By TR Robertson
The Vista Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 12th Annual Meet the Leaders Program was once again held at the Shadowridge Golf Club. This year’s program was held on Thursday, early evening, and attended by around 100 chamber members, government and organization personnel and guests. The event was sponsored by EDCO and Scripps Health Care.
This year’s speakers were County Supervisor Jim Desmond from District 5, Congressman Mike Levin from the 49th Congressional District, State Senator Catherine Blaskespear from the 38th District and San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephen.
After a period of time networking and visiting with many of those in attendance the program formally began with a welcome from Vista Mayor John Franklin who introduced Garry Garretson, President of the Veterans Writing Group of San Diego County, who led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. The Mayor then introduced Rachel Beld, CEO of the Vista Chamber of Commerce, who also welcomed those in attendance and introduced the first speaker, District 5 County Supervisor Jim Desmond.
Supervisor Desmond said they had just passed a $8.6 million budget for the county. He thanked those in the audience who were small business owners, thanking them for their hard work and helping be such an integral part of the economy. The Supervisor said they have approved a 450-unit housing development in Harmony Grove that will include affordable housing. He said another concern he has is dealing with some of the other Supervisors who want to start spending some of the reserves that have been built up. A shout-out was then given to the San Diego Rescue Mission for the job they are doing in assisting homeless individuals and to Tri-City Medical Center for the addition of 16 new psychiatric beds. A grant was approved for the addition of a bus to the Vista Boys & Girls Club. The Supervisor said another major concern that must be addressed sooner rather than later is travel along Highway 78, especially the addition of HOV lanes and the Highway 5/78 Interchange. The Supervisor also encouraged those in attendance to vote No on Prop 50 and said if it passes Vista will move into a district that includes Palm Springs and will no longer be in a district that includes coastal cities.
The next speaker introduced was Congressman Mike Levin, from the 49th Congressional District. The Congressman began by listing some of the financial assistance the Congressman has been instrumental in bringing to the City of Vista. This financial assistance helped Vista during some difficult times. This included $26 million for the city, $41 million for Vista Unified, $3.3 million for the Vista Community Clinic, and $4 million for veteran housing projects. The Congressman emphasized that veterans and veteran issues are high on his priority list. He was also instrumental in assisting with funds for the Town Site and Emerald Drive areas, including ADA ramps, safer sidewalks and streetlights. Since 2019, over $81 million in Federal funds have assisted the City of Vista. He said when looking at issues in Washington, many times “the national media will thrive on conflict and social media will ascorbate the situations”. The Congressman said his grandmother always told him, “You have 2 ears and 1 mouth, use them accordingly”. He reminded everyone he is a firm believer that community is way more important than party.
38th District State Senator Catherine Blakespear was the next speaker. She is currently in her fourth year as a State Senator. The Senator said she is excited that the city has opened the Navigation Center to try and relieve some of the homeless issues. She listed several of the bills, issues and concerns she has that she will be working on. One is SB 569, which directs Cal Trans to assist with dealing with homeless issues on the entrances and exits to our freeways and area under bridges and overpasses. A proposition she has assisted is Proposition 36, which deals with certain drug and theft crimes, now making monetary amounts under $950 to be treated as a mandated felony. Those arrested that already have two or more convictions now must get a court ordered treatment and if they do not complete the program they could receive up to 3 years in prison. The Senator said when the proposition passed there was no funding for the program, and she worked with others to have $110 million allocated. She said affordability is a top concern she has; especially dealing with the slow process and delays in housing, construction, court proceedings and homeless programs.
The final speaker for the Meet the Leaders Program was San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephens. Summer said she and her staff and employees serve 3.1 million people. She has 1,000 employees and has been the District Attorney since 2018. The District Attorney’s office receives police reports from all of the cities in the county. She said the passing of Proposition 36 has been crucial in dealing with habitual offenders who had been abusing the law by committing crimes that would only result in citations. She gave an example of a man from Carlsbad that that had been arrested 54 times before having to go through a drug treatment program. He wrote a letter thanking people for forcing him to go to a mandated treatment program. She said there was an average of 700 repeat offenders cycling through the system before Proposition 36. Another issue the District Attorney is concerned about is the Domestic Violence rate. She said San Diego County once had a rate of 13-15 domestic violence murders a year. The Family Justice Center opened in 2022 and since then thousands of victims have walked through their doors seeking assistance. North County once had the highest rate of domestic violence in the county with 42% of the domestic violence murders coming from the North County. In 2024, North County had 0. Another major issue and concern the District Attorney deals with is the Fentanyl overdose issues, especially for kids under the age of 18. She said programs like those in the Vista Unified School District where kids are educated about how serious and dangerous this drug is integral in reducing deaths. Another program her department has begun is the creation of an App for homeless providers to assist them if finding assistance and housing for homeless at a much more rapid rate. The District Attorney finished her presentation saying that another issue her department has assisted with is dealing with increased violence to hospital workers. She said new laws are in place to try and deal with this serious occurrence.
The Meet the Leaders Program is a great way to get a mid-year update on many of the programs these individuals have been instrumental in helping begin or propose. These are by no means everything each of these political leaders is involved with, but meeting with them and meeting many of the people attending provides a great way to network and stay on top of what is happening in the City of Vista.
