The Morning Report
Get the news and information you need to take on the day.
Opponents of the so-called “Jobs Tax” are against a construction fee increase to fund more subsidized housing. But they are widely on-board with a whole bevy of other taxes that would accomplish the same goal. A group of local business leaders, self-dubbed the “Jobs Coalition,” supports the ideas behind six different taxes, but not the developer fee increase that recently passed City Council, calling that fee increase a “jobs-killing tax.”
“The thought was a little pain spread across a wide spectrum was preferable to a lot of pain on a small group,” said the coalition’s spokesman. All of the six taxes favored by the coalition would have to be approved by a two-thirds majority of San Diego voters. “That’s really hard to do,” notes Andrew Keatts.
Fee Increase Refresher: San Diego Explained
The increased affordable housing fee was a big deal prior to the holidays, but if all those Christmas trees and champagne bottles helped you forget the details, fear not. Signature-gatherers are out in front of grocery stores, trying to get your signature and possibly overturn the increase at the ballot box. Alternatively, Scott Lewis checked in with NBC San Diego’s Catherine Garcia for a refresher on the details of the disagreement over the affordable housing fee hike in our most recent San Diego Explained.
Why Police Pull You Over
Our recent exposé uncovering how San Diego Police Department has let rules on collecting racial data at traffic stops have largely been ignored. Liam Dillon set out to explain what constitutes a legitimate and an illegitimate traffic stop by a police officer. “The cops can’t pull you over if they have no reason to believe you’ve done something wrong,” Dillon wrote. But that might not stop them from doing it anyway — read the guide to find out why.
Two Candidates, Many Issues
As Election Day moves closer, we’ve made a primer of major issues and the positions both of the mayoral candidates take on each of those issues. Some of the differences are cut-and-dried; on minimum wage increases, Alvarez “supports,” Faulconer “opposes.” Other differences are more nuanced; for example, both candidates say they support medical marijuana dispensaries, but seem to have differing ideas about where to put them.
Schools Want ‘Local Control Funding’
Randy Ward, San Diego County superintendent of schools, wrote in to express his support of Gov. Jerry Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula, a new law that will direct more dollars to schools that serve low-income students.
• Brown was in San Diego Thursday talking about the details of his new budget proposal. “”Pay down our debt, put it in a rainy day fund, and be prepared for the next downturn,” said Brown about his strategy for the future budget. He also wants to pay down what he referred to as “a wall of debt,” part of which is $11 billion owed to school districts and local governments.
Another notable increase: Brown wants a lot more people mapping earthquake faults in California. The state banned construction of buildings astride faults in the 1970s, “but the law cannot be enforced unless the state completes the maps,” reports L.A. Times.
News Nibbles
• NBC 7 San Diego will move out of its downtown studio in 2016, according to the real estate services company Hughes Marino (who is also a Voice of San Diego sponsor).
• The San Diego Padres will host the opening game of the new baseball season against the Dodgers on March 30.
• An estimated 50,000 abandoned homes are wreaking havoc on Tijuana’s neighborhoods, KPBS reported.
• Two days before the San Diego Chargers were to play a key game verus the Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 29, Qualcomm Stadium’s contracted janitors walked off the job. The city quickly paid another agency to prepare the stadium for use, reports U-T San Diego.
• A prisoner in Pennsylvania is suing to get the Chargers thrown out of the playoffs.
A Fishy Catch
It’s not unusual to see people casting their fishing lines off of local piers, sometimes waiting for hours to bring in their catch. One man fishing on the Ocean Beach pier must have thought he had caught a big one as he reeled in a Smith & Wesson .357 magnum hand gun on Wednesday. “The fisherman cast out and then reeled in not the usual mackerel or grouper but a revolver,” reports Fox 5 San Diego. Once all the mud was cleaned off, the gun was still caked in growth and rust. Police will analyze the gun to see if it was used in any crimes.
Seth Hall is a local writer and technologist. You can reach him at voice@s3th.com or follow him on Twitter: @loteck.