Chula Vista Mayor John McCann says he is divesting himself from a real estate company he co-owns with his wife after Voice of San Diego asked about the firm’s apparent preparations to sell real estate in a $1 billion bayfront luxury condominium project McCann helped to promote as mayor.
Coronado Shores Co., the real estate and property management firm McCann co-owns with his wife, Myllissa, filed paperwork with the county recorder’s office in 2018 and 2023 to do business under the name of Amara Bay Real Estate and Amara Bay Property Management.
Amara Bay is a $1 billion condominium, office and hotel development currently under construction on the Chula Vista bayfront. The project, next door to the just opened Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center, is a linchpin of the city’s bayfront redevelopment plan – a plan McCann has helped to shepherd and promote during his two decades in city leadership.
When Voice of San Diego asked McCann about his real estate company’s apparent effort to do business under the Amara Bay name, McCann said, “I do not run the day-to-day operations for the Coronado Shores Company and have divested my ownership in the company.”
McCann listed Coronado Shores Co. as a primary source of income on his most recent political disclosure form.
McCann directed further questions to his wife, Myllissa. Myllissa McCann did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Grand Jury Takes on San Diego Unified Bond Program
San Diego Unified has been on a bond measure roll for nearly two decades. Voters have approved $11.6 billion in bond measures dating back to 2008, despite the district having at times spent those funds in some eyebrow-raising ways.
But in a recent report, San Diego County’s grand jury does some eyebrow-raising of its own about the district’s bond program.
The grand jury found that the district hasn’t been entirely clear with voters in a number of ways. San Diego Unified’s ballot summaries, for example, have included vague language that “obscured the fact that property tax rate increases are cumulative.” Those summaries have also at times failed to list just how much debt the district was accruing.
The grand jury also scrutinized a lack of specificity in recent bond measures and the district’s habit of using the same language on measure after measure.
North County Report: Homelessness Dips Slightly Across North County
New data was released this week from the annual point-in-time count, a one-day census overseen by The Regional Task Force on Homelessness, showing a decline in homelessness countywide.
Every North County city saw decreases in their unsheltered homeless populations except Poway and Fallbrook. Still, when combining both sheltered and unsheltered numbers, North County saw overall a less than 1 percent decrease in homelessness.
Our Tigist Layne breaks down how each North County city fared in the latest count and what it may reveal about the region’s approach to homelessness.
Read the North County Report here.
For Some Footnote 7 Repeal Not Enough
When the San Diego City Council repealed Footnote 7 some residents of southeastern San Diego thought it would put a halt to some large developments that are in works in their neighborhood.
It did not, reports Alina Ajaz, our recent intern.
Footnote 7 created a smaller minimum lot size in some parts of southeastern San Diego that would make it easier to build denser housing. But because it only applied to certain neighborhoods, the council repealed it.
Some residents are angry that hasn’t stopped some larger developments that were already in the works.
As Ajaz reports: “If [a building] application is submitted and marked complete before zoning laws change, the city must review it under the previous standards.”
Bee Beef
Our social channels are buzzing this week with the launch of Voice’s new video series on San Diego ecology: “A Root Awakening.”
Voice contributor Oliver Violet kicked things off with a wellness check on the native bee populations. And, well, they’re not doing so great.
Human induced-factors such as pesticide use and sprawling development have threatened the region’s natural order — forcing various bee species to fight each other for limited resources.
Hop on over to Instagram or TikTok to learn more about this budding bee beef, and what you can do to help them.
In Other News
- San Diego’s home sales aren’t looking so hot. Read more here. (Union-Tribune)
- The area around Balboa Park’s Botanical Building is going to get new landscaping. (Union-Tribune)
- A woman working as a student support aide at Mar Vista High was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a student. (Fox 5)
The Morning Report was written by Jim Hinch, Will Huntsberry and Tigist Layne. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.