Morning Report: Still Lots of All-Male Corporate Boards

Many San Diego companies pride themselves on innovative solutions to complex problems.

Yet nearly two dozen major San Diego companies, including a number of large biotech companies, have yet to find a solution to a new state law mandating that the state’s publicly held corporations have at least one woman on their boards of directors by the end of the year. 

Sara Libby found that about 20 San Diego corporations still have all-male boards and that at least 27 other San Diego-based companies with boards of five people or more have just one woman, meaning they’ll be subject to another requirement that kicks in on Jan. 1, 2021 requiring more than one woman on a board.

Libby’s analysis follows the recent release of a California secretary of state report that revealed that only 184 out of 537 publicly traded California general corporations or registered foreign corporations currently had at least one woman on their board of directors as of July 1.

A separate 2018 report found that San Diego County was home to the largest share of companies without women on their boards in the state.

If those companies fail to comply, the secretary of state has the go-ahead to levy up to $100,00 fines – and companies with multiple violations could be saddled with multiple $300,000 fines.

Culture Report: A Guide to the Locals at Comic-Con

The con is almost upon us, and VOSD contributor Julia Dixon Evans is all over it in this week’s Culture Report with a guide to things locals might especially like.

Evans has the details on a Comic-Con affiliated convention for educators and librarians focused on graphic novels, an aptly-named Breaking Borders panel and exhibition highlighting the work of artists on both sides of the border, a panel on the appearance of real science in comics and much more.

Also in this week’s Culture Report: an update on the San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture’s 2020 contract announcements, a map of good watering holes and eateries to enjoy during Comic-Con and much more.

Sweetwater Parents Protest School District Bus Cuts

More than a dozen parents of San Ysidro High School students protested Sweetwater Union High School District’s decision to eliminate 20 bus stops by walking the route themselves. CBS 8 reports that the three-mile walk took more than an hour.

One student acknowledged that the district needed to save money, but complained officials it was coming at the expense of kids. 

Will Huntsberry reported earlier this year that to avoid going bust Sweetwater was planning to cut 30 percent of its central office staff and offer early retirement deals to teachers. Officials insist they were caught off guard last summer when they discovered a $30 million gap in the budget, but investigators with a state fiscal crisis team are looking into criminal fraud. 

In Other News

• Despite a new state law aimed at increasing transparency of police investigations, the public will not be able to access records detailing the shooting of Fridoon Rashawn Nehad, an unarmed man, in 2015. The city is citing a protective order while a civil lawsuit plays out. (KPBS)
• The Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit advocacy group, predicts that the number of annual extreme-heat days in San Diego will nearly double by mid-century if worldwide leaders take no action to address climate change. (City News Service) 
• Hundreds of Coronado residents turned out against potential plans to build more hotels and retail spaces where the Ferry Landing currently sits. One resident summed up the thinking of the crowd when he complained that his town already has “too many tourists, too many day-trippers and too much traffic.” (NBC 7) 
• Asylum-seekers from Honduras, Guatemala, Ghana, Cameroon and Mexico continue to wait in Tijuana to enter the U.S. despite the Trump administration’s newly announced restrictions on asylum requests. (Union-Tribune)
• Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Tuesday that County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher is among more than a dozen government officials and experts across the state who will advise him on homelessness solutions.

The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt and Jesse Marx, and edited by Sara Libby.