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Dear City of San Diego resident,

My name is Dr. Suzanne Till, and I am running for State Senate District 40.  I am from Lakeside. I graduated from El Capitan High School and currently live in Santee. I am a Marine veteran.  I teach high school and community college.  I am the Vice President of Padre Dam (MWD) Municipal Water District Board of Directors. Padre Dam MWD serves over 250,00 residents of the State Senate District 40 in East San Diego County.  As an elected official I have never raised water or sewer rates for the rate payers in our water district.    

Even though I am from East County, I represent change for the 200,000 City of San Diego voters residing in the California State Senate District 40.  The City of San Diego used to be called “America’s Finest City”.  Now the City of San Diego is “America’s High Cost City”.   What can I do to help our affordability crisis?   

31% of San Diego County families struggle with living expenses: housing, food and water.  Why? One reason is California’s housing market favors Wall Street and foreign investors, not housing our children. In 2025, 27% of all California homes were purchased by investment corporations, not Californian families.  Wall Street-backed corporations are reaping profits and denying Californians the chance to buy starter homes.  I support Assemblymember Alex Lee’s Bill, AB 1240 to limit corporate ownership of single family homes for use as rentals or investment.   

We all drink water from San Diego County Water Authority Carlsbad desalination plant.  This water is the most expensive water in the United States.  In October 2025, the San Diego City Council approved an outrageous and unnecessary 62% water and sewer rate increase from 2026 to 2027. By comparison, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, where I am Vice President, guarantees a 0% water and sewer rate increase from 2026 to 2027.   I can implement sustainable and affordable alternatives to the constantly escalating water and sewer rates imposed by City of San Diego political leaders.   

I experienced the Cedar Wildfire disaster of 2003.  Under my leadership Padre Dam MWD now has smart, reliable water infrastructure to fight wildfires in the Padre Dam MWD service area. I will restore Lake Hodges Reservoir, thus reducing your water bill and  fire risk in the northern region of the City of San Diego.  A restored Lake Hodges will serve as a fire break for North San Diego residents, and result in lower homeowner’s insurance rates.  

We need access to affordable healthcare.  We in California must become more self-sufficient in health care coverage and medical research.  I am a cancer survivor. Consequently, I will be especially focused on cancer treatment and research.  Cancer is the number 1 cause of death for San Diego County residents. 

As an elected official I am known for nonpartisanship, fiscal responsibility, and critical evaluation of data science available. Unlike the City of San Diego, Padre Dam MWD has developed an affordable water portfolio that is carbon neutral.  In my previous campaigns, I earned votes from Democrats, No Party Preference and moderate Republicans.  No other candidate has this track record.  I am here as a change candidate who supports community service, science and pragmatism, not partisan politics.  Let’s end this reputation of “America’s High Cost City” together.  Please donate, any amount will help.

Suzanne Till

Dear City of San Diego resident,

My name is Dr. Suzanne Till, and I am running for State Senate District 40.  I am from Lakeside. I graduated from El Capitan High School and currently live in Santee. I am a Marine veteran.  I teach high school and community college.  I am the Vice President of Padre Dam (MWD) Municipal Water District Board of Directors. I am straight off the campaign trail.  In 2024, I won my election in the Padre Dam MWD water district by 24 percentage points.  Padre Dam MWD serves over 250,00 residents of the State Senate District 40 in East San Diego County.  

Even though I am from East County, I represent change for the 200,000 City of San Diego voters residing in the California State Senate District 40. 

My platform is “Affordable housing, water and energy.”  31% of San Diego County families struggle with living expenses: housing, food and water.  Between 2021 and 2024, the child poverty rate in California tripled. Why? One reason is California’s housing market favors Wall Street and foreign investors, not housing our children. In 2025, 27% of all California homes were purchased by investment corporations, not Californian families.  Wall Street-backed corporations are reaping rental profits and denying everyday Californians the chance to buy a starter home.  I support Assemblymember Alex Lee’s Bill, AB 1240 to limit corporate ownership of single family homes for use as rentals or investment.   

We all drink water from San Diego County Water Authority Carlsbad desalination plant.  This water is the most expensive water in the United States.  In October 2025, the San Diego City Council approved an outrageous and unnecessary 62% water and sewer rate increase from 2026 to 2027. By comparison, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, where I am Vice President, guarantees a 0% water and sewer rate increase from 2026 to 2027.   There are sustainable and affordable alternatives to the constantly escalating water and sewer rates imposed on City of San Diego residents. 

I experienced the Cedar Wildfire disaster of 2003.  Under my leadership Padre Dam MWD now has smart, reliable water infrastructure to fight wildfires in the Padre Dam MWD service area. I will restore Lake Hodges Reservoir, thus reducing your water bill and  fire risk in the northern region of the City of San Diego.

We need access to affordable healthcare.  We in California must become more self-sufficient in health care coverage and medical research.  I am a cancer survivor. Consequently, I will be especially focused on cancer treatment and research.  Cancer is the number 1 cause of death for San Diego County residents.

As an elected official I am known for nonpartisanship, fiscal responsibility, and critical evaluation of data science available. Unlike the City of San Diego, Padre Dam MWD has developed an affordable water portfolio that is carbon neutral.  In my previous campaigns, I earned votes from Democrats, No Party Preference and moderate Republicans.  No one else has this track record.  I am here as a change candidate who supports science and pragmatism, not partisan politics.  Please donate, we can take back the California Dream.

Suzanne Till

To voters who support our military and open space in Southern California:

My name is Dr. Suzanne Till, and I am running for CA State Senate District 40. I grew up in
Lakeside; I currently live in Santee. I am a Marine veteran. I have a PhD in water resources
geography. I am an elected official, Vice President of Padre Dam Municipal Water District
Board of Directors. In 2024, I won my re-election by a 24% margin. Padre Dam MWD provides
water and sewer services to over 250,000 people in East San Diego County.

I served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton. If elected, I will work with
veteran elected officials at the State and Federal level to end Donald Trump’s unconstitutional military
occupation of our cities. The United States Marine Corps cannot use the City of Los Angeles as a training ground for combat. These Marines need to be back at Camp Pendleton to train for threats from our true enemies such as Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

In addition, I oppose commercial development proposed by the Trump administration for Camp Pendleton. For 83 years Camp Pendleton has successfully balanced national security needs with environmental preservation. In August 2025, Trump administration started exploring commercial leasing opportunities at Camp Pendleton. It is unclear as to what commercial development is expected: high rise tourism condos, shopping centers, Amazon warehouses, industrial tech or data centers?

As a Marine veteran and environmental scientist, I will work with veteran elected officials at the State and Federal level to stop Trump’s plan for unfettered commercial development at Camp Pendleton. Instead of leasing out Camp Pendleton’s open space to billionaires, I propose that the federal government offer this land first to the San Diego and Orange County tribal communities to lease or buy. Our tribal communities are the original owners of this pristine open space land, home to protected species such as the Southern California Steelhead trout. Tribal communities must be given the first opportunity to acquire this land back. Let’s create a California state government that embraces civility, natural spaces for all, and supports our military. Please donate, we can take back the California Dream.

Suzanne Till
www.suzannetill.com

Dear City of San Diego resident,

My name is Dr. Suzanne Till, and I am running for State Senate District 40.  I am from Lakeside. I graduated from El Capitan High School and currently live in Santee. I am a Marine veteran.  I teach high school and community college.  I am the Vice President of Padre Dam (MWD) Municipal Water District Board of Directors. I am straight off the campaign trail.  In 2024, I won my election in the Padre Dam MWD water district by 24 percentage points.  Padre Dam MWD serves over 250,00 residents of the State Senate District 40 in East San Diego County.   

Even though I am from East County, I represent change for the 200,000 City of San Diego voters residing in the California State Senate District 40. 

My platform is “Affordable housing, water and energy.”  31% of San Diego County families struggle with living expenses: housing, food and water.  Between 2021 and 2024, the child poverty rate in California tripled. Why? One reason is California’s housing market favors Wall Street and foreign investors, not housing our children. In 2025, 27% of all California homes were purchased by investment corporations, not Californian families. I support Assemblymember Alex Lee’s Bill, AB 2584 to limit corporate ownership of single family homes.   

We all drink water from San Diego County Water Authority Carlsbad desalination plant.  This water is the most expensive water in the United States.  Due to decisions that favor politics not science, the City of San Diego is currently proposing an outrageous 63% water rate increase. By comparison, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, where I am Vice President, guarantees a 0% water and sewer rate increase from 2023 to 2027.   There are sustainable and affordable alternatives to City of San Diego water management failures.

We need access to affordable healthcare.  We in California must become more self-sufficient in health care coverage and medical research.  I am a cancer survivor; the photo right is myself (black sweatshirt) and  my sister Karen celebrating another cancer free day in Ocean Beach.  Consequently, I will be especially focused on cancer treatment and research.

I experienced the Cedar Wildfire disaster of 2003.  Under my leadership Padre Dam MWD now has smart, reliable water infrastructure to fight wildfires in the Padre Dam Municipal Water District service area.  Reliable water infrastructure to fight wildfire is not the case for City of San Diego and North County residents.  I will restore Lake Hodges, thus reducing your water bill and  fire risk in the northern region of the City of San Diego and North County.

Many families with children cannot afford to live in San Diego County. Cancer is the number 1 cause of death for San Diego County residents.  The Colorado River, which is 70% of San Diego County’s water supply, is drying up due to climate change.   Something has to change.  I am here as a change candidate.  Let’s create a California state government that embraces civility, science, and bipartisanship. Please donate, we can take back the California Dream. 

Suzanne Till

www.suzannetill.com

At a “No Kings” protest in Washington, D.C., Bill Nye tells NBC News’ Melanie Zanona that federal cuts to science funding, especially around NASA, are “thoughtless.”

In the 1974 classic “Chinatown,” water wasn’t just water — it was power. Los Angeles power brokers quietly drained reservoirs, drove up scarcity, while ordinary citizens paid the price in higher costs and lost trust.

Half a century later, San Diego County is living its own version of “Chinatown,” and the stage is set at Lake Hodges.

Two years ago, the state declared the 106-year-old dam “unsatisfactory” and ordered water levels lowered — not because of a proven imminent failure, but based on theoretical earthquake models that never tested the dam’s unique multi-arch structure. What they didn’t factor in was the much greater and well-documented risk of wildfire in the exposed lakebed.

That single decision — keeping Hodges 13 feet lower than safe, historic norms — has already forced the release of 12 billion gallons of our cheapest water source. If stored and used, that water could have saved ratepayers $109 million to $120 million compared to desalinated water, or $46.6 million to $54 million compared to Pure Water San Diego. Instead, we’ve been buying high-priced imported or desal water — driving up water rates and, inevitably, the cost of housing and development.

Meanwhile, those artificially low levels have created 500 acres of dry, invasive grasses with moisture content under 5% — a ready-made runway for the next Santa Ana wind-driven fire. The Witch Creek and Cocos fires proved exactly how fast and far flames can spread through this corridor. One fire here could cost billions in property loss, destroy the San Dieguito River Valley, and wipe out habitat for 26 endangered species.

The facts are clear. There’s 500 times more risk of a catastrophic wildfire than a dam failure over the next five years.

And that’s not all we’re losing. The lowered lake has rendered useless a $208 million hydroelectric and water transfer system — paid for by ratepayers — that could be delivering renewable “free” power to 26,000 homes and transferring low-cost water to the Olivenhain Reservoir. Without a rebuilt dam, that investment sits idle, costing the Water Authority another $3 million a year in lost operational value.

In “Chinatown,” the tragedy was the sense of inevitability, that the public couldn’t stop the machine. But here, inevitability is a choice.

Rebuilding Lake Hodges Dam is not just a safety measure; it’s an economic and environmental necessity. Yes, costs have climbed — recent estimates put them between $474 million and $697 million — but that’s a one-time investment with multiple revenue and savings streams:

— Lower water rates by using our cheapest local supply.

— Restore renewable power to 26,000 homes.

— Reduce wildfire suppression costs, which average $312 million annually in San Diego County.

— Protect billions in property value and irreplaceable ecological resources.

Our coalition, RaiseLakeHodges.org — joined by the Citizens Advisory Committee for the San Dieguito River Valley, Sierra Club, Del Dios Town Council, Rancho Bernardo Community Council and multiple Homeowners Associations — has laid out the economic, safety and environmental case in detail.

We still have time to avoid a “Chinatown” ending. Rebuilding Lake Hodges now will keep rates in check, protect our communities and restore an asset the region has relied on for over a century.

If we delay, we’re not just risking higher water bills — we’re gambling with lives, property and the health of an entire watershed. The choice is ours, but the clock is ticking.

In “Chinatown,” the advice was to “Forget it.” In San Diego, we should remember — and act.

Bernstein is a physician and a member of the advisory committee for the San Dieguito River Park. He lives in Escondido.

You can read the original piece at the San Diego Union Tribune.

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. (KABC) — The California Men’s Service Challenge in Orange County is calling for 10,000 men statewide to step forward and volunteer as a mentor, coach or tutor for boys and young men.

Youth advocates say there’s an inordinate number of boys and young men struggling with a variety of issues.

“There is a struggle going on with our young men,” said Vicente Sarmiento, the 2nd district supervisor for Orange County. “Many young men are thinking about things like anxiety, depression and even things like suicide.”

Sarmiento said many people would likely be surprised by the number of young people struggling, especially the number of boys and young men.

“There was a stat that if you go to Angel Stadium… and you fill it three times with young people, that is the number of young people struggling here in the county with mental health challenges,” Sarmiento said.

The California Volunteers Office of the Governor issued the challenge to call on 10,000 men to step forward and become mentors at a news conference at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County.

They also celebrated one of their many success stories, showcasing the difference Ralph de los Santos of Santa Ana made in the life of a boy he became a mentor to ten years ago.

“It’s a very simple process to sign up to do it,” said de los Santos about his decision to mentor Alessandro Torrejon.

“Being a young adult and having to go through the typical stuff by yourself can be difficult, and your parents can only do so much. And having someone to help you and guide you is extremely helpful,” de los Santos said.

Experts cited several reasons why so many boys are struggling — from mental health issues to chronic absenteeism in school.

“Right now, about 60% of our college attendants are female,” said Sloane Keane, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County. “For the first time, we are really looking at a crisis with men and boys, and we really feel like it comes back to community and connection.

“So what do we need? We need people to step in and step into a relationship with a young person to make a difference,” Keane said.

Anyone interested in volunteering can find information about how to help at California Men’s Service Challenge | California Volunteers.

You can read the original piece at KABC 7 Los Angeles.

In the sweeping Southern California metropolis spanning from Santa Barbara to the Mexico border, Camp Pendleton has long remained the largest undeveloped stretch of the coastline.

The 17 miles of beach and coastal hills has, since World War II, proven critical in preparing soldiers for amphibious missions. The bluffs, canyons and mountainous terrain that comprise the interior of the base has been fertile training ground for those sent to conflicts in the Middle East and beyond.

But change may be on the horizon.

The United States Department of Defense is considering making a portion of the 125,000 acre base in northwestern San Diego County available for development or lease in what, if successful, would be unprecedented for the military installation.

“There’s no place in Southern California like Camp Pendleton when it comes to open space along the coast,” said Bill Fulton, a professor of practice in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at UC San Diego.

In late August, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan conducted an aerial tour of Camp Pendleton and visited with Marines at the base where he had “initial conversations about possible commercial leasing opportunities” by the Department of Defense, Phelan’s spokesperson Courtney Williams told The Times.

“These opportunities are being evaluated to maximize value and taxpayer dollars while maintaining mission readiness and security,” Williams said in a statement. “No decisions have been made and further discussions are needed.”

Details about the sites being considered for commercial lease remain unclear. Officials with Camp Pendleton declined to comment to The Times.

Discussions over the 83-year-old base comes at a time when the Trump administration is more aggressively trying to use public lands to raise money for the federal government and rolling back protections on open space.

The administration this month proposed rescinding a Biden-era rule that sought to protect public lands from industrial development and instead prioritizing the use of the land for oil and gas drilling, coal mining, timber production and livestock grazing.

Secretary Doug Burgum has repeatedly emphasized that federal lands are untapped assets worth trillions of dollars.

“We believe that our natural resources are national assets that should be responsibly developed to grow our economy, help balance the Budget, and generate revenue for American taxpayers,” he said in a statement to Congress in May.

While there has been development on Camp Pendleton those projects have solely been for military uses. A large hospital was recently added, and there are various buildings for the base’s more than 42,000 active duty personnel.

Camp Pendleton has won praise for balancing national security needs with environmental preservation.

In 2022, Camp Pendleton was named the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s military conservation partner of the year for its efforts to support the recovery of several species, including the tidewater goby, coastal California gnatcatcher, the arroyo toad and southern California steelhead.

Conservation and management of the least Bell’s vireo, California least tern, and western snowy plover have resulted in significant increases to on-base populations of these species, according to the agency.

In addition to endangered populations, the base is home to a herd of North American bison, one of only two wild conservation herds of bison in California.

Past efforts to build more on the camp have not been popular with the public.

In the mid-1990s, the U.S. Marine Corps put forth a plan to build 128 homes for officers and their families on a 32-acre bluff at San Mateo Point near Trestles Beach, one of the nation’s most famous surfing spots. The California Coastal Commission ultimately rejected the project.

In 2021, the Department of the Navy issued a request for information to seek feedback on hosting “critical energy and water infrastructure resiliency projects” on a portion of Camp Pendleton.

In the document, the department sought information on long-term partnerships to plan, design, construct and operate facilities that could include energy generation, transmission and storage, microgrid technologies, water desalination, drought mitigation, stormwater management, reuse or alternative use of decommissioned energy infrastructure, high speed fiber communications, data centers or residential, commercial or industrial purposes.

It is not clear whether any potential projects were identified from the request for information.

NBC News reported that funds from development on Camp Pendleton could potentially fund Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense project, citing defense sources. But officials have not publicly specified where funds would be allocated.

Absent specifics, it’s challenging for people in the areas immediately around the base to know what to expect and how to prepare, Fulton said.

“Are we talking about little shopping centers or high-rise hotels?” he said. “You would assume that the military has certain constraints that they would want to impose to protect their activities, but we just don’t know.”

Given the base’s coastal location, development on the site could certainly be fruitful for the federal government. Developers have long had their eye on smaller swaths of coastal land in Southern California. Years-long battles between developers and environmentalists were waged in the fight over proposed housing and commercial developments at Bolsa Chica in Huntington Beach and Banning Ranch in Newport Beach. Ultimately, those projects were scrapped.

Camp Pendleton, bordered by San Clemente to the north and Oceanside to the south, opened in 1942 during World War II at a time when the military was looking for large places to train soldiers, particularly for amphibious missions in the Pacific. It became a permanent installation two years later and has trained thousands of service members, sending troops to battle in Operation Desert Storm and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Camp Pendleton has a deeply entwined relationship with its southern neighbor, Oceanside, once a sleepy beachside town turned military city and recreation hub.

In 1940, the city’s population was 4,652. Ten years later, it had swelled to more than 12,800 and grew further as the United States entered the Korean War and more service-connected families moved into the region, according to census data.

Development on the base would certainly have an effect on Oceanside, city leaders say.

Service members and their families frequently travel off the base to surrounding communities to shop and dine out, providing a steady customer supply for local businesses including those that cater heavily to Marines including dry cleaners, tailors, barbershops and military surplus stores. The base’s regional economic impact is more than $6 billion dollars annually, according to the city.

“I think it would be very concerning to see large scale development without collaboration with local municipalities,” said Oceanside Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce. Joyce said the city hasn’t yet been given any insight into the federal government’s plans for the base.

“We have neighborhoods that are literally right up to the gate, who are very impacted when there are changes in traffic or other developments there,” Joyce said, adding that the city has a deep respect for the base and any shifting away from its original mission of training Marines would “be deeply concerning.”

You can read the original post at the Los Angeles Times.

Amid handwringing at San Diego City Hall over next week’s vote to hike water rates, city analysts dropped a harrowing report revealing how easily the department that handles water and wastewater could collapse without them. 

There are whispers that Mayor Todd Gloria’s administration is struggling to get the votes to pass a four-year proposed 63 percent rate hike and 31 percent wastewater rate hike Tuesday. But the city’s independent budget analysts sharply warned against doing anything that would starve the Public Utilities Department of more revenue. 

“At this point, any decrease in revenue due to either approvals of a lower rate increase, delays in the rate increase, or not approving the rate increase at all will require significant reductions to the operating expenses of the water system,” analysts wrote in their report released Friday.  

City councilmembers’ offices either declined to say or didn’t respond to questions about how they would vote on Tuesday. It’ll be a tough decision after several months of painful fee increases the City Council has approved in the face of a structural budget deficit. 

“We do not have a yes or no answer at this time,” said Daniel Horton, chief of staff for Councilmember Henry Foster who represents District Four. 

Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, who represents District Nine, didn’t either. But he said he needs to know the city is doing everything it can do to maximize revenue from sources other than rates, like putting solar on Public Utilities Department property which could generate revenue. 

“San Diego is too expensive and people are struggling to make ends meet,” Elo-Rivera said. “But we also have to adequately resource infrastructure and systems that are as important as water.” 

The analysts’ report says that if councilmembers refuse to raise rates at all, the Public Utilities Department would still have to make an immediate almost 30 percent cut to its budget.  

That would likely come in the form of staff layoffs and disruptions in water or wastewater service, which could be anything from unanswered customer service calls to more frequent water pipe breaks. Then the department wades into the uncharted waters of not having enough resources to address emergency repairs to its system, which could trigger fines from state or federal regulators.  

If the city doesn’t do layoffs, they would risk falling behind on repaying its debts or break its commitments to lenders on long-term loans. And that means collectors come knocking.  

Cuts like this to the Public Utilities Department would reverberate across the city as the revenue it generates repays other city departments like finance, transportation and general services for their support of their operations, analysts wrote. 

How did we get here? Analysts point to higher and higher water prices from the San Diego County Water Authority, from which the city purchases most of its water supply. Almost 93 percent of the total rate increase is due to that, analysts write. Also, in general, San Diegans are using less water over the past years as they get better at conservation. Less water used means less water purchased and less money for water agencies.  

The Public Utilities Department doesn’t have any other resources to draw on. The department proposes to draw-down its emergency cash, called the rate stabilization fund, from $40 million in fiscal year 2025 to just $5 million in fiscal year 2027 — and that’s to avoid an even higher rate hike than what’s already proposed. 

Analysts started sounding alarm bells about the financial stakes facing the Public Utilities Department back in 2023. They said the mayor’s appointees to the Water Authority’s governing board should start pushing the agency to sell off some of its excess water supplies. That’s starting to happen now, and the new leader of the Water Authority has committed to cutting deals with interested buyers.  

These rate increases include funds to begin paying off the now $6 billion wastewater-to-drinking water project called Pure Water. The city committed to building it to avoid a major, more expensive upgrade to the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

Pure Water should save the city money eventually because it will mean the city has to buy less water from the Water Authority, its biggest price driver.  

City staffers recently tried to deflect blame for the proposed water rate increase away from Pure Water and onto the Water Authority. They released a report showing how the water Pure Water produced would still undercut the Water Authority’s prices.  

Another caveat, the Water Authority sets its rates each year as opposed to the city’s current process of locking in water rates over four years. Analysts note that the current proposed rate hikes would keep the Public Utilities Department whole in the short run, unless the Water Authority changes its mind.  

City staff built their proposed rates to City Council based on the assumption that the Water Authority wouldn’t raise its own prices above 8 percent per year. This past year, the Water Authority proposed a 22 percent rate increase, one that the city of San Diego’s Water Authority board appointees had to battle down to 8 percent.  

“If the (Water Authority) raises their rates higher than these assumptions, it will require the Public Utilities Department to either come back and ask Council for an additional rate recovery authority to cover these passthrough charges, or otherwise absorb these costs through their operations,” analysts wrote.  

In other words, if the Water Authority comes back next year asking for another 22 percent rate increase, the Public Utilities Department will have to once again ask the City Council for even more money than it’s asking for right now. 

You can read the original post at Voice of San Diego.