Inland Edition, June 26, 2020

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The Coast News INLAND EDITION

.com ESCONDIDO, SAN MARCOS, VISTA

VOL. 5, N0. 13

JUNE 26,2020

Escondido officials say police reform in works

Vista OKs Sunroad proposal

By Tigist Layne

ESCONDIDO — A recent review of public records by the San Diego Union-Tribune shows that in the last 20 years, 217 people have died at the hands of police in San Diego County. More than half — 114 people — were Black or Latino. Of those 217 people, 12 people died at the hands of the Escondido Police Department. Nine of the police-related deaths in Escondido occurred between 2001 to 2011. The city of Escondido makes up about 4.5% of the county’s total population, but accounts for 5.5% of these police-related deaths. In comparison, Chula Vista, which spends the least on law enforcement per capita, makes up 8.1% of the county’s total population, yet only accounts for 1.8% of the police-related deaths in the report. Escondido City Council recently approved a $45.6 million Police Department budget, sparking criticism from many residents who are calling on the city to di-

By Steve Puterski

VISTA — A controversial commercial development proposal known as Sunroad Plaza was approved by the City Council, 3-2, during its June 23 meeting after it had been denied by the Planning Commission. The land has long been zoned commercial, but residents pushed back against Sunroad Enterprises’ proposal for four drive-through restaurants and an undetermined business. The proposal does not meet standards set by the California Environmental Quality Act and detailed in the environmental impact report (EIR), but the council found reasons for approval. Lonna Leghart and more than 50 other residents from the Vale View neighborhood objected to the project, saying fast-food restaurants and a car wash are not ideal for the section of land off Vista Village and Hacienda drives just south of State Route 78. A car wash was part of the original proposal but was eliminated in a motion by Councilman Joe Green. Last year, residents were able to beat back a proposed hotel development on an adjacent property. “Vista City Council’s 3-2 vote to approve Sunroad’s development demonstrates a short-sightedness and lack of responsibility TURN TO SUNROAD ON 5

DAY OF PRAYER

Thousands of residents lined sidewalks in San Marcos and elsewhere during a countywide We Pray San Diego event on Saturday morning, June 20. San Marcos was one of 11 locations that held the one-day prayer event that included residents, church leaders and city officials. Story on Page 5. Photo by Tigist Layne

vest funds from police and reallocate them to non-police forms of public safety, such as social services and other community resources. Escondido Mayor Paul McNamara told The Coast News that, though he “empathizes” with the “defund the police” initiative, the city spends less on law enforcement per capita than all other county agencies except Chula Vista. Though it may not defund the police, the city says it is working with the North County division of the NAACP to put protocols and policies in place to reform the department. “The first thing we did was a review of the ‘8 Can’t Wait’ campaign, which we were already following almost all of those policies, but there is always room for improvement,” McNamara said. “Now, we’re looking at: ‘Are we doing the proper training?’ For example, if an officer has training from when they were in the police academy, does that TURN TO REFORM ON 6

Escondido, region react to Supreme Court ruling on DACA By Tigist Layne

ESCONDIDO — The Supreme Court ruled to uphold protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients last week in a landmark victory for the 40,000 DACA recipients who live in San Diego County. The Trump administration’s bid to end legal protections for DACA recipi-

ents would have affected more than 650,000 immigrants that were brought to the United States as children. DACA recipients, or “Dreamers,” celebrated countywide after the decision was announced on June 18. A rally was held in front of the San Diego County Administration Building with participants

holding signs that read “Here to stay” and “Home is here.” Michelle Ramos Pellicia, an associate professor of Hispanic linguistics at Cal State San Marcos and the co-founder and co-chair of the University Without Borders collective, told The Coast News that the impact of this decision goes beyond immigration status.

“We’re talking about the lives of 700,000 DACA recipients in the country,” Pellicia said. “Roughly 30,000 DACA recipients are health care workers in the U.S., these are people who are working on the front lines of COVID-19. Now these people won’t be living in fear of deportation.” Pellicia added that

there is still more work to be done because there is a possibility that the Trump administration will continue to fight the ruling. “We as a community need to stand up for each other,” she said. “Whenever I talk about my students and community, I’m always thinking that our home is

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