Journalism won’t die if you donate. Support Voice of San Diego today!
Nearly a decade ago, the Balboa Park Conservancy was envisioned to become the city’s partner in ensuring Balboa Park’s prosperity. The nonprofit would help the city raise money to repair its aging infrastructure and focus on parkwide needs.
But now, it’s clear the group has never found its footing in that role.
Following the demise of the Plaza de Panama project and the city’s interest in redeveloping Inspiration Point, long-running conversations about a lack of resources and confusion over how park projects get prioritized have been reignited.
Voice’s Lisa Halverstadt reports advocates and power brokers who rarely align on what’s right for the park have quietly agreed there’s a need for change, and the group’s chair is advocating a closer look at how the nonprofit could be reformed.
“It’s gonna take a real army that we pull together from all directions to come up with a plan and move forward,” said Malin Burnham, a real estate developer and prominent civic leader.
The Fallout From the Alleged Dehesa Charter School Scam Continues
Some parents and teachers are being caught up in the fallout of an alleged criminal conspiracy that involved 19 online charter schools, reports the Union-Tribune.
“All of us are just exhausted, even just emotionally,” said one teacher. “We can’t believe what we were part of — but we weren’t a part of it. We were just educating students and yet we were used. We were pawns.”
Another parent said two of his children are home-schooled but receive some services from one of the online schools. Since the school is closing, he’ll have to look to find those services elsewhere, he said. The parent said the charter school operators shared some of the money they earned from the state with him, so he could pay for his children to do private physical education activities like martial arts.
The U-T’s story also notes that most of the charter school network’s assets have been frozen by a judge.
YIMBYs, NIMBYs and YIGBYs, Oh My!
Does the ever-increasing use of those perky acronyms “YIMBY” and “NIMBY” have you down? We have bad news.
Apparently, it’s time to add a few more acronyms to the housing jargon quiver.
YIMBYs – Yes In My Backyard – push housing development hard, as you are no doubt aware. And NIMBYs seek to enforce parking limits and preserve neighborhood character, of course.
But what about PHIMBYs? Public Housing In My Backyard, duh! These advocates do not, like YIMBY’s, support housing development at all income levels, as CityLab reports. They only support low-income housing development.
And KPBS also has a new one for us: YIGBY. The Yes in God’s Backyard contingent, as a group seeking to build affordable housing on church property has branded itself.
Horton Plaza, Architectural Gem?
Back during the Chargers stadium drama, we were shocked to learn that Qualcomm Stadium is regarded in some circles as an architectural wonder. Turns out the same is true of the dilapidated, infuriatingly Taco Bell-less Horton Plaza.
Walking the halls of Horton Plaza does not feel like a “magenta-splashed” experience … and yet, it was designed as exactly that, writes Curbed.
The building was designed by famed architect Jon Jerde, who “reliably dappled color and wit onto drab streetscapes.” Horton Plaza was originally designed to reverse decades of disinvestment from the city center. Other cities followed suit and hired Jerde to design malls in their downtowns, as well.
For some weird reason, Horton Plaza’s relationship to the striking “Mariachi federal style” did not save it from obscurity.
In Other News
- Cory Briggs, the public interest attorney who has haunted City Hall for many years, gave his first interview on why he ran for mayor (the current mayor wanted to build to many homes) and why he stopped running for mayor (mission accomplished) and why he’s now (maybe?) running for city attorney. (CityBeat)
- The Union-Tribune reports two dozen residents spoke in opposition of Chula Vista Councilwoman Jill Galvez at a City Council meeting Tuesday, after she publicly fired her aide and proposed firing the city’s cultural arts manager to save money for public safety staffing. As VOSD reported, Galvez is now facing a recall effort.
- Mexican officials blocked about 1,000 Central American migrants heading north along a southern Mexico highway Wednesday. Meanwhile, Border Patrol officials report a record number of migrant families were detained at the U.S.-Mexico border in May. (Associated Press)
- In a letter to the editor, an anti-sprawl advocate argues that developers are dismissing legitimate concerns about building new housing in fire-risk areas.
The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry and Megan Wood, and edited by Sara Libby.