You’ll remember opponents of a major increase to the affordable housing fee told us they support alternatives — including a bevy of other new taxes. We’ve been trying to pin them down. Who supports what?
Former Mayor Jerry Sanders, who now runs the regional chamber of commerce, told our Andy Keatts that opponents shouldn’t answer questions about which alternatives they support since that would be “negotiating against ourselves, which doesn’t make any sense at all.”
Importantly, Sanders says his and others’ support of a major new infrastructure bond, which we’ve dubbed the megabond, is in danger if the new housing tax remains.
In another post, Keatts’ reports on the answers — or near-answers — we got when we asked other members of the Jobs Coalition to spill the beans about which alternatives they would support.
• Our Scott Lewis talked on KPBS about issues that will define 2014 in the city of San Diego — it’s a preview of the upcoming State of the City Address from interim Mayor Todd Gloria. In the segment, Lewis discusses the megabond as something to watch.
Big News in the Federal Budget
Much of San Diego’s congressional delegation was celebrating late Monday after details emerged of the new federal budget. It includes money for the San Ysidro Port of Entry project. The deal’s not done yet. Here’s more on the winners and losers in it.
Tracking How State Legislators Tackle Food Bills
A new report tracks how state legislators voted on “bills that would impact the state’s food system reform efforts,” VOSD food politics blogger Clare Leschin-Hoar reports. Why does this matter? As Leschin-Hoar explains, California is huge in the agriculture world — we produce half of the country’s fruits, vegetables and nuts — and San Diego County has its own large farming community.
Commentary: Privacy vs. Progress in Science
We’re collaborating with the Emperor of All Maladies project, a partnership among various organizations and institutions that aims to focus on cancer. The inspiration is a bestselling recent book — and a great read, by the way — about the history of the fight against cancer. Check out a commentary by UCSD grad student Christopher Abdullah about the privacy of genetic information.
Quick News Hits
• Photographer Sam Hodgson blogged about his work as part of our racial profiling coverage. His post includes photos that didn’t appear on our site.
• First, the U-T highlighted 16 “People to Watch in 2014” — 14 of them men. Now the paper is spotlighting “9 People to Watch in Business in 2014.” Good news! Two women are included. Up from 13 to 22 percent. Progress!
• That didn’t take long. Ken Whisenhunt, the Chargers offensive coordinator, is an NFL head coach once again: He’s heading to Tennessee after the Titans came calling. He’d previously been head coach of the Cardinals. (NBC San Diego)
• Barrio Logan is getting a new sign. It will say “Barrio Logan.”
• Two kinds of sexual transmitted disease — syphilis and chlamydia — are more common locally than in the nation as a whole, a new report says. (NBC San Diego)
• In a promo for its upcoming travel show, the LA Times asks this question: “What secrets lurk behind the buttes of Monument Valley, the cable cars of San Francisco and the pandas of San Diego?” The answer: “Uranium, rats and pumpkin-scented scat, to start with.”
Wait, what? San Diego pandas and pumpkin-scented… Oh dear. C’mon, LA Times. It’s campaign season! We have already enough you-know-what to go around.
Randy Dotinga is a freelance contributor to Voice of San Diego and vice president of the American Society of Journalists & Authors. Please contact him directly at randydotinga@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/rdotinga.