The California Teachers Association has officially endorsed San Diego Unified Trustee Richard Barrera’s campaign for state superintendent. The support of the state’s largest teachers union instantly transforms what was something of a dark horse campaign into a leading contender for the statewide office.
But why did the 310,000-member union choose the longtime board member over a field of more high-profile candidates?
Over his 17-year tenure as a San Diego Unified trustee, Barrera has established himself as the ideological pillar of San Diego Unified’s board. And for nearly two decades, he has used that influence to help turn the district into a laboratory for progressive and union-friendly policy.
Fellow board member Cody Petterson put it succinctly: “To my mind, this is an acknowledgement by CTA that San Diego Unified is the model of how to run a district with organized labor as a copilot.”
San Diego Unified Goes Big on Educator Workforce Housing
San Diego Unified’s board on Monday night voted to advance a proposal to build 1,500 units of affordable educator workforce housing at its University Heights headquarters.
The much-awaited vote was the culmination of more than a year of planning and preparation. It’s also part of a slow, but growing, movement to build affordable housing for school district employees on district-owned land across California to combat the state’s ongoing housing crisis.
The board’s final choice for the University Heights property, and for a second site that was up for a vote on Monday, represent the single largest affordable education workforce housing portfolio in California. The almost 1,700 units proposed at the two sites would also nearly double the number units that have been built on school land throughout the rest of the state.
The votes are not a final approval, however. They will simply advance the chosen projects to negotiations over details important to district trustees. Board members were optimistic that the process would add value to the projects.
“I think we’ve got a great project and I think we’re going to make it better,” Board President Richard Barrera said. “It’s going to be as ambitious as we could get for one project to provide a solution to affordability for our employees. So I feel actually quite proud of what our board is doing tonight.”
Power Moves
Eric Washington, San Diego Community Power’s chief financial officer and deputy CEO, announced his resignation on Tuesday.
He began working with the nonprofit, government-run renewable power provider in May of 2021, just a few months after San Diego Community Power began delivering energy.
What Happened After Immigration Officials Killed a Man in San Ysidro
For almost a decade, reporter Kate Morrissey has followed the case of a man who died after immigration officials forced him to the ground, beat and shot him with a Taser at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. His name was Anastasio Hernández Rojas.
After immigration officials killed another man on Saturday in Minneapolis, Morrissey looks back at the case she has followed in San Diego. She also highlights a new HBO documentary that revisits the case and sheds light on what officials did to prevent local law enforcement from investigating the case.
Spoiler alert: Morrissey highlights some of the most interesting revelations from the film in the latest Border Report newsletter. Read more here.
In Other News
- Thousands of Kaiser Permanente health care workers went on strike on Monday amid stalled contract negotiations and charges of unfair labor practices. As it stands, the strike has no projected end date. (City News Service)
- Despite being torn down in 2021, San Diego taxpayers are still on the hook for $11.5 million in bond payments for Qualcomm Stadium. The remainder of the 1997-loan is set to be paid off in 2027. (The Daily Aztec)
- Staff with the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District have distributed more than 10,000 air purifiers to combat the impact of stench from the Tijuana River to South Bay residents in less than a year. (City News Service)
- A study by the real estate marketplace Zillow estimates that by the end of the year, San Diegans will be spending nearly 13 percent less of their household income on their mortgage than they were two years ago. Don’t get too excited. The report estimates San Diegans will still be paying more than 56 percent of their income on their mortgages. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney and MacKenzie Elmer. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.