San Diego’s political landscape is usually tranquil in late July and August.
But over the past month, we have watched politicians pass unprecedented legislation, shift back and forth on major initiatives and scramble in the face of massive liabilities, dwindling revenues and an impending deadline to put propositions on the ballot. The scramble was indicative of how desperate the situation has become at City Hall and we recognized it immediately.
We mobilized to cover it from as many different angles as possible. With breaking news updates, continuous blog posts, instant delivery of documents and developments, long in-depth news analysis, commentary and even a cartoon to ease the tension a bit and summarize a wild time. Our photos captured the emotions and drama of an extraordinary time. We put it in perspective on TV and radio.
In short, we did everything we could to make sure you, San Diego’s leaders and thinkers, were able to watch what happened as the drama developed.
We could only do this because of the support of our community. Please consider joining the 1,126 people who already have donated to voiceofsandiego.org or think about renewing or increasing your contribution.
Your support is vital. And we need it so that the next time movement like this starts, you know your team will be on it.
To those who have and do loyally support this service, thank you.
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Let’s examine the work of one week from political reporter Liam Dillon, who made sure you didn’t miss a beat.
Dillon kicked off the last week in July with an authoritative story about the mayor’s legacy when he hadn’t been heard from on the issue of whether the city should raise the city’s sales tax. When Councilwoman Donna Frye surprised many by not backing the tax, Dillon was right there, tweeting the drama of the moment and helping you understand then and later in a larger story.
The next morning, when the word was there’d be another attempt at reviving the proposal, Dillon was at it again all day, blogging and tweeting. He even found time to cover Wednesday’s groundbreaking of a new main library too.
As the week continued and city leaders released memo after memo of ideas and the timeline tightened, Dillon’s blog, The Hall, and Twitter feed (@dillonliam) continued with a stream of insight and news.
On Thursday, Dillon churned out eight different blog posts as the City Council called for an emergency meeting on Friday morning and news came out that the mayor might veto the decision to put construction of a new City Hall up for public vote (he did).
As Friday dawned and the emergency financial meeting convened at City Hall, news broke about the mayor’s support for the proposed package. Dillon was there with a flurry of coverage from the meeting on Twitter and more on his blog. When the dust settled, the City Council voted 6-2 to approve the measure and the mayor was fully behind it.
He ended the week with a powerful piece on the significance of the day’s events.
Dillon’s work is supported by the community of San Diego. With a diverse funding base, we can ensure he’s independent and free to focus on the most important and complex issues. So, if you value what he does, help us pay for it. Whether it’s $5 or $500, your donation matters.
If you’d prefer to send a check, send it to:
voiceofsandiego.org
2508 Historic Decatur Road, Suite 120
San Diego, CA, 92106
— voiceofsandiego.org