The San Diego Association of Governments touts its proposed ballot measure as a tool to solve many of the region’s transportation and infrastructure problems.
Relieving congestion is among the things the proposed half-cent sales tax would purportedly do, if passed by voters in November.
Podcast hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts dig in to VOSD reporter Maya Srikrishnan’s recent fact check of that claim. They discuss the nuances behind what SANDAG actually means when it talks about traffic and congestion relief and explain why the claim is a stretch.
This rest of this week’s podcast is a little different than usual. Lewis and Keatts essentially craft an audio digest of several recent VOSD stories. Keatts talks about the documents he got from the civil case against San Diego Police Officer Neal Browder, the officer who shot and killed an unarmed, mentally ill man last year. The files provide a rare look into how SDPD evaluated and disciplined the officer (spoiler alert: they didn’t).
They also touch on the San Diego Unified principal with questionable credentials and the trend of moving problem principals into special assignments, the big disappointment that was District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis’ testimony in the trial of the Mexican businessman accused of making illegal campaign contributions and the week in Chargers news. There’s also a Chargers bet involving a cheesesteak.
Mary Walter-Brown, the publisher and chief operating officer of Voice of San Diego, also joins the show to talk about VOSD’s current fundraising campaign and her role in raising money for journalism.
“It’s an interesting challenge, but one I think is a worthy one,” she said. ” It’s difficult for philanthropists and corporate funders to think about funding journalism. We’re viewed as being controversial and Voice especially is irreverent and not afraid of tipping any sacred cows.”
Hero of the Week
The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition gets a big thumbs-up for bringing back CicloSDias after a two-year hiatus. The event clears city streets to celebrate biking and walking.
Goat of the Week
The newly elected board trustees for the San Diego County Office of Education want a say on who should fill the county superintendent role if Randy Ward, who’s currently on paid leave after a lawsuit alleged he illegally paid himself $100,000, is ultimately let go. There’s a logic to their point, but Keatts and Lewis dinged incoming board member Mark Powell for his awkward comparison to the current stalemate over the U.S. Supreme Court.