A new street sign honoring the late community leader and former Assemblymember Howard Wayne was unveiled in Linda Vista on Saturday.

The honorary sign reading “Howard Wayne St” was placed at the intersection of Morena Boulevard and Buenos Avenue.

“Howard’s passion to make a positive impact wherever he went and with everything he did  was an inspiration for so many in the community, myself included,” said San Diego City  Councilmember Raul Campillo, who arranged for the sign.

“He truly loved his community, and his community loved him. I’m grateful to be able to celebrate Howard with an honorary street naming in his home neighborhood of Linda Vista,” Campillo said.

Wayne, who died in November 2023, served as a deputy attorney general, assemblymember for the 78th District, and chair of the Linda Vista Planning Group.

The site of the street sign was chosen because Wayne was instrumental in the Morena Corridor Plan and because his wife, Mary, lives nearby.

The San Diego City Council’s Public Safety Committee voted 3-0 on Thursday to endorse Assembly Bill 3024 to stop the distribution of antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ hate flyers.

The Stop Hate Littering Act, written by state Assemblymember Chris Ward and co-sponsored by Councilmember Raul Campillo, is a response to flyers which have appeared in many San Diego neighborhoods over the past year.

The full City Council will vote on endorsing the law in the coming weeks.

“Hate has no place in San Diego,” said Campillo. “AB 3024 will help keep our communities safe from hateful and terrorizing speech by imposing large fines on those who intend to spread these sorts of flyers and providing targeted communities with legal remedies to enact justice.”

In 2023, Councilmember Campillo’s District was targeted with antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ flyers that were left in residents’ driveways, lawns, and on their windshields. To date, none of the perpetrators have been cited or arrested.

“San Diego has seen anti-LGBTQ+ flyers distributed widely with the intent of intimidating and threatening the LGBTQ+ community,” said Cara Dessert, CEO of the San Diego LGBT Community Center. “We wholeheartedly support AB 3024, which would deter hateful actors from this kind of flyering.”

On April 2, AB 3024 passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee. Currently, it is awaiting a vote by the whole Assembly. At that point, it will need to pass the State Senate and then be signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Corrected 8 p.m. April 27, 2024 to reflect that it was a City Council committee that took action, not a county council.

Assemblymember Chris Ward on Friday introduced state legislation that would stop the antisemitic flyers that have been passed out in many San Diego communities over the past year.

Ward was joined by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, Councilmember Raul Campillo and City Atty. Mara Elliott at a press conference to announce Assembly Bill 3024 — the “Stop Hate Littering Act.”

At least eight instances of anti-Semitic flyers being distributed on car windshields in San Diego neighborhoods were documented in 2023. Also in 2023, anti-Armenian hate flyers were distributed throughout neighborhoods in Los Angeles, and more recently, hate flyers were distributed in Fresno.

“These are not just pieces of paper with words,” said Ward. “These are deliberate, targeted attacks that are intended to harass and intimidate victims, dehumanizing them based on their religion, gender or sexual orientation, or other characteristic.

“They are being left on our windshields, in our driveways, and on our front doors. They have no place in our communities,” he said.

Hate littering has proven hard for law enforcement to prosecute because of a legal grey area. Ward’s bill would update existing law to ensure victims are provided adequate protections, civil recourse, and create new legal tools for law enforcement to hold offenders accountable and deter hate act activity.

The legislation would build on California’s Ralph Act of 1976, which states that all persons have the right to be free from violence and intimidation.

Many of the incidents have been in Campillo’s District 7, which has a large Jewish population and is home to three synagogues. He has sponsored a local ordinance to stop the hate littering.

“Antisemitism and hate of all forms are not welcome in San Diego or anywhere in California — period,” said Campillo. “I’m pleased that we have been able to take this important legislation statewide, rather than just in the city of San Diego, so that we are able to protect as many people as possible.”

The Stop Hate Littering Act will be heard in the Assembly Judiciary Committee in early April. 


Henry Foster III, chief of staff for County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, held a big lead Wednesday, pulling in 53% of the vote in the San Diego City Council District 4 seat — his boss’ old position.

Chida Warren-Darby, a boards and commissions director, is second in the special election with 27.4% of the vote, followed by Tylisa Suseberry, who works for the state Senate and is a small business owner, with 19.6%.

The District 4 seat, which represents south and east San Diego neighborhoods such as Encanto, Lincoln Park, Skyline and Paradise Hills, has been vacant since Montgomery Steppe was elected to the Board of Supervisors.

Montgomery Steppe’s last action in the role was to push Council President Sean Elo-Rivera into another term in that role by a 5-4 margin.

The move was contentious among the more moderate council members — although the nonpartisan council was made up of nine Democrats, so the scale is relative. New blood in the vacant council seat will likely have an impact on the dynamic of the council.

Elo-Rivera held a lead in his re-election attempt for City Council District 9, which represents the mid-city area, including College Area, Rolando, City Heights, Mountain View and Talmadge, pulling in 48% of the vote over Terry Hoskins, retired police officer/military, with 33.7% and Fernando Garcia, a business owner and a member of the San Diego Association of Realtors, with 18.4%.

Elo-Rivera was originally elected to the president’s role on Dec. 6, 2021, replacing Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell.

In District 3, which represents downtown and the city core, incumbent Councilman Stephen Whitburn took an early lead over three opponents, pulling in 54.3% of the vote. Second place, Coleen Cusack, a trial attorney/educator, had 18.7% on election night, followed by Kate Callen, a community volunteer, with 17.1% and Ellis California Jones III, an inspector, with just under 10%.

Whitburn was instrumental in getting the camping prohibition law passed and has focused on getting unhoused people into shelter and off the streets, along with approving thousands of homes in his role a member of the council’s Land Use and Housing Committee.

The leadership of Council Districts 1, 5 and 7 — represented by Joe LaCava, Marni Von Wilpert and Raul Campillo respectively — will not change. Those leaders ran unopposed in their reelection bids.

An estimated 275,000 outstanding ballots were left to be counted Wednesday, and the next update is expected after 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Updated at 2:27 p.m., Wednesday, March 6, 2024

City News Service contributed to this article.

Six of the San Diego City Council‘s seats are on Tuesday’s ballot, including the vacant Council District 4 seat, the results of which could change the tenor of the panel.

District 4 was most recently held by now-County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, whose last action in the role was to push Council President Sean Elo-Rivera into another term in that role by a 5-4 margin.

The move was contentious among the more moderate council members — although the nonpartisan council was made up of nine Democrats, so the scale is relative. New blood in the vacant council seat will likely have an impact on the dynamic of the council.

• Voter Guide to March 2024 Presidential Primary Election in San Diego County

Districts 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are also up for election.

In District 1, which represents La Jolla and environs, incumbent Councilman Joe LaCava is running unopposed.

In District 3, which represents downtown and the city core, incumbent Councilman Stephen Whitburn has three opponents.

Whitburn was instrumental in getting the camping prohibition law passed and has focused on getting unhoused people into shelter and off the streets, along with approving thousands of homes in his role a member of the council’s Land Use and Housing Committee and working to make neighborhoods more livable.

Whitburn has been endorsed by the San Diego County Democratic Party, San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, San Diego City Firefighters, San Diego Police Officers Association, Reps. Scott Peters and Sara Jacobs, Mayor Todd Gloria and four of his colleagues on the council. He was elected in 2020.

Coleen Cusack, a trial attorney/educator, wants to use city resources to support economic development, safe and adequate housing, and safer communities for everyone.

She has been endorsed by the San Diego Union-Tribune, California Democratic Renters Council, San Diego Education Association, Run Women Run and mayoral candidate Geneviéve Jones-Wright.

Ellis California Jones III, is an inspector and has received the San Diego County Republican Party’s only endorsement for San Diego city races.

His platform includes advocating for fewer restrictions on police, a comprehensive approach to homelessness by categorizing unhoused people and offering resources accordingly and using city resources to bolster local businesses.

Kate Callen, a community volunteer, is running in opposition to the city’s “Strong Mayor” form of government, claiming it suppresses community input in government.

Her platform focuses on preserving the character of neighborhoods, building affordable housing instead of expensive housing, replacing bike lanes with more parking and holding the city accountable for its spending.

In Council District 5, which represents the northernmost part of the city, including Black Mountain, Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch and Torrey Highlands, incumbent Marni Von Wilpert is running unopposed.

In Council District 7, which represents the easternmost part of the city, including Allied Gardens, Tierrasanta and Lake Murray, incumbent Councilman Raul Campillo is running unopposed.

In Council District 9, which represents the mid-city area, including College Area, Rolando, City Heights, Mountain View and Talmadge, incumbent City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera is facing two challengers.

Elo-Rivera was originally elected to the president’s role on Dec. 6, 2021, replacing Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell. He has since steered the council in a progressive direction during his tenure as president, including having reservations about increased police technology use such as smart streetlights and opposition to the unsafe camping ordinance. He has also been an advocate for tenants’ rights.

He has received the endorsement of the county Democratic Party.

Terry Hoskins, retired police officer/military, is running on a campaign of “Respect, Responsibility and Revivification.”

He believes in a “shelter-first” model for tackling the homelessness crisis, wants to make the city safer and oust council members with “preconceived ideas about law enforcement,” crack down on what he describes as the city’s poor financial choices and allow individual neighborhoods to decide on density.

Fernando Garcia, a business owner and a member of the San Diego Association of Realtors, has ranked-choice voting as one of his top priorities, as well as opposing SB-10 and preserving the character of the city’s neighborhoods.

Garcia also wants to “stop enabling homelessness and lawlessness” to get homeless off the streets and to fully support and fund the San Diego Police Department, as well as increase campaign finance transparency and reform.

For the vacant District 4 seat, which represents south and east San Diego neighborhoods such as Encanto, Lincoln Park, Skyline and Paradise Hills, three candidates have thrown their hats into the ring.

Chida Warren-Darby, a boards and commissions director, has a focus on disaster recovery following the Jan. 22 storms which had an outsized impact on the district.

Along those lines, she wants to create a Recovery and Resiliency Fund to provide relief to communities hit by natural disasters, have the Office of Emergency Services develop comprehensive disaster preparedness plans and protocols, suspend the city’s cap on the number of short-term rental properties during emergency events to house residents and designate Community Resource Centers in every neighborhood.

Warren-Darby has received the endorsements of Mayor Todd Gloria, Rep. Juan Vargas, Sen. Steven Bradford and council members Campbell and von Wilpert.

Tylisa Suseberry, who works for the state Senate and is a small business owner, told the Union-Tribune she is focused on tax incentives for small businesses, increasing infrastructure work and looking for programs and tax breaks to bring down the cost of living.

Henry Foster III, chief of staff for Montgomery Steppe, seeks to strengthen the district’s sense of community.

His platform includes creating and sustaining a pipeline to long-term city employment, advocating to reduce outsourcing contracts for city services, investing in neighborhood parks and libraries, expanding public art, making neighborhoods safer through graffiti abatement, improving relationships with first responders and building on current programs intended to reduce gang violence.

Foster has received the endorsements of his boss, the county Democratic Party, San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, multiple unions, Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber, County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Nora Vargas, Council members Elo-Rivera, LaCava, Vivian Moreno and Kent Lee.

Local residents on Saturday celebrated the grand opening of the long-sought Allied Gardens Off-Leash Dog Park.

San Diego City Council member Raul Campillo joined them, saying that when he took office, the community, particularly in Navajo, “made it clear that they wanted an off-leash dog park.”

“And I promised them I would do everything I could to help,” said Campillo. “I’m proud to deliver this dog park – the first ever city-funded off-leash dog park in District 7 – for Allied Gardens residents and the surrounding Navajo area. Now, Navajo residents can enjoy a dog park in their own community rather than have to travel to other parts of the city to do so.”

Officials said that the new dog park is larger than 68% of San Diego off-leash areas, excluding Dog Beach and those zones within regional parks. The park is located adjacent to the Allied Gardens Pool on Glenroy Street.

The park features logs for agility training and seating, a dog drinking fountain, trash and recycling bins, dog-bag dispensers and separate fenced areas for both large and small dogs. In addition, heavy fabric has been set up along the fence of the Allied Gardens Pool to mitigate effects on pool users, officials said.

“Due to the lack of a dog park in District 7, local dog owners have resorted to using joint-use fields and recreational parks to let their dogs run off-leash,” said Gerhard Oertelt, founder of Beyond Leashes and off-leash park advocate.

Campillo has worked with Beyond Leashes to find a suitable location for an off-leash dog park since taking office in 2020. Advocates have sought the park since before his election.

“Our community members have been trying to establish an off-leash dog park for five-plus years, which should allow dog owners to legally socialize and exercise their dogs, while at the same avoid disputes with residents, the school and sports teams – a win-win for everyone,” Oertelt said.

According to the city, Campillo secured $389,000 in the FY2024 budget to fund the instillation of the dog park and to pay for maintenance.

– City News Service

San Diego and Tijuana’s shared designation as the 2024 World Design Capital got a major boost on Wednesday with a $1 million matching grant from the Conrad Prebys Foundation.

The new grant follows a $3 million investment from the city that was spearheaded by City Councilman Raul Campillo and additional funding from the San Diego Tourism Authority and Qualcomm.

The Prebys grant was announced at a special event in the Museum of Contemporary Art’s downtown branch, at which WDC 2024 organizers unveiled the agenda for the year-long event.

Also unveiled was the “EXCHANGE Pavilion,” a temporary art installation by Tijuana artist Daniel Ruanova and San Diego-based Heleo Architecture + Design that will be placed first in the Palacio Municipal de Tijuana and then in the Plaza de Panama in Balboa Park.

Both San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero Ramirez addressed the international significance of the year-long design event.

“Let’s spend 2024 showing the rest of the world what a bi-national region can do,” said Gloria.

For WDC 2024, six signature events are planned over the coming year:

• Community Celebration on Feb. 28 at the Tijuana Cultural Center
• World Design Festival and Tijuana Design Week, May 1-5 in Tijuana
• World Design Experience and San Diego Design Week, Sept. 18-25 in San Diego
• World Policy Conference sponsored by the City of San Diego and UC San Diego Design Lab, Nov. 12-13 in San Diego
• World Design Network of Cities on Nov. 15 in Tijuana
• WDC 2024 Convocation Ceremony on Nov. 16 at The Salk Institute.

In addition, over 300 community-focused events are planned.

The designation of San Diego and Tijuana in 2024 is the first to include a U.S. city, and the ninth since the Montreal-based World Design Organization picked Turin, Italy, in 2008.

World Design Capitals are chosen because of their effective use of design to drive economic, social, cultural, and environmental development. Then a year-long program of events showcases best practices, drawing worldwide participation.

Campillo said Wednesday he saw the impact of a World Design Capital designation first hand during an official visit to Valencia, Spain, the 2020 capital.

“I’ve supported the World Design Capital San Diego Tijuana project from day one because of the economic benefits and cross-border collaboration that it will bring to our region,” said Campillo.

San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer announced Monday she will bring a resolution to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday to support Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $6 billion bond measure to modernize the Mental Health Services Act.

She was joined by San Diego City Councilman Raul Campillo, Crystal Irving, president of SEIU Local 221 and medical professionals.

“Proposition 1 will ensure local best practices and state funding are aligned, which will allow us to help more people get more people treated and on a path to a better quality of life,” Lawson-Remer said. “The way we treated mental health and addiction when the Mental Health Services Act was passed is not the same as it is today. The old way of funding behavioral health is no longer the right way. It’s time for a change.”

The March ballot initiative Proposition 1 is intended to “refocus billions of dollars in existing funds to prioritize individuals that have the greatest mental health needs, are living in encampments, or suffering from substance abuse issues,” according to a statement from Lawson-Remer’s office.

Earlier this month, Campillo authored and secured the votes from his colleagues on the San Diego City Council to support Proposition 1.

“San Diegans deserve dignified care,” Campillo said. “Proposition 1 will help our entire region address our mental illness and substance abuse crises by investing billions in behavioral health beds across California.”

Backers say Prop 1 as designed would help to build 11,150 new treatment beds and supportive housing, create 26,700 outpatient treatment slots, and set aside $1 billion for veteran housing along with recruiting and training 65,000 mental health workers if it passes.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday during their regularly scheduled 9 a.m. meeting.

Opponents of the ballot measure, a group known as Californians Against Proposition 1, deride the measure as “huge, expensive and destructive,” saying it would cost taxpayers more than $9 billion over the life of the bonds, while ordering the redirection of $30 billion in existing mental health services funds in the first decade, “cutting existing mental health services that are working.”

“Prop. 1 breaks promises made by the voters when they first passed the Mental Health Services Act in 2004,” according to the opposition group. “The idea then was to create permanent, dedicated funding for long-neglected mental health services, including prevention, early intervention, programs for youth, programs for struggling and under-served populations, including racially and ethnically diverse groups and LGBTQ people. The MHSA is a proven model, offering ‘anything it takes’ to help individuals who need a range of services.”

“Now, Prop. 1 would sharply reduce that funding, end its dedication to mental health programs and take a hatchet to dozens of programs across the state that cannot survive without MHSA funding. It orders counties to do more with less,” the group said.

City News Services contributed to this article.

San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo, his wife and their two-month old son were entering Interstate 8 near La Mesa several days before Christmas when a speeding drunk driver almost killed them.

The family is safe, but their SUV was totaled, and he remains shaken by the Dec. 20 incident. “A few inches here or there — the result would have been much worse,” he said.

The driver didn’t stop, but was apprehended by California Highway Patrol officers about two miles away. The female suspect was arrested and accused of DUI and leaving the scene of an accident.

Campillo called a press conference on Friday to tell his story in hopes of persuading San Diegans to stop before they drink too much and get behind the wheel on New Year’s Eve.

“This is a plea from a father who was nearly killed,” said Campillo. “It is never safe to drink and drive.”

The councilmember appeared with District Attorney Summer Stephan, City Attorney Mara Elliott and Police Chief David Nisleit at the press conference in Civic Center Plaza.

Stephan said 30 people have died in DUI collisions in San Diego County so far this year, with hundreds more seriously injured. She noted that since COVID there have been more DUI incidents, with the average blood alcohol level rising to 0.18% — more than double the 0.8% legal limit.

She praised Campillo for telling the public what happened to his family because “stories are things people remember, and it might save a life.”

Elliott warned that DUI crashes always spike on New Year’s Eve, but pointed out that they are preventable by simply using another means to get home.

“There is no excuse now,” she said. “There are rideshare companies that will come get you. There is public transportation.”

Campillo is a former city prosecutor, and handled many misdemeanor DUI cases in that role. Now, as a victim, he said the impact of a drunk-driving crash on an innocent family “truly hit home” for him.

“Friends and family have to stand up. Law enforcement is after the fact,” he said.

The San Diego City Council Tuesday unanimously voted to recommend the city use nearly 10% of its annual Transient Occupancy Tax revenue to fund arts and culture, nearly double the current amount.

Tuesday’s action does not immediately allocate the funds, but does send a message to Mayor Todd Gloria for next year’s budget process that the council believes the discretionary funds in question should fund the arts.

“Hotel tax revenues should be reinvested into our communities and into our workers,” said Councilman Raul Campillo, who, along with Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, sponsored the resolution. “Today’s vote prioritizes the intentional investment of TOT funds into arts and culture so that we retain our creative workforce.”

“By investing in the arts, we also invest in the city of San Diego’s economic well-being and in quality of life for San Diegans,” he added.

The TOT is San Diego’s 10.5% hotel tax. Of every 10.5 cents taxed on dollars spent in city hotels, 5.5 cents goes directly into the city’s general fund with the other 5 cents going to the TOT fund. Of that latter pool of funds, 4 cents must “be used solely for the purpose of promoting the city,” and the remaining cent is up to the council’s discretion.

In the 2022-23 fiscal year, TOT revenue totaled $256.7 million. Arts funding was $14.3 million, 5.59% of the total.

“Arts and culture activity is critical to the vibrancy and economy of San Diego,” Moreno said. “Every year, arts programming is on the chopping block in the budget, despite the council’s stated goal to provide stable funding every year.”

“It is crucial that the City Council do all it can to ensure that our communities have access to visual and performing arts and community festivals,” she said. “This policy change will allow the council the opportunity to make clear its expectations on fulfilling the Penny for the Arts Plan goals.”

In 2012, the council voted to approve a “Penny for the Arts” plan that would increase arts and culture funding from the city’s TOT. The plan’s recommendation included restoring arts and culture funding levels to 9.52% of annual TOT revenue by 2017. However, the council’s adopted arts and culture budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year was only 4.67% of TOT revenue, according to city data.

Tuesday’s resolution is intended to bridge that “penny gap” for arts funding in the city. It encourages Gloria and staff to increase funding for the arts to that 9.52% in each budget in order to meet the Penny for the Arts goal.

“By finally achieving the Penny for the Arts promise, San Diego will ensure that talented people in the arts and culture space stay here in San Diego instead of moving to other cities in search of better opportunities, and San Diego will be a more vibrant and rich place as a result,” said Christine Martinez, director of Arts+Culture: San Diego.

Tuesday’s action also directs the Independent Budget Analyst to conduct additional analysis on whether each annual proposed budget meets the intent of the council recommendation to use 9.52% of TOT funds for arts and culture, a statement from Campillo’s office read. Additionally, the policy requests additional reporting from Gloria and the Department of Finance on how TOT revenue is being expended.

Earlier Tuesday, Campillo and Moreno were joined by more than 30 arts and culture advocates who came to support the item.

City News Service contributed to this article.