GREAT NEWS FOR UTILITY BOXES
Several months ago, an SVC member wrote to ask, I was wondering if anyone knows what is going on
with the utility boxes on Shadow Ridge Drive. They used to be all green and looked modern. Some of
them had been painted with rather lovely artwork.
Last 6 months or so most of them have been re-placed with mismatched utility boxes that look like they are from the 50s’. Lots of mismatched tops and bottoms, dented, rusty, etc. Is there some sort of art painting project planned to recycle old utility boxes?
We reached out to City Manager Patrick Johnson, who replied, Your point is well taken. After driving Melrose a little bit ago I have noticed how some of the City boxes have been painted over with different paints to remove graffiti and they do not look good. I will talk to Kuna {Muthusamy] about having Public Works paint all the City owned boxes and make them look new. We will also discontinue painting the graffiti out with different shades of green. Hooray!
MESSAGE FROM SVC’S PRESIDENT
I would like to introduce myself as the new President of the South Vista Communities (SVC). My name is Francis Dumler, and I was born in Lima (Peru). I came to the United States in June 1971, as a newly minted physician to work at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit MI. After retiring from William Beaumont Hospital (Royal Oak, MI) in January 2015, my wife and I decided to move to Southern California. We had spent many vacations in the area and were particularly fond of North San Diego County. We made our new home in Vista’s Shadowridge neighborhood.
My interest in health and community service led me to serve as a commissioner of the City of Vista Senior Citizens Affairs Commission. By serendipity, at one of their meetings, I learned that South Vista Communities was having a public meeting at the Shadowridge Golf Club, not far away from my home. I attended, and was so impressed by the meeting content, discussion, leadership, and attendees (members and public at large) that I applied for membership right on the spot. Of note, one of the Board members had grown up in the same suburban area where I lived for so many years in Michigan.
South Vista Communities chartered its bylaws on June 14, 2006, as a non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to maintaining and improving the quality of life for residents and businesses in South Vista. Over the years, it has met with developers to urge decreased density, increased green space, expanded buffers, and reduce carbon footprint in upcoming projects. SVC has also worked with organizations such as Surfrider and Oceana, introducing resolutions at City Hall to ban offshore drilling in our adjacent coast and eliminating single use plastics. It has also established a strong relationship with Citizens for A Friendly Airport (C4fa), an organization working against the expansion of McClellan Palomar Airport. These are
important efforts that require ongoing attention for the well-being of our community.
As President my objective is to continue the excellent stewardship of my predecessors. The Board and I have renewed our commitment to be involved and interested in all matters related to maintaining and improving the community’s environment (parking, landscaping, architectural design, improvements, and modifications), its standards of health and safety, and its quality of life. We outline our mission as, not only about preserving and improving, but also as evolving and adapting to challenges, needs, and circumstances that continue to change and mount. Noise pollution (airport), homelessness, increased traffic, and inadequate housing units for millennials and young families are a few examples. Through our advocacy we can do more in meeting community challenges and improving its quality of life than as individuals.
We will continue nurturing our good relationship with City government and the Vista City Council, as well as with the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. I invite the public at large to join us in our quest, to bring up issues of particular concern to our attention, to become members of the South Vista Communities advocacy group, and to participate as much as possible in making our common good an ongoing success.
Respectfully submitted,
Francis Dumler
San Diego Ozone Levels Reclassified to SEVERE
Dear C4FA Supporters,
Dear C4FA Supporters,
San Diego County recently had its Ozone levels reclassified from SERIOUS to SEVERE.
The American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2022 Report ranks San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad area as the sixth-worse for ozone out of 226 metropolitan areas in the nation. This is NOT GOOD NEWS.
According to the California Attorney General’s Office, “Aircrafts emit particulate matter, nitrogen
oxides [precursors to ozone], and hazardous air pollutants. Residents living within 10 miles of airports — which disproportionately include disadvantaged minority and low-income communities — are
exposed to large amounts of these harmful pollutants through emissions from aircraft landing and
takeoff operations.”
Ozone air pollution results from sunlight and heat reacting with certain chemicals that typically come from vehicle emissions and industrial processes. Ozone air pollution can seriously damage lung health and the ability to breathe, and is regulated by EPA health-based standards.
In the past, the county made significant strides to bring ozone air pollution down to healthy levels, however, County ozone levels remain unhealthy. Specifically, the County has failed to attain required federal EPA health-based ozone standards, within the required federal EPA attainment deadlines, since at least 2012.
The County’s ozone level reclassification from serious to severe, among other federal EPA actions, will again push out the County’s deadlines to attain the healthy ozone standards required by the EPA to
protect the public’s health.
C4FA is committed to following this issue and keeping Palomar Airport from expanding. Stay tuned
and we’ll keep you up to date. Questions? Reach out to us at c4fa.info@gmail.com
Thank you again for your continued support.
Your Friends at C4FA
And you know the drill – We’re a 100% volunteer organization and the work isn’t done. So, if you can
help us out, it is much appreciated. Every donation of any size is welcome.
IMAGES OF SOUTH VISTA — more lovely images of our community from Francis Dumler.
southvistacommunities@cox.net www.southvistacommunities.org
