The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank hurried to address an explosion in hunger in the early days of the pandemic and it’s bracing to continue serving people even though aid that came during the pandemic is winding down.
It’s now doing that without its longtime leader, VOSD’s Lisa Halverstadt reports.
Jim Floros, who served as the Food Bank’s CEO for nearly nine years, left the nonprofit in mid-July without a public announcement or explanation.
Food Bank leaders aren’t saying why Floros departed. And nobody will say why.
There was this: A former employee’s class action lawsuit alleges, among other issues, a failure to pay staffers for all hours they worked at the correct rates. The Food Bank’s interim CEO would only say the agency denies the claims made in the suit.
Food Bank leaders, including interim CEO Casey Castillo, say they are confident longtime executives who remain at the nonprofit have the experience to help the agency continue to serve an increasing number of San Diegans in need.
The leader of San Diego’s other food bank, Feeding San Diego, also told Halverstadt he thinks new leadership change could pave the way for increased collaboration between the two organizations going forward.
Background: The last time talk of a merger between Feeding San Diego and the San Diego Food Bank ramped up was … the last time one of the organizations, in this case Feeding San Diego, changed CEOs.
Coronado Mayor Discusses Congressional Run
The Politics Report caught up with Richard Bailey, the Republican mayor of Coronado who’s running for Rep. Scott Peters’ congressional seat, on a platform that he describes as “fiscally responsible and socially respectful.”
He declined to say where he stands on the recall and on former President Trump (the district went overwhelmingly for Biden). Bailey spoke instead about his opposition to housing densification mandates from the state and said he’s extremely worried about federal spending and the inflation it may spur.
End of an era: The Politics Report also included the news of the upcoming retirement of the city’s Independent Budget Analyst, Andrea Tevlin. For more than a decade, she and her staff have been an invaluable source of research to not just the City Council but journalists wanting to understand the intricacies of municipal finance.
Adiós, Andrea. It’s been real.
Read the Politics Report here.
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Politics Roundup
Our last podcast before the recall election stops accepting ballots is about the recall and a bit about how San Diego’s former mayor is doing in it. Scott Lewis and Andy Keatts discussed the candidates and some updates in the story of the most San Diego Special of all, the Convention Center. They also talk COVID-19 testing in homeless shelters and the school year ahead at San Diego Unified.
Meanwhile, U-T columnist Michael Smolens argues that the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom will be among the most scrutinized in history, thanks to a mix of baseless claims and real worries about the possibility of tampering with voting systems.
Heads up: We’re hosting a panel discussion on Sept. 28 about the challenges and pathways of operating a social equity program within the cannabis industry. It’ll be moderated by journalist Jackie Bryant, aka the Queen of Green.
In Other News
- One of the masterminds behind a massive charter school scheme that defrauded the state out of tens of millions of dollars was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay millions in fines. He got credit for the time he’s spent under house arrest and won’t spend a day in prison. (Union-Tribune)
- Imagine seeing this (NBC 7 San Diego) headline two years ago: Couple Kicked off San Diego-Bound JetBlue Over Face-Mask Dispute
- Speaking of angry anti-mask militants: A very strange thing happened at the Thursday night school board meeting of the Poway Unified School District (Union-Tribune). The school board stopped its meeting when protesters, who don’t want kids to wear masks, interrupted. The protesters then declared themselves the new school board after consulting a “constitutionalist.”
The Morning Report was written by Jesse Marx and Lisa Halverstadt, and edited by Scott Lewis.