In the final days of the most prominent election contest in San Diego, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer has been making a plea to liberals and Democrats. The county supervisorial district he represents will likely go heavily in favor of Kamala Harris for president. He’ll need Harris voters to choose him over incumbent Terra Lawson-Remer.
Chief among the liberal bona fides he’s touting is the climate action plan he helped make law in San Diego. Faulconer gained national notoriety for being a Republican who not only admitted global warming was real, but did something about it.
What did he do? He changed the course of development in his town by prioritizing dense, transit-oriented housing under a Climate Action Plan in 2016. Millions of dollars are pouring into the county race now and Faulconer and his supporters are pushing those accomplishments.
He’s changed: As MacKenzie Elmer writes, his statements as a candidate for San Diego County Supervisor don’t jibe with the intention of the policies he backed as mayor.
If elected, he would open San Diego’s backcountry to more development. And he vows to reverse a climate-oriented housing policy the county passed that is modeled in part on the one he created as mayor.
An East County School District’s Culture War Comes to a Head
Tensions between a well-known educational innovator and district superintendent, and a school board member have reached a boiling point in El Cajon.
Education reporter Jakob McWhinney dug into the culture war at Cajon Valley Union Elementary School District in a new story.
Trustee Anothony Carnevale has used his seat to crusade against organizations and individuals he feels are exposing kids to LGBTQ+ content and potentially making them gay or transgender. As a result, local organizations like the YMCA of San Diego County have stopped working with the district.
Carnevale is also not a fan of Superintendent David Miyashiro. Depending on how the upcoming election plays out, Miyashiro could be out of a job come next year.
More messy school politics: For the latest Learning Curve newsletter, McWhinney explains why some people are working feverishly to unseat a San Dieguito school board member.
Michael Allman is a polarizing figure in the district, McWhinney writes, “He led the charge against masking in the district, has decried ‘wokeism’ in education, has taken heat for his association with ugly dialogue about trans students and even survived a recall effort.”
But his challenger Kevin Sabellico hasn’t come out of the election cycle unscathed.
Also in the newsletter, McWhinney breaks down school-related bond measures on the ballot.
In other education news: San Diego Unified board’s decision to elevate Fabiola Bagula to interim superintendent role after they fired former superintendent Lamont Jackson earlier this year left an open position at the district – Bagula’s old role, deputy superintendent.
Enrique Ruacho, Bagula’s chief of staff, said officials have no plans to hire a new permanent deputy superintendent just yet. After all, San Diego Unified’s board hasn’t officially confirmed they’re planning to keep Bagula on as superintendent permanently despite repeatedly signaling they’re likely to. In the meantime, Bagula and her staff have brought on retired educator Carol Osborne in a part-time, hourly and temporary deputy superintendent of instruction role.
Who is he? Osborne and Bagula worked together both at San Diego Unified, where Osborne was a teacher and principal, and then again at the San Diego County Office of Education. There, Osborne rose to the role of senior director of the district and school improvement department before Poway Unified hired her in 2018. Osborne retired from her role as Poway’s associate superintendent of learning support services last year.
Why the Future of a Fitness Center Is in the Hands of Poway Voters
This year’s ballot is filled with interesting races and measures that could bring about major changes for the region. One measure in Poway, though, caught our interest.
Next week, Poway voters will weigh in on the future of a luxury fitness center.
Why, you may ask? In 2020, Poway voters approved the development of a project, known as The Farm, that includes homes, community gardens, event spaces, recreational spots and a 3,000-square-foot fitness club. Voters get to weigh in because of a 1988 proposition that requires voter approval of projects that increase residential density.
The issue: Minnesota-based fitness company Life Time is proposing building a 30,000-square-foot fitness club at The Farm. The project needs voter approval. But some residents are upset because it’s a larger fitness center than what they voted for in 2020.
In Other News
- Don’t tempt reporters with a good records request idea. ABC 10 News asked Supervisor Nora Vargas why she left an Oct. 8 board meeting early, and she suggested the outlet request information about her appointments. She claimed she left early for a doctor’s appointment. So, did she? Her calendar did not show she had an appointment, only a time block from 5 to 6 p.m. She posted a video at the Padres game that same day.
- Also in the records request dump: On that same day, Vargas got her Republican board colleagues to stall a Superfund designation for the Tijuana River Valley, she sent a text message to California State Treasurer Fiona Ma telling her, “… I ask for you to hold off please.” Ma visited Imperial Beach the day before. (ABC 10)
- A lot of buildings and office spaces built with life science companies in mind, are sitting empty in San Diego. (Union-Tribune)
- A Del Mar nonprofit has installed its second trash boom (think a large tennis net) across a cement basin in Tijuana to keep trash and other plastics from ending up in the ocean. (KPBS)
Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, MacKenzie Elmer and Jakob McWhinney wrote the Morning Report. It was edited by Scott Lewis.