San Diego Interim Mayor Todd Gloria did not waste any of the 184 days he spent in power. Among his initiatives, he appointed Nicole Capretz director of environmental policy and told her to devise a climate action plan to help the city drastically lower its carbon emissions.
The plan is working its way through environmental impact studies and is far from becoming city law. But some city politicians and members of the business community are “freaking out,” according to one spokesperson.
Why? The city may persuade, or force, building owners to retrofit their properties to reduce emissions.
That’s all building owners. Even if your building is your home.
Later in the day, as discussion online heated up about our story, Gloria released a statement:
“I am proud of our proposed Climate Action Plan that protects San Diego’s quality of life, strengthens our economy and communities, and meets the state’s greenhouse gas reduction targets. This plan is a work in progress and has been amended several times in response to public input. A lengthy environmental and public review process is ahead.”
• If you want to understand where Capretz is coming from, we recently had her on the podcast.
Fact Check Revisited
Our new rating in the Fact Check section is “unfounded.” It means there’s inadequate evidence to support a claim someone’s made. But we’ve now discovered this may mean we have to revisit a determination when evidence emerges.
And this is what has happened with a recent fact check. We determined that a claim that two-thirds of minimum wage workers end up getting a raise in their first year of employment was unfounded. The study we were given to back up the claim was 10 years old and the researcher who did it was not willing to say it would still be the truth today.
So we called it unfounded. Now, we’ve been presented with more research and we’ve added an updated determination. The statement has an element of truth but is missing critical context, so it’s been upgraded to “a stretch.”
Pot Advocates Get Professional
Local advocates for access to medical marijuana are trying to play the game. As the San Diego City Council once again considers new rules for storefront dispensaries, medical marijuana groups have formed the Association for Responsible Access, or ARMA, and hired a new lobbyist, the former spokeswoman for Mayor Jerry Sanders, Rachel Laing.
L.A. Soccer Implosion Raises Hopes in SD
Readers might remember a couple years ago when I wondered what San Diegans could do to raise money and buy individual shares in a new Major League Soccer team that would play here. Now, our Beau Lynott follows a new thread: Chivas USA, one of Los Angeles’ two pro teams, has been bought out by the league. Could we move the team to San Diego?
Here’s all the context you might want on that possibility.
• In related news, Major League Soccer’s commissioner says that San Diego is one of five sites the league is considering as it marches to expand to 24 teams by 2020.
That and why the Padres Spring Training is off to a rocky start are in this week’s Sports Report.
What We Learned This Week
• Two giant South Bay School Districts are being urged to merge.
• The police department is pushing for an audit of how it handles officer misconduct complaints. And the police chief sounds like a broken record after years of saying he’ll fix this stuff.
• At a critical point in its effort to survive, Civic San Diego, the agency formerly known as Centre City Development Corp., will need to also find a new leader.
• Nearly two-thirds of voters who supported Obama in San Diego in 2012 did not vote in last week’s mayoral election.
• The Convention Center has a long list of repair needs it can’t pay for.
Quick News Hits
• San Diego’s chapter of the Sierra Club has been officially suspended by the national organization.
• For those of you closely following this case, the Washington Post’s Volokh Conspiracy blog has a legal update on the Peruta decision about citizens’ right to carry concealed weapons. In short, the county hasn’t appealed the decision and law-abiding citizens can start applying for permits.
• Do you know the difference between meningitis and meningococcal disease? Here’s a helpful NBC 7 San Diego post.
• San Diego Mayor-Elect Kevin Faulconer talks to the U-T’s Sandra Dibble about Mexico.
Quote of the Week
“Pre-school has always been seen as a stepchild in the district. We can change that, but we need to invest. We don’t need to spend a billion dollars; we just need to be smarter about the way we spend.”
— San Diego schools Superintendent Cindy Marten.