Last month, students at Correia Middle School in Point Loma reported seeing a classmate brandish a gun.
The following week, more allegations surfaced about the classmate in question. School-based Facebook groups blew up; parents spun. And in the aftermath, parents demanded answers about San Diego Unified’s discipline policies.
In this VOSD Podcast episode, host Jakob McWhinney clarifies the messy story.
After the two students reported what they saw, the school district sent out a cryptic voicemail to families about an “incident,” which fueled confusion. McWhinney in the show recaps what the school did next — how they processed the reports, handled punishments, tried to maintain accountability and quell their community.
This incident put national matters into focus, including gun violence, sexual harassment and social media misinformation. Plus: What it takes to expel a student and San Diego Unified’s restorative justice policies.
Adaptation
The American southwest has to adapt to decreasing water supply and evolving management strategies.
This week, the San Diego City Council voted to approve a startling 20 percent increase to water rates over the next two years.
And it’s now been 20 years since the largest SoCal water agencies made a historic deal, letting San Diego buy water from Imperial Valley farmers.
This is all to say: The control of our most precious resource is coming to a head. And Voice is doing something about it. Enter Politifest 2023.
This year, we’re teaming up with CalMatters to organize a huge summit dedicated to water and housing, arguably the state’s foremost crises. We’ll be talking water’s past, present and future with some of the most influential water bigwigs. Get your tickets.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
We got a lot of feedback about our City Attorney discussion last week.
In that episode, we discussed the current race for City Attorney 2024 and how the role could change on the same ballot.
This week, hosts Scott Lewis, Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and McWhinney review a statement by current City Attorney Mara Elliott on the matter of stripping current job functions and altering its nature entirely. (Should it be an elected position?)
City Attorney is a weighty job that requires massive talent and experience that elections don’t necessarily measure. Could such a role be reformed — much like the 2006 “strong mayor” form of government the City of San Diego adopted?
Let’s discuss.