Wake-up Call to all Unincorporated Areas

Harmony Grove Village in the unincorporated area of San Diego County is the controversial development discussed below. | Click on image to enlarge | Image Credit: La Prensa

The corruption uncovered in this article is so deep that you probably should wear your waders just to read it.

Arturo Castañares, Editor-at-Large at La Presna, recently published a deep dive into suspicious activity by the so-called "San Diego Housing Coalition" and a development proposed in the unincorporated area west of Escondido.

Pay attention readers, because wherever there is money to be made does not mean it is in the best interest of the community, usually just the best interest of the developer. As you might have heard me say in the past, "Follow the money."

This article should be a wake-up call to all unincorporated areas.

Mr. Castañares writes:

"A local nonprofit created by a political consultant convicted of felony grand theft last year and run by his former workers claims to be a community group but is actually connected directly to the owners of a controversial development project in North County the group publicly supports.

The 'San Diego Housing Coalition' is the only community group supporting the proposed 453-home Harmony Grove Village South project in the unincorporated area west of Escondido, but state and federal documents show the group is connected to political consultant Jesús Cárdenas who has been paid by the developer behind the project since at least 2021.

Although the group's website promotes it as “a collective of community voices and organizations, educators, experts, non-profits, lifelong advocates," the group does not list the names of its staff, boardmembers, or collaborators, and lists no phone number, address, or contact information besides an Admin email address.

The group’s Facebook page has only 180 followers and shows just one post of a news article in October 2021 and an announcement of a forum held in Chula Vista in July 2021. There is no social media profile for the group on X.com.

San Diego County records show the group is only a fictitious business name for the California Housing Coalition, a nonprofit filed with the state in 2021 using the address of Cardenas' consulting firm while he was already working as a paid consultant for the developer."

These are just the beginning paragraphs of Mr. Castañares' article. He continues by delving into some pretty unsavory characters with plenty of filings, photos and proof of his convictions. The investigative report contains several images to help you connect a face to a name and document imagery so you can see the evidence yourself and verify it.

"Principals of RCS Harmony Partners donated $170,000 to political campaign committees during the 2024 and 2025 election cycles, including helping fund both sides of the race for County Supervisor in 2024 and again in this year's Special Election to replace County Supervisor Nora Vargas in the South Bay."—La Prensa

It's a quick read but thick with factuality. Read it and learn. They're most likely coming for us next.

The continuation of Mr. Castanares' story may be found in "Sham SD Nonprofit Supports Controversial Development."

Source: Arturo Castañares, Editor-at-Large | September 22, 2025 | La Prensa

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