EAST COUNTY OFFICIALS & RESIDENTS HONORED FOR REDUCING ALCOHOL & DRUG IMPACTS ON NEIGHBORHOODS

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East County Officials, Residents Reduce Alcohol and Drug Impact on Neighborhoods
 

July 15, 2010 (San Diego's East County) -- The East County Community Change Project recently honored more than a dozen outstanding East County community leaders for their efforts to fight crime and increase safety in the east region. The awards were presented at the East County CommunityChange Project’s Second Annual Progress Report to the Community at the First United Methodist Church in El Cajon.

 

Business owners, managers, educators, and dedicated community members were among those honored. All demonstrated a steady dedication to improve the quality of life in East County neighborhoods and are active supporters of crime free multihousing and policies that reduce binge and underage drinking and illicit drug use. Assisting with the distribution of the awards were teens from the East County Youth Coalition. The East County Youth Coalition is a group of young people
from the East County that work to prevent underage drinking and drug use among their peers.

 

The honorees, by city are:
 

Santee

Alyssa Dean, Crime Prevention Specialist, Santee Sheriff’s Station
 

Ms. Dean is a founding member of the East County Public Safety Task Force which identifies and abates nuisance properties in the East County. She has worked tirelessly to research and provide data to the East County Public Safety Task Force through her work as a crime prevention specialist. Her Crime Free Multi-Housing Program has improved the quality of life for residents in Santee and Lakeside.
 

Sergeant Chris May, COPPS Unit, Santee Sheriff’s Station
 

Sgt. May’s passion is Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving. As Supervisor of the COPPS Unit, he has been instrumental in tackling alcohol related crime and illicit drug use that affects Santee and Lakeside neighborhoods. He has successfully navigated bureaucratic waters to include tough new language to keep youth safe at parties by amending Santee’s Social Host Ordinance.
 

Santee Sheriff’s Station
 

The Santee Sheriff’s Station has shown leadership in tackling neighborhood crime in the east region. They have worked closely with the East County Community Change Project conducting Shoulder Taps and Minor Decoy operations in Santee and Lakeside, in order to keep alcohol out of the hands of minors. They are integral partners in traveling to other jurisdictions to promote the work of the East County Public Task Force, which is dedicated to implementing the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program throughout San Diego County. In 2009, the Santee Sheriff’s Station facilitated a Responsible Sales
and Service Training for over 60 alcohol servers and sellers at the Lakeside Community Center. Leadership within the Sheriff’s Station understands that problems can not be solved by enforcement alone. They strive to partner with the community to solve challenges within their jurisdiction.
 

Lakeside

Gregory Schreiner, Assistant Chief, Lakeside Fire District
 

Chief Schreiner is responsible for providing overall management and oversight for the District’s Fire Prevention Division, including all engineering and enforcement functions, as well as coordinating public outreach and education opportunities. He is a founding member and holds a leadership position within the East County Public Safety Task Force. He has used his firefighting skill as a master coordinator to increase the efficiency and overall positive results of the East County Public Safety Task Force.
 

Kathy Kassel, Executive Director, Lakeside Chamber of Commerce
 

As the Executive Director of the Lakeside Chamber of Commerce and member of the Lakeside Revitalization Committee, she has shown professionalism and dedication to improve the quality of life in Lakeside. In March of this year, the Sheriff’s Department and the Lakeside Chamber of Commerce facilitated the First Annual Lakeside Community Conversation - a forum where residents, businesses, law enforcement, and fire officials addressed concerns about crime and quality of life issues in the area.
 

Bob Cota, Apartment Owner
 

Bob Cota and his family own a 160 unit apartment complex in Lakeside. When it was brought to his attention that his apartment complex was generating an extraordinary amount of police and fire calls for service, he began working with local deputies and the Crime Free Multi-Housing Coordinator in his area. Cota voluntarily made several important improvements to his complex to ensure the safety of his tenants. He implemented a zero tolerance policy regarding criminal activity within the complex. Since entering the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program, there has been a noticeable decline in crime and calls
for service to the property.

Brandy Faulkner, Apartment Manager
 

Ms. Faulkner is the Resident Manager of the 160 unit apartment complex owned by Bob Cota. She has worked diligently with the East County Public Safety Task Force to implement changes on the apartment grounds. She has enrolled in the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program and helped reduce drug and alcohol related problems in and around the units. Tenants now must sign a crime free lease addendum in which they agree, by contract, not to engage in criminal activity. Twentynine problem tenants violated the crime-free lease addendum and were eventually evicted.


Spring Valley

 

Pat Case, Neighborhood Watch Organizer
 

When Ms. Case witnessed her once quiet neighborhood turned upside down by gang members and drug dealers who lived in a nearby complex she immediately took action and formed a neighborhood watch. She later became a community spokesperson for the East County Public Safety Task Force and championed the community partnership that tackled nuisance properties in the East County. She has been hailed a community hero by San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob.
 

Mike Aguiar, Neighborhood Watch Organizer

Mr. Aguiar recently assumed a leadership position with the Neighborhood Watch program within his community. His last Neighborhood Watch meeting was attended by over 30 of his neighbors. He was an active participant in the Spring Valley Citizens Association Neighborhood Watch Night. He continues to implement policy goals and collect vital data to supplement resources to his neighborhood. He deeply cares about sustaining a neighborhood environment in which quality of life issues are at the forefront.
 

Deborah Gilboy, Store Manager, Albertsons

As the Manager of the Albertsons supermarket at Sweetwater and Jamacha, Ms. Gilboy goes above and beyond her duty to ensure a safe shopping experience for her customers. Recently, some shoppers felt threatened by a surge in criminal activity in the area. She eliminated the accessibility of alcohol to youth and was responsible for bringing together other business owners within the shopping center to tackle the criminal element. She utilized crime prevention through environmental design methods to reduce the criminal activity. Because of her proactive stance, shoppers now feel safer.

Lemon Grove

Lieutenant Tony Ray, Lemon Grove Sheriff’s Station
 

As the supervisor of over 40 deputies, Lt. Ray is a champion of Community Policing and Crime Free Multi-Housing in Lemon Grove and Spring Valley. He is vocal advocate for the East County Public Safety Task Force throughout San Diego County. He regularly meets with property owners and apartment managers to ensure responsible businesses practices. Lt. Ray also possesses a strong commitment to ensuring teen safety within the community. He is currently working with the Lemon Grove City Manager, Council, and City Attorney to amend the City’s Social Host Ordinance.
 

Mary Porath, Crime Analyst, Lemon Grove Sheriff’s Station
 

Ms. Porath is a founding member of the East County Public Safety Task Force which identifies and abates nuisance properties in the East County. She provides all the enforcement statistical data for the Spring Valley Responsible Property Review Board which feeds cases to the East County Public Safety Task Force. Her tireless work in providing statistical data is responsible for steering important police resources to challenged neighborhoods and problem properties within Spring Valley and Lemon Grove.
 

Larry Buchanan, Principal, San Altos Elementary School
 

Mr. Buchanan honorably served as a decorated Marine Corps Officer for over twenty years before becoming an educator and Principal. Principal Buchanan provides a safe educational environment for all staff and students. He is an active vocal community supporter working hand in hand with parents, school community, and the surrounding neighborhood to reduce and eliminate underage drinking and illicit drug use.

Chris Walsh, Lemon Grove Middle School
 

Mr. Walsh has been an esteemed educator for almost two decades in the east region. As a social worker at Lemon Grove Middle School, his mentoring is not restricted to the classroom. Mr. Walsh in collaboration with the Lemon Grove School District is bridging the cultural communication barrier between the Somali community, and Sheriffs Department, in his leadership role as communicator and conduit of valuable information shared by all parties. As a member of the Lemon Grove Collaborative, he is a vocal advocate for steering additional resources to Lemon Grove, to ensure that Somali
immigrants do not succumb to the dangers of alcohol and drug use.

 

El Cajon
 

Garry Davis, El Cajon 2nd Street Leadership Council

When the community was in need of an expert problem solver, Garry Davis assumed a leading role with the El Cajon 2nd Street Leadership Council. As a business owner of El Cajon Auto Electric on Second Street, Garry witnessed serial inebriates, gang members, and aggressive panhandlers negatively impact the local business community. Garry worked diligently with other merchants to take back Second Street and make it an attractive and safe place to conduct business. His ardent participation has ensured a unified approach to fighting crime on Second Street.
 

The East County Community Change Project, a project of the Institute for Public Strategies, is a prevention provider who partners with local residents and community leaders to increase public health and safety by helping communities in the east region create sustainable population-wide change through comprehensive Environmental Prevention system design, knowledge transfer, and project planning and implementation.

 

Members include youth, parents, educators, health service providers, law enforcement, business, faith community representatives and other key stakeholders in the San Diego East County region. Goals of the coalition include reducing substance abuse-related problems, especially for youth. Objectives focus on environmental conditions that impact public health and safety.


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