We have a checkered history here at Voice of San Diego of renaming something to help better describe it.
Needless to say, it goes better sometimes than others. Andrew Keatts is the latest to give it a try. He’s decided that “linkage fee” helps us communicate nothing about the controversial proposal to increase the fees developers have to send to the Housing Commission when they build. The Housing Commission’s preferred term “work force housing offset” is equally awful.
So he’s decided to go with “affordable housing fee.” It came in a new explainer of how the very complex fee works and the rationale the commission is offering for why it needs to go up so much.
• This was the topic of last week’s “Politically Speaking “on NBC. I subbed for Gene Cubbision as host, and moderated a good debate about the fee that you can watch in two parts, here and here.
Storm Water Soaking City
“The city could increase homeowners’ monthly stormwater fees by more than 1,000 percent.” Storm water fees? How much percent? If that line made you spit out your coffee, rest assured there would be a vote first. Liam Dillon explains why storm drains may be a big topic of discussion at City Hall soon.
• Dillon also posted the third part to his three-part profile of City Councilman David Alvarez. This one gets into how his most high-profile deal — the new plan for Barrio Logan — may haunt him if shipbuilders ultimately get their way on the plan. Catch up with parts one and two of the series.
• It was an emotional week in the mayor’s race. Here’s Catherine Green’s recap.
• We also started our San Diego Explained series with NBC on the four candidates for mayor with Nathan Fletcher. Next up: Kevin Faulconer.
Sports Report: L.A. Looms Over Stadium Gabbing (Still)
Could the Chargers move to Los Angeles? Like clockwork, the discussion picked up again this week, thanks to movement on a Convention Center expansion. That and more in our weekly Sports Report.
How Do You Run a School District?
San Diego Unified still hasn’t told us how the district’s success will be measured, but former local superintendents talked this week about how to thrive in “the loneliest job in education.”
Cindy Marten might take those words to heart as she prepares for her big State of the School District Address at the end of the month. The topic for that address is the district’s big Vision 2020 plan.
What We Learned This Week
• Bob Filner, guilty! We broke down basics of the deal, what he admitted and why it’s a good deal for him.
• San Diego County agencies collected only 12 percent of domestic violence fund payments. Even with auditors’ recommendations implemented, it’s hard to tell how much collections have improved.
• All the talk these days is about Barrio Logan. But a 47-unit development in Shelter Island caused waterfront industry representatives to worry — and still does. I asked Faulconer why, in that case, he chose homes over industry. He did the same thing in a similar fight we looked back at last week. In the Barrio Logan brawl, though, he’s sided firmly with the maritime industry.
• Balboa Park isn’t really a park. At least not according to the city’s unusual standards for park space in neighborhoods.
• A block developed in Little Italy back in the ’90s was a total game-changer.
• Housing prices rose in September after a dip in August, the U-T reports. Business Insider has a much bleaker take for those hoping to see the market keep rising.
News Bits
• KPBS profiles the San Diego Symphony’s efforts to grab a younger, bigger audience. Hint: Alcohol is part of it.
• Frida Kahlo is here!
• Venture funding for life sciences startups has gone down across the country. But not here, Xconomy says.
• Los Angeles Times: “Sister Antonia Brenner, a Beverly Hills-raised mother of seven who became a Roman Catholic nun and moved into a notorious Tijuana prison where she spent more than three decades mending broken lives, easing tensions and dispensing everything from toothbrushes to bail money, has died.”
Quote of the Week
“This prosecution is about consequence and accountability. No one is above the law.”— California Attorney General Kamala Harris said in a statement about Bob Filner.