Summary of 2011

January: 19 members came to our Annual meeting and elected a new board of Directors: President Theresa Acerro, Vice-President Willard doc Howard, Secretary David Danciu, Treasurer Carolyn Macias, Directors: Earl Jentz, Ruth Yaconelli, Jerry Thomas, Jim Doud, Bettie Lupi who keeps track of our volunteer hours and helps with membership yard sale was announced and attendees were surveyed as to topics of meetings, concerns and issues

February: 21 present Lieutenant Kennedy of the CVPD gave statistics on crime in the SW, talked about homeless situation and Lauderbach Park, and gave tips on what residents can do to keep safe. She also took input from those present. Leslie Wolf Branscomb, the aide to new Councilmember Pat Aguilar spoke.

March: 22 present Jim Smyth, general manager of the SWA led a detailed discussion of the Perdue treatment plant, Reynolds groundwater desalination plant and water sources, etc. Margarita Houlguin of the CV Community collaborative explained her group was a coalition of a number of organizations in the south bay formed in 1993 to provide services to the lower income residents and to help them apply for services through the Family Resource Centers at a number of schools in western CV and South SD.

April: 18 people were present. The focus was homelessness. Jose Mireles from Southbay Community services which contracts with the city of CV to provide services to the homeless. They have hotel vouchers they can give people. They also run a battered woman’s shelter, several homes for foster children who have aged out of the system, a shelter for homeless families, and a school for pre-school children of battered women. They also feed the homeless and collect food, housewares and clothing to help those in need. Rosemarie Johnson who works for the Shelter Network which has 10 congregations in the southbay that put up homeless people in the winter for 2 week periods.

May: 32 people This meeting was devoted to stories long time residents had about the history of the southwest area of Chula Vista. It was fascinating. Some people shared by video and others orally.

June: 20 people heard a presentation about SANDAG’s 2050 Transportation Plan and gave feedback. Grade separations for trolley at E, H, and Palomar are in the plans as well as transit centers.

July: 26 present to hear a continuation of historic sharing by residents.

August: Booth at the Lemon Festival. 44 present gave feedback to members of the Charter Review Commission about whether CV should have District elections in the future in order to make elections more affordable for ordinary citizens who would like to serve their community.

September: 14 people heard a representative from Sullivan Solar explain a special program they had with the city of CV for solar installation.

October: 17 people heard a representative from SUHSD speak about the board vote to pursue District elections. Bill Perno also spoke about the dangers of bath salts and Spice and how the city needed to ban them.

November: 18 people heard the PACE representative explain how they had bought the old Office Depot on L Street and were converting it to a center for elderly and disabled who needed a place to be during the day. They will provide activities, food, medical care so that people can remain in their homes and out of nursing homes. We also heard a presentation by the Center for Renewable Energy about the CV program for refurbishing older homes to make them more comfortable for the residents and more energy efficient. Also the city’s new Marketing Director was introduced.

Total volunteer hours this year were: 815 Total donations: $1,225.

Board members attended many meeting including Development Services, Ethics, Charter Review, Southwest Working Group and gave feedback