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T he C oast News - I nland E dition
FEB. 18, 2022
Vista park reopens after renovations By Staff
VALLEY SENIOR VILLAGE in downtown Escondido will provide 50 units of housing for low-income seniors and those who are homeless. Courtesy rendering
Escondido affordable housing project underway By Stephen Wyer
ESCONDIDO — An affordable housing complex expected to provide 50 units of housing for low-income and homeless seniors in Escondido continues to make progress after breaking ground last month. The County of San Diego announced on Jan. 10 construction was officially underway for the Valley Senior Village project in downtown Escondido. The project, which will provide affordable housing for adults 62 and older, is a collaborative effort between the county, City of Escondido, National CORE and San Diego Community Housing Corporation. According to Ted Miyahara, president and CEO of San Diego Community Housing Corporation, construction efforts for the affordable housing complex have made significant progress in the last month. “We’ve done all of our grading already and a lot of the underground utility work, and we should be pouring the foundation within perhaps the next 30 days,” Miyahara said. “Things are going as planned.”
The Valley Senior Village complex is expected to be completed by May 2023. Of the project’s 50 units, 49 will be studios. Twenty-five apartments will be reserved for individuals who have been experiencing homelessness, 19 of the units will be reserved for seniors making 50% of area median income (AMI) and the other five units will be for residents at 60% AMI, according to Escondido Housing & Neighborhood Services Manager Holly Nelson. The San Diego-based public housing agency originally pitched the concept to the county and Escondido in 2019, based on the city’s growing homelessness crisis especially amongst senior citizens, Miyahara said. “Our bread and butter is affordable housing and as you know this region as a whole has been experiencing issues around homelessness,” Miyahara said. “At the time we saw that the city of Escondido didn’t have any housing specifically for the homeless individuals so we saw this as a huge need. “Then, paired with the silver tsunami that’s
coming with people starting to age and those people needing affordable housing, (we) came up with this project for seniors right in the downtown corridor of Escondido and saw this project as a great candidate.” While the project has been spearheaded by the county, the Valley Senior Village proposal specifically meets the needs of the Escondido community, which has the largest homeless population of the North County cities, according to Nelson. “When you look at the vulnerabilities of people falling into homelessness, you see our population is very vulnerable,” she said. “With our consolidated plan, which is done every five years, we wanted to help people who are rent-burdened and at risk, so the more housing we can add into communities the better that is for everybody.” Residents at Valley Senior Village will also be able to enjoy a variety of amenities offered by the complex. A community center put on by San Ysidro Health will offer outdoor gathering spaces and a va-
riety of services, including programs for those experiencing mental illness and on-site case management for seniors experiencing homelessness. Residents will also be within walking distance of a host of shops, stores, and services offered in downtown Escondido, while also having access to a variety of transportation options, Miyahara said. “This project was a great candidate because it’s transit-oriented right there on Valley Parkway with the main artery going straight to the transportation depot,” he said. “And it’s also within walking distance of a lot of amenities, like parks, libraries, grocery stores and the downtown strip.” The Village project will cost $24 million, and is being funded through a variety of sectors, including over $10 million from the county’s Innovative Housing Trust Fund and the No Place Like Home program, which provides capital and operating expense funds to developments providing housing for homeless and/or mentally ill residents. An additional $4 million for the development
is coming directly from the city of Escondido, and $9.825 million is being provided in the way of federal tax credits via the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. For construction purposes only, the project also received an $8.2 million loan from Chase bank, according to Miyahara. By partnering with the City and County, the project’s developers were able to secure loans at below-market mortgage fees as well as with more favorable retainment provisions, Miyahara said, which in turn allows Valley Senior Village to offer affordable rent prices to tenants. “The city and county measure this by looking at what public benefits are you getting in exchange for providing below market rate loans in exchange for provisions that are soft … like is the public getting a benefit from this project?” Miyahara said. “That’s really the measure.” The complex is deed-restricted to affordable housing units, meaning that the project’s apartments must remain affordable in Escondido for at least the next 99 years.
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before all of this with omicron and now it’s so much lower because of this contract offer.” With salaries for teachers in the rest of San Diego County having gone up by an average of 3.62% between 2021 and 2022, the district’s current offer would make San Marcos last place in the county in terms of teacher pay, Pluciennik said. Recent surges in inflation, coupled with California’s already steep cost of living, make increasing salaries a must if teachers are to maintain a livable wage, said Brandon Maze, an AP US History teacher at San Marcos High School who attended the rally. Because the state’s cost of living is projected to increase by 6% in 2022, a 1.25% pay increase between the two
ABOUT 300 MEMBERS of the San Marcos Educators’ Association rallied at the San Marcos Unified School District offices on Feb. 15. Teachers are working this school year without a formal contract. Photo via Twitter/SMEA
school years is essentially a salary cut for teachers, he added. “There’s a COLA (cost of living adjustment) this year of 5.07% based on inflation…and the COLA for
next year is projected to be upwards of 6%, so that’s a total of 11% for two years and they’re offering us just 1.25% in that time frame,” Maze said. “That equates to a pay cut for teachers and
it’s going to result in hardship.” Maze said that the SMEA has been disappointed with the district’s intransigence in negotiations thus far, expressing that the 0%
offer reflects an administration that isn’t serious about accommodating its educators. “With these negotiations, the 0% number is a pretty strong message, par-
VISTA — Bub Williamson Park, one of Vista's oldest city parks, was reopened to the public Feb. 11 after an 18-month renovation. In July 2020, construction began on the park at 530 Grapevine Lane, built in the 1980s, and the fully restored park is planned to create more of an active use for the community. “We expect this space will become a place of community where children play, neighbors catch up and relax, and families can spend a sunny afternoon together,” said Mayor Judy Ritter. Public art was included in the park and Devon Harrah, who created and painted the “Yura Anura” mural along the 100-foot wall on the north side of the park said the mural “reflects the life cycles of frogs and small children wearing frog costumes.” Harrah created the artwork to display the qualities of youthful exploration and wonder. Later this year, a new Kites Over Vista sculpture will be installed. The city's Public Arts Commission currently has a call out to artists seeking design submittals for consideration. Both of these public art displays will add to the park’s identity and will create a sense of belonging to the community space. The finished improvements include a children's sensory playground, picnic areas with shade sails, remodeled restrooms, and a loop trail with fitness stations. New drought tolerant landscaping, irrigation, signage, and fencing were also installed. Tables, benches, water fountains and other park furnishings were installed in the northern park area. The park facilities and sidewalks were also upgraded to meet current Americans with Disability Act standards. ticularly when we’re the majority of the way through this school year without a contract,” he said. “Unfortunately, while the district has said that they value our work, they haven’t shown it, and that’s where we’re here. … We would like a fair contract now, we would appreciate a contract that reflects the realities of the situation we’re in.” Pluciennik agreed, expressing disappointment with what he called mixed messaging coming from district officials during negotiations. “We’re essentially being offered last place in the county per dollars, and at the same time they tell us that you guys are the best teachers in North County, the county, and the state, and then after all of that they come up with a 0 so it’s TURN TO PROTEST ON 8
