One of San Diego’s most prolific public power advocates is pushing a ballot measure that would take SDG&E’s infrastructure and put it in the hands of the city.
“The plan, according to Bill Powers, who is leading that effort, is to push the city of San Diego to take over the poles, wires and substations in local right of ways and end its century-long relationship with SDG&E,” writes environment reporter MacKenzie Elmer.
To get the measure on the ballot, Powers’ group will need to collect 80,020 signatures — and he plans to do it with an all-volunteer force. That’s typically unheard of in the world of ballot measures. Some campaigns pay people as much as $15 for each signature they can gather.
The ballot measure, which has not yet been written, would essentially take SDG&E’s infrastructure and bring it under a city department that would be governed by an independently-appointed board.
Not surprisingly, SDG&E officials aren’t big fans. A spokesman said Powers’ group is pushing an “uninformed ballot measure without understanding the serious financial implications to the city and taxpayers.”
Photos: Inside an Underground Rave
Never been to an underground rave? In that case, take a walk with photojournalist Ariana Drehsler to an underground system of tunnels where she photographed a massive dance party beneath San Diego’s streets.
See the costumes and the lights all wrapped in the mystery of an undisclosed subterranean location.
View the full photo essay here.
The Learning Curve: The Anomaly of Mission Bay High
San Diego Unified has in recent years made a concerted push to promote neighborhood schools. The district still allows families to try to “choice” into other schools that aren’t in their neighborhood, but in a perfect world for district officials every neighborhood school would be so great that no one would ever choice out.
That’s not exactly the case at Mission Bay High School, however. Mission Bay has a very small number of high schoolers living inside its boundaries. And that means the district needs to go on encouraging non-neighborhood students to attend.
In his newest Learning Curve, Jakob McWhinney goes over the history of how district officials brought “sizzle” — hint: it involves Jazz, Japan and brand new stadiums — to Mission Bay High.
Read the full Learning Curve here.
VOSD Podcast: The Big Homelessness Study
We’ve got a special treat for our VOSD Podcast fans: another Politifest drop.
This one is a special discussion with Dr. Margot Kushel, one of the nation’s foremost experts on health and homelessness. She sat down with our Lisa Halverstadt to break down the findings of one of the largest studies of homeless individuals ever done in the state.
Listen to the full episode here.
In Other News
- The Union-Tribune reports that police have arrested a University City High School teacher after he attempted to meet up with what he believed to be a 16-year-old girl being sold for sex, but was actually an undercover federal agent.
- The city of Chula Vista is ditching its old coin parking meters for ones that also accept plastic. (Times of San Diego)
- Want to see something cute? An emperor penguin chick is about to make its first public appearance at SeaWorld. The chick hatched in September. (City News Service)
- OK, now want to see something sad? A new report has listed San Diego as the most expensive place to live in the United States. (NBC 7) Related: A survey shows that two in three San Diegans are considering leaving San Diego because it’s too expensive. (inewsource)
The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.
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