The Morning Report
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San Diego Unified had a protracted discussion last year about how to cut $124 million from its $1.4 billion budget.
But that was last year.
The district is preparing once again to cut services so it can balance its budget. It sent a community survey to parents and other stakeholders outlining up to $53.45 million in hypothetical cuts, asking them to rate how essential they consider each category of services, as Ashly McGlone reports in a new story.
Among the school services on the chopping block: $9 million in health services, $8 million by eliminating preschool in certain areas, $7 million in custodial services, $5 million in non-mandated special education programs, $4.5 million from music and art.
The survey closes on Jan. 20.
Paying for the Local Experience
Regulating Airbnb has vexed San Diego’s elected officials and bureaucrats for years, and now the company is expanding into new territory.
The home-sharing company is now also marketing “Experiences,” a feature that allows people to book tours with local hosts, as Kinsee Morlan covers in this week’s Culture Report.
One of those experiences includes hanging out with Barrio Logan-based artist and musician Ramel Wallace, who brings guests on a tour of Logan Avenue and into his recording studio to watch his documentary, “The Last Black Man in Barrio Logan,” about the history of the black community in the now-predominantly Latino neighborhood.
Also in this week’s roundup of cultural news: A Tijuana artist’s immersive installation at the San Diego Art Institute, a program bringing local students to see “Hamilton,” and the Union-Tribune’s look at the history of San Diego’s theater scene.
What to Do with the Former Chargers Stadium
Proponents of the ballot initiative to expand SDSU and build the school a new football stadium on the site of the former Chargers Stadium property in Mission Valley submitted the signatures, at long last, needed to put the measure before voters in November. (Union-Tribune)
In his roundup of the week’s political news, Scott Lewis on Sunday looked at how the effort had been expected to turn in signatures weeks ago, and seemed to need a last-minute boost to cross the finish line.
Meanwhile, the good folks at 10News polled San Diegans on what they’d like to see happen at the former Chargers Stadium property, and the results were surprising.
For one, 26 percent of respondents said the city should just leave the stadium as it is – there was more support for doing nothing than there was for any other option. Poll respondents can be forgiven for not having their finger on the pulse of city finances, but doing nothing for more than a few more years is a pretty bad option: the city is facing a pending budget shortfall, and operating and maintaining the facility costs it $7 million every year. That doesn’t include money the city still owes from renovations it made to the stadium back in the ‘90s.
The poll itself didn’t give respondents great options. They were asked if they’d rather leave the stadium as it is, rebuild it as a soccer stadium, make way for an SDSU expansion, use it to attract another NFL team or “other.” They could also say they weren’t sure.
In Other News
• Qualcomm on Tuesday sent stockholders the company’s case to fend off a hostile-takeover bid by Broadcom, arguing that $70-per-share offer doesn’t approach the company’s true value. (U-T)
• Five officers who were involved in crashes of Navy ships this summer that killed 17 sailors have been charged with negligent homicide. (NBC 7 San Diego)
• One Marine died and another was taken into custody Tuesday following a stabbing at Camp Pendleton. (NBC 7 San Diego)
• A skate park in Linda Vista that community groups have been working to open for years finally had its ribbon cutting on Tuesday. It’s the 2nd largest skate park in California. (NBC 7 San Diego)