School board members said they wanted a swift resolution when they voted to approve a 30-day investigation into whether school board president Marne Foster violated fundraising rules and was the mastermind behind a legal claim against the district.
Now it’s been more than 50 days and a district spokeswoman tells VOSD’s Mario Koran that the results of that quick-turn investigation won’t be available until early December.
That investigation won’t unravel one of the allegations we’ve reported about Foster: The claims she pushed Superintendent Cindy Marten to oust then-School of Creative and Performing Arts principal Mitzi Lizarraga because of how her son was treated at the school.
Podcast: Smelling, Speaking, Listening
On this week’s podcast, Kinsee Morlan chatted with Brian Goeltzenleuchter about his new-fangled cultural project creating a playlist of smells for a spoken word project known as the Olfactory Memoirs. (Personal side note: I don’t have a sense of smell and I am fascinated by this. Cherish your olfactory memories, folks.)
Morlan and Andrew Keatts also talked about this week’s big Ballast Point news and the newly approved community plan for southeastern San Diego, which incorporates unique arts and culture sections.
The Turnout Waiting Game
State efforts to increase voter turnout are unlikely to make a big splash in 2016.
In the latest Sacramento Report, Andrew Keatts explains the work state officials need to do to implement the state’s new automatic registration law and Sara Libby delivers updates on the state’s rosy budget news and the City Councilman Mark Kersey’s mic drop, er, slap, inspired by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Modern Times’ Big Sale
It was a big week in local beer. One of the big bad beer brands bought Ballast Point for a billion dollars on Monday.
But by Friday, local rabble-rousing brewery Modern Times Beer had a little fun over the whole thing, issuing a faux press release that mimicked the style of a brewery merger or purchase announcement that’s becoming increasingly common. Those tend to obscure what really happened — a big company purchased a little one — with evasive corporate speak: “strategic partnership allowing us to leverage resources for mutual gain.” The announcement began with the sort of hat-in-hand justification common of these announcements: “We’ve reached the point at which additional backing is needed to sustain our rapid growth, and frankly, we’re ready to get paid.” But Modern Times’ announcement was just a gag: They had sold a used car so they could buy a new car, or as they said, “funds from the sale will facilitate the purchase of a new 2016 Fit.”
Quick News Hits
• Rep. Scott Peters is defending his vote to heighten screening of refugees from Iraq and Syria. (Fox 5)
• The city projects it’ll be swimming in budget surpluses the next five years. (Union-Tribune)
• The Airport Authority’s got a $2.2 billion plan to replace Terminal 1. (Times of San Diego)
• A panel of economic experts think SeaWorld’s hotel plans could help push up the company’s tanking revenues. (Union-Tribune)
This Week’s Top Five
Here is a link to the Top 10 most-read stories of the week at Voice of San Diego. And the Top Five:
- ‘Block’ Party Gone Awry: Barrio Logan and Realtors Clash Over Community Improvements
An outside group tried to spruce up a local neighborhood. Things didn’t go well. (Andrew Keatts and Ry Rivard) - The Refugee Who Built a Towing Empire and a Record of Crime and Lies
Nash Habib arrived in the U.S. the day he turned 18. Since then, he’s worked, fought and schemed his way to the top of the region’s towing business. (Liam Dillon) - Who Filled it Better?
Kevin Faulconer takes on David Alvarez and Carl DeMaio for the title of Best Pothole-Filling Photo Op. (Liam Dillon) - ‘No School District in the Country Has Ever Done it’
Gary Orfield, co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, says focusing on neighborhood schools can make segregation worse. (Mario Koran) - Segregation in City Schools Could Get Worse With New Strategy
At 20 district schools, 70 percent of the student body consists of black and Latino students.The district’s plan for the future may make that worse. (Mario Koran)