On a sunny Friday afternoon in Imperial Beach, Charles Rilli, the deputy director of the Sierra Club’s San Diego chapter, was actively working the room just minutes before an important panel discussion about the Tijuana River. Rilli, at 27 years old, was filled with the kind of nervous energy that came from being involved in an event he had played a significant role in planning, hoping for its success.
Rilli was hired by the Sierra Club two years ago under a clear mandate: to increase the organization’s dwindling membership in majority-Latino South San Diego County. He emphasized that events such as the river panel were key to achieving that goal. “In South County, there’s not as much opportunity for engagement with the outdoors,” he pointed out. “It’s critical we meet people where they are.”
Despite the Sierra Club’s standing as one of America’s oldest and most influential environmental organizations, there is a stark demographic imbalance in its membership. Currently, fewer than 10 percent of the Club’s 13,000 members in San Diego County live south of downtown. This disparity has been exacerbated by the absence of a South County equivalent to the Club’s North County local chapter subgroups and the lack of senior leaders residing in South County. Additionally, until recently, the Club hadn’t positioned itself as a significant participant in many of the region’s crucial environmental discussions, including the pressing Tijuana River sewage crisis.
Rilli shared that it’s his responsibility to address these challenges. “We’re trying to open up opportunities around San Diego County,” he stated. However, Rilli acknowledged that mobilizing members in South County has proven to be a complex task. “People of working-class communities try their best to get by and support their families,” he said, explaining that environmental issues often take a backseat. He believes reframing environmental matters as economic concerns is essential for engagement.
Research indicates that non-white Americans face greater environmental injustices and broadly favor stronger action against climate change. However, the political landscape is shifting. In last year’s presidential election, majority-Latino South San Diego County witnessed a notable swing to the right. This change was reflected in a close race that nearly placed a Republican on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Nationally, environmental organizations have struggled to address such contradictory trends, and the Sierra Club’s efforts to diversify its membership have sparked significant internal debate about the organization’s future direction.
In 2022, an environmental leader in the San Diego area, Richard Halsey, publicly distanced himself from the Sierra Club, accusing its leaders of prioritizing social activism over traditional environmental goals and criticizing the group’s condemnation of those not in alignment with their views on contentious cultural issues. Furthermore, the Club has seen a significant decline in membership; statewide, the numbers plummeted nearly 20 percent since 2019, while the San Diego chapter itself lost approximately 2,000 members during the same timeframe. Only about 1,200 of the chapter’s current members live in South San Diego County.
Mark West, the San Diego chapter’s new executive director, expressed that addressing the chapter’s demographic and regional inconsistencies is crucial for the organization’s continued relevance and survival. “We, like many organizations, are dealing with our population aging,” West remarked. “That doesn’t mean they’re not doing fantastic work. We need to get more people involved doing more.”
West noted that one of the key strategies to halt the membership decline is increasing visibility and presence in South San Diego County. “We don’t feel like we have been represented in South County,” he commented, reflecting a sense of disconnect that Rilli is working to address.
Rilli identified his role as encompassing dual responsibilities: recruiting new members who may not have previously identified as environmentalists and ensuring that the Club is involved in issues that resonate more with South County residents. He explained that while North County members have typically focused on issues such as slowing residential growth and preserving open spaces, South County residents are primarily concerned about air pollution, sewage contamination, and the need for greater access to parks and affordable housing.
Following the 2024 elections, Rilli observed that economic issues are overwhelmingly at the forefront for residents. Rilli’s own journey highlights how working-class individuals come to embrace environmental awareness in unexpected ways. Having grown up in an immigrant family from the Dominican Republic in New Jersey, he developed an interest in environmental activism after witnessing the impacts of climate change while studying in southern Florida. He later worked in Queens, New York, mobilizing support for a curbside composting initiative, discovering that residents responded better to environmental appeals framed as solutions to more immediate problems, such as rodent infestations.
“It’s a mistake when people with [environmental] campaigns go to someone’s door and tell them how to do something,” Rilli said, underscoring the need to relate to community concerns rather than simply promoting environmental agendas.
Upon moving to San Diego in 2023, Rilli’s first endeavor involved gauging the primary issues facing South County residents. While the Sierra Club’s San Diego chapter had previously been engaged in mitigating the environmental impacts of several housing projects, they lacked the resources to address pressing environmental justice issues in the area. Rilli initiated a comprehensive listening tour, attending city meetings, connecting with local environmental groups, and hosting outdoor gatherings for existing South County members.
The community feedback was consistent, highlighting key concerns such as the sewage crisis in the Tijuana River, a proposed landfill in Otay Mesa, air quality issues near the Port of San Diego, and insufficient access to parks and recreational spaces. As a result of this outreach, Rilli successfully advocated for the Tijuana River to become a primary focus for the Sierra Club in South County. He established a regular presence at Imperial Beach City Council meetings, fostering relationships with local leaders like then-Mayor Paloma Aguirre, and attended meetings with federal agencies addressing cross-border sewage issues.
The positive reception to the Oct. 3 climate change panel suggests Rilli has made strides in elevating South County issues on the Sierra Club’s agenda and increasing the organization’s visibility at local environmental events. Nevertheless, its effectiveness in appealing to average South County residents remains uncertain. Despite the October event’s good attendance, few participants appeared to be long-time South County residents; many were associated with regional or national environmental organizations from outside the area.
One attendee, Shawna Weaver, who described herself as an ‘eco-psychologist,’ indicated that she had moved away from San Diego but returned to speak at a Climate Week panel on her research related to climate grief. Other speakers on the Tijuana River panel appeared to be primarily from external organizations rather than local South County communities.
The comparison with another environmental event held in National City two weeks prior starkly illustrates the difference in community engagement. There, residents, many of whom were Spanish speakers, organized to protest against a proposal for a diesel fuel transfer station near homes and schools. They filled a Planning Commission meeting, raised their voices, and lined up to express their opposition, demonstrating a local and personal investment in the issue, which contrasted with the more distant feel of the Sierra Club panel.
This National City protest, organized by the Environmental Health Coalition, highlighted that working-class South County residents are more likely to respond to environmental issues as they relate to immediate threats to their neighborhoods or community welfare rather than broader climate change themes. “We’re gathered here today to let the city know we do not want any more polluting businesses in National City,” one protester stated, emphasizing the localized nature of their concerns.
Rilli acknowledged the need to bridge various divides to truly integrate South County into the Sierra Club’s San Diego agenda. He suggested that the Club may need to broaden its perception of outdoor engagement to encompass the realities of working-class families. Many residents may not have the means to partake in outdoor adventures akin to skiing or backpacking; for them, simple outings like family picnics in parks signify their connection to the outdoors.
“The Sierra Club is adjusting its understanding of what counts as outdoor experiences,” Rilli asserted, highlighting this evolution as critical for expanding the environmental movement.
He recognized that implementing these conceptual shifts can be challenging but noted their necessity in maintaining the vitality of the environmental movement in a changing America.
Rilli concluded, “I think that part of my job is definitely to reframe what environmental issues look like in people’s communities,” and underscored the importance of diversifying the audience at events hosted by the Sierra Club. “We need to widen it for people who see it as a justice issue or economic issue or something that will impact their lives on a day-to-day basis.”
With Rilli at the helm, the Sierra Club’s San Diego chapter is navigating a pivotal moment as it seeks to reconcile strong advocacy for environmental justice with the diverse needs and priorities of South San Diego County’s communities.
image source from：voiceofsandiego
