San Diego Unified’s adventure in armored vehicle acquisitions came to an abrupt end last week when the district announced it would return its new mine-resistant vehicle.
Now that the dust is settled, Mario Koran distills some lessons from the whole fiasco: Turns out, California and Texas are among the few states where school districts can commission their own police departments, those departments can acquire military gear from the federal government and those moves don’t have to get any sort of OK from the school board.
Fact Check: DeMaio’s Stance on Equal Pay
Rep. Scott Peters and Carl DeMaio have been trading barbs for weeks now over which candidate would best represent women’s interests.
The latest turn in that saga is an ad from Peters that says: “DeMaio’s funded by Tea Party extremists, who oppose pay fairness for women. DeMaio’s pledged to support their extreme agenda in Congress.”
Liam Dillon fact checked the ad and wasn’t impressed. “The ad’s message is clear: Peters backs equal pay laws for women. DeMaio opposes them,” he writes. “Except that’s not true. And Peters’ attempts to tie DeMaio to equal pay opponents are misleading.”
The Power of 28
Back in 2012, Sen. Dianne Feinstein got almost 8 million votes in her successful re-election bid – the most of any Senate candidate in history.
On the other side of the spectrum, one San Diego race for state Assembly features a candidate who made it onto the ballot thanks to 28 write-in votes.
In this week’s Sacramento Report, Brian Joseph breaks down Prop. 14, the measure passed in 2010 that lifts many candidates who receive only a few hundred – or even a few dozen – votes onto general election ballots.
What We Learned This Week
• Veteran San Diego police officers will be making almost $18,000 a year less than veteran sheriff’s deputies by 2017.
• Philanthropist Malin Burnham wants to change how journalism is done in San Diego – but there are a lot of details still up in the air.
• Businesses still hate the airport, and city officials worry it’s losing the region money.
• Tony Young is a lobbyist now, and is also launching a new nonprofit.
• San Diego Unified could be doing more to lift up young teachers.
• Breweries are opening up more small tasting rooms, thanks to a quirk in their alcohol licenses.
Quick News Hits
• Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez that creates a five-year pilot program in San Diego County. According to Gonzalez’s office: “Every registered voter will be mailed a ballot with return postage paid. Voters would also have the opportunity to vote either at an early voting location the weekend before Election Day or on Election Day at a limited number of polling places for special elections held in San Diego County for congressional or California legislative vacancies.”
• “The FAA has approved exemptions for six aerial and photography companies, including San Diego based Aerial Mob, enabling them to use drones for filming on their movie sets,” reports San Diego 6.
For background, we fleshed out the FAA’s effective ban on commercial drone flights in our weeks-long quest on the drone industry in San Diego.
• One day after a big settlement involving police misconduct failed to initiate any new police reforms, another former SDPD officer was sentenced to a year in prison plus probation for felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor counts of assault and battery. (NBC7 San Diego)
• Students at San Diego colleges default on their loans slightly less than the national average. (inewsource)
• Border wait times have plummeted now that the first phase of a massive expansion project at the San Ysidro Port of Entry is almost finished. (KPBS)
Quote of the Week
“You’re part of the community. You immerse yourself in the experience. You start learning the rules of engagement. The culture of the school. The culture of the people in your classroom. Just be open to an exchange of ideas. And take your time. Don’t feel pressure. The achievement gap isn’t going to close or widen in one day. Be constant.” — Lincoln High teacher Kiki Ochoa, sharing advice for young educators who teach at low-income schools.