Are we at a tipping point for local transit, with a flood of new and better projects coming? Or are we about to waste a bunch of money on debt for city projects?
Both of those takes are in our Top Five comments readers made on stories this week.
Jerry Sanders Reviewed
Earlier in the week, we used a series of graphs to illustrate how city services fared while former Mayor Jerry Sanders led the city. And we checked on his promises about the city’s finances.
We also collected three glowing takes on how the Sanders did, and now we’ve posted some not-so-glowing reviews of the same leader.
What We Learned This Week
Infrastructure bond not going to be easy: All week, we’ve been following up on the splash new Council President Todd Gloria made with his inaugural speech Monday when he said we needed a grand investment in city infrastructure (parks, roads, libraries, buildings, etc).
Gloria told KPBS that he wasn’t necessarily talking about a sales tax increase, or any tax increase.
Here’s the philosophy behind the effort Gloria’s touting.
We really did buy a bunch of water: If you are still trying to understand the historic water deal that went down last week, Catherine Garcia from NBC and I went to Carlsbad and put together a simple video explainer.
Back to the drawing board on transportation plan: Officials from the San Diego Association of Governments will negotiate with environmental lawyers after a judge rejected its gargantuan 40-year transportation plan after deciding it failed to meet California’s greenhouse gas reduction targets.
Our Andy Keatts talked about this on KPBS’s “Midday Roundtable” Friday. And remember you can always catch up with these five things you need to know about that big transportation plan.
Post-election dominoes fall: It’s a full circle! Bob Filner got to be mayor, leaving his congressional seat open. Juan Vargas is going to Congess, leaving his state Senate seat open. Ben Hueso is going for that, leaving his state Assembly seat open. Lorena Gonzalez is going for that, which may leave her powerful position as head of the Labor Council open. Lee Burdick is joining Filner’s staff, which will leave her Unified Port of San Diego commission seat open.
Tony Young is leaving his City Council seat open. And, here’s how replacing him will work.
Filner can plank: And he did. And we got a picture.
Quick News Hits
• The story about those mindblowing construction bonds that the Poway Unified School District innovated and we spread the word about is going even further. KQED leads a story about one district that borrowed $2.5 million and will have to pay back $34 million.
• “San Diego’s dismantled redevelopment authority owes the city more than $600,000 and is so late in paying that the city is turning the agency over to collections,” reports U-T San Diego.
• The San Diego Pride Annual Weekend Celebration will now be named “America’s Pride” and there’s a petition to change the name back. (SD Pride)
• A Scripps oceanography student is blogging her expedition up and down the San Diego coast to figure out what’s happening to the water and sea life there. (Scientific American)
• Federal regulators are investigating potential child-labor law violations at Chargers games. (San Diego 6)
• U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa’s home was burglarized and some priceless heirlooms were lost. (The Hill)
Quote of the Day
“He’s got to learn dynamic thinking!”
— Bob Filner, after an argument with a high school student about solar panels.