On July 1st, the Chula Vista Today Staff attended a community event in the City of Chula Vista called ‘Coffee with Mayor John McCann.’ The event provided an opportunity for residents to voice their concerns to the Mayor and work together to find solutions.
One of our reporters, Jeanette Sánchez, had the pleasure of interviewing him at this event.
The day began with conversations over coffee and snacks, touching upon topics such as the city’s electric scooters and homeless matters.
Children and electric scooter issues
In the assembly, a recurring issue that was brought up was the topic of the reckless use of electric scooters.
Chula Vista residents are concerned about children driving through the streets without helmets or protection and at high speeds. This reckless behavior could lead to accidents and potential scares, causing worry among citizens.
When asked about this topic by our reporter, the Mayor answered, “We are adding additional police officers and increasing our traffic division to be able to keep our streets safe.”
Regarding who’s responsible for giving children safety gear, whether it’s the school or parents, Mayor McCann answered, “The parents are the ones who are ultimately responsible for their children, and they should require to have them wear helmets, if they aren't able to get them helmets they should be able to contact a non-profit or the police department to know how to get a helmet.”
Homeless concerns
There is a significant homeless population in Chula Vista. In response to the City of San Diego’s decision to prohibit people experiencing homelessness from sleeping in the streets and dismantling their camps, there are concerns about their potential migration to the south.
Sánchez pointed out people’s concerns about a possible massive wave of homeless relocation to Chula Vista.
To this, the Mayor answered that he doesn't believe this will happen. Still, if it were to happen, he said, “Through our homeless outreach team, we want to make sure that we have the right balance of getting the homeless out of the street so we don’t perceive this from happening because we will help them get off the streets but will also hold the accountable for creating homeless encampments.”
“In Chula Vista, we believe that we have been on the innovative edge of solving the homeless problem; we opened up the tiny new home community, which gives them help to get permanent housing,” he said.
Potential economic concerns due to state of emergency on beaches
The economic downturn caused by the state of emergency at county beaches could have a negative impact on Chula Vista. This is because visitors who go to the beaches often spend money on food and shopping in our city, and a decline in tourism could harm local businesses.
Regarding this possible economic issue, Mayor McCann responded, “We are working hard to decrease the economic impact,” he said. “We are on the actual bayfront, which isn’t affected, so we don’t see the economic impact as much as Imperial Beach does, but we are a partnering region and believe economically that if our other cities are affected, we share that effect.”
“The City of Chula Vista has joined efforts to work at solving the issue and bringing attention to The Federal Government in the Biden administration to be able to solve that problem,” he said.
