With the news that an appellate court has upheld a ruling against San Diego County’s climate plan, it would be easy to think the City of San Diego’s Climate Action Plan is in jeopardy. But the two plans are different.
“When Mayor Kevin Faulconer released a draft version of a new city plan last month, the biggest decision he made was intended to avoid exactly this sort of legal challenge,” writes Andrew Keatts. The county tried to avoid making their climate plans legally enforceable. The city’s plan, currently in draft, went a different route by making the plans enforceable, which might make all the difference.
Civic SD Will Self-Police
A City Council committee on Wednesday voted to let Civic San Diego come up with its own policies for protecting the public interest, despite earlier signals that increased government oversight was coming to the former redevelopment agency. Megan Burks reported the issue stems from questions over how Civic San Diego spends its money, how transparent it is, and how to protect voters who are on the hook for any financial problems Civic San Diego may encounter. “Civic San Diego is planning to use loans and grants to buy and rehab commercial properties in the hopes that rent will cover administrative costs,” Burks wrote.
Hot Ballot Items: San Diego Explained
Are supporters of Covered California, the health care exchange. for or against Proposition 45? And what’s the deal with Proposition 47, which is being championed by former San Diego Police Chief Bill Landsdowne? Scott Lewis joined NBC 7’s Catherine Garcia to help you start cramming for election day, which is Tuesday. And it’s impossible to talk politics without talking about the latest developments in the race between Rep. Scott Peters and challenger Carl DeMaio, the latter of whom is the target of new attack ads funded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Election Round-up
• Scott Lewis also noticed that a bunch of local business leaders lined up to award and praise Scott Peters, but their organizations are shy about endorsing him. Former Mayor Jerry Sanders wouldn’t say a word about DeMaio. But he, the current mayor and all the Republican members of the City Council made a big show for Chris Cate, in his City Council run.
• Bloomberg jumped into the mix with an article that highlights the unlikely partnership between social conservatives and San Diego’s LGBT community as they both urge voters to defeat Carl DeMaio.
• Not to be outdone by John Boehner’s previous stumping for DeMaio, Vice President Joe Biden will be in San Diego on Saturday to support Scott Peters. (UT)
Conservation Still Missing
While mandatory water use restrictions go into effect on Saturday, no one is saying that there is any restrictions on how much water you can use. Pacific Beach resident Chris Brewster noted that, if you get the urge to just waste 1000 gallons of water, you can do so at the very affordable cost of about six dollars on your water bill.”Water isn’t priced in a way that encourages conservation,” Brewster wrote. “Without meaningful costs for overuse and financial rewards for conservation, it isn’t going to happen.”
Hunter Wants Railroad Investigated
We recently highlighted changes that might be coming to the Desert Line Railroad, which runs from the border into Imperial County and which some say could usher in a new era of trade, if rebuilt. We talked to the CEO of the Metropolitan Transit System, which has made deals with Pacific Imperial, the group trying to resurrect the ailing rail line. But on Thursday, Rep. Duncan Hunter sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney for Southern California endorsing an investigation into the lease agreement between MTS and Pacific Imperial, saying the railroad is a “public asset” and that there is “evidence of unlawful activity.”
News Nibbles
• We’ve told you about hit-and-run crimes and how difficult they are to solve. Now, police are asking for the public’s help in solving one that happened in Ocean Beach.
• San Diego’s 4,700 coin-operated parking meters will soon be replaced by credit card-accepting meters. The meters still won’t yet be “smart,” but it’s progress. “We’re going from the 1950s to the mid-2000s,” said Council President Todd Gloria.
• Of the 19 people in California being monitored for symptoms of Ebola, three of them are in San Diego County. All three are classified as “low risk,” KPBS reported.
• The Food and Drug Administration has approved fast-tracking a vaccine for the strain of meningitis that recently claimed the life of a SDSU student. (KPBS)
• The Thomas Jefferson School of Law has restructured its debt and emerged on “solid financial footing,” NBC 7 reported.
• Reuters sent a photo-journalist out into the San Diego night to follow our town’s local masked crime-fighting team, the Xtreme Justice League.
Happy Halloween!
If you find yourself to be agitated with terror today, it’s not only due to all those election mailers you’ll have to pull out of your mailbox when you get home. No, today is the day we set aside to celebrate our fears… and to drop giant things off of high places. UC San Diego students will drop a 500-pound pumpkin from the 11th story of Tioga Hall at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Times of San Diego reported. The pumpkin will be filled with candy, ostensibly, until it lands.
But if giant smashing pumpkins aren’t your deal, another option with traditional appeal is the Halloween festival that takes place each year on Maryland Street in University Heights. A former animatronics expert-turned-theater set designer helps decorate the street’s homes in elaborate scenes, including his famous smoke-billowing dragon, Norbert. His wife hand-paints all accessories for the final chilling effect. KPBS highlighted the work of the pair responsible for the popular neighborhood event, which sports scenes from the raising of Dr. Frankenstein’s monster to a singing skeleton and his backup rock band of singing pumpkins.
Correction: An earlier version of this post said the City Council voted on Civic San Diego on Thursday. The vote took place Wednesday.
Seth Hall is a local writer and technologist. You can email him at voice@s3th.com or follow him on Twitter: @loteck.