S1: It's time for KPBS Midday Edition on today's show. Expanded jail oversight , avocado production. And whether you call it Cows or Cold Mountain. We're talking about the history. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. Health care workers and contractors will now be investigated after a jail death. Then , while everyone loves avocados , producing them may be a challenge in San Diego County. We'll tell you about what that means. Plus the history of what most people call Cows Mountain. That's ahead on midday Edition. And.
S2: And.
S1: Yesterday , the county Board of Supervisors voted to expand the authority of the Civilian Jail Oversight Board. You may have heard it called curb. Well , now , this civilian panel can also investigate jail health care workers and contractors after someone dies in custody. Investigative reporter Kelli Davis explains it all in her recent article published yesterday in the San Diego Union-Tribune , and she joins us live. Kelly , welcome back to the show.
S3: Hi , Jade. Thanks for having me.
S1: It's always good to have you here. So break it down for us. What happened in yesterday's Board of Supervisors vote ? Yeah.
S3: So , um , so basically , this was a kind of long time in the works plan to , as you mentioned , um , expand clubs jurisdiction so that they can now investigate medical and mental health providers when someone dies in custody. Um , and this was brought forth by Supervisor Monica Montgomery. Step. And , um. So. So what they'll now be able to look at and this isn't retroactive. It will apply to any , any death that happens. There's going to be one more vote. To kind of finalize things at the end of the month. So then after that this will take effect. And so anyone who dies in custody. Um , club investigators will be able to look at things like , um , you know , did the person get. Get timely treatment. Did they get their necessary medication ? Um , you know , we've seen instances where people die after not receiving heart medication or insulin or they weren't put on the jail's drug and alcohol withdrawal protocol , and they died from dehydration. Um , and we only know these things because their family families have filed lawsuits. Um , and since it was formed three decades , decades ago , has not been allowed to look at medical records when they investigate and custody deaths , they've only been allowed to look at , It. Actions by sworn staff. By deputies. Um. And so. So now this was like the important first step , pending a final vote to , like you said , give them the authority to investigate in custody deaths , um , medical actions by medical staff.
S1: Yeah , well , and I want to make sure I'm clear on this so they will not be able to go back and look at previous cases. Or will they.
S3: Know ? No , they will not be able to know. Okay. Other case , um , it will the case will have to , um , have been opened after the law takes effect.
S1:
S3: And and I think not having the full picture of what happened to a person , um , makes it really , really difficult. I mean , um , jails are , you know , Kelly Martinez , Sheriff. Kelly Martinez brought this up at yesterday's board meeting. You know , the jail is not designed to be a hospital yet. Many incarcerated people are in poor health. Jails aren't designed to be mental health facilities , but around 30 to 40% of San Diego's jail population is on psychiatric meds. And people die from all sorts of causes. And so. So , yeah. So I think the big challenge for , for getting a full picture of how someone died and what steps , what could be done , policy changes , you know , other , other changes , you know , to help prevent deaths in the future. I think for oversight to be able to get the full picture , it is really important.
S1: And , you know , we all we already know a lot. But remind us what club does and what they're responsible for. Like what other cases they investigate. Yeah.
S3: Yeah. So so they were um , yeah. So when they were created , it was to investigate any , any allegations of misconduct or , um , uh , um , policy violations by , uh , county law enforcement. So that would be sheriff's deputies and probation officers. And so they have , um , there's a citizen's board , but there are also professional investigators who are county employees. Um , but but work on Clark's behalf. And so they go in and they investigate , um , these cases , um , for , for almost all of these , these are complaint based , but when someone dies in custody , that is an automatic. That is something that clerk will automatically investigate. And they've they've added some other things in um , if , if someone suffers a great bodily injury at the hands of a deputy or probation officer that that is now investigated. Um , if a deputy , uh , discharges a weapon that is investigated. So they've kind of had their jurisdiction , like , slowly expanded over the years to , um , to include , um , you know , a lot more , more actions by , by law enforcement that folks might have questions about.
S1: All right. So then getting back to this vote , uh , the sheriff's department , they oppose the idea of expanding class authority.
S3: Yeah , the sheriff has has submitted a couple memos ahead of the vote , um , and basically arguing that this will have a chilling effect on jail medical services. Um , the , the jail currently contracts out for medical services , and , and she's indicated that the contractors it's naf care which is a huge nationwide. They provide medical services and lots of jails. And then there's a smaller contractor that's locally based. And they provide the nurses and the psychiatrists and , um , nurse practitioners and such. And so she's she's indicated they're not too happy with , with this form of oversight , and she's really questioned her ability to to understand medical services in jails and to investigate medical staff. But but what I think is important to to mention , and this kind of keeps getting left out is , is clubs not just gonna , you know , dive into this with its existing staff. They will be hiring two additional investigators and then they will be bringing in and they have funding for this. They will bring they will be bringing in outside medical experts to review cases. So these won't be laypeople , um , trying to figure out if a , if a medical professional made mistake , it will be actual medical professionals kind of reviewing the actions of of jail medical staff.
S1: I mean , people have died here. So if not having curb look into this , I mean , did the sheriff propose any alternatives or other solutions ? Yeah.
S3: So she Proposed what she called a she wanted to see an and so these were her words yesterday , an independent and comprehensive assessment of the quality and effectiveness of health care services delivered within the jail system. Um , but that wasn't what was on the agenda yesterday. Um , it's it's it's good to hear the sheriff's department asking for such a thing because there there have been lots of lawsuits. There have been , um , lots of investigations by other entities that that the sheriff has pushed back on. There was a state audit. There have been a couple advocacy groups that have done their own investigations , and the sheriff's department has pushed back on those. So , so for the sheriff to go to the Board of Supervisors and request , um , an independent , comprehensive assessment of of health care services within the jail , I think that's something that the board , um , should take her up on.
S1:
S3: You know , I've been covering this , uh , for a decade , and , you know , I have seen how much time , um , other , you know , disability rights. California. Um , uh , you know , we've got a class action lawsuit against the jails that have brought in. They've brought in a lot of of outside experts. The state auditor put , um , put together a pretty scathing , comprehensive , um , review of of jail deaths in San Diego , finding that the county had the largest , um , highest mortality rate among California's large counties , large jail systems. That that audit was , was completed in early 2022. And that that should have could you know , I'm surprised that that wasn't the moment when the sheriff said , hey , okay. Like , let's we don't agree with everything in this audit , but , hey , let's let's , um , let's bring in , um , county , like , let's do our let why don't you do your own assessment of , of how we're doing and go from there , see what we can do from there. Um , so yes , you know , um , people , people continue to die. There were , there were two pretty horrific deaths in July , um , that we know about. Um , we know the details of only because of this class action lawsuit and their attorneys were able to go in and get sworn declarations from from men who were in cells , um , nearby the , the the two guys that died. Um , these were separate instances , but but both , um , shared a lot of really troubling , um , things in common about that just suggested , um , neglect , um , uh , lack of responsiveness to , to medical need and , and will , you know , real serious questions about how folks with with cognitive challenges or mental illness , how they are cared for in jails. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , you know , so far this year , eight people have died in San Diego County jails. And you mentioned the gruesome deaths of two men in custody , which are reported on. How would you describe the state of jail conditions ? Now.
S3: You know the sheriff ? Um , they say they're doing everything. You know , they're they're the folks that they house are , um , people that that don't always get , um , you know , regular health care. You know , folks who are homeless , folks who've got , um , have had long term struggles with , with substance use addiction or substance use disorder or , you know , mental health. So it's a very challenging population. Um , you know , I think the the sheriff's office has been very reactive , you know , only after a record number of suicides did the sheriff's office bring in an outside expert. Only after several overdose deaths did deputies start carrying Narcan. You know the drug that reverses opioid overdoses ? Um , so. So the sheriff did mention yesterday that she wants to start focusing on prevention. And so that's hopefully that's something that that she'll continue to push for. And they'll be able to to get ahead of , of um , you know , future deaths. And we won't see record numbers like we've seen in past years.
S1: When we look at the jail conditions. You know , you recently reported that the sheriff is phasing out triple bunking in jails. Um , they've done this since 2016 , despite state regulators repeatedly telling them to halt the practice.
S3: Um , and then there was a third man in there with them. Uh , tiny. I think it's 75ft² , tiny , tiny cells that I think any normal person would really struggle with being stuck in , that that sort of situation with with two other people and the two men they ended up fighting. Um , the , um , one of them , um , uh , you'll beat the other guy. So , so , um , severely. He ended up in a coma and eventually , um , eventually ended up on life support , and his family , um , had to withdraw care. And so. So that young man was sentenced to , um , uh , 12 years in jail on Monday. And , you know , he was and this was a theme in the sentencing. His family was there. Um , family members of the man who died , um , made statements that they were really put in a , in a situation that that , um , kind of created the , the , um , the environment for , for violence. You know , they they should have been it should have been recognized that both these people were acutely psychotic. They had history of violent crimes. Like , let's not put them in the same cell together. Maybe separate them for time so they could cool off. Um , but instead , um , you know , that wasn't considered. And , you know , you had three people in a cell , and it just created a very , very dangerous situation. And we've seen this happen before. Um , so , yeah , the sheriff's department says they're phasing out triple bunking. Um , but we here I've heard that it's it's still happening. Um , so I just hope , um , you know , state regulators have been on them every almost every year to telling them to stop. And they say that they're they're working on it. So , um , yeah , that's definitely something I'll keep following.
S1: Well , you know , class itself has seen some upheaval over the years with leadership changing due to frustration over what former executive officer Paul Parker says is a lack of progress and support from supervisors.
S3: It's it's , you know , um , for a long time , club was very under-resourced and I think not taken seriously. Um , and maybe for good reason. You know , not a lot of people attended their meetings , and the reports that they put out weren't very thorough. But now , um , they have a solid team of investigators. There were people who show up to every meeting , Um , urging them to investigate. You know , families after a loved one has died will show up to clear meetings and say , please look into my daughter's death. Look into my son's death. Don't or don't forget how my daughter died. And let's make sure that that doesn't happen again. Um , you know , counties have in San Diego County , they have lots of boards and commissions. Um , so and and they so many of them are equally as important. But I think , um , due to the number of , of lawsuits we've seen and the amount of money that has have gone to lawsuit settlements , um , tens of millions of dollars. Um , I think the , the Board of Supervisors is starting to pay attention. I think I think when Paul Parker resigned , the message he sent that he felt like he was kind of hidden , hit his head against a brick wall all the time. I think that was heard by supervisors And this this step to give clear more authority , more jurisdiction. Was was a response to that. Um , so yeah. So I think they do they do they they are getting attention from , from supervisors. Um , and hopefully that will , you know , that will will lead to , you know , it's , it's it's really the only um , it's really the best form of transparency that we have. Um , um , you know , we're findings in deaths or misconduct. Investigations are made as public as possible , and that doesn't exist anywhere else. Really ? Yeah.
S1:
S3: Um , no sheriff has requested such a thing from the county before , and I hope they take her up on that. I hope they move ahead with that. And I hope that that process is transparent from start to finish. Who who they select , how they go about selecting that person and then the full analysis. What are the findings ? You know what kind of report will be made publicly available ? Um , I think that should be something that , that , um , that the board , um , sees through. And I hope the sheriff will , will continue to push push for that and also understand that the importance of transparency.
S1: All right. Well , I've been speaking with Kelly Davis , investigative reporter with the San Diego Union-Tribune. Kelly , as always , thanks for your reporting and thanks for joining us.
S3: Oh , thank you so much , Jade.
S1: Coming up next. Everyone loves avocados , but producing them is a challenge in San Diego. Hear more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition I'm Jade Hindman. Across the globe , avocado production is up. The countries of Morocco , Brazil and even Nigeria are trying to cash in on the demand for this beloved fruit. But here in San Diego County , long one of the largest producers of avocados in the world , fewer and fewer are being grown. KPBS reporter John Carroll joins me live to talk about his latest reporting. John , welcome to the show.
S4: Thanks , Jade. Good to be here.
S1: Good to have you in studio. I'd like to start by talking about Jennifer Brantley. She's an avocado farmer in Fallbrook. You talked to tell me about her and what she shared.
S4: So she and her husband , Kurt , uh , founded started their farm in Fallbrook in 2011. They were very excited about it. You know , just gung ho and everything. And the first thing they found out was that they were going to have to what they call stump , which is chopped down basically a lot of their trees and basically start over because the trees were too big , they were too old. There's a lot of different reasons on that. So , um , that was a rude awakening right away. Um , but they stuck with it. And , uh , she is very proud of what she does. She says she has the best avocados in San Diego County. I'm sure a lot of the growers say that. And , um , so they they got going with one hand tied behind their back , basically because you don't just put in new trees and voila , they produce fruit. It takes them years to grow and get to that point. So it's been tough. I know we'll talk a little more later about what they're doing now , but she they still Kurt had to keep his job as a wireless engineer to be able to continue to afford to be able to farm. Mhm. And but they're sticking with it for now. But it's , it's a rough go for them.
S1: And so this is a random question because you mentioned the trees just getting too old. Once the trees start producing what's their lifespan like.
S4: You know I would love to tell you that I do not know I know that I was on I've been to several of the farms , and there are a lot of farms where the trees have been there for decades , I can tell you that. Um , but yeah , I don't know precisely. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And , well , I can only imagine once you have to cut it down again. It's years before they start producing after. Right after being planted. Yeah. Well , okay.
S4: Uh , water has done nothing but get more expensive over the last couple of decades. All of us in San Diego County know that because of our home water bill , uh , farmers in the county are eligible for an agricultural discount , which helps , but it is still tremendously expensive. Um , I wasn't aware on a granular level of how expensive it was until I talked to some of the farmers. And this this fact really blew me away. That an average avocado , just one piece of fruit , not the whole tree , takes 70 to 80 gallons of water to grow. So , you know , you think , you know , the average tree is producing hundreds of pieces of fruit. So you can do the math. It takes a lot of water. And the Bentleys , um , in 2019 , they paid $4.42 per 1000 gallons. That would be with the agricultural water rate. The agricultural water rate in Fallbrook Public Utility District now is $5.83 per 1000 gallons. So it's just a real struggle for the farmers , all of them with the cost of water.
S1: It's incredibly expensive. Yeah.
S4: So long.
S1:
S4: Um , that answer is different for every one of them. It depends on what their acreage is , how their trees are doing , how much fruit is coming in from Mexico , which is a big thing right now. They bring in much more fruit than California and San Diego County produce , and that drives down the cost. So it's just , you know , that answer probably varies as time goes by and the situation changes and you'd say , okay , it's now such that I feel like I can get into it or not.
S1: Yeah , well , talk to me about the emotional toll of all this on on people like Jennifer.
S4: Jennifer is is a really good soul. She considers her trees to be her friends. I mean , she talks to them. She she loves them. She takes care of them like children. She became emotional during our interview and I there's a lot of stuff that is challenging for them right now. I mean , the fact that her husband still has to do his regular job while working on the farm when he can , but I did talk to her about it , and I know we have a little sound from her right now.
S5: It's really depressing. So , um , I get really emotional about this because I'm so , like , involved with my farm , and , uh , I am the one doing a lot of the work. I'm the one pruning the trees. I'm the one throwing the wood. I'm a two time cancer survivor , and I have a lot of years , my good years that have been put into this. Wow.
S1: Wow. Yeah.
S4: Yeah.
S1: It weighs so heavy.
S4: It does. And I mean , you're there every day , the trees are there and it's just really hard. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , another big part of this is , you know , the H-2a visa program. What are some barriers to qualifying for for that.
S4: Well , it has to do with acreage. Um , some of the smaller farms do not qualify. Uh , but if you can qualify , it's a really great thing because you can bring in workers from out of the country. They are under the H-2a visa , which means it's legal for them to work here. So , um , it there are a lot of factors and qualifications. I would urge the audience , if they're interested , to Google H-2a visa program. It's a lot more than I have time to go into now , but there are just a lot of different issues related to that. And it's just gotten harder now with the crackdowns on immigration as well.
S1: Well , exactly. That leads me to to my next question. I mean , it's just one of the issues relating to labor.
S4: She said that she has seen when she's gone , when she's been on the farm , she's seen helicopters buzzing around , quite obviously looking down at her farm. So , I mean , what would they be doing there ? Uh , she said that , um , that she has had to be coached in what to say when immigration folks show up. Um , and , uh , so that that is a very tough thing for them. Um , then manager of a place called ACA Groves , a very large farm , hundreds of acres. Um , he his name is Serafin Mitchell. He has worked there for 50 plus years , since he was a teenager. So he knows , like the business , he knows all the people at the surrounding farms. So he has his ear to the ground , as it were , on this. Um , I talked to him about the what's going on as far as trying to hire workers , because you can grow the best fruit in the world and have a ton of it. But if there's no one to pick it , you know , obviously not good. So I think we have a little clip from Seraph in here talking about that very issue.
S6: A lot of my neighbors are. They drop in the fruit because they know local workers see , most of the big ranches around this area is gone because of the water prices. It's killing us. The labor. The labor is killing us. The avocados from Mexico and Peru and and all these other places. They shipped in avocados to the United States. They drop our price down. We have no chance to survive. And now with the labor is even worse.
S1: And so now Jennifer Bentley's family is entering into a county program called pace. Right.
S4: So that's a mouthful. What it means is that the county , in the interest of not having urban sprawl all over the place , pays farmers To not develop their land to keep it for agricultural use only. So there's a certain amount of money. And I'm sorry , I can't remember exactly what it is that they pay per acre. It's a varying amount depending on the whys and wherefores of a particular farm. And so Jennifer and her husband are going into it. Um , and that will help them. Uh , she I think they're moving toward just not growing avocados anymore because it's just so challenging with the water , especially , uh , they're going to concentrate. Last time I talked to her , she said they're going to concentrate more on their vineyard. Um , going in the wine direction. Okay. So yeah.
S1: Yeah , yeah.
S4: Yeah. A lot of people love California wine , right ? Yeah.
S1: Well , so what are the county's long term goals with this program ? Pace.
S4: So they are talking about getting 443 , to be precise , acres set aside every year since it's been going. They have preserved more than 3000 acres. So , you know , it's not for everybody , but for those who just have tried and just are tired of fighting the battle. It's a way to go for them. One thing , though , Jennifer told me , is that it does affect resale value of their land. If they're in that program. You know who would want to buy it necessarily and be under those strictures ? So it's not , you know , the answer to all prayers.
S1: Yeah , right. Well , hopefully the incentive is there for them.
S4: And then there's going to be another part of this story which has more to do with a lawsuit that a group of growers have brought against the major importer packing companies , which are Del Monte Fresh , Karlovo and Mission Produce. They say that those companies are misrepresenting the Mexican product that comes into this country as sustainably grown , that there is no environmental damage caused in Mexico to grow the fruit. And they say that's not true. There's a lot of clear cutting , which , you know , obviously not good for the earth. And so they have brought this class action suit. There's a group of them and that's working its way through the courts right now. So we'll be talking about that in the following story after the one on the battles.
S1: All right. I tell you , avocados weren't really on my radar , but I am so invested in in this reporting now , John.
S4: It's really interesting. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started doing this story. And I'm like , what have you done ? But there's other interesting stuff going on. There's a grower named Norm kook who is trying to develop a different variety. The Haas is what we're all mainly familiar with , but trying to develop another variety called the reed avocado , which is much larger. Um , it is very , very creamy and delicious , but it doesn't have the characteristics that the Haas has had sort of bred into it where it can withstand being shipped and handled and getting it to the store. And it's still , you know. Right.
S1: Right. Intact.
S4: Intact. Intact. Right. And so he's working with some bio geneticists to try and manipulate it to the point where it can be like the Haas in that sense. And part of the reason for that is , um , they don't have much of any reed avocados grown in Mexico. And so this would be a way for us growers , Californians , To have something that they don't have and a new market. So.
S1: So.
S4: Well , a lot to it.
S1: I see. We'll keep our eyes and ears open for more reporting on that , John. Yes.
S4: Yes. Let the guacamole rain.
S1: Oh , there we go. I've been speaking with John Carroll. He's a general assignment reporter and anchor at KPBS. John , thank you so much.
S4: Thanks , Jade.
S1: Still to come , the history of a beloved mountain in San Diego County. When KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back to KPBS midday edition. I'm Jade Hindman. Cowles mountain , as I call it , is not just San Diego's highest peak. It's a beloved spot cherished by hikers and nature lovers across the nation and across the region. Really. But it wouldn't be the landmark it is today without the efforts of community leaders 50 years ago to preserve it , making it the largest urban park in California. I'm joined now by San Diego Union-Tribune reporter David Garrick. David , welcome to Midday Edition.
S7: Thanks for having me.
S1: Hey , I'm so glad you're here.
S7: But I know everyone I know refers to it as cows. And I still , you know , accidentally refer to it as cows frequently and think of it that way. That's how I came to know it. So it's a tough situation. I guess.
S1: It is. I wonder how it became cows instead of cold.
S7: I just think I think the word cow , I mean , just jumps out , you see cow. And I think people I think that's my theory and I don't think people remember George Coles , who , you know , founded the city of Santee and own that land because it was , you know , so many years ago. He's not a familiar name , so no one really knows it was his name was Coles. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. I see , I see. Well , I'm glad we've cleared that up.
S7: Well , one thing that's interesting , I wrote a story recently about these folks who who led the charge to buy the land , and they admitted to me in the story that when they bought it , they thought it was pronounced cows. So. So they bought it without without knowing the right name. So that maybe makes us feel a little bit better about our errors.
S1: It really does. Well , you know , so the idea then to preserve and purchase cows or Coles came at a time when development in the East County was really picking up.
S7: I think that the fact that there was sprawl happening in Allied Gardens , in Del Cerro and San Carlos and those neighborhoods , and that there wasn't a lot of open space and people didn't know how far the development was going to go. There was this idea that we should preserve some of the open spaces that we do have. Um , I think it was also coincidence at the same time you had the environmental movement was being born. The first Earth Day was in 1970 , and they bought cows in 1974. So , you know , that was a new idea. And you also had increased consciousness about indigenous communities. And there are a lot of Kumeyaay sites in that area. So there's a lot of things that are working together simultaneously to create sort of a perfect storm to make this kind of thing happen.
S1: Yeah , it's it's great that there was that effort to preserve , um , that you write that the purchase may not have happened if it weren't for the efforts of one community volunteer , and that's Dorothy Leonard and also a plane ride that happened. So tell me about that. Yeah.
S7: Yeah. I mean , Dorothy was a PTA leader , a typical , you know , story , you would think. Then she got involved in a local planning group. She became aware of all the situation with the development , and she tried to lobby people to preserve this land. And she got some county and city officials and some other officials into a plane that Gillespie Field that took off from Gillespie Field in El Cajon. And they went flew over the land. And she thinks that may have done the trick. She overheard them saying , we've got to preserve this. We've got to preserve this. So it could have been just getting a bird's eye view of the entire area. Really flipped the switch and made people realize it was time to to preserve this land by buying it. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. So aside from that bit , tell me about the history of Coles Mountain.
S7: Yeah , well , I mean , it was known as S mountain because San Diego State students used to paint an S on it for homecoming every year. Uh , it did not have a trailhead. So there were hikers. They were really ambitious hikers. So we don't know how many people hiked it back in the day. Uh , and when the city bought it , it didn't really have a trailhead , so it really was not what it came to be at the time the city bought it. I don't think it was like , we're going to buy the most popular hiking trail in the region. It because they bought it and preserved it. It slowly became what's arguably the most popular hiking trail in the region. Uh , and it's what people know today. The view is remarkable. Um , and it's it's iconic. Really. Uh , it becomes it's become known as one of San Diego's most beloved places.
S1: Well , as you mentioned , the purchase of Kohls was really the beginning of a much larger effort to incorporate other public land in the area , something Leonard called a perfect storm , as you say. Tell us about how areas like Lake Murray became a part of the greater vision. Yeah.
S7: Yeah. Well , that's that's why another reason why why a Kohl's is such an important move. Because when the city bought it , instead of thinking at the time the county had a plan where Lake Murray might be a regional park and Fortuna mountain , which the federal government had given to the city , might be a regional park. When they bought Kohl's and they thought of the idea , hey , maybe we could combine Coles and Mission Gorge and Lake Murray and Fortuna and create one giant regional park , which as we know today is Mission Trails Regional Park. But if they hadn't bought Coles , arguably maybe they wouldn't have thought of that grand plan. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well , one challenge leaders struggled with was what to call this greater park.
S7: And , you know , I don't I don't know who that person is. I believe they don't get full credit. But whoever they are , if they're out there listening you you made a big difference in San Diego history. Yeah. Uh , one other thing to mention is that another piece of luck is that because there was not enough parkland in the suburbs , eastern suburbs at that time , and other parts of San Diego ? Uh , the voters approved in 1977 proposition C , which was a bond to buy land for parks. But at the time the thought was these would be neighborhood parks and neighborhoods like Rancho Bernardo and La Jolla and Point Loma. But but some city leaders had the vision to say , let's use that money to buy land to increase the size of Mission Trails Regional Park and fill in the gaps. So that was another fluky thing that happened to come at just the right time to help create this giant park that we all cherish. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. You spoke to a number of officials who worked on this project over the years , including former San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy.
S7: Murphy told me it was the most important thing he did while he was a city councilman. Um , and also , they were willing to be very humble and say , we would love to pretend at the time that we knew we were visionaries , but they didn't know how big a deal it was at the time. Uh , they feel lucky that it turned out to be such a big deal. They were trying to do one smart thing and not do something maybe as ambitious as what ? What it turned out to be. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , and maybe as a testament to how beloved the park is. You write Coles draws about a million hikers per year. So are there any concerns about how to preserve cows or coals for its next 50 years ? Yeah.
S7: Well , maybe six , seven , eight years ago , they did something called the Five Hike Challenge , which was a challenge to hikers to hike all five peaks that are in Mission Trails Regional Park. And while the goal was to get people to do that , it was also to get people off of cowls or coals because it is so popular that the thought was , let's get people hiking in all the areas instead of just one famous trail. The reason that coals remains the most famous is just the view is breathtaking. You can see Coronado. You can see Point Loma. On clear days you can see Catalina. So that will still always probably be number one. But as a testament to how popular , almost too popular it's become , they did create something called the five Egg challenge to pull people off of goals. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. And tell me again like , you know , just for people who may not be familiar with it , what is the five peak challenge.
S7: Uh , north there's two , four tuners and there's Coles and then there's I can't think of that. It's I pay I don't know , people can look it up I apologize I don't know the last two. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. All right , all right. We're going to find out. But , you know , as far as Cold Mountain is concerned , I mean , you know , people use it to hike , but it's people do a lot more than just hike , uh , over there in that area. I mean , I know that when there's a full moon , there is a group of folks who hike to the top to just meditate.
S7: Uh , but know there are night hikes. There's there's a lot. It's a mission. Trails Regional Park has really become , a , you know , a jewel , a jewel for San Diego. And there's a lot of things that go on there , just beyond hiking , for sure.
S1: Oh , yeah.
S7: And before and before I even knew it was 50 years old or any of this history. So this was a fun story for me to write , because it's sort of a place that I love to go. And I learned so many things that I had no idea about until I told you the reporting.
S1: Yeah , it's next on my list , I tell you. All right. You know , I think San Diego has really a long history of navigating development , and it's one you still cover in your beat today. What did you take away about that in telling this story on Cal's.
S7: Uh , you know , I mean , I think the coincidence is in the luck. I mean , I think everyone tries to look at stories from a perspective of a simple or visionary. And just speaking to Larry Sterling , who was a city councilman during some of the key moments , he just kept stressing that this was just so lucky that so many things came together just at the right time , learned from the federal government that was near other land that was an army base. You know , so many things happened right around the same time. And really a lot of the successes we've had in San Diego in other parts of the country. A lot of times are mostly luck sometimes. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , you know , I this is a part of San Diego that a lot of people don't get to hear about. So many thanks for sharing in your reporting. David Garrick covers city hall for the San Diego Union Tribune. David , again , thank you so much.
S7: Thanks for having me.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
