This week on the Voice of San Diego Podcast, senior investigative reporter Will Huntsberry is back with a new revelation about the nonprofits that staff concession stands for the region’s biggest events at places like Petco Park and Snapdragon Stadium.
At least one nonprofit, he recently found, didn’t really exist. And the once ad-hoc system to staff awkward schedules for sport seasons has morphed into something shady. Nonprofits, which get a cut of the revenue, need a lot of volunteers to feed a stadium of people hotdogs and beer. So, who are these volunteers?
As Huntsberry spells out in this week’s show, they’re not all volunteers, really. Many are paid. Many are paid below minimum wage and under the table. And some are immigrants lacking legal work permits or minors who couldn’t legally handle alcohol.
Along with VOSD Podcast hosts Scott Lewis, Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and Jakob McWhinney, Huntsberry discusses specific examples of this practice in San Diego, how it grew be so common and how wide it may reach.
Other Talking Points
- Monica Montgomery Steppe won the special election to be San Diego’s next County Supervisor. How will her presence shake up the Board? Who will replace her on the San Diego City Council? And can the Board’s Democratic majority hold as former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer seeks to unseat Supervisor Terra Lawson Remer in 2024?
- The Cardenas siblings, local political operatives, continue to face fallout after the District Attorney announced charges of fraud against them. Andrea Cardenas was publicly called on to resign her position on the Chula Vista City Council this week.
- San Diego was highlighted for its Downtown recovery success based on cell phone activity. But folks didn’t account for the airport. So, never mind.