A story that began with aggressive Democratic political tactics has now ended with a weakened Democratic majority on the Chula Vista Elementary School District board.
Last summer, one of the board trustees made an astounding decision. With two years remaining in his term, Francisco Tamayo decided to try to unseat one of his fellow board members, with whom he’d had friction.
Tamayo successfully defeated Kate Bishop. This then gave he and other Democrats the power to appoint someone else to the seat he would have to resign — or so it seemed. Instead, they ended up having to kowtow to the district’s (at the time) lone Republican.
As our Jim Hinch writes: “Because of a quirk in the rules governing board appointments, Tamayo and [another board member] ended up being forced to appoint a Republican to the board. What was once a stable 4-1 Democratic majority, has now become an unpredictable 3-2 majority.”
Hinch’s story is by turns hilarious and (at least for Democrats) infuriating.
Tamayo and another Democratic board member, Lucy Ugarte, now face a possible censure vote from the San Diego County Democratic Party.
“They’re putting their own personal vendetta over the students they were elected to serve,” one Democratic official said. “Neither Francisco or Lucy should ever be eligible for an endorsement from our party again.”
You definitely want to give this story a full read here.
Metrics for Days, Baby
A Parent’s Guide to San Diego Schools is back! Voice of San Diego publishes the guide annually and this year we’ve created two new metrics to help you understand the region’s schools.
This year, we’ve got two (two and a half?) new ones. One metric evaluates each schools’ offerings when it comes to Career and Technical Education. That doesn’t mean the same thing it used to. We’re not just talking plumbing and HVAC anymore, but biotechnology and graphic design.
The metric is complex and evaluates how many programs a school offers, plus how much students might make in a given field, as well as other factors. Most schools in San Diego County scored decently well.
Covid Recovery: Students suffered massive setbacks during the pandemic, as has been widely reported. Our Covid metric takes a look at whether or not schools have improved since Covid forced kids out of the classroom.
Our Jakob McWhinney took this metric one step further. He did look at which schools were performing better in both math and English tests than before the pandemic. The results: Only 13 percent of schools.)
What You Need to Know About After-School Care
We often hear how difficult it is for families to find after-school care. These programs fill really fast and have long waitlists.
For this year’s schools guide, we provided a list of the top five things you need to know about after-school care in San Diego. Read the full story here.
Want more? We’re hosting a workshop on the guide on Sunday, Feb. 23, at the Mission Valley Library at 1 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Our reporters will review the data in the guide and answer your questions. RSVP here.
Democrats Back IB Mayor in Supe Race
The San Diego County Democratic Party late Tuesday weighed in on the race to fill a vacant South County seat on the Board of Supervisors, voting unanimously to back Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre.
The endorsement aligns the party with the most progressive candidate in the race. Aguirre, who has made a name for herself battling to end an ongoing sewage crisis in the Tijuana River, also has won the backing of numerous local labor unions and some key elected officials.
The endorsement gives her a major boost in what is shaping up to be a three-way race between Democrats to make it through an April 8 primary before facing Republican Chula Vista Mayor John McCann in the July 1 general election. Democrats outnumber Republicans more than two to one in supervisorial District 1, and the party’s endorsement likely will unlock major sources of campaign funding and support.
Aguirre’s two main Democratic rivals in the primary race are Chula Vista City Councilmember Carolina Chavez and San Diego City Councilmember Vivian Moreno.
“I’m honored to be the clear choice for Democrats and working people,” Aguirre said in a statement.
In Other News
- Why it Matters: Our Scott Lewis joined KPBS to explain the impact that Proposition 36 has had since voters approved it in November. About 115 people are in jail that wouldn’t have been had the law not passed. Watch here.
- The San Diego Reader has ditched its print edition and is now only online. The Union-Tribune spoke to the alt weekly’s founder about the change.
- A former Lemon Grove council member was cited for disrupting a City Council meeting this week.
- Times of San Diego reports that legal service providers were directed Wednesday to stop providing legal services to unaccompanied children.
- Padres CEO Erik Greupner said the team is not for sale and that there are no plans to relocate the team. He was responding to some allegations made in a lawsuit filed by Sheel Seidler, widow of former owner Peter Seider. (CBS 8)
The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.