When Cindy Marten began her role as superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District in May, she came in on a wave of excitement and a promise to “create a school system that is the best in the nation.” So we’ve started a project to grade Marten on how successful her efforts are. What defines success? You do. Tell us how you think we should measure Marten’s success in four key areas and what you think she should be focused on. We’ll periodically follow up on her progress and send her home with a report card of her own to contemplate.
San Diego Planner: More Bikes
Andrew Keatts sat down for an in-depth interview with Bruce Appleyard, a national expert in planning who was recently hired by San Diego State University as their new professor of city planning and urban design. Appleyard talked about the value of more bicycle facilities and about different ways to use the city’s bus system. “San Diego has done a good job at initializing the foundation for a transit system, and starting to look at bus rapid transit, to sort of expand the network of rapid express transit,” said Appleyard.
“Interests” Strike Again
Scott Lewis noticed something similar between DeMaio’s recent speech confirming his candidacy for Congress and Bob Filner’s last speech on his way out of office.
New Mayor for Valentine’s Day
An election is coming on Nov. 19, there’s no doubt about that. Lisa Halverstadt reported that with at least 20 candidates potentially on the ballot, there’s also little doubt we’ll need a run-off election between the top two vote-getters. “That’s unlikely to occur until Feb. 11 due to election processes and laws,” she reported.
Aftermath For Accusers
For the women who came forward and publicly accused Bob Filner of unwanted sexual advances, their motivations were often suspected by Filner’s supporters. They wanted to know why the women had chosen now to come forward. KPBS caught up with two of the women to ask them about timing and their experience after accusing Filner. “There were reporters yelling into my apartment, yelling my name, bothering my neighbors, banging on the door — it was frightening,” said Laura Fink, one of the accusers.
‘Inclusionary Housing’ Rises
A bill meant to assist affordable housing, drafted and championed by San Diego representative Toni Atkins, is on its way to Governor Brown’s desk. U-T San Diego reported the bill, which was fought by builders and Realtors, clears the way for “inclusionary housing” ordinances to be imposed by cities without running afoul of state law. The laws typically apply to residential development and require either units or money to be set aside for affordable housing. “There are 41,000 families on the city of San Diego’s waiting list for Section 8 subsidized housing,” the U-T wrote.
Chargers’ Convention Stadium Redux
The San Diego Chargers reported on their own website yesterday that they “presented a joint-use stadium-convention center plan for the East Village in downtown San Diego to the California Coastal Commission.” True to NFL fashion, the Chargers interviewed themselves in the same story, seeking to clarify why they were reviving a plan that was shot down in 2011. “We were told back in 2011 that the city did not have time to consider our alternative,” due to a looming approval of the existing convention center expansion plan by the Coastal Commission. “Here we are, two years later, and there has yet to be a single hearing,” the Chargers wrote.
Not all were buying it. “It’s a dumb idea that cannot be paid for by the [Convention Center] special tax district. I expect the Chargers to come up with that $500m,” wrote Brant Will, a deputy city attorney, on Twitter.
Several San Diegans also circulated this post Thursday from Atlantic Cities about a revenue sharing deal for a soccer stadium.
News Nibbles
• Our story from Wednesday about tensions in the Uptown neighborhood over plans to share the roads with bicycles continues to generate a lot of important discussion in the comments.
• City Councilman David Alvarez announced he is running for mayor, while Nathan Fletcher picked up several endorsements from prominent Latinos, reported NBC San Diego.
• CBS 8 pontificated on how Mike Aguirre’s candidacy could complicate the race for the Democrats. Aguirre gave an interview to the U-T: “’I’ve changed,’ he promised (twice).”
• City officials really, really want you to go to the Miramar Air Show this year.
It Could Be Worse
While all of us are suffering through the San Diego heat recently, you can always be thankful you don’t have it as bad as other people. For instance, you don’t have to be these high-schoolers sitting in a 95 degree classroom calculating geometry proofs. Nor are you this guy who was trying to cool off and accidentally got video of himself nearly being killed by lightning.
If you find yourself getting overheated, you can always visit one of the 115 “Cool Zones” sponsored by the County of San Diego, which are air-conditioned buildings meant to provide refuge from the heat during summer. Stay chilly, and away from lightning, San Diego.
Seth Hall is a local writer and technologist. You can reach him at voice@s3th.com or on Twitter: @loteck.