Hey, check it out, we found something completely unrelated to COVID-19 to talk about in this week’s podcast.
The city of San Diego and San Diego State University are in the final stages of a historic transfer of land. We broke down what is still left to settle. Sorry, check that, unfortunately, it’s not completely unrelated to COVID-19 because everything is related to COVID-19. In this situation, the city, because of the pandemic, is extra motivated to get the sale done because it: a) needs the money and b) needs to not spend any more money on the stadium that exists.
The city, though, is not a monolithic entity. The mayor’s team negotiated the deal but the city attorney has some questions and isn’t satisfied. The City Council will get the final say.
We explain all that is at stake, and the timeline.
Plus: A discussion has broken out about what the city and county are allowed to spend their federal relief checks on. Some smaller cities want the county to share its check. And San Diego City Council members are divided in how they interpret federal restrictions on the money.
One of the main characters in that drama is Councilman Chris Cate, who worries about the city being pulled in front of Congress some day to explain how it spent the money. He sat down with Andrew Keatts to talk about that and all that is going on with local politics during this weird, prolonged crisis.