The Agenda: Today’s A.M. Political Update

Good morning from Hillcrest.

• San Diego City Council members might be driving to work this morning, but they’re not doing it on your dime. The U-T updates a story on automobile allowances for San Diego elected officials and found that just one City Council member is submitting mileage reimbursements where all eight used to receive an automobile allowance.

• Former state Sen. Steve Peace, who was instrumental in the establishment of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, now says the authority should be shut down.
• We have the report from the city’s Office of the Independent Budget Analyst that reviews Mayor Jerry Sanders’ budget proposals. The office is mostly in the support of Sanders’ effort.

In other budget news, former mayoral candidate Steve Francis says Sanders’ proposals are another wasted opportunity at long-term reform.

• The U-T has a point-counterpoint on the schoobrary. San Diego Public Library Foundation leaders contend the library will be a long-term asset. City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner argues that the funding is too fragile and the city’s strained budget will have to make up the difference.
• A U-T editorial laments the environmental problems at the potential downtown Chargers stadium site.
• The U-T highlights the medical marijuana guidelines to be discussed by City Council this week, and talks to a breadth of stakeholders. Think tank analyst Vince Vasquez argues that the proposed guidelines don’t go far enough.
• The city’s firefighter union could lose up to a third of its membership after 400 paramedics chose to join a different union last week.
• A pedestrian bridge on San Diego’s waterfront is taking longer than expected to finish — and costing more money.
• Lots of news this weekend on the recall election facing Oceanside City Councilman Jerry Kern. The North County Times has a rundown on all the election and the possible ramifications if Kern is ousted. The U-T takes a look at why Oceanside politics are so divisive.

• Chula Vista City Councilman Rudy Ramirez struck and killed a 58-year-old man in a car accident last Thursday morning. Ramirez was not cited in the accident. The U-T editorial page continues to decry the investigation into Chula Vista councilman and mayoral candidate Steve Castaneda. The paper also checks in with Councilman John McCann, who is serving a year-long Navy tour in Iraq.
• Conservative blog SDRostra.Com has a couple of posts on the term limits initiative targeting San Diego County Supervisors. A prominent Republican leader says the party should embrace the move, even though it’s funded by organized labor.
• And the U-T reports on a Chula Vista couple that received a $35,000 bill for the county clearing their lot after a series of run-ins with code compliance.

— LIAM DILLON