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We’re excited. Can you tell?
It’s Election Day. Our reporters will spread throughout the city to report on the perspectives of voters during the day. Then we’ll hit our keyboards in the late evening to provide perspective and analysis as the results roll in. You’ll even be able to join the Voice of San Diego staff at the VOSD Magazine Launch and Election Night Party.
We’re also interested in hearing how you voted, so get in touch. (And no, I won’t tell you how I voted, except to say that it just wouldn’t be an election without someone writing in “Mickey Mouse,” now would it?)
For more about what to expect in terms of coverage, check our Election Day rundown.
• For an overview of the city elections, don’t forget to check out our Curious Voter’s Guide.
• We also have Reader’s Guides to the mayoral candidates (Bob Filner, Bonnie Dumanis, Nathan Fletcher, and Carl DeMaio), Props. A and B and the school board race.
• Now it’s time for all good readers to come to the aid of their bragging rights. Do you have the right stuff to predict the outcome of today’s local election? Take part in our contest and match your prowess against two of the most obsessive political junkies in town — our Scott Lewis and Liam Dillon. There could even be a lunch in it for you.
• We looked through the 40 Fact Checks we’ve done about the mayoral candidates. And it turns out there’s something to learn about each of them. DeMaio, for example, is good on employee perks but bad on justifying his support for a tax increase.
• I’ve compiled a handy list of less-than-enthusiastic endorsements, plus a few of the odder endorsements (or semi-endorsements or non-endorsements) that are floating around.
Among them: a vague message from the governor, a contradictory nod from Roger Hedgecock, CityBeat’s support of the cranky guy who’s hard to work for, a candidate’s refusal to support his own big-time supporter, and the voter who admits his chosen one isn’t exactly Mr. Congeniality.
• Fact Check TV examines claims by mayoral candidates Rep. Bob Filner (he says he didn’t get contributions from SDG&E) and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis (she says don’t worry about the poll numbers, everybody, since polls put her 20 points down in 2002 but she still won). Only one of these claims is entirely true.
• We don’t typically cover polls during election season, but decided to chart out the last five Survey USA polls to get a glimpse of each mayoral candidate’s trajectory over the full race.
But can you even trust polls these days, considering that the number of people who bother to respond to them has dipped by a ton? The LA Times says the answer appears to be yes — if the polls are good and launched very close to an election. But if they aren’t good, they wouldn’t be good, right? You’re confusing me, LA Times.
U-T Columnist’s Backbone and Where It Got Him
Tim Sullivan, who was a well-respected U-T sports columnist until he got sacked last week, doesn’t seem to suffer fools lightly. And he made it all but crystal clear that he feared his newspaper was being run by them.
Don’t try this at home. I mean, at work.
We know all this because he’s spilling the beans about the internal criticisms that may have gotten him a ticket to joblessville. Our story summarizes his comments to two blogs and includes a response from the U-T’s editor, who says nice — but not too nice — things about the man he fired.
Quick News Hits
• We’ve been following the preparations for a San Diego Children’s Choir production, and the opera “Noye’s Fludde” finally came to life on Sunday. We were on hand to capture the moments of the day’s practice session in words and gorgeously colorful images.
• Our weekly compilation of our site’s most popular stories is up. The winner: Keegan Kyle’s latest in his running investigation into SDPD’s curfew sweeps.
• There’s green in them thar green: Avocado thefts are rarely reported locally, but the NC Times finds that they’re common, costly and fairly easy to get away with.
It helps — at least from a thief’s point of view — that avocados cost more (at perhaps $1,634 a ton as of 2010 numbers) than fruits like apples ($730), grapefruit ($502) and limes ($454).
And no wonder. You can’t make guacamole with grapefruit, but you can do lots with avocados. My grandfather — who lived in La Mesa, like just about everybody’s grandparents — even used to make avocado pie.
As a public service, I don’t recommend that anyone else try making avocado pie. Unless, of course, your least favorite candidate is coming over for a bite.
• If you’re going to the polls today, remember to think about who will do the best job of turning the city around. Or not. As a write-in candidate for mayor put it in his rap song (yes, his rap song): “Our city needs a 360, not a 180.”
Ah. It’s nice to hear from a candidate for mayor who actually promises to run in circles.
Please contact Randy Dotinga directly at randydotinga@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/rdotinga.