Airbnb spent more than $672,000 to help keep a tax on vacation rentals Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera proposed off the ballot early this year. All of that spending in just four months. It was roughly a quarter of all expenditure lobbying spending reported in the city of San Diego since 2019.
Our Naomi Granata dug into how what we know about how that money spread in San Diego politics.
But much of that spending was not visible until after the San Diego City Council Rules Committee decided not to move forward with the tax. That has prompted Elo-Rivera to propose changing the city’s lobbying rules to require faster and more detailed disclosure of spending.
Sacramento Report: A Round of San Diego Lawmakers’ Performance
San Diego’s Assemblymembers are headed home after their regular legislative session.
But how did they do?
Our Sacramento Reporter, Nadia Lathan, writes Assemblymembers and Democrats David Alvarez and Chris Ward continued their pace of bills passed. Ward, who represents San Diego and El Cajon, cleared a total of nine bills while Alvarez, who represents Chula Vista, cleared 10 bills.
Alvarez continued his streak of “no votes recorded” or NVRs, an action commonly used by Democrats to oppose a colleague’s bill without doing so directly.
Midway Rising also got lawmakers Final OK, but it wasn’t without some pushback from Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio and another Democratic Assemblymember who cited environmental concerns.
Read the Sacramento Report here.
Lemon Grove Mayor In, Two Longtime Leaders Soon Out at County
In: Lemon Grove Mayor Alysson Snow has a new gig as a county lawyer. Starting Friday, the veteran lawyer began leading the county’s new Consumer Fairness and Public Protection unit in the County Counsel’s Office. The new effort pushed by Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer is designed to protect consumers and businesses from predatory and harmful practices. County spokesperson Tammy Glenn said Snow’s annual salary will be $311,210. As Lemon Grove mayor, Snow also makes $1,405 a month.
Soon out: The top unelected official overseeing public safety in county government announced last week he’ll be departing that role Oct. 1. Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Andrew Strong previously served as the first director of the county’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice among other roles during his more than 18 years at the county. Strong’s departure comes as the county grapples with increased costs and bookings associated with state criminal justice reform measure Proposition 36 and big challenges facing its probation department. Glenn said the county “will begin the transition process to fill the position.”
In and out: The county announced late last month that veteran bureaucrat Jennifer Bransford-Koons had taken over as interim behavioral health services director following the abrupt departure of former director Nadia Privara. Another county official revealed at a Thursday Behavioral Health Advisory Board meeting that Bransford-Koons is set to retire at the end of October, spurring concerns from board members. The advisory board’s chair now plans to convene a working group to ensure it has a say in the selection of the next director.
In a statement, Glenn said the county is working on a transition plan to “ensure all services continue without disruption as the hiring process for the new leader is conducted” and confirmed the advisory board will “have a role in the process” of selecting a permanent director.
VOSD Podcast: We Got a Border Sewage Plan
The podcast crew spent weeks talking about how proponents of Measure B, the countrywide sales tax hike, were promising to solve the Tijuana River sewage crisis. But there was no public plan for how that was going to happen.
Now, there is. As our MacKenzie Elmer reported, San Diego County Supervisors Paloma Aguirre and Terra-Lawson Remer think the county, and the county taxpayer, should collect and treat the entire river.
Related: The county had some unfortunate news for Labor Day visitors to Coronado. “The water contact closure previously in place for the Tijuana Slough, Imperial Beach, and Silver Strand Shorelines is being extended to include the Coronado shoreline through North Beach.”
Also on the pod: Two bills we were following related to the Midway Rising projects made it to the governor’s desk. And, a scandal involving a former sheriff’s deputy with a history of assaulting women blew up days after our Jakob McWhinney revealed his new job as a chaplain.
Lastly, we discussed the new developments related to the Islamic Center shooting and the breakdown of the Muslim community’s relationship with City Hall.
Listen to the full episode here.
Politics Report: The El Cajon Drama Du Jour
Ben Kalasho. Remember him? He has an ongoing lawsuit against the city of El Cajon that may be more than an inconvenience for Mayor Bill Wells. Wells for his part took the Don Draper approach: I don’t think about him at all.
Members can read the Politics Report here.
In Other News
- Now we know where to avoid parking. inewsource revealed the 100 worst places to park in San Diego. The top areas for citations include Mission Bay – where we’ve reported many people live in their cars – and the East Village. (inewsource)
- The 48th Congressional District race is heating up. A new poll shows Democrat and current City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert is narrowly leading Republican County Supervisor Jim Desmond in a race that could help Democrats take control of Congress. (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego city planners want to boost the number of homes in Mid-City but some residents aren’t happy. City leaders in City Heights championed the investment the plan could bring to the neighborhood, while residents in other neighborhoods, like Talmadge, said the plan does not create enough park space and libraries. (Union-Tribune)
- The San Diego DA will not charge the officer who fatally shot 16-year-old Konoa Wilson in 2025 despite body-camera footage showing Wilson did not appear to point a weapon or threaten the officer. (Fox 5)
- Finally, you might have heard about the new documentary coming out about Elizabeth Holmes, who is serving a prison sentence for defrauding investors when she ran her company Theranos. A new film about her made a surprise debut at Telluride and it has a big San Diego hook.
- The connection: Holmes’ partner is Billy Evans, the son of San Diego hotelier Bill Evans (think the Catamaran and Lodge at Torrey Pines). As The New York Times reports, Billy Evans and Holmes are planning to launch a new and improved Theranos.
- But the documentary itself may be a big deal: It chronicles the days before she reported to prison and the crew she let in to film her was led by absurdist comedian Nathan Fielder and documentary director Lance Oppenheim. “That decision turned into a three-year odyssey for the filmmakers and a three-hour documentary called ‘You Can See Everything’ that may upend the documentary genre itself,” the Times wrote.
The Morning Report was written by Mariana Martínez Barba and Naomi Granata. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.
