You may have heard that the whole region — and country — is going through this thing called redistricting.
Redistricting is a once-in-a-decade process where political maps of city councils, county supervisors, congress, school boards and more get redrawn to better reflect changing population and demographics.
It sounds super boring, right? We know, but it’s also super important. It helps determine just how much power your vote has.
In the latest episode of the San Diego 101 Podcast, hosts Maya Srikrishnan and Adriana Heldiz break down how redistricting works and why it’s important. To do this, they take you back to 2011, when San Diego’s City Council District 9 was first created.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or click here.
Want more redistricting content? Watch our San Diego 101 video series.
Youngest Baja Governor Confronts Old Problems
San Diego’s cross-border neighbor has a new governor — and just by taking office, she has made history. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, whose six-year term started Monday, is the first woman to govern Baja California. And at 36, she is also the youngest person to lead the state.
For many, Ávila’s arrival in office is cause for celebration — or at least a sigh of relief, writes Sandra Dibble in this week’s Border Report.
As the new governor takes office, she will need to build a network of support as she takes on some of the state’s most pressing challenges. Tijuana continues to register some of Mexico’s highest homicide numbers. The state is also in a lot of debt. Close to $1.5 billion, to be exact.
“We have a very complicated financial situation, much more money was spent than was coming in,” Ávila told the Tijuana newsweekly, Zeta, and said her first year in office will be focused on cleaning up the state’s finances.
But it’s not all bad. There are some exciting projects for the new governor to explore.
Relations with California and San Diego are also clearly on her radar — as they have been for most Baja California governors. Though exactly how she’ll go about building the relationship is unclear.
Clairemont Makes a Comedy Show
Residents in San Diego’s Clairemont neighborhood who in 2018 opposed low-income housing projects made an appearance on comedian John Oliver’s Sunday night segment about homelessness.
Oliver spoke about the success of permanent supportive housing, units for formerly homeless people that often come with onsite services and amenities. Then he turned to Clairemont.
“A huge obstacle in implementing these sorts of programs is opposition from local residents. It is the NIMBY problem — not in my backyard,” Oliver said. “And it happens absolutely everywhere. Take Clairemont, Calif., where new developments offering affordable housing, including those geared to the homeless, were proposed only to encounter fierce community pushback like this.”
Then viewers heard from several Clairemont residents who spoke out against new low-income housing, suggesting it wasn’t a good fit for their neighborhood.
Our Lisa Halverstadt wrote about Clairemont residents’ revolt a few years ago amid discussions about a proposed permanent supportive housing project and a large-scale affordable housing development on separate nearby plots in the neighborhood.
Fast forward to 2021: The team behind the Clairemont supportive housing project is preparing to start moving homeless seniors into their new home later this month.
And a 404-unit affordable housing project on the former county crime lab property is also moving forward. It got a key county approval in August and construction is expected to kick off in early 2023.
Rebecca Louie, chief operating officer at Wakeland Housing and Development Corp., said residents ultimately seemed to accept and embrace the 52-unit supportive housing project for seniors after more conversations and visits to one of Wakeland’s other housing projects.
“By the end, they definitely came around and were supportive of what we were doing,” Louie said.
In Other News
- The Padres announced that Bob Melvin will serve as the team’s new manager. Melvin comes to the Padres with more than 18 years of experience leading major league teams. He is replacing Jayce Tingler, who was fired last month. (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego is coughing up $240,000 to Israeli tech firm Zencity to run a survey that measures the public’s trust in police and perceptions of public safety. Police Chief David Nisleit said the results will be available to the public in a few months. (KPBS)
- A new poll shows a slim majority of San Diego voters back a tax hike to help fund a proposed $160 billion plan to overhaul transit, highways and roads through 2050. (Union-Tribune)
- A new COVID-19 outbreak at the San Diego Central Jail shows how Sheriff’s Department officials continue to struggle to control the infection’s spread in county jails. (Union-Tribune)
This Morning Report was written by Maya Srikrishnan, Lisa Halverstadt and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. It was edited by Megan Wood.