"Isn't This a Conflict of Interest?"

That's what a Concerned Resident (CR) kept asking over and over.

This CR said that they had been at a Friendsgiving Party in November 2022 at Jesus Santoyo's house. If you don't know that name, he's the man that's applying to build a nine-house development on Jonel Way. The neighbors are none too pleased for several reasons.

1. First Mr. Santoyo brought in a ton of dirt and graded his twenty acres without a permit. Many watched the "grading" guy do the work from their properties. Some reported there was no water used (you need a lot of water to do a proper job of grading) and no big equipment employed, either. In that condition, the proposed houses might go "slip-sliding away" down the hill someday.

2. Then Mr. Santoyo built a baseball field with bright lights, increased traffic and noise. He brought in Jonathan Herrera—a former Major League Baseball player—to coach kids 6-9 years old. The County Code Enforcement shut it down after residents complained but it was back up operating within the week...three days a week.

3. And last but not least, the Mt. Miguel Equestrian Center has had their front fences plowed down twice within a two-month span. . . once by Mr. Santoyo's relatives and once by one of Mr. Santoyo's baseball parents.

You can understand why he's not making a lot of friends on Jonel Way.

Come to think of it, a few members of the Sweetwater Community Planning Group (SCPG) aren't too enamored with Mr. Santoyo either. Originally Mr. Santoyo wanted to build twenty houses in addition to his own on the land. SCPG denied that and he is currently seeking approval to build nine. Those SCPG members have been unhappy because Mr. Santoyo has been ignoring requests for certain documents and sending his architect instead of showing up himself.

But what was the Concerned Resident trying to tell me . . .about conflict of interest? Well, they provided some photos to support their statements.

This is definitely, without doubt, Mr. Santoya's property on Jonel Way.

CR felt that it was a conflict of interest for our District 1 Supervisor, none other than Ms. Nora Vargas, to be attending Mr. Santoyo's 2022 Friendsgiving Party. Especially since Mr. Santoyo is trying to build a housing development and he needs approval from the County. Not only was Supervisor Vargas at his party, she brought her staff with her. Even better, they all wore turquoise San Diego County t-shirts identifying themselves. I guess the Staff that might approve housing development permits—partying with the permit seeker—might be considered a conflict of interest.

Turquoise t-shirts with a SDC logo. (Click on photos to enlarge)

This Concerned Resident went on to state that not only were Supervisor Vargas and her entire staff at the 2022 party, they also attended last year's (2023) party. The $100 question is why was the Supervisor and her staff at these festivities? With it being November and Friendsgiving Party time, I wonder if they'll all be attending again this year?

On a side note, when we were walking the neighborhoods collecting signatures from residents who wanted to keep Sunnyside rural and not widen San Miguel Road, we kept hearing the same thing over and over. Several neighbors communicated that Supervisor Vargas was dating Mr. Santoyo and had been for the past two years. I have no idea if this information is correct or not but that might explain why the County is attending his parties. I think that permits and dating could definitely be a conflict of interest.

Source: Concerned Resident

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