Acting San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer turned an annual county address long packed with reviews of bipartisan investments and plans for county government into a progressive rallying cry.
Lawson-Remer laid out what she deemed San Diego County’s “local battle plan” to fight the Trump administration in a Wednesday night speech at the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.
“Even if Washington is abandoning its responsibilities, we – together – can still fulfill America’s promise – San Diego County’s promise,” Lawson-Remer said. “It’s our choice. We can wait. Or we can lead. San Diego County, let’s lead.”
Among her proposals: reform a long-controversial (and fiscally conservative) county reserve policy, raise revenues (likely via a tax hike), create a county-run Medicare plan and institute a transfer fee on the region’s most lucrative real estate transactions.
What went unmentioned Wednesday night: Successfully pursuing this battle plan will likely require a third Democratic vote on the Board of Supervisors which has been split 2-2 since former South Bay supervisor Nora Vargas abruptly resigned. The split has stymied major board initiatives. Lawson-Remer is hoping to welcome Democratic Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre to the county board rather than Republican Chula Vista Mayor John McCann. A runoff election is set for July 1.
Who wasn’t there: Republican Supervisors Jim Desmond and Joel Anderson weren’t in attendance.
Spencer Katz, a spokesperson for Lawson-Remer, said both were invited but that county counsel alerted the board that their attendance would translate into a Brown Act violation if the entire board came to the speech.
Read more about Lawson-Remer’s proposals here.
Ex-County Bureaucrat Sues County, Lawson-Remer
Former county bureaucrat Michael Vu has sued the county, Lawson-Remer and former Supervisor Nora Vargas over allegations that he was passed over for a promotion to the county’s top unelected role, the Union-Tribune reports. Vu claims Lawson-Remer also secretly tried to cut a deal to support a promotion for Vu if he agreed to appoint her favored candidate as his No. 2 and that Vargas said he didn’t have the right racial background to serve as the county’s chief administrative officer.
In response to their statements denying those allegations, Vu is also accusing Lawson-Remer and Vargas of defamation.
In response to Vu’s lawsuit, county spokesperson Tammy Glenn wrote that the county is committed to “a workplace free from discrimination and retaliation.”
“We take all allegations of workplace misconduct seriously,” Glenn wrote. “The county will address the allegations of Mr. Vu’s complaint in court.”
Lawson-Remer declined to comment on Vu’s suit on Wednesday and Vargas could not be reached for comment.
Those lawsuit and new defamation allegations followed our Lisa Halverstadt’s scoop last October that Vu, who for years served as the county’s registrar of voters before being promoted to assistant chief administrative officer in 2021, had filed an explosive claim against the county that roped in two elected officials and the county’s retired top bureaucrat.
The ABCs of Community College Financial Aid Fraud
Earlier this week, we published a story about bot students, a uniquely modern threat to community colleges. The phrase refers to the growing crisis of fraudsters infiltrating community colleges – often using large rings of fake students – to swindle financial aid. In California alone, tens of millions have been stolen in recent years
Education reporter Jakob McWhinney got some additional questions from readers about how exactly fraudsters manage to pull it off: Do they invent identities? How do they physically get the money? Do they stick around at certain community colleges semester after semester?
McWhinney spoke with Victor DeVore, the dean of student services at the San Diego Community College District to get some answers.
The Learning Curve: Eliminating Head Start?
USA Today reported last week that the Trump administration is considering fully eliminating Head Start — a federal program started in 1965 to provide people living in poverty with free pre-school (and other wrap-around benefits) until the age of five.
In 2023, the program had enough money to serve 778,420 children. The benefits of pre-school are massive in the life of families with limited resources.
Our Jakob McWhinney spoke to a parent who said unequivocally: If Head Start ends, she’ll have to quit her job. That’s the only way she’d be able to look after her children.
Trump actually increased funding to Head Start during his first term. It’s unclear why he’s considering flipping his position. Eliminating Head Start, however, was listed as a goal in Project 2025.
In Other News
- The San Diego City Council on Tuesday approved a ban that prevents landlords from using software that pulls together rent rates and renter information to guide how they price their units. (Axios San Diego)
- Voice of San Diego is among the four news outlets that will benefit from a $2 million investment from the Prebys Foundation. We will receive $300,000 over two years. Our Scott Lewis spoke to the Union-Tribune about the donation. Read more here.
- A San Diego woman is suing the Trump administration over a new reporting requirement on money services businesses in certain ZIP codes. The new rules would force such businesses to report all transactions of $200 and over, which according to the government would help fight money laundering. The woman argues that would impact her business not only because it’s time consuming, but also by scaring away customers, especially those without legal authorization to live in the United States. (Union-Tribune)
- Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget would cut 20 percent of city funding to the San Diego Humane Society. Humane Society officials said the cuts would have a “devastating” impact on animal control services. (FOX 5 & KUSI)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, Will Huntsberry and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.