Councilman David Alvarez / Photo by Dustin Michelson

This week, VOSD Podcast host Andrew Keatts had the story of David Alvarez and his potential violation of city ethics law.

The former San Diego city councilman, and now candidate for the state Assembly, worked for SDG&E before the mandated “cool off” period was over. Whether he was lobbying is the big question.

This has led to a fiery campaign for Assembly District 80.

Alvarez and the other Democrat seeking the seat, Georgette Gómez, have been dragged in political ads for their respective violations of public trust.

(During her failed bid for Congress, Gómez was found to have underreported on her taxes.)

Now, the former political allies are vying for the seat in a special election to replace Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez. If no one gets more than 50 percent of the vote, it’ll go to a runoff.

On the podcast, Keatts, along with Scott Lewis and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, recap some local political history involving Alvarez and Gómez — and whether any of this noise will reach voters in time to turn in their ballots on April 5.

Plus…

Local government mandates on their employees to get vaccinated came in with a bang and are now going out with a whimper.

The county of San Diego and city are done messing with COVID requirements, it seems. On the pod, our hosts review what the newest rules are and what it means for San Diego’s overall pandemic vibe.

There were some awkward votes in Sacramento last week as Republicans forced Democrats to defend the tax California puts on every gallon of gasoline. Democrats said they supported whatever Gov. Gavin Newsom was working on. On the show, we discuss the proposal Newsom released and its potential impact.

We’re Here For You

Every week, we work hard to put together the best show we can — a unique, incisive (and yes, sometimes dorky) roundup of local news and public affairs insights. And I, your humble producer, spend hours cutting it up and getting it to you before my publishing deadline.

Now, we need your help.

We’ve got to raise about $124,000 to meet our goal for our current campaign (as of this writing). You can join now with this link: vosd.org/springcampaign2022

When you give, you can write Scott, Andy and Andrea a note. And you know they love that kinda thing. Here are a few:

  • Kevin: I love the podcast. Andrea has filled Sara’s shoes quickly. Andy’s aight 🙂
  • Marcos: I tell everyone about the podcast, always the highlight of my week!
  • Patrick: Big fan of local politics. Big fan of snark. The VOSD podcast hits that sweet spot so, so right.
  • Karen: I love the podcast! I look forward to it every week.

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Nate John is the digital manager at Voice of San Diego. He oversees Voice's website, newsletters, podcasts and product team. You can reach him at nate@vosd.org.

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1 Comment

  1. Giving a vehicle owner $400 so ridiculously funny; and typical government – just throw money at it….like a band-aid on a sucking chest wound. Kill the gas tax, that is the fair way to go about it. I am so ashamed of Sacramento – really bad leadership.

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