National City’s mayoral contest just blew wide open.
Mayor Ron Morrison announced last weekend he did not plan to run for re-election. This marks the end of an era for the South County city.
Our talented Jim Hinch wrote a profile on the city’s longtime politician. If you missed it, you can read it here. It’s a fascinating piece on Morrison’s three decades in politics.
It’s important to note that National City is struggling. As Jim reported, it’s headed toward insolvency. The candidates who face off to replace Morrison will feel the pressure to come up with solutions. Councilmembers Jose Rodriguez and Marcus Bush already announced, as well as two other individuals. It’s going to be a bloody race.
I chatted with Jim about the news and what he expects for the mayor’s race. Here’s our conversation, edited for length and clarity.
Chismeando with Jim
Andrea: Last week, I was eavesdropping on your phone call, and I heard you say, “So what are you going to do in retirement?” I guessed who you were talking to. How shocked were you by Morrison’s retirement announcement?
Jim: I was pretty surprised. Until last weekend, Morrison was acting like a man who intended to stay in politics. He has a bitter rivalry with City Councilmember Jose Rodriguez, and I figured he’d run just to make sure Rodriguez did not become mayor. In the end, he decided it was time to bow out. He’s 76. As he said to me, “No one is irreplaceable, and I’m replaceable.”
Andrea: You had something in your story about how he would have loved to leave the city on good terms. He’s clearly not. Do you think residents blame him for the troubles?
Jim: Some do, some don’t. Mostly, I think residents blame the City Council more than the mayor. They’ve known Morrison a long time. He’s been pretty consistent as a fiscal conservative. He opposed or warned against many of the spending decisions that got the city in a financial jam. At the same time, critics say Morrison failed to tamp down chaos at City Hall or think creatively about growing National City’s economy. Those problems also have hurt the city.
Andrea: Now that he’s out this sets up a really interesting battle between two councilmembers who used to be friends. What do you expect we’ll see from this race?
Jim: Unless the candidates’ better angels intercede, I think the race could get bitter. Politics are personal in National City. Everyone knows everyone, and the two main candidates (Marcus Bush and Jose Rodriguez) already have traded personal attacks at City Council meetings. I’d be surprised if those personal feelings don’t make their way into the race.
If you’d like to hear more from Jim, join us on Aug. 27 for our Meet the Beat: South County. Jim and I will discuss his latest stories and everything else in between. Click here for more details and to RSVP.
A Lot of Subs
‘We have a sub this week!’ Those are words famously spoken by every student who knows it’s going to be a chill week because their teacher is out.
But what happens when you have a substitute teacher for more than half of the school year? And what happens when those classrooms are filled with children who need the most help?
Education reporter Jakob McWhinney revealed that at more than two dozen schools in San Diego Unified, students with disabilities were spending most of the year with a sub. Parents spoke to Jakob about how that was impacting their children’s learning. One mom told Jakob she watched as the progress her child had made slowly disappeared.
School district officials say this is a result of schools serving more disabled students, coupled with a lack of special education teachers.
Jakob dug into the data and also found that some of the substitutes staffing the classrooms don’t have the necessary credentials to work with this population.
One expert described what the schools are doing as just putting bodies inside classrooms.
This Week’s Obsession
They got him!
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday that a teen admitted to kicking and chasing a sea lion in La Jolla, as seen in a now viral video.
Tyler Muehl, 18, faces a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. He has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Oct. 20. Muehl is a La Jolla resident, according to prosecutors.
If you missed it, the video of him kicking the sea lion is really disturbing, especially when the animal tries to get away, Muehl chases and kicks it again.
I’m curious what punishment he will actually face, but the press release had an interesting quote from U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon, “Federal crime. Federal consequences.” We’ll see, I guess.
Meanwhile: NBC 7 had a story about another teen who was misidentified as the perp and had to deal with a lot of online threats and hate. Don’t mess with sea lions.
More Chisme to Start Your Week
- The county of San Diego automatically deletes emails after two years. That could be a problem for the criminal case against a former county contractor. Lisa Halverstadt has the deets here.
- Jim Hinch is following the races in South County. Here’s a quick recap of the open seats in National City, Imperial Beach and Chula Vista.
- A housing project in Del Mar continues to stir up a lot of buzz. Our intern Fiona Bork looked at the site developers want to build on and asked: Is there enough cliff to support any housing? Read the story here.