Emerald Hills Neighborhood Meeting Held to Discuss District 4 Issues

Challenger Martha Abraham in Attendance; Henry Foster a No-Show

By Angelo Haynes

On September 20, community members gathered at a forum to hold a discussion about community development in San Diego City council district 4. (See flyer at end of article.)  It was hosted by the Christian Fellowship Congregational Church UCC (United Church of Christ) in collaboration with the Racial Justice Coalition of San Diego, and held at the historic church location on Kelton Road just off the 94 east in the Emerald Hills neighborhood of southeast San Diego. Clovis Honore and Darwin Fishman of the Racial Justice Coalition facilitated the meeting and the ensuing group discussion.

The forum’s overall objective appeared to focus on bringing together current councilman Henry Foster III and challenger Martha Abraham to discuss their goals for District 4 and the controversial footnote 7, an illegal zoning ordinance change made under the tenure of then councilwoman Monica Montgomery-Steppe.

Many in the Southeastern San Diego community have decried the footnote after its widespread discovery, lamenting the implications of high-density housing and its impact on the Emerald hills community. Chief concerns appear to be potential impacts to fire evacuation safety of the area as increases in traffic on 60th Street, a two-lane road connecting to Federal Blvd, may be easily congested during an emergency. Not to mention, the daily traffic load increase from commuters making their way to the 94 freeway each day.

Clovis Honore, a member of the Board of Directors for the Alliance for African Assistance, opened the proceedings with background about the church, while Rev. Dr. Arthur L. Cribbs described their church community and welcomed the guests. Dr. Rita Montiero also came forward to give a brief history of the church with it being established in 1886 in Logan Heights and moving locations over the years until landing in Emerald Hills on Kelton Road in 1963.

Darwin Fishman, professor of Africana studies at San Diego State and a member of the Racial Justice Coalition, came forward, discussed his background, and asked Martha questions about her vision for the district. Fishman is also a key leader in the “I can’t breathe Campaign,” which instituted changes in San Diego Police Department’s restraint and chokehold policies.

Before the meeting started, Henry Foster’s office contacted meeting facilitators to inform them that he had a scheduling conflict and was unable to attend the forum, and no member of his office was on hand for the meeting.

Discussion began on Footnote 7 with community members going over a timeline of events well documented in OB Rag writer Robert Campbell’s article from July 13 2026. To briefly summarize here: real estate developer D.R. Horton bought the radio tower property back in 1997 with plans to develop the area. It wasn’t until 2019 during the tenure of Councilwoman Monica Montgomery-Steppe, that footnote 7 was inserted into the zoning ordinances without public or planning group oversight approval.

Many emails and other public documents show the questionable connection between Montgomery-Steppe’s office, the Development Services Department (DSD) and Dennis Dawson, a local real estate attorney in the Encanto neighborhood. Footnote 7 was successfully repealed last year on Jan. 28th 2025 with Henry Foster voting in favor to repeal.

When asked about her perspective on the issue, Martha Abraham weighed in.

“My perspective on this project, is as a resident who is impacted by this project.”

Martha began to discuss her process of discovering footnote 7 as a resident. Ms. Abraham made many public records requests for more information on the development and poured hours of public information research into the subject. She chronicled how her fight for answers transformed into a candidacy for political office and her pride in raising her son in this community.

Many community members present ranged in experience from the county zoning commission to concerned citizens attending to learn more. Neighbors expressed their concerns, frustrations, and experiences with previous fights with the city over preserving their historic Black community.

There are currently 42 zoning planning groups across the city of San Diego required to oversee and report on zoning ordinance changes. Footnote 7 is an amendment to the zoning ordinances that only affects two of those planning groups: Southeast San Diego and Encanto community planning groups. These groups were formed by the city in decades ago to formalize a method of oversight and control by requiring community input in land use and development decisions.

Also in attendance was well-known activist Kenny Key and his lawyer Paul Suppa. When asked to weigh-in, Suppa demurred and expressed that he was there to listen and learn from community members in attendance to better understand the case against the city.

During public comment, frustration appeared to boil over with many community members taking more time to express their concerns than others. The facilitators did well in balancing concern for people’s anger and ensuring everyone could speak.

To close the forum, Clovis exhorted the community members to come together, calling for community organizers to stand and meet together and discuss ways to build coalition and recommit to further organizing. Plans were briefly discussed to create a follow-up check-in meeting in 6 months to check on the progress of the community organizing.

Here is the poster / flyer about the meeting: