KOVAL TALKS SAFETY IN THINLY ATTENDED TOWN HALL, SKIPS SOME HEATED SANTEE ISSUES

By Mike Allen

June 21, 2024 (Santee) -- At the end of Santee Councilwoman Laura Koval’s District 3 town hall on June 18, she opened it up to questions, but there were no takers. Perhaps that’s a sign of satisfaction about the direction the all -Republican City Council has steered Santee over the past decade, or maybe it’s a lack of interest among residents.

She then tried to coax the assembly of about 30 people, mostly city staffers, and got this: “Tell us a fun Padres story.”

The former director of ticket sales for the Padres obliged, telling a story involving the team’s first World Series and the late Raiders defensive star Lyle Alzado. But she wasn’t challenged about any of the decisions she and her colleagues in the City Council have made in the past several years.

One thing Koval and her colleagues on the Council put front and center whenever speaking publicly is Santee’s safety compared to other jurisdictions. “I do want to brag about our low crime rate in Santee,” she said, noting that the city of 60,000 ranked 11th safest in California, and second safest in the county (behind Poway).

Yet rampant theft and other issues blamed on a growing population of the un-housed isn’t being ignored here, she said. Santee has spent about $680,000 working with a host of public and nonprofit agencies to address homelessness.

In addition, the city passed more stringent restrictions on activity in the San Diego River corridor, and hired a worker to coordinate riverbed cleanups and preventing wildfires from being set in the same area, presumably by those camping there.

Some have said Santee and the city of San Diego have gone too far in their efforts, taking and destroying personal items belonging to the un-housed such as dentures, personal identification and the ashes of loved ones, prompting a recent lawsuit against the cities. Koval didn’t mention the suit, nor Santee’s lack of any beds for the un-housed, nor a quick rejection of a county proposal to build a temporary shelter next to the Barn off Magnolia Avenue.

What Koval appeared most proud about was helping to change the way medical emergency calls are handled and paid for by local fire agencies in Santee and Lakeside. Previously those calls and operations were under control of San Diego County.

In 2022, working as the chair of a different group overseeing this work, Koval said a new joint powers authority called Santee Lakeside Emergency Medical Services Authority (SLEMSA) was formed to improve operations and local control. Santee Fire Chief Justin Matsushita said the change has made a huge difference. It resulted in far better response times for patients, more funding for the agency, and the hiring of more people to deliver services more effectively, he said.

“Once we were able to take over control and let our local elected (officials) make decisions on our behalf, this is what progress looks like in a very short period,” Matsushita said.

But the local fire department isn’t at all satisfied with those improvements. Led by the local firefighters union, the employees have mounted a campaign to increase the sales tax within Santee by a half cent to pay for two new future stations and added firefighters. The proposed fix would involve issuing bonds for the stations, and using the increased sales tax to pay off the bonds.

Koval never mentioned the fire station proposal in her presentation. To a question put by East County Magazine, she said she supports the sales tax increase. “The funding for the brick-and-mortar buildings is not in the budget and based on the realities, it will need to be supported by a community measure,” she said.

Yet funding for at least one building is in Santee’s budget, namely for a long-planned Community Center, next to the Cameron YMCA. The structure, estimated to cost $21 million, should go out to bid this year and begin construction in the following year, she said. A redesigned 12,500 square foot complex will provide much needed space for things like large weddings and award dinner ceremonies, but will not have specific space allocated to seniors, which was part of the original design.

“This value-engineered and less costly design allows the center to be used for a variety of activities (including events) accommodating the changing needs of different groups and ensuring efficient use of space at all times of day and year-round,” Koval said in an email.

First elected in 2018 when district elections were installed, Koval was re-elected in 2020 without any challenger on the ballot. She said she assumes someone will challenge her this November, but so far, that slot is vacant.

The Santee City Clerk says of the three posts up for election this year, all three, including District 4 Councilman Dustin Trotter and Mayor John Minto, have no challengers so far. The filing period for local candidates runs from July 15 to August 9.