There is Hope!!

Hello devoted horse lovers and defenders of San Diego’s Mounted Police!

The San Diego City Mayors office has extended an offer to review a request to reevaluate the upcoming auction to dismantle and liquidate some of the horses and the infrastructure of this historic department and equine branch of the San Diego Police Department. They have agreed to look at a joint venture between private citizens and the police Department to keep the Mounted Police and its department intact during this critical time of budget cuts and fiscal repair to the City. With no promises made in a conversation with Ron Lacy, assistant to the Mayor, a door was open to take another look at the possibility of finding a way to keep the Department intact. It was made clear by Mr. Lacy that there was no way possible to do this, in light of the extreme budget issues the City is now facing.

The tentative proposal is for the community and other like minded partners to create an organization, (non profit or San Diego City Partners Foundation) that could fund the care for the horses and facilities. With new and recent annual budget costs this number would be in the approximate $100,000 dollar range down from the original $250,000. We have just a few days to raise actual moneys as a show of good faith before we meet with the Mayors office the first of next week. We are a grass roots group and on such short notice will be working round the clock to find people to pledge contributions to make this happen. If we can demonstrate that the community wants this and is willing to have actual moneys in hand before the auction we may be able to keep this Department intact. We are not asking for actual moneys now just a pledge to make our case in these final days. Once we have an acceptable agreement with the City we will need to have actual hard cash on or before Feb. 10^th.  All cash would be donated to the City of San Diego to their community partners fund and then specifically ear marked for the mounted police fund. It really is about cash.  It’s now or never. 

There will most likely be a need to sell some of the horses and equipment at the auction, which is an awful thing to consider, but we may be able to keep the department intact and viable as we find a way not to see the whole Department dissolved. Please review the info in our web page here as it will give you an oversight of the significance, investment value and importance of preserving and keeping this historic San Diego treasure.  You don’t have to be a horse lover to understand the importance of this powerful and dedicated organization and landmark to the safety and protection of our communities. Please consider pledging and help by emailing your thoughts and pledges.

Thanks. Russ Evans