In a new Q&A, Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre lays out her vision for how she would govern on the County Board of Supervisors. Aguirre, along with several others, has said she plans to run for the seat being vacated by Nora Vargas — assuming the sitting supervisors decide to hold a special election.
Reporter Jim Hinch talked to Aguirre about everything from the Tijuana sewage crisis to homelessness and policing.
When it comes to public safety: “Well, I don’t think over-policing is ever the solution to anything,” Aguirre said.
At the same time, however, Aguirre also revealed that she voted for Prop 36 in November, which stiffened penalties for some drug crimes and theft.
On building: “I’ve said this very publicly, you cannot just take this ‘build, baby build’ approach and build market-rate housing everywhere. We have the highest percent of households that are overburdened in District 1. So, obviously, this trickle-down housing economics approach that some folks are in favor of isn’t working.”
On cost of living: “Here locally, we have been feeling very, very disenfranchised and almost borderline criminally neglected. There is a deep sense of frustration, of working hard every day, trying to put food on the table, trying to keep your kids in school, trying to get them to do well, having to work two or up to three jobs just to keep a roof over your head.”
The Learning Curve: San Diego Unified’s Wish List
Just before Christmas, San Diego Unified sent a wish list to their version of Santa: Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In his latest Learning Curve, reporter Jakob McWhinney runs down exactly what San Diego Unified is hoping for in the new budget year. San Diego Unified’s wishes include a change in funding formulas, lower transitional kindergarten class sizes and a (perhaps symbolic) ask to protect immigrant families from the incoming Trump administration.
Newsom has previewed his budget for next year which includes a “modest surplus,” McWhinney writes.
EPA Rejects Tijuana River As Potential Superfund Site
The United States’ top environment cops said Wednesday the Tijuana River Valley isn’t dirty enough to deem it a Superfund site.
Past water and soil quality samples reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency didn’t show levels of contamination that warranted further investigation, wrote Mike Montgomery, the EPA’s Superfund program director for the southwest region, to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer criticized the EPA at the board’s land use meeting for only looking at past studies and failing to do any new sampling in the region.
“I don’t think this is done,” Lawson-Remer said, before voting with the other three members of the board to accept the EPA’s determination with no further action.
Lawson-Remer petitioned the EPA back in October to look into whether the valley qualified for Superfund status, which could trigger state and federal funds to do an emergency clean up. That’s something the mayor of Imperial Beach, a city that daily deals with the impacts of the cross-border pollution from Mexico via the Tijuana River, first asked President Joe Biden’s administration to look into.
Ex-chair of the board, Nora Vargas, fought off a vote to pursue a Superfund site in South Bay citing concerns it could affect property values, business and the creation of a regional park, one of her pet projects. But in a shocking twist of events, Vargas vacated her seat shortly before she was to carry out her second term.
Paloma Aguirre, Imperial Beach mayor, is now running for Vargas’ seat against a growing list of other challengers. She urged the board to continue its pursuit of Superfund designation Wednesday during public comment.
“Who is going to protect the children, the immune-compromised that are every day reporting an array of illnesses,” Aguirre said.
In Other News
- The race is years away, but already candidates are lining up for a chance to be San Diego’s next mayor. U.S. Rep. Scott Peters and City Councilmember Raul Campillo are both “seriously considering” a run in 2028, the Union-Tribune reports.
- A former San Diego police detective is suing the city for discrimination and retaliation. Allyson Ford alleges that the San Diego Police Department failed to properly investigate abuse she reported against her then-husband, an SDPD sergeant, and she also details sexual harassment by many officers. (KPBS)
- San Diego Unified informed families of a data breach that resulted in some student data being downloaded from an information system the district uses. (NBC 7)
- Thousands of San Diegans could experience power shut offs from San Diego Gas & Electric this week. The shut offs are done to reduce wildfire risk. The power company has set up resource centers for communities affected. (Times of San Diego) Related: Given the devastating fires in Los Angeles, local fire officials have sent crews to help, but they are preserving some resources should a fire spark in San Diego. Weather experts have warned that the region will see a second wave of Santa Ana winds. (LA Times, Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry, MacKenzie Elmer and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.