Morning Report: Public Safety Gets Short Shrift

The city government seemingly has a zillion things to do, from maintaining roads to getting water to homes to operating parks and libraries. But nothing’s more crucial than police and fire protection.

So you might assume public safety — the city’s top priority — would be a big topic in the race for mayor. But it’s not. Liam Dillon reports, the candidates have “focused most of the campaign on issues where they’re unlikely to make a significant impact.”

• NBC 7 San Diego is hosting a live mayoral debate tonight and Scott Lewis will be among the questioners, along with NBC 7’s Mark Mullen, Gene Cubbison and Catherine Garcia.

While there have been quite a few debates, this one will feature a fact check online afterward with Dillon. It all starts at 6 p.m. on NBC 7 San Diego (Channel 7 and nbc7.com).

Click here to watch the debate and the Fact Check.

• UTTV and the University of San Diego held a debate last night on the mayor’s role in education. Neither candidate supported having the mayor get control of governance for the San Diego Unified School District.

Hey, Big Spender?

A campaign ad tried to zing mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio where it hurts: in his reputation as a taxpayer advocate. It says: “DeMaio wants to cut government but spends more on his council office than anyone.”

Is the claim true? Nope, finds San Diego Fact Check. It’s false.

Arts Report: De-Vermin-ing, Orchestra Drama and More

The Arts Report, our weekly compilation of links to news about arts and culture, leads with the 1930s murals that we’ve told you about. The Mexican murals, which lived at a brewery in Barrio Logan, were saved from ruin in the 1980s but languished in storage for decades.

Now they’re getting ready for their re-debut. But there’s a hitch: termites had struck a decorated wooden bar. It got to go to Lloyd’s Pest Control and get a de-vermin-ing in a storage container. (No, there’s no sign that the meth makers from TV’s “Breaking Bad” were anywhere in the vicinity.)

Also in the Arts Report: news about the continuing labor fuss at Orchestra Nova (musicians got the bum’s rush at a cancelled performance), a La Jolla map aficionado and more.

See that Write-In Box? Ignore It

The ballot in the city of San Diego has a handy space where you can vote for a write-in candidate. Funny thing: you can’t do that. As we explained recently, write-in votes don’t count in the general election.

The space is on the ballot by mistake, KPBS reports. The ballots won’t be reprinted.

Letters: More and More U-T Cancellations

We have letters about the benefits of school bond funding and the reasons to support DeMaio for mayor.

As the U-T Turns

• The U-T publisher said the other day that he’s interested in buying the company that owns the LA Times. Never mind, says the CEO.

• Newspapers and online media across the country distributed a recent AP story about the U-T’s brash new owners. While it’s a story locals knew well, we did learn one thing: Publisher Doug Manchester financially supported a recent film “2016: Obama’s America” that got a lot of play in the newspaper. CityBeat asked and, it turns out, the U-T editors didn’t know about Manchester’s involvement. 

A new U-T story says the movie — produced, in part, by a local conservative author — has spawned several lawsuits.

Quick News Hits

• Our Comments of the Week feature highlights the thoughts of our readers about funding for schools, gas prices, Balboa Park and the Chargers stadium search.

• “A former assistant career services dean at the Thomas Jefferson Law School has filed a declaration in a class action against the institution in which she acknowledges padding graduate employment statistics in 2006,” writes the National Law Journal. Hat tip to the Reader for finding the story.

• Governor Brown endorsed Rep. Bob Filner for mayor. (KPBS)  And Bill Clinton stumped for Scott Peters in the 52nd Congressional District race, but he didn’t come to the district.

• The messy borrowing scheme in Poway was approved by the school board, but the issue has cropped up in the City Council race. U-T columnist Logan Jenkins, who’s been bouncing around North County for decades, says the borrowing deal has spawned “the most effective negative campaign I’ve ever seen in North County.”

• Irwin Jacobs, the local billionaire and philanthropist, is the second-leading donor to groups supporting President Obama, having given more than $2 million. (AP)

• Thanks to changes in field dimensions, the baseball park downtown is going to become a lot friendlier to hitters and those who like a higher-scoring game.

“When a ball is crushed, it should be a home run. That didn’t happen… particularly on balls hit toward right-center and left-center,” the team CEO tells the U-T.

Right-center and left-center? Do moderates even exist anymore? Oh sorry, thought we were still talking about politics there for a minute.   

Please contact Randy Dotinga directly at randydotinga@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/rdotinga.