In an alarming number of cases, felony sex crimes are inflicted by a spouse. And if the marriage ends in divorce, state law allows for the attacker to receive any number of financial benefits from the victim, including a share of commonly-owned property, retirement and insurance payments and even alimony. That would change under AB 1522, wherein spouses convicted of violent sex crimes would be ineligible to receive financial compensation from their victims after a divorce. At the urging of Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, the full Board of Supervisors voted to support AB 1522.
By a unanimous vote, the Board of Supervisors approved a request from Supervisor Pam Slater-Price and Supervisor Dianne Jacob to endorse federal legislation to ensure that Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs can move forward. The PACE financing mechanism allows property owners to finance solar energy systems through property tax assessments.
Supervisor Pam Slater-Price brings forward a program to provide financial assistance to eligible homeowners to help them make energy efficiency improvements to their homes. The program for low- and moderate income families seeks to deliver energy savings to homeowners and job opportunities to local tradesmen.
Supervisor Pam Slater-Price and Supervisor Dianne Jacob garnered support from their colleagues to oppose state cuts to the county’s fire protection programs and to protest state plans to charge homeowners a fire prevention fee.
By a unanimous vote, the Board approved a request from Supervisor Pam Slater-Price and Supervisor Dianne Jacob to formally endorse state legislation titled "Chelsea's Law" (AB 1844-Fletcher). Signed into law in September 2010, the law is named after Chelsea King, a teen from Rancho Bernardo who died at the hands of a convicted sexual predator. Chelsea's Law provides a new, one-strike, life-without-parole penalty for sexual predators who commit heinous, violent sex crimes against children. AB 1844 also mandates lifetime parole for those who target children under the age of 14, and creates misdemeanor charges for felony sex offenders who are found loitering in parks and other places where children gather.
Upon the recommendations of Supervisor Pam Slater-Price and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, the Board of Supervisors formally endorsed AB 648, legislation that revises the commutation process and gives voice to affected parties. By law, the Governor may exercise his executive power to unilaterally reduce prison sentences. On January 2, 2011 – his final day in office – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger commuted the sentence of Esteban Nunez from 16 to seven years. Nunez, the son of former state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon in 2010 in relation to the stabbing death of 22-year-old Luis Santos in a fight near San Diego State University. A veteran San Diego Superior Court Judge issued what he considered appropriate punishment, based on the violent nature of the crime. Schwarzenegger, however, was not required to notify the victim's family or prosecutors. Assembly Bill 648 would modify the notification requirements and create transparency in such cases.
For many years, Supervisor Pam Slater-Price has led the County of San Diego’s fight against childhood obesity. In Washington D.C., First Lady Michelle Obama launched her own campaign, called “Let’s Move!” In her campaign, Mrs. Obama called challenged local elected to combat childhood obesity. Upon the recommendation of Slater-Price and Supervisor Ron Roberts, the Board of Supervisors directed County departments to develop a plan that incorporates the principles of the “Let’s Move!” into county plans and initiatives. Becoming a “Let’s Move County!” positions the County of San Diego to obtain additional funding to advance efforts to build better health for San Diegans.
Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, in partnership with Supervisor Ron Roberts, brought forward the "Get Connected!" initiative to secure California's fair share of broadband technology funds from the federal government. “Get Connected!” offers support to poor and disabled people whose access high-speed Internet is limited or non-existent. “Get Connected” is managed in conjunction with the California Emerging Technology Fund.
In October 2009, an intoxicated Torrey Pines High School student crashed his car and killed one of his friends. Months later, a 17-year-old cheerleader from Poway High School died when she flipped her SUV while driving drunk. A text message she had sent to a friend shortly before the crash said, "I'm hammered." These examples provide an all-too-familiar reminder that teen drinking and driving destroys lives. Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, in collaboration with Sheriff Bill Gore, and Health and Human Services Director Nick Macchione, launched an initiative to promote safe driving and brought forward this resolution of the Board of Supervisors declaring October 17 through 23, 2010, to be Teen Driver Safety Week in San Diego County.
The county continues to employ technology to improve public services and foster public participation. At the request of Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, the Board of Supervisors approved the implementation of an online system for people to register comments about items on the board’s agenda. Members of the public can encourage Supervisors to vote "yes" or "no," then state their own reasons why. All comments are part of the official County record and are made available to Supervisors prior to the board meeting.
Supervisor Pam Slater-Price and Supervisor Dianne Jacob joined forces to encourage homeowners to install rooftop solar panels. The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program allows property owners to spread the installation costs of rooftop solar panels over 20 years by placing assessments on property tax bills. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, however, has refused to back mortgages with properties enrolled in the PACE program. This flawed position has stalled PACE efforts across the nation, including ours, and stranded hundreds of millions of dollars to our economy.
Supervisor Pam Slater-Price and Sheriff Bill Gore have worked aggressively to stem prescription-drug abuse in the County of San Diego. In addition to joining the Prescription Drug Task Force and hosting prescription drug take-back drives in San Diego, the pair successfully gained Board approval to draft an ordinance allowing the Sheriff’s Department to deploy 22 prescription drug drop-off boxes at various Sheriff’s stations throughout the unincorporated area and in nine contract cities.
Supervisor Slater-Price has organized a coalition of 16 mayors to urge the governor to issue an executive order to increase wildfire preparedness and fire protection levels in San Diego during the critical months of the 2010 fire season. This effort resulted in $5.6 million in state fire protection funds sent for San Diego county.
Supervisor Pam Slater-Price’s commitment to clean living has resulted in the Board of Supervisors recognizing October 17 through 25, 2009, as Red Ribbon Week -- a week where more than 80 million Americans celebrate drug- and violence-free lifestyles. This legislation also ensured that the flag of the United States of America would be flown at half-staff at all County facilities on February 7, 2010, marking the 25th anniversary of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena’s ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. Since Camarena’s death in 1985, the nation has turned the tragedy into a platform to promote campaigns against drugs and violence.
Supervisor Pam Slater-Price and Supervisor Dianne Jacob collaborated to revise the county grant program that provides funding to local nonprofit organizations. The revisions increased uniformity and accountability in the application process and heightened the program’s transparency. As a result, the county publishes a list of grant recipients for public review.
When the housing bubble burst in late 2007, the "staycation" quickly became a common word in the American vocabulary. Supervisor Pam Slater-Price seized this opportunity to encourage visits to county parks. Upon her direction, the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation developed the Environmental Education and Passport Program to encourage families to visit the County's more than 44,000 acres of park land and open space, 300 miles of trails, two historic adobes and 10 historic park sites.
Supervisor Pam Slater-Price and Supervisor Dianne Jacob spearheaded an effort to examine retrofitting helicopters to enable them to fly safely at night, which paved the way for authorities to allow aerial nighttime firefighting throughout the region.
In the wake of the 2007 wildfires, Supervisor Pam Slater-Price garnered her colleagues’ endorsement of state legislation to encourage homeowners to improve fire safety when rebuilding.
In 2008, Supervisor Pam Slater-Price and Supervisor Bill Horn established the North County Gang Commission. The all-volunteer panel is comprised of community activists. The commission’s role is to advise the Board of Supervisors on issues regarding gang prevention and intervention.