SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Villa says his parents bought a home on Beta Street in the 1950s. He sees it as a representation of their American Dream: they were children of immigrants who worked hard to live in the United States.
“[There were] Eight of us in that small house, but it was joyful. I have beautiful memories of it,” Villa said.
On Jan. 22, Villa watched all that get destroyed in a matter of minutes. He says the City of San Diego is to blame.
“To see the devastation that happened to that house was unnecessary and didn’t need to happen," Villa said. "I feel in my heart it was a dishonor and disgrace to my family and to my mom and dad’s legacy.”
A group of lawyers represented Villa and several other flood victims in a proposed class action lawsuit against San Diego.
“The city has pretended to do repairs,” said Michael Aguirre, one of the attorneys representing the flood victims.
The lawsuit claims the City neglected Chollas Creek flood control work for years and even misled the public about completing drain improvement projects. It also states that in 2021, the City took millions of dollars out of funding for flood prevention infrastructure to purchase a building on Ash Street.
“Instead of using the money to maintain and repair the flood infrastructure, they used it to buy a building,” Aguirre said.
They’re asking for money to repair damages and for the City to maintain Chollas Creek infrastructure to prevent this from happening again.
“You need to come through for them, some way, somehow. A mistake is a mistake, but please fix it,” Villa said.
We asked the City for a response to these claims. A representative said they couldn't respond to pending litigation. But after Jan. 22, the City said they cleaned more than 16,000 tons of debris from Chollas Creek and plan to upgrade Beta Street's drainage system.
