San Diego County supervisors will hold a special meeting on Tuesday to vote on a resolution declaring no confidence in embattled Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and urging his immediate resignation.
The meeting announcement went out late Sunday after days of increasing calls – including by fellow Democrats – for Fletcher to resign before May 15, the date he previously planned to leave office. Fletcher is now receiving treatment for post-traumatic stress and alcohol abuse at an undisclosed out-of-state facility.
The Tuesday vote is the latest fallout from a March 28 lawsuit filed by a former Metropolitan Transit System employee who alleged that Fletcher, the agency’s board chair, sexually harassed and assaulted her and that she was fired over the incidents.
In a Sunday evening statement, Supervisor Jim Desmond acknowledged that the board itself can’t remove Fletcher. It’s hoping its vote will pressure him to do so.
“While the Board of Supervisors does not have the ultimate power to remove Mr. Fletcher, this resolution will serve as a powerful statement for him to resign,” Desmond wrote.
Vargas too: Nora Vargas, the chair of the Board of Supervisors, released her own statement.
“It’s clear to me that in order to move forward with the business of this county and to meet the needs of the people we represent, Supervisor Fletcher must resign immediately,” she wrote.
But can he resign immediately? City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, who serves on the MTS board, wrote in a statement shared by NBC 7 San Diego last week that it was his understanding that Fletcher’s treatment facility “does not allow for external communication or access to the technology needed to facilitate an official immediate resignation.”
Elo-Rivera thus said he urged Fletcher “to resign as soon as his treatment allows him to.”
Politics Report: What, When and Who?
The latest Politics Report digs into the parallel conversations raging in San Diego politics.
It goes a little something like this.
What: What did Nathan Fletcher do, exactly? What did MTS do when it learned what one of its employees said Fletcher did to her?
When: When did MTS officials learn about her accusations? When is Fletcher resigning?
Who: Who will run or apply for his county seat? Who will run for the state Senate seat Fletcher was planning on running for?
Read the Politics Report here.
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VOSD Podcast: In the latest episode, our hosts break down the latest fallout of County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher’s scandal. What’s the latest from MTS? What does this all mean for the Board of Supervisors? And will MTS’ interim chair, Stephen Whitburn, rise to the moment. Listen to the episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Cost of Not Having After-School Care
For a year, Jared Goossens struggled to find after-school care for his son.
The single father had to turn down a full-time job because of it. And he worried almost daily about losing their apartment because the income he earned delivering food was barely enough. He searched for several options and emailed as many people as he could, but still, he waited in limbo.
Education reporter Jakob McWhinney writes in a new story that Goossens is not alone. As of November, thousands of families were on a waiting list for San Diego Unified’s free after-school care program.
Goossens shared his story with a San Diego Unified School Board member one day, and a few weeks later his son got a spot. For Goossens, it seemed as if someone waved a magic wand, but the open slot was part of a new expansion of the district’s after-school program, McWhinney reports.
Your Schools Guide Questions, Answered
We created the Parent’s Guide to San Diego School to help parents navigate a process that can be complicated and time-consuming at times.
We went on Reddit last week to try and answer questions from readers and parents. Click here to download the Schools Guide for free.
Here are some of the questions we answered.
In Other News
- There was almost too much chisme last week, but don’t worry, our managing editor of daily news rounded up the stories you need to read to start your week. Read Cup of Chisme here.
- An ordinance that would ban camping on public land is getting its first hearing this week. The Land Use and Housing Committee will view the proposal on Thursday. (Union-Tribune) Our Lisa Halverstadt has been following the ordinance closely. Read her stories here.
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. It was edited by Scott Lewis.