These were the most popular Voice of San Diego stories for the week of Oct. 1-7.
1. Opinion: The Urbanist Case Against a Downtown Stadium
A stadium located downtown would be an irreversible and unprecedented planning disaster. Urban planners and architects, whose job it is to envision the consequences of things like this, are unusually united in their opposition to Measure C. (Rob Quigley)
2. The Waterfront Convention Center Expansion Has Never Been This Hopeless
Its most prominent backers are falling off, one by one. The city of San Diego no longer even controls the land it would need. The plan faces a passionate foe in court. Yet its remaining backers are still deeply committed – and think there’s a chance they could overcome all of that. (Scott Lewis)
3. San Diego Decides: All 17 State Ballot Measures, Explained
In this episode of San Diego Decides, we run down all 17 state ballot propositions, so get comfy, take notes and godspeed. (Sara Libby)
4. How the Spanos Family Built a Fortune Selling Bologna Sandwiches to Mexican Farmworkers
The Spanos family, which owns the Chargers, is worth $2.4 billion. As the team asks the public to help fund a new stadium, many have wondered where the Spanos family fortune came from. For Alex Spanos, it started with bologna sandwiches and Mexican farmworkers. The family has long faced questions, in fact, of whether Spanos helped exploit farmworkers in the notorious Bracero program that started nearly 70 years ago. (Ry Rivard)
5. A Chargers Loyalty Test Courses Through San Diego Business Community, Lands at Mayor
The Chargers are treating Measure C, their plan to build a convadium, as a kind of loyalty test – a plea that San Diego leaders show their support for the football team. But not since the effort to move the airport has San Diego’s business community and elite leaders been so split on a giant civic decision. It’s all left Mayor Kevin Faulconer paralyzed. (Scott Lewis)
6. Deficit at Father Joe’s Led to Toussaint Academy Closure
A budget gap and an increasing focus on permanent housing programs pushed Father Joe’s Villages to close Toussaint Academy, a program that’s aided hundreds of homeless teens since 1992. (Lisa Halverstadt)
7. A Quick and Easy Guide to School Choice in San Diego
The window to take advantage of San Diego Unified’s school choice program just got much smaller. Interested parents will want to jump in quickly. (Mario Koran)
8. Mayor ‘Absolutely’ Wants Convadium, Hotel Tax and All
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer found a tax hike he likes — specifically an increase to the hotel-room tax to fund a new joint convention center and stadium in East Village. The mayor talked with Scott Lewis Monday about whether he prefers East Village to Mission Valley, how enforceable the concessions he won from the team are and more. (Scott Lewis)
9. Chargers’ New Promises Mean Nothing, Just Ask 2010 Kevin Faulconer
Six years ago when he was a city councilman, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer felt that a nonbinding resolution was not enough to win his support for a tax hike. (Scott Lewis)
10. San Diego Explained: The Pitches to Legalize and Tax Marijuana
On this week’s San Diego Explained, NBC 7 San Diego’s Monica Dean and Voice of San Diego’s Andrew Keatts discuss San Diego’s Measure N and state Prop. 64. (Kinsee Morlan)