Mayor Bob Filner’s brawl with hoteliers appears to be over but we still thought it prudent to vet a claim made by a Tourism Authority official about the effects of the standoff.
Kerri Kapich, the agency’s vice president for marketing, claimed on Twitter that hotel occupancy in San Diego was down significantly in March “due to no advertising” — a reference to an ad campaign that became a casualty of the fight. The problem: The Tourism Authority itself projected hotel room occupancy would be down due to other factors long before it knew the ad campaign was held up. Kapich gets a Misleading verdict.
Another Deal Bites the Dust
A day after we pointed out that San Diego Unified could be losing out on millions if some of its proposed deals to sell off land go through, yet another deal has imploded.
The district now has the chance to rezone the property, potentially upping the price tag considerably. But at least one school board member thinks it won’t seize the opportunity.
Auditor Claims Victory in Bill Request
The city’s probe into City Auditor Eduardo Luna is poised to drag on past March.
But even though the city hasn’t rendered a verdict yet, Luna claims he’s been cleared in a Feb. 26 request for the city to pay his attorney fees, obtained by VOSD.
Comments of the Week
Dagny Salas rounded up our comments of the week, including one from the former city attorney, Mike Aguirre. “My friend Jan Goldsmith has learned being city attorney is really hard.”
What We Learned This Week
Some City Attorney Decisions Have Flopped: Some recent cases in which City Attorney Jan Goldsmith had a direct hand have significantly altered the city’s trajectory for the future — not always for the best.
But not so fast, says Goldsmith: He’s had his share of wins, too.
Labor, Endorsements Will Factor Into D4: The race that will determine District 4’s next City Council member has been narrowed to two: Myrtle Cole and Dwayne Crenshaw.
Though they have similar political views, the role of organized labor in the race, and endorsements from Mayor Bob Filner and former Councilman Tony Young will go a long way toward helping the candidates distinguish themselves.
No One Knows How Pot Tax Would Work: The mayor’s new guidelines for accessing medical marijuana has created more questions than answers: How would the city implement a 2 percent sales tax on the drug? Wouldn’t it require a vote of the people? And is it an excise tax, or a sales tax?
Quick News Hits
• “A federal lawsuit filed by a woman sexually assaulted by San Diego police Officer Anthony Arevalos contains new allegations and details that police supervisors knew about his misconduct toward female suspects by the late 1990s and repeatedly failed to take action against him,” reports U-T San Diego. Check out our in-depth 2011 story to catch up.
• Our blog The Stumblr has yet another admirer: the California Economic Summit blog, which writes: “A bunch of pictures of cracked up sidewalks probably doesn’t sound like the makings of an endearing yet informative photoblog, but credit Voice of San Diego for thinking outside the box.”
• Another local subject that’s still getting national attention: Cindy Marten, the new superintendent of San Diego Unified. Ed Week examines Marten’s deep relationships with local parents.
• A superstar local attorney fielded some wary questions about her young age from the chief judge of the 9th Circuit in a big immigrant smuggling case last year. But the judge ultimately sided with her, and now Harini Raghupathi, who works in the San Diego federal defender’s office, has landed on The Recorder’s list of the top lawyers of the year.
• An alarming number of starving sea lion pups are washing up on beaches from San Diego to Santa Barbara. (Associated Press)
Quote of the Week
“The one deal they had stupid money on was killed” — land broker David Santistevan on San Diego Unified’s bungled land sales.
Sara Libby is VOSD’s managing editor. She oversees VOSD’s newsroom and its content. You can reach her at sara.libby@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.325.0526.
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