Business districts are designed to make different parts of the city more attractive to shoppers. In the city of San Diego, nonprofits run them and now, one organization is on the outs with the city.
City officials have decided to cut ties with the Diamond Business Association, which covers southeastern San Diego, our Andrea Lopez-Villafaña learned.
The officials didn’t say it outright, but they implied the Diamond Business Association was providing poor service to its members.
Why it matters: The neighborhoods previously covered by the Diamond Business Association have high poverty and unemployment rates. A thriving business district could help.
The association’s president declined to comment.
In the meantime, the city’s Economic Development Department will take over the functions of the business district.
While We’re Waiting …
Early results from Tuesday’s special primary election had San Diego Councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe in first place and Republican Amy Reichert in second. The next update will happen today at 5 p.m.
Democrat Janessa Goldbeck is behind Reichert by three-points. She’s a little more than 2,900 votes short with 20,000 left to count, so she’s not out yet. Here’s what she had to say on Wednesday.
“While we’re behind, and the margin to make up is significant, I want to take a moment to express how proud I am of our campaign,” Goldbeck wrote on Twitter.
Who showed up for who: Three maps created by an independent elections analyst on social media caught our attention. These results reflect the early voting numbers the county released Tuesday night. But here’s what they showed:
- Montgomery Steppe got a lot of support from voters in her City Council District 4. And more central parts of the county’s District 4 communities
- A lot of Reichert’s support came from East County precincts
- Goldbeck performed best in San Diego’s Uptown neighborhoods
We want to hear from you: Our professional chismosa, Andrea Lopez-Villafaña polled her Instagram followers on the race. This very unscientific poll showed similar results to the county’s early numbers. If you voted in this race, and feel like sharing your reasons for supporting a certain candidate, email her here.
She’ll feature your response in her next Cup of Chisme.
A New School Year Is Upon Us. Here Are Some Threads we’re Following
The pandemic upended education as we know it, and schools are still far from digging themselves out of the academic hole it left them in. As a new school year is set to dawn, education reporter Jakob McWhinney details some of the stories he’ll be paying attention to in the coming year in his latest The Learning Curve newsletter.
- Chronic absenteeism hit sky high levels, and test scores plummeted. But we’re still yet to see if some of the interventions schools implemented are effective.
- San Diego Unified has set a goal of eliminating its waitlist for free after school care. It’s made progress, but it’s still not there.
- San Diego Unified is projecting big deficits in coming years. Cuts are inevitable, but what will be on the chopping block?
Schools Guide Workshops
Free info sessions on our Parent’s Guide to San Diego Schools are back. Voice of San Diego Reporters and editors will breakdown the information in the guide on school choice, special programs, and other factors to consider when enrolling your K-12 student.
Mark your calendars for these upcoming events:
- Tuesday, Aug. 29 at San Diego State University’s Basic Needs Center at 8:30 a.m. RSVP here.
- Wednesday, Aug. 30 at Girl Scouts San Diego Balboa Campus at 5:30 p.m. RSVP here.
- Tuesday, Sept. 12 at Lawrence Family Jewish Center at 6 p.m. RSVP here.
For more details and to download the Schools Guide for free, click here.
Song of the Week
This week has been plenty sunny, but we desperately needed a dose of musical sunshine.
Armoire, “Rochelle”: Armoire is songwriter Ariel Iribe’s synth-laden new wave solo project and the self-titled debut album carries an air of nostalgia. It’s at times carefree and light and at others dark and hypnotic and always twirling, twirling, twirling. “Rochelle,” a bouncy and playful ode to young love and companionship is decidedly the former and sure to defrost even the iciest of hearts.
Like what you hear? Catch Armoire at Whistle Stop on August 22.
Do you have a “Song of the Week” suggestion? Shoot us an email and a sentence or two about why you’ve been bumping this song lately. Friendly reminder: all songs should be by local artists!
In Other News
- A shortage of student housing at UC San Diego has left more than 2,000 students on a waitlist. (Union Tribune)
- Nine of San Diego Unified’s campus police officers – a full quarter of the its force – have accused the department’s leaders of a variety of forms of harassment and discrimination. (Union Tribune)
- The high cost of housing has some locals moving to Tijuana. (KPBS)
The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry, Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and Jakob McWhinney. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.