By Nathan Fletcher
As you are probably aware, redistricting recently took place and in San Diego County there are about one million residents who now have a new County Supervisor representing them. I now represent some new communities, but I am pleased that I can continue to serve you, the residents of San Diego, and particularly the Uptown neighborhoods.
As your elected County Supervisor, it’s my job to make sure the County of San Diego is working for you. The last few years have certainly been tough, but I am ready to look forward with some optimism that things are getting better!
At our first Board of Supervisors meeting of the year, I was honored to be selected by my colleagues to serve a second consecutive year as Chair of the Board of Supervisors.
Our focus this year is to be a County you can count on. We are spending 2022 focused on actions that make your life better–safer communities, addressing homelessness, good jobs, and affordable housing and childcare. The County’s recently made historic investments in mental health and drug treatment, which means new options and services are coming online for those in need.
Since Mayor Todd Gloria took office, there has been a renewed focus on collaboration between the County and the City of San Diego on tackling the homeless crisis. Unlike the past, the County is now in the fight on tackling homelessness and the actions we have taken are starting to make an impact.
The County and City at the end of last year activated new Community Harm Reduction Teams (C-HRT) to engaged individuals experiencing homelessness who struggle with addiction. Our goal is to get folks off the streets and into our Harm Reduction Shelter and connect them with addiction treatment, mental health services, medical care and eventually permanent housing. The program is off to a strong start. This year we’re continuing to provide the services and working with the City to add more facilities for this specific population.
One initiative we introduced to begin the year was created to keep guns from getting into the hands of the wrong type of people. To help keep you and your family safe, we passed a landmark ordinance to prohibit untraceable “ghost guns” from being distributed or created in San Diego County. As part of the ordinance, we also followed the lead of City Attorney Mara Ellliot to enact new safe storage rules in the county. It will go into effect in about 30 days.
We are also working to help beautify neighborhoods and address food insecurity by making some of our federal money available to nonprofits to open more community gardens. By embracing community gardens, we can tackle food insecurity, provide more fresh and locally grown fruits and vegetables and keep people, particularly our seniors, active and engaged. I think providing the resources to help residents grow their own food is a great way to empower San Diegans. We’ll be releasing more details about how to apply for grants in the coming weeks.
I’ll be doing the columns on a monthly basis to keep you informed and sare more about the progress we’re making. In the meantime, If you need to contact my office, please call us at (619) 531-5544 or email nathan.fletcher@sdcounty.ca.gov and follow me on social media. To invite me and my team to your organization’s meeting, request a proclamation or grant, and learn about the work we’re doing, visit www.SupervisorNathanFletcher.com.
— Nathan Fletcher is the San Diego County Supervisor representing the Fourth Supervisorial District and he serves as Chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
