Poway residents are ready to kick one member of the Council to the curb.
Our Tigist Layne reports that residents have officially kicked off an effort to force a recall election to remove Councilmember Tony Blain from office. The recall effort comes after colleagues and critics accused Blain of vote trading, bribery, harassment, bullying and retaliation.
As we previously reported, the Poway City Council censured, or officially reprimanded, Blain last month after public emails revealed Blain attempting to vote trade with another councilmember.
Layne writes that dozens of emails going back several months also show Blain, who represents District 2, threatening and harassing elected officials and city staff members on multiple occasions, including City Attorney Alan Fenstermacher, who accused Blain of bullying and harassment at a Jan. 21 City Council meeting.
Politics Report: Taxpayers ‘Cash Flow Problem’
We pulled the following from the Politics Report. That’s our politics newsletter available exclusively to Voice of San Diego members. Become a member today.
It was a bit of a mystery why Haney Hong abruptly stepped down as CEO of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association this month. But it might not have been about his religious transformation or that he felt his job to transform the organization was complete, as he claimed.
It may be that they had no money to pay him. Interim CEO Rick Gentry told our Scott Lewis Friday he was not actually interim CEO as announced when Haney left the organization.
Gentry said that the initial $150,000, one-year contract he agreed to was void because the organization doesn’t have money.
“This is a cash flow issue the board is giving consideration to right now,” Gentry told me. “There was no way, given the current situation, that I could charge for services but that means there is no interim CEO.”
Read the Politics Report here.
Sacramento Report: A New University Campus for South County
For decades, South San Diego County residents have sought a four-year university campus in their region. This year, that dream takes a step closer to reality.
A novel hybrid university campus is set to open its first building and welcome its first group of students later this year in southeast Chula Vista. The so-called UniverCity at Chula Vista will offer degree and training programs from several regional institutions, including San Diego State University, the University of California, San Diego, Southwestern College and possibly California State University San Marcos.
The campus’s first group of 30 students will arrive this fall to study for a San Diego State Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. Future offerings will include other nursing degrees and possibly programs in public health, public administration, homeland security, technology and other in-demand fields.
Our Deborah Sullivan reports that much of the behind-the-scenes work to bring the innovative campus to fruition has been done by Assemblymember David Alvaraz.
“There is no four-year degree program in the South Bay,” Alvarez told Sullivan. “Chula Vista is the largest city in California without a four-year institution.”
Sullivan explains how the campus got to this point and what the future holds.
Also: Why new EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has taken a sudden interest in the Tijuana River sewage crisis.
Read the full Sacramento Report here.
In Other News
- The family of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent kidnapped and killed in Mexico in 1985 filed an anti-terrorism lawsuit last week against drug traffickers responsible for the murder. Relatives of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena filed the suit following a recent Trump Administration order classifying Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations. (Union-Tribune)
- The Coronado Bridge is one of 68 bridges nationwide in need of assessment to determine whether it could collapse if struck by a vessel, according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board. (CBS8)
- Kori Suzuki reported for KPBS that, despite city leaders’ vow to expand homeownership opportunities for lower and middle-income residents, most new homes recently built in Chula Vista were aimed at households with annual incomes of at least $143,000. “We have some work to do,” the city’s housing director told Suzuki.
- The Union-Tribune revealed that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement visited a downtown homeless shelter last week and took someone into custody.
- Correction: Friday’s Morning Report initially included an incorrect headline. Former city real estate consultant Jason Hughes maintained a real estate license as he challenged the state Department of Real Estate’s effort to remove it and now has a restricted license following a settlement with the agency.
The Morning Report was written by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and Jim Hinch. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.