A former Metropolitan Transit System staffer’s 2023 allegation that then-county supervisor and MTS board chair Nathan Fletcher sexually assaulted her halted what had been a rising political career.
Two years later, former MTS employee Grecia Figueroa is dropping her most explosive claim against Fletcher – at least for now.
Our Lisa Halverstadt and Will Huntsberry reveal that Figueroa’s attorney in recent court filings wrote that she doesn’t plan to pursue the assault claim in her ongoing civil case against Fletcher and MTS, though she isn’t barred from resurrecting it again in the future.
Figueroa’s legal team is proceeding with three other claims, including sexual harassment, as it seeks to bat back an attempt by Fletcher’s team to quash her civil case against MTS and its former chair before it goes to trial.
Fletcher’s team argues the recent move to pull back some accusations suggest that the former MTS employee’s team doesn’t have the evidence to proceed.
In court filings late last month, Figueroa emphasized how the interactions with Fletcher deeply troubled her before she lost her job and her legal team reiterated allegations that the former MTS chair repeatedly groped Figueroa – even as they formally removed the assault allegation from her civil suit.
‘Bad Boy’ of Middle School Band Shines Light on Declining Arts Funding
He’s got swagger, the self-described “bad boy” of middle school music programs.
But Keith Ballard is retiring in February after serving 30 years in San Diego schools as a mariachi and world music band director. And he’s worried that when he does, the music program he’s fought so hard to preserve amid years of budget cut threats, will end at Southwest Middle School.
The principal swore to our South Bay reporter Jim Hinch that he’d find a replacement, despite the fact that arts programs are shrinking at Sweetwater Union schools which Southwest belongs to. Yet Sweetwater hasn’t taken advantage of state funding from a 2022 ballot measure to expand arts programming.
Prepare for a twist: Why is Ballard retiring at 61? He’s boarding a plane for the Philippines to train with special forces in a jungle survivalist program – all prep work for his anticipated appearance on the game show “Naked and Afraid.”
In Other News
- Chula Vista Councilmember Carolina Chavez is adding her name to a growing list of candidates eager to take over San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas’ abandoned seat. (Axios)
- More San Diego brewing companies closed their doors in 2024. (Union-Tribune)
- These San Diegans dreamed of building accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, but instead, they ended up with no homes and a lot of debt. NBC 7 reports that nearly 100 homeowners in the county are accusing a local contracting company of taking our loans in their names but never building a thing.
- KPBS reports that more San Diegans are considering a potential love interest’s political ideology over other traits. “We should have been able to be more selective or pickier all along,” one woman told KPBS’ Amita Sharma.
- A 19-year-old San Diego State University student was one of the many people injured in New Orleans’ French Quarter on Wednesday after a man drove his truck onto a sidewalk. (CBS 8)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, MacKenzie Elmer and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.