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The new $3.5 billion school bond being floated by San Diego Unified should give San Diegans a sense of déjà vu.
In this week’s podcast, Andrew Keatts, Scott Lewis and Sara Libby talk about how many of the projects being proposed in the new bond are identical to those pitched in previous measures passed by voters in 2008 and 2012.
Projects promised in those two past ballot measures, like asbestos removal and replacing old plumbing, ended up taking a back seat to things like new classroom technology and athletic fields. In a Board of Trustees hearing this week, school district officials dug back up many of those same old facility needs in its new pitch for why they say the $3.5 billion bond is necessary.
Also on the podcast: the crucial information missing from the new city-funded short-term rental study; a discussion of the soda tax saga; and why – despite a last-minute scramble for signatures to put a measure on the ballot that would raise hotel taxes to fund an expansion of the Convention Center, homeless services and road repairs – the campaign behind it maintains that everything is perfectly fine.
Hero of the Week
The city of San Diego, Convention Center Corp., the Port of San Diego and Comic-Con International are our heroes this week. We applaud their decision to close down Harbor Drive between First Avenue and Park Boulevard to make way for the huge Comic-Con crowd.
Goat of the Week
Former Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman is the goat. Last year, she warned the San Diego City Council not to expand the number of marijuana licenses, but the crime stats from existing dispensaries she cited were misleading.
Call Voice of San Diego at 619-354-1085 and leave a message with your comment or question. We may end up using your voicemail in a future show.
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