Late last week, we heard that the group pushing to get a countywide sales tax increase on the November ballot was celebrating.
The tax increase would go to fund the 40-year regional transportation plan SANDAG is currently redoing. Remember: The board pulled the road user charge from the plan, which would have provided funding.
The Politics Report unpacks what voters will start hearing from the groups pushing the effort. Hint: It’s going to be lots of road repair.
One thing to keep in mind: Will this mess with a plan brewing in the city of San Diego for a general tax increase? Some told the Politics Report that they don’t think so. Only time will tell.
Read the Politics Report here.
VOSD Podcast: On the latest episode, our crew reviews San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s last State of the City address and makes predictions for this year. Our crystal ball tells us he will have plenty to say about homelessness and the one-cent sales tax increase he’s pushing.
Listen to the full episode here.
Street Homelessness Down Dramatically Downtown
A downtown business group’s latest census showed a dramatic 28 percent month-over-month decrease in street homelessness in downtown and its outskirts.
The group counted less than 850 people during its Dec. 28 count.
The latest downtown homelessness census is the lowest it’s been since spring 2021. December’s tally marks a 60 percent reduction in people staying outdoors in the downtown area since the May 2023 peak of more than 2,100 people.
What this census doesn’t reveal is exactly where unsheltered people have relocated outside the downtown area.
Where some went: As we reported last week, there are now more than 500 homeless residents staying at the city’s two safe campsites near downtown. It’s unclear how many moved into those sites from the downtown area but the Downtown Partnership is helping to operate one of the sites.
Also worth noting: Homeless residents often simply move elsewhere when police crack down. Volunteers and outreach workers downtown and elsewhere in the city have said homeless residents have dispersed more since the city’s camping ban took effect this summer.
San Diego-Tijuana World Design Capital CEO Is Out
San Diego and Tijuana’s year as a designated World Design Capital is off to a rocky start, reports Voice contributor Sandra Dibble.
Carlos de la Mora was fired as CEO on Tuesday. He was hired in July 2022 to lead the effort and the nonprofit World Design Capital San Diego Tijuana 2024.
Dibble writes that many in the cross-border community was surprised by the timing.
In Other News
- The Sheriff’s Department reported its first in-custody death of 2024. (Union-Tribune)
- The Union-Tribune broke the news that a state administrative law judge recommended that the prominent broker at the center of the 101 Ash St. debacle pay a $4,000 fine – and that the state’s top real estate official rejected that proposed discipline.
- A water main break at Pechanga Arena disrupted some events this weekend. (KPBS)
The Morning Report was written by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and Lisa Halverstadt.