Susan Acevedo for San Jacinto City Council 2026

Workers and Local Labor

I support the people who keep this city running. Public safety. Public works. Educators. Service workers. Everyone who shows up every day and keeps San Jacinto moving. The workers who live here and the workers who work here deserve safe working conditions, fair processes, and a city government that takes their concerns seriously.

I do not play games with anyone’s livelihood. I expect transparency from the city. I expect honest communication. I expect no less than respect, dignity, and decency for the people who do the work. If someone brings an issue to me, they will get a real conversation and a clear answer.

I will keep an open line with local labor groups. I will listen when problems come up. I will make decisions based on what is best for the people who live in San Jacinto and the people who work in San Jacinto. I am not here for noise or distractions. I am here to make sure this city treats its workers with respect and with the standards they have earned.

Senior Priorities

Our seniors built this community. They deserve policies that protect dignity, improve access to services, and make daily life easier, safer, and more connected.

Transportation Support for Seniors

A lot of older adults in our community feel stuck at home because they can’t drive or don’t have anyone to take them places. Getting to the doctor, the store, or even a community event shouldn’t be a struggle.

As a council member, the goal will be to make getting around easier. That means studying what seniors need, working with RTA and local groups, and supporting budgets that help seniors stay mobile and independent.

Health Access for Seniors

Health care can feel confusing and overwhelming. Many seniors don’t know where to go, how to get there, or how to understand programs like Medicare.

City leadership can help by building strong partnerships with clinics and hospitals, improving outreach so seniors know what’s available, and supporting simple workshops that explain health options. Mobile clinics will also be explored so care can come closer to home.

Social Connection and Senior Programs

Feeling alone is one of the hardest things seniors face. A friendly place to go, a class to join, or a simple conversation can make a huge difference.

A key goal will be to create more chances for seniors to connect. This includes looking at longer senior-center hours, reviewing programs to see what’s missing, and working with nonprofits and churches that bring people together. Volunteer programs can also help seniors stay active and supported.

Heat Safety for Seniors

Our summers can be dangerously hot, and seniors are often the most at risk. No one should have to sit in a hot home without help.

Protecting seniors during heat waves will be a priority. Cooling-center hours will be extended when needed, the city’s heat-response plan will be reviewed, and partnerships will be built to provide water, fans, and other cooling support.

Help With Benefits and Resources

Programs like SSI, Medicare, CalFresh, and VA benefits can be confusing. Many seniors want help but don’t know where to start.

The city can make this easier by offering simple workshops, creating a clear resource guide, and partnering with agencies that help seniors apply for benefits. Volunteer navigators can also offer one-on-one support.

Food Security for Seniors

It’s heartbreaking that some seniors skip meals just to afford medicine or utilities. Rising grocery prices make it even harder.

Strengthening food access will include working with food banks, supporting senior-center meal programs, and looking for grants that help fund nutrition programs. County support will also be encouraged so every senior has access to healthy food.

Elder Care Support

Daily tasks can become difficult as people age, and many seniors need help but can’t afford private care. Families often feel stressed and unsure where to turn.

The city can support seniors by partnering with caregiving nonprofits, reviewing local care needs, and offering workshops that explain available options. Grants for respite care will also be explored so families can get the support they need.

Language Access for Seniors

Seniors who speak only Spanish or another language often face extra barriers. When someone can’t understand forms or explain their needs, they can easily be overlooked.

Improving language access will include offering more translation at city facilities, providing bilingual materials, and partnering with community groups that already support multilingual seniors. Clear communication will be a priority so every senior feels included.

Community Planning / Land Use / Infrastructure

Community Planning / Land Use / Infrastructure

San Jacinto is growing fast, but the growth is happening to the city, not with it. Warehouse and logistics development has expanded across the Inland Empire for years with little regard for how it affects traffic, air quality, water use, or the character of residential neighborhoods, and San Jacinto residents are increasingly asking who these projects actually serve. The Inland Empire already carries some of the worst air quality in the country, and diesel truck traffic from warehouse operations makes that worse, with real consequences for asthma rates and respiratory health in surrounding neighborhoods. I support a moratorium on new warehouse and logistics permits until the city completes a full traffic, air quality, and public health impact study, and I will require that any future large scale industrial project go through a public hearing process with real notice to affected neighborhoods, not a quiet placement on the consent calendar.

These warehouses were sold to residents as job creators, but that promise is eroding, and the jobs that remain often come with real costs to the people doing them. Automation and AI‑driven logistics systems are already reducing the number of workers needed to run a modern warehouse, and that trend is accelerating. At the same time, warehouse workers face demanding production quotas, injury rates well above other industries, and wages that do not always reflect the physical toll of the work. San Jacinto should not keep approving projects on the assumption that they bring lasting local employment when the industry itself is moving toward fewer workers per facility, and it should not treat worker safety and fair pay as someone else's problem. I will push the city to require real job creation commitments, tied to local hiring, fair wages, safe working conditions, and enforceable penalties if those commitments are not met, before any new industrial project is approved. I oppose right‑to‑work policies, which weaken workers' bargaining power and make it harder for employees to organize for better pay and safer conditions. I will support workers' right to organize and speak up about conditions on the job without fear of retaliation, and I will prioritize development that builds durable, well‑paying local jobs rather than warehouses that need fewer people every year and demand more from the ones who remain.

Infrastructure has to keep pace with growth, not trail behind it. Every new development proposal should come with a documented analysis of its effect on roads, water systems, and emergency response times before approval, not after residents start complaining. If a developer's project will strain roads that are already failing or a water system that is already stretched thin, the city needs that information before it votes, not years later when the damage is done.

Development deals in San Jacinto have too often moved through city government without the scrutiny they deserve. Multi‑million‑dollar contracts, like the $3.3 million landscaping contract awarded without visible competitive bidding, should never pass on a consent calendar where the public has no real chance to weigh in. I will push for a policy requiring that any contract or land use decision above a set dollar threshold get a standalone vote with public comment, full disclosure of the bidding process, and disclosure of any financial relationships between city officials and the companies involved.

My broader approach to growth is straightforward. Development should strengthen San Jacinto, not extract from it. That means prioritizing projects that create real, safe, fairly paid local jobs, protecting existing residential neighborhoods from incompatible industrial encroachment and the air pollution that comes with it, requiring developers to fund the infrastructure upgrades their projects demand, and giving residents a real voice in decisions about what gets built in their city and why.

Veteran Support Policies

Veteran Homelessness

Too many veterans in San Jacinto and the Inland Empire are living on the streets. These are men and women who served this country and were willing to give their lives for it. Homelessness among veterans is not just a statistic. It is a failure. They deserve real housing solutions, not empty gestures.

San Jacinto needs a formal partnership with U.S. VETS Inland Empire and the VA Loma Linda homeless veteran outreach program. The city should be using ground-level data to understand the true scope of veteran homelessness here, not just the annual Point-in-Time count, which misses far too many people. Riverside County's RCAHT task force should be at the table as well, particularly given the overlap between veteran homelessness and other vulnerabilities. Most importantly, homeless veterans need to be tracked by name, year-round, so that no one disappears between counts and no one is left behind.

Timely Medical Care for Veterans

Veterans in San Jacinto are waiting three to six months just to see a doctor. That is not a wait time. That is abandonment. These are people who sacrificed everything for this country. Making them wait half a year for basic medical care is unacceptable and it has to change.

San Jacinto should pass a resolution calling on the VA and Congress to reduce veteran appointment wait times to no more than 30 days for primary care. Local clinic and hospital partnerships through the Community Care Program need to be explored so veterans have timely options close to home. Veterans also need stronger outreach about their Community Care benefits so they are not solely dependent on an overburdened VA system. The appointment backlog in our region is a crisis, and city leadership should be vocal about demanding solutions at the county, state, and federal level.

Telehealth and Technology Access for Veterans

Many veterans in San Jacinto are being pushed toward telehealth and online health portals that do not work reliably. When the system glitches, veterans give up and drive an hour or more to the nearest VA office. That is not a solution. That is a burden placed on people who have already given enough.

Veterans need access to reliable devices and internet connections to use telehealth effectively. Local libraries and community centers can be part of that solution. Digital literacy support designed specifically for veterans navigating VA online systems should be available in our community. Volunteer tech assistance programs can help veterans troubleshoot from home. And for veterans who cannot reliably access telehealth at all, in-person alternatives must remain available without penalty. Technology should expand access, not create new barriers.

Veteran Benefits Navigation

Many veterans in San Jacinto do not know what benefits they are entitled to, or cannot navigate the process to get them. VA benefits, housing assistance, disability claims, and healthcare enrollment are complicated. Veterans should not have to fight a bureaucracy after already fighting for their country.

Regular benefits navigation workshops with county Veterans Services Officers should be happening in San Jacinto. Veterans need a clear, plain-language resource guide available through city facilities, local businesses, and community organizations. One-on-one navigator programs that help veterans file claims and access benefits without getting lost in the system make a real difference. A city-hosted veteran resource fair that brings VA, county, and nonprofit services together in one place would go a long way. Outreach must also reach veterans who are not currently connected to any services and may not know help is available.

Veteran Transportation

Many veterans in San Jacinto cannot easily get to VA appointments, benefit offices, or support programs. The nearest VA facility is an hour or more away. Veterans without reliable transportation are forced to miss appointments or go without care entirely. That is not acceptable.

A transportation needs study focused on veterans in San Jacinto is a necessary first step. Existing programs through RTA, the VA, and county agencies need to be mapped and gaps identified. Partnerships with local nonprofits and volunteer driver programs that already serve veterans should be strengthened. Grants that fund veteran transportation assistance at the city and county level are available and should be pursued. RTA routes and scheduling also need to better reflect the reality that veterans in this area are traveling to Loma Linda and surrounding VA facilities regularly.

Veteran Social Connection and Isolation

Many veterans in San Jacinto live alone and struggle with isolation. The transition from military service to civilian life is hard. Without community and connection, mental health suffers. Isolation can lead to crisis. Veterans deserve more than a certificate and a photo opportunity.

Partnerships with local veteran service organizations, VFW posts, and American Legion chapters can expand social programming for veterans in our community. Peer support programs, community events, and volunteer check-in programs all make a difference. Veterans also need access to mental health resources that are veteran-specific, stigma-free, and close to home. A community that truly honors its veterans shows up for them every day, not just on holidays.

Homeless Count Reform for Veterans

The official Point-in-Time count used to measure veteran homelessness happens once a year on a single night in January. It misses veterans in cars, motels, and couch surfing. It misses people who were housed that one night but homeless for months. The result is an undercount that leads to underfunding. We cannot solve a problem we are not accurately measuring.

San Jacinto should advocate for a by-name list system for tracking homeless veterans year-round, not just one night a year. The city should work with county partners to supplement the annual count with ongoing local tracking. Riverside County should be pushed to expand continuous homeless tracking beyond veterans to the broader homeless population. At the state and federal level, methodology reform is long overdue. Accurate data leads to appropriate funding. Without it, communities like ours will always be undercounted and underserved.

Homelessness, Housing and Trafficking

San Jacinto has a homelessness problem that is bigger than the city admits. The one‑night Point‑in‑Time count that gets quoted at council meetings is just a 24 hour snapshot. It misses people sleeping in cars, families doubled up in small apartments, seniors and veterans cycling through motels, and anyone who simply was not outside on that one night. It is the floor, not the ceiling, and if we build policy on that number, we will always be behind.

When I talk about homelessness here, I am thinking about people I see every day. Families paying half their income in rent. Parents and kids living week to week in motels on Highway 79, where desperation and trafficking are allowed to grow in the shadows. Workers who do everything right, but whose warehouse or temp job still keeps them one bad month away from losing their home. This is not just a “services” issue. It is an economic issue and a moral one.

Most families in San Jacinto rent. Renting is not a failure; it is simply how a lot of us live now. But renters deserve a city that is on their side when a landlord lets a home fall apart, ignores basic repairs, or treats a family’s home as disposable. Right now, that is not happening. I want a system where landlords who take care of people and their properties are supported—and those who do not face real consequences, up to losing the right to keep raising rent or rent out homes at all.

I also want us to be honest about how motels fit into this story. For some people, a motel is the last stop before the street. For others, it is where exploitation and trafficking hide because there is no paper trail and no accountability. Requiring identification and traceable payments, and holding owners - not just front‑desk staff - responsible when there is trafficking on their property, is basic public safety. If you are making money from this community, you should not be allowed to look the other way.

San Jacinto needs more than a web page with links to county services. We need places here in our own city where people can land when they fall—transitional housing in underused or city‑owned buildings, run in partnership with nonprofits and Riverside County, and funded with state and federal dollars that are already out there waiting for cities willing to show up. We should be one of those cities.

Just as important, we need one door that is always open. One person whose job is to know every resource-housing help, mental health care, addiction treatment, job training - and to walk people through the process instead of handing them a phone number and wishing them luck. When someone in San Jacinto reaches out for help, they should not have to navigate three different agencies and two different cities just to get a straight answer.

Finally, we have to talk about work. If the only jobs we recruit are warehouse and temporary jobs that can disappear with one market shift or one software update, then we are building our local economy on quicksand. I want San Jacinto to actively recruit employers who hire locally, stay rooted here, and pay enough for people to build a little security. Stable jobs mean stable housing. It really is that simple.

My goal is not to pretend we can “solve” homelessness overnight. My goal is to make sure fewer of our neighbors end up on the street, fewer families live in fear of the next rent increase, and more people in San Jacinto feel like their city is finally fighting for them—not looking away.

Water Quality

San Jacinto deserves drinking water that protects our health, not just water that meets the minimum legal rules. Our water is considered legal, but some contaminants are above the safest health standards. Families should not have to guess whether their water is safe to drink or cook with.

I support stronger transparency, independent testing, and clear public reporting. I want the city to notify residents when contaminants rise above health goals, not only when the law requires it. I also support creating a Water Quality Oversight Committee so the community has a voice and the city has ongoing accountability.

My goal is simple. Clean, safe water for every household in San Jacinto, with honest information the public can trust.

San Jacinto deserves clean, safe drinking water that actually protects our health, not just water that barely follows the rules. Our water may be “legal,” but some chemicals are still higher than what health experts say is truly safe. Families should not have to wonder if it is okay to drink from the tap or cook with it.

I support clearer information, more testing, and open reporting to the public. The city should tell people when contaminant levels start going above health goals, not just when the law forces them to send a notice. I also support creating a Water Quality Oversight Committee so regular residents have a voice and the city has to answer to the community.

I want the city to fix problems before they get worse. That means updating old pipes and equipment, going after state and federal money to help pay for improvements, and making sure new buildings and developments do not strain our water system. When big projects are proposed, the city should ask how they will affect water quality, not just whether there is enough water on paper.

Protecting our water also means watching what goes into the ground and storm drains. The city should have strong rules for gas stations, industrial sites, and other places where chemicals can leak, and should work with farmers and businesses to reduce pollution and runoff. It is cheaper and smarter to stop pollution early than to pay to clean it up later.

Finally, I want residents to have simple tools to protect themselves at home. That includes easy‑to‑read guides that explain water test results, information about filters and other options, and regular community meetings where people can ask questions and get straight answers. Clean water is not a luxury. It is a basic promise the city owes every person in San Jacinto.