The top city official focused on addressing the city’s foremost crisis is leaving City Hall at the end of this week.
Mayor Todd Gloria announced Monday that Hafsa Kaka, director of the city’s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department, has accepted another yet-to-be announced role of “regional significance in the area of homelessness.”
City Hall veteran Sarah Jarman, a former assistant deputy director in the department who once worked on housing policy for ex-City Councilman Scott Sherman, will take over the post effective April 3, our Lisa Halverstadt reports.
As Halverstadt notes, the announcements come less than a month after a city reorganization that shifted the Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department under the city’s neighborhood services division rather than have it report directly to Gloria.
Kaka and others who have preceded her in similar roles have also had far from an easy ride, and Kaka’s time leading the city’s homelessness department has coincided with visible increases in street homelessness.
They didn’t want her to go: The mayor’s director of communications, Rachel Laing, re-affirmed late Monday that it was not the mayor’s preference that Kaka leave. “It’s good for jobs at the city to lead to prestigious opportunities, and no one begrudges her that. But absent that opportunity, nothing would be changing.”
Fletcher’s Departure from Senate Race Brings Forward Possible Contenders
People who follow local politics were buzzing all day Monday about the sudden announcement from County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher that he was seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress and alcohol abuse and taking leave from his job.
“I love my husband and appreciate his willingness to put our family first,” wrote his wife, former Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who now leads the largest coalition of labor unions in the state.
But the biggest immediate consequence to local politics is his accompanying decision to abandon his campaign to replace Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, who will have served as long as is allowed in the Legislature by the end of 2024. He had announced his intention to run early and the field of potential Democratic candidates for the seat was clearing for him.
Now it’s wide open: The pool of possible contenders has grown overnight.
The Union-Tribune reports that the candidate pool could include Assemblymembers Chris Ward and Akilah Weber, former San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez and veterans advocate Janessa Goldbeck.
Naked Views for Now
Landscape crews at Embarcadero Marina Park North on Monday morning cut down large coral trees as part of a landscape project, and our managing editor of daily news captured how naked the scene felt on Twitter. Some people lamented the loss of the mature trees on social media.
The Port of San Diego is removing 72 coral trees around the bayfront. It’s not set in stone which trees will replace the corals because of availability, but possibilities are a blend of native Californian and Mediterranean trees.
A spokeswoman with the Port of San Diego said that coral trees are not well-suited for the marine environment because the area around the San Diego bayfront is high on salt content, which causes the trees to dry out and potentially fall.
The Port of San Diego plans to replant new trees in the fall. For now, crews will focus on removing the trees, stumps and above-ground roots.
In Other News
- Today, the state’s Senate Public Safety Committee will hear Sen. Brian W. Jones’ proposed bill that aims to ban homeless encampments from public parks, near schools, libraries and other “sensitive” areas. Watch the meeting here. (Union-Tribune)
- Scientists have identified in a new report that racoon dogs sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, were likely the animal that passed SARS-CoV-2 to humans. (KPBS) (Yes, racoon dogs. Sweet dreams!)
- It might rain a little tonight. (Fox 5)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and Scott Lewis.