Santee Earns Highest Award in Financial Reporting

Members of the Santee Finance Department team
include, from left, Linda Christensen, Chris Miller,
Director Tim McDermott, Jan Sherar, Manager
Donna Goldsmith, Tammy Jackson, Tony Belsito,
Tanya Espinola and Karen Ashwill

The City of Santee Finance Department has been awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the national Government Finance Officers Association.

The award is the highest given each year by the association, which reviews comprehensive annual financial reports submitted by public agencies for clarity and accuracy.

Santee has won the coveted award nine of the last 10 years.

Finance Director Tim McDermott said the award is a credit to his entire nine-member department “because, in truth, everyone contributed in some way to the excellence of our financial report.”

An impartial panel that judged Santee’s annual report said it achieved “the high standards of the program, including demonstrating a constructive ‘spirit of disclosure’ to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read (the document).”

Citywide Pavement Repair Program Update

The City of Santee held a preconstruction meeting with the paving contractor, Hazard Construction, on July 19, 2011. A tentative schedule for each neighborhood and street within the project is as follows:

• Fanita Parkway – August 1 to September 1
• Lake Canyon Rd – August 8 to September 1
• East Glendon Rd Neighborhood – August 15 to September 16
• Rumson Drive – August 22 to September 7
• Carlton Hills Blvd – August 15 to November 18
• Mission Gorge Rd – November 7 to November 23

Residents will receive notice 5 days in advance of the asphalt overlay and when on street parking is affected. No Parking signs will be placed 48 hours in advance of the areas affected.

Construction updates and revised schedules will be posted on the City’s website as construction progresses.

If you have any questions, please contact Toby Espinola, City Project Manager, at (619) 258-4100 x 174.

Sportsplex Hours Extended Thursday

The city of Santee’s Community Services Dept. has agreed to extend operating hours at Sportsplex USA one hour later than normal on Thursday, July 28.

The one-time-only extension was granted to allow a San Diego girl’s softball team competing in a national tournament to attend the funeral of a teammate and her mother, who were killed July 18.

Players for the San Diego Renegade are mourning the tragic deaths of teammate Briana Williams and her mother, Donna, a veteran San Diego police officer, both of Rancho Penasquitos.

The Renegade is one of 64 teams from throughout the U.S. competing this week for the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America 18-Under Gold National Championship, which is being hosted by Sportsplex facilities in Santee and Poway.

Help Us Win Funds for Santee Parks

Fans of Santee Parks can help the city win grant funds by going online and voting for Town Center Community Park as their favorite park. Town Center Community Park hosts a variety of recreation amenities for all ages that includes softball, baseball, soccer and football fields, play grounds, walking trails, picnic areas, an event stage, City of Santee Aquatics Center, the Cameron Family YMCA, and Sportsplex USA.

As part of its America Is Your Park campaign, Coca Cola will award grants of $100,000, $50,000 and $25,000 to three parks nationwide that garner the most votes. Coca Cola is calling all families to go out and play this summer. “We’re asking people to be ‘digital’ by voting online for their favorite park and then get ‘physical’ by getting out and having fun this summer” said L. Celeste Bottorff, Vice President, Living Well, Coca-Cola North America. The grants will help restore, rebuild or enhance recreation areas in parks where people can play and be active.

You can vote online as many times as you like at LivePositively.com through Sept. 6.

Bonus points are awarded if you upload photos or videos of Town Center Community Park or by “checking in” to Town Center Community Park West using Facebook Places from any part of the park, including Sportsplex USA, the Cameron Family YMCA or the City of Santee Aquatics Center. To use "check in," register at LivePositively.com.  No need to register to vote. 

The campaign also encourages people to attend active healthy living events at local parks in select cities this summer including Santee's Family Fest on August 27 at Town Center Community Park. 

Dog Park Grass Needs A Break

In an effort to promote greener and healthier grass, the city intends to close the leash-free fenced dog park at Woodglen Vista Park for a week from Aug. 1 -7.

Dog handlers and their pets will be allowed to use the baseball field east of the fenced dog park.  Signs will be posted advising park users about the temporary relocation of the leash-free zone.

“We need to give the grass a break so we can perform maintenance and prevent the dog park from turning brown,” said Community Services Director Bill Maertz. 

During the closure, city maintenance crews will aerate and seed the turf to promote a more green and robust lawn.

Sportsplex to Hosts Girls’ Softball Championship



Pitcher Brooke Snyder, Catcher Cassidy
Matthie and hitter Page Bowler, from
the Santee ASA Gold All Stars team
take batting practice at Town Center
Community Park.  (These girls are younger
than those who will be competing next week
for the GOLD National Championship.)

Top-ranked girls’ softball teams from across the country are coming to Santee next week to compete in the 2011 Amateur Softball Association 18-and-under GOLD National Championship.

Sixty-four teams will compete for the championship, which is considered the most elite title in youth fast-pitch softball, at the Sportsplex-USA softball facilities in both Santee and Poway.

Tournament director Mike Schuck said as many as 1,280 players and at least that many family members will be traveling here for the event, which runs from July 24 to July 30.

“San Diego is such a great destination, so we are expecting a large turnout of parents and families accompanying their players,” he said, adding that players competing in the event will range in age from 16 to 18.

Early Start for Blues & BBQ Concert

Len Rainey & The Midnight Players

You can come early and stay later for the Blues & BBQ  event this Thursday, July 21 at  the east side of Town Center Community Park, 550 Park Center Drive.

The concert, which features the Bill Magee Blues Band and Len Rainey & the Midnight Players, starts at 5:30 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m.

The first 600 people to show up will get free Blues Brothers-style sunglasses.

Out-of-towners can avoid the hassle of finding parking by taking the Metro Transit trolley Green Line, which stops about a half-mile from the park.

The audience will sit on the lawn, so bring a blanket or a low-profile beach chair, and perhaps some mosquito repellent.

County Combats Mosquitoes

A helicopter under contract with the county will be dropping anti-mosquito larvicide this Wednesday, July 20, over wetland areas countywide, including along the San Diego River in the city of Santee.

The larvicide, which kills mosquito larvae before they grow into biting adults, is made from bacteria and is not toxic to humans or wildlife.

The aerial deposition is being done by the county Department of Environmental Health vector control division to reduce the mosquito population and the risk of West Nile virus.

The larvicide drops used to be conducted once every month during the summer, but county officials increased that to once every three weeks in response to requests from residents asking for more frequent action.

For more information on the San Diego County Vector Control Program, and the application locations or the material used, please view the San Diego County West Nile Virus web page and aerial drop sites.

Sign Up Your Kids for Padre Baseball Camp

A nonprofit group is offering a free one-day baseball camp for boys and girls from Santee that includes free admission to a Padres game.

The first 60 children to enroll will be eligible to attend the baseball camp from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on August 16 at Sportsplex USA Santee. All participants will receive a Padres cap as well as a T-shirt. A few Padre players are scheduled to attend the camp and talk about the obstacles they had to overcome to become professional athletes.

The following day, August 7, camp participants will be treated to a Padres game at Petco Park in downtown San Diego. Free bus transportation to and from the game will be provided.

To register, parents must fill out and sign a liability waiver form and submit it to Deputy John Whiteman at the Santee Sheriff’s substation at 8811 Cuyamaca Street. The substation phone number is (619) 956-4000.

The free camp and baseball game outing is sponsored by the Sports Training, Academics, Recreation Police Athletic League (STAR/PAL), a nonprofit organization dedicated to building safer communities by allowing children to have a positive experience with law enforcement officers.

Additional information is available at http://www.starpal.org/.

July is Park and Recreation Month

There’s no more appropriate time to spotlight how parks improve our quality of life than during July, which is National Park & Recreation Month.

In Santee, the city operates five neighborhood parks, two mini parks, and a community park where folks can get outside to have a picnic, take a walk, swim, play ball or toss a Frisbee. But that’s just the tip of the ice cream cone.

The city also sponsors a variety of recreation programs, including a Seniors’ Club, a summer camp for kids and numerous instructional classes, such as jewelry making, karate or dancing.

Santee offers the best deal on live summer concerts (they’re free), held on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. at Town Center Community Park through August 18. 

If your kids are acting bored since the school year ended, there’s still time to sign them up for a week or longer of day camp. Kids who are into BMX, scooters or skateboards can have fun at the skate and BMX facility at Woodglen Vista Park. Summer hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The city also operates a Teen Center at Santee Lakes that during the summer is open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. A monthly Friday Night Hot Spot event, for students entering grades 6 through 9, features games, music and dancing.

The Seniors’ Club meets each Wednesday with additional senior outings scheduled once to twice a month at various spots throughout the county. The next trip scheduled for July 12 is a sojourn to the city of Coronado via the passenger ferry across San Diego Bay.

Visit the the Santee Recreation Services Division to see the recreation programs being offered.  Check out the Santee city parks page for information on parks.

Celebrate July as National Park and Recreation month by visiting one of your local parks and see why parks make life better.

Santee Salutes the 4th of July



                                                                   Photo courtesy of Jay Renard

An estimated at 8,000 people turned out at Town Center Community Park to observe the 4^th of July at the city’s annual Santee Salutes celebration.

The Danielle Tucker Band and The Mighty Untouchables had the crowd tapping their feet and grooving on the dance floor. A local gymnastics group put on an exhibition of their athletic skills. Food vendors offered everything from hot dogs to salads. There were carnival rides, face painting and plenty of games for the kids.

                                                        Photo courtesy of Cory Christensen

A dozen Marines from Camp Pendleton volunteered to provide security and help with parking. A Marine color guard, accompanied by Will Tisch who wore a Revolutionary War uniform, presented the U.S. flag and reminded everyone of what July 4^th represents.



This year’s event had a surprise: A “flash mob” performance by approximately 100 folks of all ages who were recruited from the community. They rocked the park for more than four minutes with a choreographed dance routine that was captured on video.

The event, which was sponsored by Waste Management Inc. and Cannon Pacific, culminated with a fireworks show at 9 p.m.