Community choice aggregation supporters rally in downtown San Diego. / Photo by Adriana Heldiz

This week, hosts Scott Lewis, Andrew Keatts and Sara Libby hashed out some confusing environmental news, and highlighted a troubling bill that could make public records even harder to get. And in the second half of the show, local investigative reporter Claire Trageser talks about her podcast series on a gang murder that happened over a decade ago that still affects a southeastern San Diego neighborhood.

CCA and the Green New Deal

This week the city moved closer to creating a CCA, or community choice aggregator — basically a government-run power agency. But it didn’t yet say that the agency will require union-friendly contracts. The city attorney said it’s too soon for such a mandate, so expect that fight to continue. The agencies are expected to provide greener power than private utilities like SDG&E. Which brings us to …

You may have heard of the Green New Deal, a collection of ambitious climate change proposals. In San Diego, folks including mayoral candidate Todd Gloria are championing a local version, the aptly named San Diego Green New Deal. What policies does the deal propose, you ask? It’s not so clear. The crew hashed out what the deal entails and what’s behind it.

Hero of the Week

The San Diego Association of Governments, led by new Executive Director Hasan Ikhrata, has acknowledged what VOSD has long reported: The agency cannot make good on promises made to voters with TransNet.

Goat(s) of the Week

Ben Hueso and Mara Elliott are pushing a law to make enforcement of the Public Records Act far more difficult.

Dr. J’s

Over the last week, KPBS’s Claire Trageser has been releasing a six-part podcast series called “Dr. J’s,” about a heinous gang murder in Lincoln Park whose impact is still reverberating across the Lincoln Park community in southeastern San Diego.

The podcast wrapped Wednesday. You can listen to all six episodes here.

In our episode, Scott, Sara and Andy touched on big findings that caught their eye, including new policing strategies stemming from the event, how different generations view police, how the DA chooses to get involved and the controversial death of Earl McNiel. Trageser explains how she caught on to the case and what motivated her to take a deeper look at it.

Friendly Reminders

Our live show is coming up March 20. You can get tickets here.

Sara’s weekly roundup is What We Learned This Week.

Scott and Andy write the Politics Report newsletter.

You can always ask a question you want VOSD to look in to. Do that here.

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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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