He tried. Heaven knows he tried.
For a decade, Mira Mesa resident Terry Forshey did everything he could to rid his neighborhood of ugly eyesores. He pushed for a city ordinance that almost passed, led a community group, and jawed with politicians.
After all that, the scourge of abandoned shopping carts continues to plague Mira Mesa.
Don’t laugh. Forsey says he used to find them standing 10 deep on street corners. They’re still everywhere — thousands and thousands languishing on the streets every year.
Our story examines the problem, the elusive solutions and the heartache of residents who just want to make the ugly go away.
Election Day is approaching, and we have a boatload of campaign stories for your review. Presented for your approval:
• Supporters and opponents of the strong-mayor ballot measure held dueling press conferences at City Hall. One of the highlights: a flap over a supporter who’s identified on a ballot statement as a town council member but also happens to be a lobbyist for the pro-Prop. D campaign.
Not quite sure what it’s all about? Remember you can always go back to San Diego Explained for a refresher on the strong mayor.
• How big of a deal is Prop. G on the Chula Vista ballot? Big enough of a deal that labor-affiliated opponents have begun running a Spanish-language ad TV ad to oppose it.
The ad says: “The new Arizona law discriminates against Latinos. The police can arrest them simply for looking like they are from Mexico.”
Then viewers hear this: “Proposition G in Chula Vista discriminates in our community.”
What does an Arizona law (which doesn’t, by the way, actually allow someone to be arrested for simply looking Mexican) have to do with a ballot measure that outlaws certain labor agreements on public works construction projects?
We asked a top local labor leader to explain. We also provide perspective that will help you understand the connection (or lack thereof) between the Arizona law and the Chula Vista measure.
• City Council candidate Lorie Zapf, who touts her commitment to fiscal responsibility, has been fighting off a flap over the fact that she and her husband defaulted on their mortgage. Now, we’ve discovered that another local candidate who’s running on a fiscal responsibility platform has had trouble with a mortgage-related issue.
Shelia Jackson, a San Diego school board member who’s running for county supervisor, lost her home to foreclosure in 2007. Jackson said the foreclosure shouldn’t affect her campaign.
• Unlike the last time, when he ran for City Council and lost while spending more than $210,000 of his own money, Stephen Whitburn isn’t dipping deeply into his own pockets to support his county supervisor campaign.
• The two main rivals of County Supervisor Ron Roberts in his bid for reelection say it’s time to use the county’s apparently healthy financial position to start making a difference for people.
This story, by the way, uses the phrase “cornucopia of Democrats.”
A Google search turns up only four mentions of that phrase on the Internet, including this one. But there are 144 for “cornucopia of Republicans.”
I welcome your theories on why this is so. (And no, I don’t have anything better to worry about. Why do you ask?)
• We’ve got more numbers from the campaign finance disclosures of those running for school board in San Diego.
• In non-election news, the San Diego school board has decided to retract layoff notices for 112 of its newest teachers.
• The Photos of the Day are portrait-o-riffic.
Elsewhere:
• Chelsea’s Law, which aims to crack down on sex offenders like the man who killed Chelsea King and Amber Dubois, is virtually guaranteed of passing. The Assembly unanimously approved it yesterday. (U-T)
• “It’s one of the safest parts of America, and it’s getting safer,” an AP story says about a big chunk of the United States.
Wanna live there? If you’re here, you already do.
The AP reports that the U.S.-Mexico border “isn’t so dangerous after all.” The four major cities with the lowest violent crime rates — including San Diego — are in border states, and it’s safer to be a Border Patrol agent than a cop.
• How big is the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? Big enough to engulf an area from San Bernardino to past Rosarito Beach and from El Centro to way out beyond Catalina. This detail is courtesy of a site that allows users to overlay the spill over San Diego and Southern California.
• Looks like a Registrar of Voters employee isn’t going to win a Customer Service Representative of the Year award.
According to the U-T, an East County woman went to the registrar to look at campaign finance reports. She couldn’t do this because a worker was at lunch, so she went home and asked to get an email copy. The worker said no. She complained.
And then. . . boom goes the dynamite. He wrote a 209-word message back, ending with this zinger: “I can better serve the public if I were to focus on answering questions regarding the filings as opposed to addressing the public’s personal peeves.”
Call it a case of the campaign disclosure guy disclosing just a bit too much of his own attitude.