Two board items

Supervisor Jim Desmond

5th District

Last week, we passed two important board items that will help the lives of San Diegans.

The first item dealt with seniors. Seniors are the fastest-growing population in North County and we must do all we can to help them by bringing resources directly to senior centers.

I have partnered with Supervisor Anderson to bring county staff to senior centers that will provide information on special programs and services that can help seniors. If passed, the initiative will implement a one-year pilot program to the Escondido Park Avenue Community Center and College Avenue Center at Temple Emanu-El, both of which serve seniors.

This will help bring vital information to seniors regarding living cost reduction, maintaining healthy habits, and how to avoid eviction from their own homes.

The second item is about fire safety. Camp Fox is located within the Cleveland National Forest at the base of Palomar Mountain. For over 75 years, the San Diego County Board of Education has used the camp as an outdoor education experience for sixth graders across the county.

The deed granting ownership required SDCOE to return the property back to the county if they no longer wanted to occupy the land. Seeing a unique opportunity, I've put forth a board letter for Cal Fire to use Camp Fox as a fire center for year-round training.

Cal Fire will make improvements to the property, investing significant resources to clear overgrown vegetation and update the aging buildings. Once renovations have been completed, four Cal Fire Firefighter 1 hand crews will inhabit the property, providing 24-hour wildland fire protection coverage.

This will help greatly as we head into fire season.