Good morning from Point Loma. The Agenda is better late than never.
- City of San Diego budget update! Mayor Jerry Sanders and the City Council announced they hope to make their cuts by the end of the calendar year. Doing so then, the mayor said, likely will save about $60 million of the $179 million deficit the city faces next fiscal year. We published a calendar of important budget dates and community conversations.
- A proposal for additional City Council oversight for downtown development struck a nerve with the mayor’s private civic agenda pushers. Chairman of the mayor’s team, Bill Geppert, called the move “an ill-advised ploy by organized labor.”
- Outgoing San Diego Fire Chief Tracy Jarman has an exit interview with our own Keegan Kyle and addresses budget cuts the department is going to have to make.
- Speculation continues on the decision coming up for Councilwoman Donna Frye on whether she’ll run for County Supervisor. An already declared challenger, Democratic state Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, picked up a key recommendation toward a major endorsement.
- Lots going on outside the city of San Diego. Oceanside will keep an ambulance online, despite making other budget cuts and the city will again address raising its water and sewer rates. Encinitas agreed to spend up to $1.5 million to plan a 44-acre park. Escondido approved public parking lot fee increases for downtown.
Poway’s Betty Rexford saga is continuing. The councilwoman was harangued at Tuesday’s City Council meeting and police are no longer investigating a dispute involving her husband and her neighbor from over the weekend.
- In San Diego County news, the county will spend $3.2 million to preserve 120 acres of land just outside Escondido. The Board of Supervisors also approved additional man hours for the firefighting helicopter dubbed the “Incredible Hulk.” It is likely Ben Hueso approves.