Chaos in San Diego courts caused by the Trump administration’s immigration policies. A dramatic shift in who can rent out homes to vacationers. A potential 2020 ballot measure to raise sales taxes for transit. Plus: lead in school water and doing away with stamps on mail-in ballots.
This week, we tackled all those topics and more, and we did it in front of a packed house at the Whistle Stop Bar in South Park.
Hosts Andrew Keatts, Scott Lewis and Sara Libby were joined by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and Mark Cafferty, CEO of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, in a special live edition of the podcast.
Gonzalez, whose bill requiring mail ballots to come with pre-paid postage was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown the day of the podcast taping, made a bit of news by admitting that she’s mulling a run for secretary of state in 2022. She also had some fiery commentary on Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s tenure, and why she gave so much money to the Democratic Party in hopes of boosting her husband Nathan Fletcher’s bid for county supervisor.
Cafferty talked about the role transportation, education and the border play in San Diego’s economy. He said crucial to ensuring the region’s economic growth is building a better public transit system, getting more people to care about the quality of public education and embracing San Diego’s proximity to Mexico as an asset.
A few audience members even make a cameo in Not San Diego, a news quiz in which the podcast panel asked people to identify the statements that are not true about San Diego and California politics right now.
True: There is a state ballot measure cleared for signature-gathering that would make California its own country. (This is different from the Three Californias measure that got tossed this week.)
Fake: San Diego is considering a subway system. (It is, however, contemplating an old-timey streetcar near the beaches.)
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