The Coast News INLAND EDITION
VOL. 10,
.com
VISTA, SAN MARCOS, ESCONDIDO
N0. 9
APRIL 14, 2023
Escondido fire chief to retire
Vista mulls bonds for housing City looks to boost middle-income stock
Veteran firefighter in post since 2017
By Laura Place
VISTA — The city of Vista is considering issuing tax-exempt bonds as a strategy to increase its restricted middle-income housing stock in the coming years. During a March 28 City Council meeting, Vista officials said the city has been approached in recent years by investors about entering into middle-income housing partnerships, using tax-exempt bonds to purchase properties with market-rate rents and make them more affordable to residents at median income levels. According to Assistant City Manager Amanda Lee, the city would enter into a joint powers authority, an entity allowing two or more public agencies to jointly exercise common powers, to issue bonds at no cost to the city. City staff and the council would then review each middle-income housing proposal from investors. Mayor John Franklin, who brought forward the proposal jointly with Councilmember Joe Green, said this could be a good option for Vista, although current financial conditions would need to improve first. “We have inclusionary housing, we have rent subsidized housing, and this is a whole other type of product. This is adding another tool to our tool box to be able to provide some options,” Franklin said. “Right now, with current bond rates, we’re not looking at anyone making proposals to do this in the next year or two.” Amanda Lee, Assistant City Manager for the city of Vista, discusses supporting middle-income housing through tax-exempt bonds at the City Council’s March 28 meeting. Photo courtesy City of Vista “Middle income” specifically refers to those making between 80% and 120% of TURN TO BONDS ON 5
By Samantha Nelson
GOOD HARE DAY
accessibility for bikes and pedestrians. This is the second and final bridge to be completed as part of the Creek Project, following the opening of the new Bent Avenue bridge last summer, now called the Lionel “Doc” Burton Bridge after the city’s first mayor. Deputy Mayor Sharon Jenkins, whose district houses the Creek Project, said it has taken many years to get to this point. “We appreciate the residents having patience during construction and in these last final months as we bring this to completion. Staff started the
ESCONDIDO — Fire Chief Rick Vogt is retiring after more than 30 years in the fire service in Southern California. Vogt started as a firefighter 33 years ago working for Cal Fire Riverside County before being promoted to engineer and captain. His first assigned station came in 1989 in Temecula, where he still lives with his wife and their two youngest children. After 15 years in Riverside County, Vogt worked for 10 years with the San Marcos Fire Department as VOGT battalion chief, leading the newly formed, joint Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division that combined Escondido and San Marcos fire departments for EMS training, education, purchasing, policy and procedures. He also served as a member of the command staff on a statewide major incident management team where he deployed to dozens of large wildfires and disasters. During his time in San Marcos, Vogt became familiar with Escondido and its fire department. He joined Escondido in 2015 as division chief leading the training and EMS division. In 2016, he was promoted to deputy chief of operations and finally to fire chief in 2017. Vogt’s accomplishments as fire chief include the purchase of five new fire engines and an upgrade of the department’s technology, including radios, mobile data computers and the fire station alert system. He also oversaw the implementation of commu-
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TURN TO FIRE CHIEF ON 9
Thousands of children and adults turned out April 8 at Walnut Grove Park in San Marcos for the Spring Egg Scramble, which included an Easter egg hunt and high-fives with the Easter Bunny. More on Page 15. Photo by Laura Place
Bridge takes shape as Creek Project nears end By Laura Place
SAN MARCOS — Crews continue to make progress on the construction of the new Via Vera Cruz bridge in San Marcos, one of the final major components of the city’s $100 million Creek Project that is expected to wrap up this summer after three years of construction. Crews finally poured concrete for the deck of the new Via Vera Cruz bridge in the first week of April after several delays due to ongoing rain, bringing the city one step closer to project completion and the restoration of a cross-creek connection to Discovery Street. The new bridge, which
A VIEW from the north end of the new Via Vera Cruz bridge at San Marcos Boulevard in San Marcos. The bridge is on track to be completed by the summer. Photo by Laura Place
will be named the Pia Harris Ebert Bridge in honor of the city’s first female City Council member, will fea-
ture four lanes instead of the previous two, as well as bike lanes, sidewalks and safety railings to improve