One’s a Republican who sometimes veers from his GOP colleagues on issues regarding new construction and growth. The other is a Democrat who’s expected to be a reliable friend of environmentalists.
What race are we talking about? It’s not City Council. This is the race for the county supervisor seat that represents much of the city of San Diego.
If you haven’t heard about the divide over development and the environment in the race, you’ve got plenty of company. There hasn’t been much talk about it. But as we report, the winner — Stephen Whitburn or Ron Roberts — may have big opportunities to serve as a swing vote and shape the county’s future on the growth and building front.
In Other News:
• The governor signed the bill that would get rid of limits on redevelopment in downtown San Diego, the U-T reports. We’ve got more on the story. (This is the now-infamous legislation created in a secret deal that left many local politicians — and the public — out of the loop.)
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Meanwhile, they might get a new stadium out of all this, but the Chargers have been mighty quiet. Perhaps too quiet.
• A school board candidate is none too pleased about the secret deal, and he wants the district to do something pretty drastic: not give the city any money for the new downtown library (which will include a public school) unless officials guarantee that the deal won’t hurt the district.
If that were to happen, it would be a big deal. The inclusion of the school — along with money from the school district — was crucial to the library’s creation.
• San Diego’s city employees have gotten plenty of flak over the last few years over the cushy (and early) retirements that many of them get. A union leader in the city broke the numbers down in the U-T, saying the average pay for general employees is $53,000 plus an average of $37,000 in pension payments in retirement after 30 years of work. Is he right? Well, not entirely.
Also: The TV edition of Fact Check looks at claims about local taxes.
• What do you call the deaf Burmese refugee whom we profiled last week? Our story referred to him as Har Sin, but that’s a Western-ism: his name back home is another story.
Elsewhere:
• The discussions over where to put the homeless shelter keep going and going and going. Now the football stadium parking lot in Mission Valley is in play, although it sounds like a definite non-starter. (U-T)
• A federal board screwed up when it said a member of a Coast Guard crew was texting right before last year’s fatal boat collision in the bay. (U-T)
• Escondido has chosen a site for a proposed minor league baseball stadium that would house an affiliate of the San Diego Padres. In a report, the city says it won’t have to do anything to lessen the effects of traffic, light and noise. (NCT)
• Mexican authorities say the Sinaloa cartel may be responsible for the more than 105 tons of marijuana seized in Tijuana this week. A journalist for the New Yorker told us that some fear the cartel will make a bloody bid to take over Tijuana.
• In Imperial County, “authorities say two inmates were shot and a dozen others injured as guards used pepper spray and gunfire in an attempt to break up a brawl among about 120 inmates at a prison.” (AP)
• The local Skyline Church has been a big player in socially conservative causes, and now a senior pastor is out with election recommendations, including a yes vote on the state measure that would stall environmental legislation. Supporting the measure is a “pro-life” stance, he writes. CityBeat wondered how abortion and the environment are linked and couldn’t find anyone who could explain the connection. The pastor is staying mum.
• The San Diego Press Club has tidbits on local media happenings, including a new senior news editor at KPBS and the marriage between a Chula Vista city councilman and the U-T reporter who used to cover City Hall there.
• Check out the little movie of Balboa Park in 1915, the year when the Panama-California Exposition began. The seven-minute film is a delight, full of buildings, parkgoers, fish, motorized carts, and little kids, including an adorable toddler playing with pigeons. He’d be about 98 now. You’ll also see a pair of roving eyes: watch as a strolling man takes a non-too-sly backward glance at a couple of ladies passing by.
Sure, the moment might have been staged for the camera. But I like to think it was for real, and I’ll be filing it under “Some Things Never Change.”
Please contact Randy Dotinga directly at randydotinga@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/rdotinga.