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Residents urge action on canyon encampment and alleged drug house; volunteers describe trauma-response work
Summary
During public comment residents urged the council to clear an encampment in Tungsten Canyon because of fire risk and described a persistent drug house on Bellflower Drive; a volunteer crisis-intervention group thanked the city for support and described its response statistics.
Several residents used the public-comment period June 10 to press the city for action on homelessness and neighborhood safety, and a volunteer crisis-intervention organization described its on-scene response work.
A resident, Ted Childress, said he had been in contact with the city’s homeless services and the police about an encampment in the lower portion of Tungsten Canyon and urged the council to clear the canyon’s defensible space because of fire danger. He said vegetation has regrown to “4 to 6 feet high” in areas previously cleared and that removal of encampments on private property is difficult without authorization from absentee property owners.
Another resident, Barbie Wheeler, speaking for Bellflower Drive neighbors, described persistent drug activity at a rental described as a “flop house,” said renters were creating dangerous conditions and asked the council to help remove the operation. She urged the council to support state bills she said would provide stronger legal tools; she referenced “SB 35” and “AB 423” during her remarks.
Representatives of volunteer responders and library staff also addressed the council. Grant Affleck, a volunteer with Trauma Intervention Programs (TIP), thanked the council for continued support and said TIP volunteers responded to 64 calls in La Mesa in 2024 and to 369 requests across East County during the same period, assisting more than 1,246 clients. Cassie Caldoin, branch manager at the La Mesa branch library, outlined the library’s summer learning program schedule and services, including a free Mad Hatter tea party kickoff on June 24 and expanded summer hours.
Public commenters raised both safety concerns (fire risk in Tungsten Canyon) and neighborhood quality-of-life issues (alleged drug house activity). Council members did not take formal action during public comment but staff later said they had observed the canyon site and discussed enforcement limitations tied to private-property ownership.
