By TR Robertson
The annual Vista Chamber of Commerce State of the Community Luncheon was held on Monday in the Community Room of the Vista City Hall Civic Center. A packed room of Vista governmental, educational, public service, various agencies and business leaders enjoyed a catered luncheon and hearing from a variety of speakers going over various summations of their groups. The luncheon was catered by Matthew Baker and Feast on This Catering.
The event began with the Air Force Junior ROTC Color Guard from Vista High School, introduced by Vista Chamber CEO Rachel Beld. She then welcomed the audience and pointed out various dignitaries representing local government, VID, and Chamber Board members. She also gave a thank you to the sponsors for the afternoon event – City of Vista, Dr. Bronner’s All-One!, California State University San Marcos, EDCO, Lifeline Community Services, Palomar College, and U.S. Bank.
Rachel then introduced the Keynote Speaker, City of Vista Mayor John Franklin. The Mayor began by saying this will be his final State of the City as Mayor, as he is one of three candidates for the County of San Diego Supervisor position, currently held by Jim Desmond, for the next election. He said it has been his pleasure to serve as both a councilman and the mayor for the past 12 years, since 2014, and was elected as mayor in 2022. He is proud of the accomplishments he has been a part of. Mayor Franklin said he was especially proud of the fiscal responsibility he and the council have maintained since his term as mayor. He pointed out the $40.8 million in emergency reserves the city currently has, as well as a $25 million pension trust fund and the $180 million operating budget. The Mayor then introduced a video that showed a number of past and current projects and other accomplishments.
Two major accomplishments are in the area of Public Safety with the increase in the number of Sheriff deputies to 89 for the city and the increase in the fire department personnel to 117 with 16 new vehicles, including 5 additional ambulances. There was a major concentration on stopping DUI drivers and Fire & Rescue responded to 17,000 incidents last year. There was also a free smoke alarm program instituted, and the homeless outreach team made it a goal to make contact with every homeless individual in the city as well as learning their names and making efforts to move the individuals to appropriate shelters when possible. The Paseo Santa Fe District has shown a major increase in businesses along the street along with 5 new city parks, such as Creek Trail and Palo Vista Park. Four additional parks are also being developed. The 2025 budget had a $10 million surplus, from which $3.5 million was invested in major improvements to the Wave Water Park. Miles of repaved roads were completed in 2025. Numerous new businesses and residential developments were completed, like the Santa Fe Senior Building.
The video pointed out that 300 new businesses, in various fields, opened last year. Moonlight Theatre had 70,000 patrons for their musical season and more programs began to be held at the Avo Playhouse. The Vista Council was shown and thanked for their continued support and service to the city. The Mayor wrapped up the video saying, “Vistans don’t talk about progress, we live it”. The Mayor then thanked Aaron Gilliam and Fred Tracey for their work in putting the video together and he took the time to thank his support staff, the city council, Public Works Team and other departments, the Fire Department and Sheriffs Department. He spoke about the continued fight with the rise in drug use in the homeless encampments as well as the fight to arrest drug dealers in these encampments. He said a major issue is the number of drugs laced with fentanyl. Wrapping up his address, the Mayor once again thanked everyone he encountered along the way for their help and assistance over the last 12 years.
Next on the agenda was a presentation by Joe Henschel, Vista Chamber Board Chair. Joe is the owner of Sleeping Giant Cold Brew. Joe outlined the importance of the Chamber of Commerce for any business and spoke about the connections the Chamber offers. He said the Digital Reach Visibility over the year included 164K website visitors and 12.7K followers on social media. Vista Magazine and online Velocity are also a great way to get out the word about any business. As far as Membership Impact the Chamber had 20 ribbon cuttings and there is a total of 37,000 total employees in businesses that are members of the Chamber. The Chamber has a strong commitment to the Growth of the Latino Business Outreach Community and Vista Fiestas Patrias. The Rising Star Program is another Chamber success honoring 48 students last year and handing out $60,000 in scholarships. Last year the Chamber also ran a successful Velocity Internship program placing 54 students in 32 businesses in the city. Joe said they hope to place 100 this year. In the area of Advocacy and Government Affairs the Chamber supported 28 measures that would assist businesses. He said the Chamber continues to improve and learn as shown by participation in the Regional Leadership Economics Study Tour.
The next speaker was Dr. Matt Doyle, Vista Unified School District Superintendent. Dr. Doyle gave a power point presentation on the State of the District 2026. In the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation he went over the goals and commitments the district has for providing quality education for all students in the district. VUSD is the largest employer in the city with 4,000 employees, has one of the largest budgets at $360 million and owns the most property at 500 acres in the city. As a result, he stressed the need for ensuring great fiscal responsibility for everyone involved. One main goal is to Defeat Generational Poverty, with 65% of the students in the district at or below the poverty line. VUSD has an incredible number of partnerships with agencies like the City of Vista, the Boys and Girls Club and many, many more. In the area of Academic Achievement, Dr. Doyle said the graduation rate is steadily climbing and went up 1.9% last year. He said part of this is due to a strong growth in English Language Learners. Advanced Placement Achievement is growing with many graduates showing 5 college courses on their transcripts. VUSD runs several Career Fairs during the school year and VUSD was ranked in the top 10 in San Diego County. An Education Results Partnership Honor Roll showed a strong result for VUSD with the district outperforming many of their peers. A Healthy Kids Survey showed a 3% growth for Vista students in areas dealing with mental health. Vista also received an Award for Best Commemoration of Music Education. The district is also evaluating a report from McKinsey & Company, defining the skills citizens will need in the future world of work and to see how the districts current direction fits their long-range master plan.
Dr. Doyle introduced Assistant Superintendent Shawn Loescher, who provided additional information on growth in the district. Dr. Loescher said Measure LL in 2018 had provided $247 million in funds being used for improvements throughout the district. A recent study of the district’s performance rating gave the district an A+ rating and the Audit Standing showed no findings with any financial issues in the district. Some of the current improvements going on or completed include the set to open, in August, redesign and reconstruction of Bobier Elementary; the new Vista High School Buildings referred to as T & S; the Rancho Buena Vista High School CTE Welding and Construction buildings; and major repairs and improvements at Vista Magnet Middle School (the oldest school site in the district). Since 2018, all schools in the district have had a variety of major capital improvement projects. Even though over $330 million in construction has gone on since 2018, future needs mean more will still be needed over the next five years.
The final speaker for the 2026 State of the Community was Rachel Bereza, CEO of San Diego Workforce Partnership. “The San Diego Workforce Partnership connects job seekers, businesses, training providers and others to resources and opportunities that put you on a path to workforce success.” Rachel said they serve San Diego County residents with services that prepare people for quality jobs. Over the years they have served 158,000 people spending $4 million on training these residents. She said in Vista alone there are 120,000 residents, 53,000 people employed in 5,000 businesses and a 5.1% unemployment rate with 9% of the Vista households below the poverty level. Rachel said programs like theirs can help significantly with cities like Vista by assisting people who work with their program. She pointed out that in a study they conducted for the area, 14% of the jobs here are in the area of manufacturing and 13% in the area of construction with professional and technical work only comprising 5% of the jobs. She said 91% of the businesses have fewer than 20 employees. Quality job creation, to maintain an income to live a sustainable life, is one of their goals. Rachel also pointed to working with the school district to provide high school apprenticeship programs and job seeker services is a key to reaching out to young people, as they get close to graduation and entering the work force. She also reminded everyone that the challenge of the ever-changing work force dynamics is something they deal with every day. Go to www.workforce.org for more information.
Lots of informative information about city growth, what’s new and the successes that occurred in 2025 in the City of Vista.
