ENCINITAS, Calif. (KGTV) -- Emotions overflowed from community members at the Encinitas City Chambers Wednesday, with many demanding changes in the wake of the death of 12-year-old Emery Chalekian.
"Safety is not a privilege, it's a right. Please, please perform some actions quickly for the rest of this community," Emery’s father, John Chalekian, said to council members during public comment.
Wednesday's joint special meeting between the city and the Mobility and Traffic Safety Commission marked two months since Emery was hit and killed at the intersection of Encinitas Boulevard and Village Square Drive.
Since the tragedy, memorials and sweet mementos have been written along the sidewalk in her memory.
Weeks later, the community's support has moved from memorials to a call for action from the city. Several people at Wednesday’s meeting wore yellow shirts as they pushed for safer streets.
"The public voice matters. Attending, speaking with emotion, however, does matter," said John Chalekian. "For this tragedy, I don't think we could have made it this far without our community."
The outpouring of support spoke volumes for Emery’s parents.
"They've been amazing, absolutely amazing. Everyone has just come out and strangers, and I mean, it's just, it has been absolutely amazing," Bridget Chalekian told ABC 10News.
Councilmembers heard the community and moved towards a safer solution swiftly. Now, a motion approved to vote on a road safety state of emergency at the next City Council meeting, similar to the action taken after 15-year-old Brodee Champlain-Kingman was struck and killed on South El Camino Real in 2023.
This call to action from the community so another family doesn’t experience the same fate or pain.
"We're hopeful that we can find a way to keep Emery's memory on the road in her memory to slow people down," John said. "She's gone and we don't want to lose the momentum right now. We don't want to act out of emotion. We want to act out of practicality and prevent another family from having to deal with this."
