Vista Community Advocate
The Vista Community Advocate (VCA) website is for all Vistans who care about their community and what the City Council and Planning Commission are doing.
HISTORY
In April 2016, a group of concerned citizens came together to fight the Paseo Santa Fe sign because the City forgot to put the name of our city on the sign. Over 3000 people signed the petition to "Change the Paseo Santa Fe Sign." We attended two City Council meetings to plea to the City to change the most prominent wording on the sign to Vista. This could have been the most iconic photographed sign in the city. But upon an easy search, you won't find it used in many photos and Google still doesn't know where Paseo Santa Fe is.
We felt we were mistreated by the Council and told we should have been paying attention; that if we would have paid attention we would have known about the sign that was in the planning for over 15 years. Well, evidence shows that the sign at one time did have VISTA on it and then it was changed. There is little to no evidence the sign was discussed in detail at public workshops. Plus, public workshops in our city are held during the workday when many citizens are unable to attend. At the two Council meetings regarding the sign, one councilmember in particular upset the group and in November 2016, we succeeded in making sure he wasn’t re-elected. Another councilmember asked the City to get the citizens involved, but that request did not make it in the final "city directive" and the public was not invited to give input. The City ended up redesigning the sign in a vacuum (themselves) and VISTA was added in 10" high letters to the bottom of the sign at a cost of approx. $28,000. The original sign cost approx. $156,000.
TODAY
With the redesign of the sign completed, VCA turned into a Facebook page for citizens to learn about projects in the Planning Department's pipeline. It also became a place for people to learn about many other things happening in Vista: community events, new businesses, crime, fundraising events, all important items on the Planning Commission and Council agendas and more.
We've spoken out a both City Council and Planning Commission meetings on my subjects and sent many emails to the Council and Planning Commission. We maintain the Vista Community Advocate Facebook page, post on Next Door, Twitter and am now starting to meet with our City Council.
We’ve had many other wins along the way and some failures too, but all in all, the success of this page is providing a place where concerned citizens can communicate about Vista. It is the goal of the administrator of this page to be accurate. Links to the City’s website and others are always provided so you can look up the information yourself. If you see something that is incorrect, please send a message or email. This page is also bi-partisan.
Please share this webpage and Vista Community Advocate's Facebook page with your friends and family. Your help in increasing the communication between Vistans is much appreciated and vital to our success.
Thank you! - Vista Community Advocate