The region is bracing for another storm.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria on Sunday reissued an evacuation warning to neighborhoods in low-lying areas. Those neighborhoods include: Encanto, Southcrest, Rolando and other areas of southeastern San Diego that saw devastating flooding during the Jan. 22 storm. The evacuation is voluntary.
According to the National Weather Service, this week’s storm will likely drop 2 to 4 inches of rain across the county. Voice contributor Robert Krier reported late last week that prospects in San Diego seem less ominous than counties to the north. But San Diego isn’t out of the woods.
“Flooding will be possible everywhere,” a weather service forecaster told the Union-Tribune. “The San Diego River could reach 10 feet on Tuesday afternoon.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday proclaimed a state of emergency for San Diego and seven other counties. NBC 7 has more on resources available to residents.
Oceanside’s Off-Site Affordable Housing Program Now Has Its First Taker
A developer in Oceanside is working on the city’s first off-site affordable housing project, a concept that recently ruffled some feathers down in San Diego.
But the idea to allow developers to build affordable housing units off-site as opposed to on-site in mixed income level developments isn’t new in Oceanside.
Our Tigist Layne reports that the city has had this law on the books for several years now, but after a few changes in the language two years ago, the city now has its first off-site project.
The developer of North River Farms, a 395-home development in the South Morro Hills community, partnered with affordable housing developer Mirka Investments to build an off-site affordable 43-unit apartment complex.
If you remember: San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria proposed similar changes to the city’s housing plan in an effort to spur more housing development. His proposal, and the concept in general, faced backlash over concerns of concentrating poverty and lower-quality buildings.
Politics Report: Scramble for Port Seat
We pulled this section from the Politics Report by Scott Lewis. To get our editor’s weekly politics and policy news delivered to your inbox, consider becoming a Voice of San Diego member.
Attorney Rafael Castellanos recently announced that he was stepping down from his seat on the Port Commission so he could go back to working a job that actually pays money. But the volunteer role of port commissioner is still an attractive one and always leads to some amusing political games.
Sarah Kruer Jager has put in her hat. She is a partner in the Monarch Group, a developer that touts having created 19,000 residential units. She is also former City Councilwoman Barbara Bry’s daughter.
Some labor leaders are lining up behind Sid Voorakkara, who came up short to Castellanos when he got the gig. Susan Guinn and Woo-Jin Shim have also been mentioned.
Shim is a member of the San Diego API Coalition, which released a statement Friday about the appointment.
“For over 20 years, the commission’s appointments in the City of San Diego have lacked adequate representation despite our region being over 17% Asian Pacific Islander,” the statement reads. “We urge elected officials and decision makers to end this exclusion and ensure that the API community has its rightful place at the table.”
Plus: The Politics Report also gets into a law that’s slowing down campaign donations in the San Diego mayor’s race. And a sales tax has a name.
Read the Politics Report here.
VOSD Podcast: On the latest episode, Scott Lewis, Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and Jakob McWhinney discuss the differences between an infrastructure deficit and a budget deficit. (They are a fun but nerdy crew.)
Plus, San Diego City Council President Sean Elo Rivera promises to put a measure on the November ballot to help pay for the city’s stormwater needs.
Listen to the full podcast here or wherever you get your pods.
In Other News
- Doctors in the South Bay are concerned with the growing number of sick residents checking into urgent care after the rainstorms. Doctors at one clinic in Imperial Beach believe there is a correlation between Tijuanna sewage runoff with massive patient influx. (CBS 8)
- A Rancho Bernardo man is facing 13 felony charges after his son allegedly threatened to bring guns to Rancho Bernardo High School. ABC 10 reports that police discovered a weapons cache, including nine assault rifles that did not have serial numbers.
- CBS 8 reports flood victims in National City are facing threats of eviction after a signed moratorium paused storm related evictions for 60 days. The property managers say they are following state guidelines.
The Morning Report was written by Juan Estrada, Tigist Layne and Andrea Lopez-Villafana. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafana.