s name, image, and likeness not be used for unethical purposes during your events.”
Lilianna Osuna’s group is called Lov4Jaro. “Jaro” stands for Jorge Alberto Rocha Osuna. Jorge, Chris Osuna’s brother, was murdered in a road rage incident in National City in 2011.
“It’s incredible how nobody cares,” Osuna told Voice. “Back when we were trying to be vocal, it was like no one wanted to listen to us.”
What Osuna and his family viewed as the misuse of his brother’s name actually led them to start their own nonprofit. They now run the JARO Project, which helps under-served youth get involved in sports. The group runs surf camps throughout the year. It does not provide volunteers at venues to get donations, Osuna said.
A Legends spokeswoman previously declined to say, specifically, whether nonprofit groups at the amphitheater are allowed to compensate their volunteers.
“Legends does not condone participating nonprofit groups taking any actions that are contrary to the purpose and intent of the program or to the applicable laws,” she previously wrote.
Osuna was clear in his 2020 email that Lov4Jaro was acting outside the intent of the amphitheater’s nonprofit program.
“[Lilianna] has absolutely no community involvement and only uses your company, Legends Hospitality, as a means of enriching herself,” he wrote.
