Morning Report: Your Election Study Guide Is Here

Election Day is fast approaching. If you’re still intimidated by the two-page (back and front!) ballot, we’ve got you covered.

Voters will be weighing in on the future of Mission Valley, changes to the way county elections are conducted, City Council county supervisor races and two House races that have drawn the eyes of the nation.

VOSD’s Lisa Halverstadt has put together an election guide on the races, issues and ballot measures that we’ve covered over the last several months.

For a refresher of your rights as a California voter, this video from the secretary of state’s office gives a quick rundown. The Union-Tribune editorial board has weighed in on virtually all of the local and state contests — see where they landed.

You’ve got the weekend to study up before Tuesday’s election. Now you’ve got no excuses.

Speaking of the election …

• Here is an explainer from inewsource about “dark money” in campaigns — or money spent on an election that cannot be traced to its original source.
• Perhaps the last three politicians in the county who hadn’t weighed in on the plans to redevelop Mission Valley have come through: County Supervisors Kristin Gaspar, Dianne Jacob and Greg Cox say they support Measure G, the SDSU West plan. Mayor Kevin Faulconer and City Councilman Scott Sherman remain the only two big-name politicians to endorse Measure E, the SoccerCity plan.
• San Diego Superior Court Judge Gary Kreep is fighting to keep his seat on the bench. He finished with 30 percent of the vote in the June primary, an unusually poor showing for an incumbent judge. (KPBS)
• Campaign contributions continue to pour into National City races as Tuesday’s election nears. (Union-Tribune)
• If you’re realllly into it all, Scott Lewis has been updating his Twitter thread with images of many different campaign mailers from across the county. Thursday, he got images of the conservative Lincoln Club hitting President Trump in Chula Vista and labor unions blasting progressive Monica Montgomery in San Diego City Council District 4.

Politicians React to Chula Vista Police Fundraising

Last week, VOSD’s Ry Rivard revealed that while the Chula Vista Police Department was pleading with the public to raise taxes to help fund its understaffed department, its police chief and other officials spent months coordinating a private fundraiser during work hours.

Rivard asked several Chula Vista city officials and candidates for office to weigh in on the arrangement.

Some candidates, like mayoral hopeful Hector Gastelum, said the city’s budget shouldn’t bee subsidizing the foundation. While one city councilman praised the foundation’s work. Other politicians didn’t respond to requests for comment on the issue.

In Other News

• Military contracts that grant vast powers to landlords on U.S. bases, like Camp Pendleton, keep many military families living in homes with health threats like rodents and mold with little recourse. (Reuters)
• Policy changes to how San Diego operates ambulances have been wildly successful in bringing down emergency response times and improving other issues. (Union-Tribune)
• Veteran homelessness is down 5 percent from 2017. (NBC San Diego)
• A San Diego County Sheriff’s deputy who’s being sued for excessive force was found to be deceptive on a lie detector when asked about ties to a white supremacist group before he joined the Sheriff’s Department. (10News)
• The collapse in the number of home sales in San Diego is getting some attention from national observers. (Zero Hedge blog and Union-Tribune)
• We remain big fans of the Twitter account of the local office of the National Weather Service. Thursday it noted that in October, San Diego received precisely the amount of rain that it normally gets in Octobers: 0.57 inch. What’s more remarkable, this is the third month this year where rainfall was exactly what it normally is.

The Morning Report was written by Maya Srikrishnan and Andrew Keatts, and edited by Sara Libby.