Republican John Cox delivers a concession speech at the US Grant Hotel on Election Night. / Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle

At the end of November, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer called a meeting to talk about next steps following the Republican Party’s election drubbing. All three remaining Republican members of the City Council came. The Lincoln Club’s president, Brian Pepin, was there. Prominent conservative donors like developer Tom Sudberry, were there.

But it wasn’t just Republicans. The Downtown Partnership’s Betsy Brennan was there, as was Adam Day, the chief administrative officer of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.

The question on everyone’s mind: Can San Diego’s capitalists continue to rely on the Republican Party to drive their agenda? Should the builders, restaurant owners and free market idealists pin their hopes on independents or even Democrats going forward?

In this week’s podcast, hosts Scott Lewis, Andrew Keatts and Sara Libby unpack these questions.

Plus, Voice’s Kayla Jimenez wrote about a San Diego school teacher who found work at the private Coastal Christian Academy after losing his teaching credential over a string of abuse and harassment incidents. The teacher, and superintendent of the school that hired him, resigned following our investigation.

The People’s Reporter

A reader asked: “San Diego is a city of transplants. What percentage of people who live here were actually born here, and how does that compare to other major cities?”

Lisa Halverstadt found the answer.

Hero of the Week

This week’s hero is the D.C. press corps, after Hill reporter Scott Wong got the “scoop” that San Diego Rep. Scott Peters is considering running for mayor in 2020. We wanted to recognize the D.C. reporters who bring us brand new, never-hear-before information like this.

(Related: Be sure to check out our previous episode, “VOSD Podcast Live: Definitely Not a 2020 San Diego Mayoral Debate” featuring … Peters.)

Goat of the Week

The city of San Diego, which isn’t sure what two-thirds of its water service lines are made of. (The city previously said definitively that none of its lines are made of lead.)

“Wow, that is a lot,” Kurt Souza, the state Water Resources Control Board’s assistant deputy director for drinking water operations in Southern California, told Ry Rivard this week.

Voice now has a podcast texting club for listeners. To join, text the word “podcast” to 619-202-9051. We’ll send you links to new episodes weekly and solicit questions and ideas for future podcasts.

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Nate John is the digital manager at Voice of San Diego. He oversees Voice's website, newsletters, podcasts and product team. You can reach him at nate@vosd.org.

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