Earlier this week, the City Council voted to spend $2.1 million on an environmental impact report the Chargers don’t even want. Not everyone on the Council dais was on board, though.
Among the three “no” votes was Councilman David Alvarez, who told us this week on the podcast he knew for a fact Eric Grubman, president of the NFL, never said the league was requiring the study. The league wanted to see good progress from the city to work with the team, Alvarez said. A big piece of his vote came down to the lack of a clear financing plan for the pricey study.
We also talked with Alvarez about Democrats’ future in San Diego. Is he going to run for mayor again? He hasn’t decided his next political move, he said. He also told us why San Diego’s current primary system – in which candidates in certain races can win outright in June they take more than 50 percent of the vote – is “detrimental to democracy.” Skip to about 23 minutes in for his interview, where he also covers some of the top-priority issues for his southeastern San Diego district.
Also on the show: the viral humiliation of Boltman, why the Housing Commission is spending $20 million to build 20 fewer low-income apartments than proposals pitched three years ago, a reality check for Councilwoman Lorie Zapf, the honest argument for keeping the Chargers in San Diego and a group-effort Goat of the Week.
Special supporter shout-outs this week go to Jennifer and Michael Tillman, the Leichtag Foundation and Competitive Edge Research and Communication.
And finally, the cool jams on this week’s episode: “Beat of My Drum” by Powers and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” as covered by Lauryn Hill.
Listen to the podcast here, on Stitcher or on iTunes.
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