By TR Robertson
The City of Vista Community Room at the Vista Civic Center was filled on Monday with members and owners of organizations and businesses from Vista, government officials, educators, interested citizens and media all to hear presentations about the State of the Community from Vista Major John Franklin, Vista Chamber CEO Rachel Beld, President of the Board of the Vista Irrigation District Patrick Sanchez, North County Transit District CEO Shawn Donaghy and City of Vista Fire Department Chief Gerard Washington. This annual “meet and greet” presentation is a chance to hear a summary of the events, challenges, proposals and projects that were accomplished the previous year.
The luncheon is sponsored by the Vista Chamber of Commerce along with Table Sponsors Cal State University San Marcos, Cal West, City of Vista Economic Development, Dr. Bronner’s, EDCO, Lifeline, Tideline Partners, US Bank, Palomar College, MAAC, Vista Fire Department and 4107 Association.
The presentations began with a short welcome from Rachel Beld, Vista Chamber CEO, who led the audience in The Pledge of Allegiance followed by a powerful prayer from North Coast Church Pastor Chris Brown. Rachel then introduced Vista Mayor John Franklin. Mayor Franklin first introduced a power point video covering many of the accomplishments, agencies and major achievements from 2024. The video began with the growth of the Vista Fire Department featuring their seven new vehicles, continued community outreach and education, open houses for the Fire Stations, the 12 new EMT firefighters and highlighting the 7,000+ inspections the department completed and the 17,000 incidents they handled.
Next the Sheriff’s Department success was highlighted showing the installation of the new Sheriff Commander John Malan. The department continues to expand their community engagement, such as Coffee with the Sheriffs as well as responding to 28,000+ calls in 2024. There was a 4.3% reduction in crimes against people in 2024 as well as 33.4% increase in arrests for a variety of crimes. The department will continue to promote and run their eight-week youth education program. The continued Homeless issues were pointed out as well as the success of the Buena Creek Navigation Center, which currently is assisting 48 individuals. The San Diego Rescue Missions outreach to the homeless was featured.
In the area of Economic Development business that have opened were shown such as Trader Joe’s in the North County Square, Can Do Environment, Daisco on Hacienda and Alsco Uniforms. The cities continued work with the Vista Chamber of Commerce featured events like the Strawberry Festival, the Christmas Parade and many other events.
The successful Moonlight Studio was officially opened along with Prey Brewing, Eppig Brewing and the soon to open Seven Seas Fish House, Burger Bench and Black Bear Diner.
The Financial success of Vista was highlighted by indicating there is strong financial health for the city with a balanced budget and a 32% reserve.
The successful cannabis business has brought in $2.1 million in revenue earmarked for the educational system. Other important events the city sponsored were a Veterans celebration, Discover Vista and Fright Night all in the Downtown Historic Vista area.
A strong infrastructure has led to a response to clean up graffiti with 591 calls responded as well as repairs to parks, playgrounds and sidewalks all over the city. A street repavement overlay was begun as well as the cleanup of 214 homeless encampments. Code enforcement continued with quick responses and citations as well as storm water cleanup of drainage areas and 400 inspections of problem areas. For the area of Recreation and Community Services the McClellan Senior Center, Moonlight Concert and summer productions, Wave Water Park and their summer camps were pointed out as continued popular events for individuals.
Three new directors were appointed to City Management and a new member of City Council, Jeff Fox, was elected as well as Deputy Mayor Katie Melendez reelected. The passing of former Vista City Manager and Mayor, Morris Vance, was shown and his contributions to the city were shown.
The video ended stating that all of the cities’ departments have a shared vision of success and responsibility. Mayor Franklin then thanked the firefighters and sheriffs for all they do to help the city and sacrifices they make. He said the passing of Proposition 36 is important in controlling crime and increases needed arrests. The recent drug sting showed the problems of drugs and addictions in the homeless community. There are currently 170 homeless individuals in Vista, and all have been contacted and counseled about services offered to them.
There were 382 Vista business licenses issued in 2023. The Mayor said taking a physically conservative approach to the city’s financial problems has led to the creation of a $32 million reserve budget so there will not be a reduction in services due to a possible recession.
He said the city is on the rise and he is proud to be the Mayor of Vista.
The next speaker was Rachel Beld, Vista Chamber of Commerce CEO. Rachel gave a short update about some of the successful programs the Chamber sponsors. The Chamber continues to offer support in a variety of ways to local businesses and the Chamber’s membership continues to grow. Rachel finished by reminding people to always check the Chamber’s Webpage to stay in touch with what’s happening in Vista.
The next speaker was Patrick Sanchez, Vista Irrigation District Board President and Division 4 representative. Patrick said VID continues to provide the highest quality of water available. VID was created in 1923, and the Vista Flume construction was begun in 1926 providing a 12-mile connection from Lake Wohlford to Vista. VID would acquire Lake Henshaw and Warner Ranch later, continuing to provide the increased services Vista needed. In 1954 VID would become a member of the San Diego County Water Authority. Today VID has 48 million gallons of water storage, working with 89 employees overseeing 429 miles of pipe. In several slides it was shown that VID supplies 15-20% of the local water to Vista homes and businesses and 4% of the water goes to agriculture with 72% of the water going to residential use. He said VID will continue to work on the challenges they have, evaluating and replacing aging infrastructure, working with the many regulations and monitoring the climate change and its effects. Plans include replacing main lines and the Vista Flume as well as reservoir construction and updating.
Following Patrick was Shawn Donaghy, CEO of the North County Transit District. Shawn said NCTD oversees the Coaster, Sprinter, Sprinter, Flex, Lift and NCTD+. He said we have the busiest rail corridor in the nation. NCTD works in partnership with the military, schools, local cities and businesses as well as 1st responders. Shawn said ridership is growing as NCTD continues to improve safety and security to make them a world class service provider. For the future there will be Sprinter improvements as well as station and facility upgrades. They also want to expand partnerships and community involvement. Upcoming projects also include Vista Civic Center redevelopments, activities for the 30th anniversary of the Coaster and the 50th anniversary of NCTD.
The final speaker for the State of the Community Luncheon was Vista Fire Chief Gerard Washington. Chief Gerard spoke about the cooperation the Fire Department has received from the Vista City Council. He reminded those in the audience that in today’s world, fire service is not the old fire service from years past and the conditions have changed to make their concerns a lot different than in the past. He said they are working with multiple organizations to provide the best services they can. This includes working with schools, boys’ and girls’ clubs and other groups to educate and share information. The Cadet and EMT programs continue to grow. He will be presenting wildfire information to provide education and steps to take to prevent the spread of fires in areas that are in extreme danger of fires. The chief said they are investing in personnel to ensure they remain on top of their game when it comes to fighting and preventing fires. Chief Gerard also said it is important to remember to take care of fire fighter families as the firefighters are involved in dangerous situations at all times. He also said Firefighter 101 will soon be available for citizens in Vista.
The State of the Community Luncheon was informative, beneficial to a variety of individuals and organizations in attendance and a successful Vista Chamber of Commerce event.
