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Residents raise safety concerns; council hears updates on cameras, vacant-property enforcement and towing
Summary
A resident told the Guadalupe City Council he has been a repeat robbery victim and urged the city to increase public safety staffing. The council heard police updates on new surveillance cameras, enforcement of a vacant-building ordinance, and expanded towing and citation activity on Highway 1.
A resident called on the Guadalupe City Council during public comment to press the city for more public-safety staffing and resources after repeated burglaries in his family’s home. The council then heard updates from the public-safety chief about new surveillance cameras, enforcement steps for vacant buildings and expanded enforcement on Highway 1.
“First of all, I have to give kudos to our chief here,” resident George Alvarez said during public comment. “On the other hand, I stand before you as a victim. Third time, I got robbed at my dad's place.” Alvarez said he sees policing shortages: “1 officer for 10,000 people was on duty that day.”
In a subsequent discussion, Director of Public Safety (referred to in the meeting as the chief) described several operational steps. The department has installed new surveillance cameras at Central Park and Paco Park and is “slowly but surely” expanding the city camera system. The chief said staff has met with code compliance, fire and building officials to develop a plan to bring 992 Guadalupe Street into compliance under the city’s vacant-building ordinance. “We have come to a pretty much agreement,” the chief told council, and said the city attorney will review the plan.
On operational resilience, the chief said vendors are scheduled to install the city’s main generator around mid-May and the police department generator by mid-July. In response to a consent-calendar question about warrants, a councilmember asked about a listed expenditure of roughly $393,914 tied to four “digital wall calendars.” The chief explained the city purchased four digital wall calendars for coordinated scheduling across police, fire and the emergency operations center. “What those calendars do is, we now combined all the information so that we can share,” the chief said, noting staff updates the calendars and Captain Schmidt handles IT support.
Councilmembers and staff also discussed traffic enforcement and Caltrans coordination at the Maine Street/Highway 166 crosswalk. Staff said Caltrans has limitations that have made some local interventions difficult and that larger regional projects remain planned for the corridor.
On vacant buildings, the chief said the city is asking property owners to state plans for vacant properties, in line with the local ordinance adopted last year, and to take action. “Either it's going down or they're gonna do something with it,” the chief said, describing ongoing work with property owners on long-vacant sites such as the Basque House.
Why it matters: Residents expressed concern about crime and police availability; the council’s actions focused on improving information-sharing, equipment and code enforcement rather than immediate staffing changes. The council did not adopt a staffing plan at the meeting.
What’s next: Staff will complete the compliance plan for vacant properties and forward it to the city attorney for review; generator installations and camera expansion timelines were given as mid-May to mid-July for the listed items.
