With fewer than two months left in the exclusive negotiating agreement between the city of San Diego and the Midway Rising development team, the City Council will begin discussing the actual deal staff has hashed out.
The Land Use and Housing Committee will consider the proposed lease and details of the deal at a special meeting Friday, Oct. 16.
Friday, city staff released its report on the proposal, which you can read here. The city claims it will be the largest affordable housing project in the state of California.
The U-T has an early story on the deal, focusing on the finances. The city is forgoing significant rental payments on the property in exchange for the affordable housing, parks and infrastructure investments. However, over time it will share in the rental income of the market-rate housing and, after 10 years, it will take a small share of the tickets sold at the new arena.
Tax-increment is back: The report also provides the first details from the ongoing negotiations about the Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District, or EIFD. In short, the city and county would agree to forego future increases in property tax collections in the area and the money would go to the developer. Midway Rising is putting in $400 million for infrastructure and hoping to recoup 28 percent of that through this financing.
Still to come: The Council insisted its independent budget analyst, Charles Modica, be part of the city’s negotiating team. His report is expected Monday. We will have more on that and the deal in coming days.
SDPD Is Exploring Using AI
The San Diego Police Department is looking for a vendor that sells AI tools to help police officers write reports. In December, the department issued a ban on officers using AI programs that weren’t first OK’d by the department. At the time, there weren’t any. And a new state law required police departments to develop policies that regulate its use.
So now, the department is formally exploring such an AI program, our Jakob McWhinney reports. The department issued a “request for information” seeking to fulfill a contract worth up to $3 million.
A department spokesperson emphasized that that the department is just in an “exploration phase” and that should they choose to pursue AI-assisted police report programs, they would conduct outreach to elected officials and community members.
AI in law enforcement has triggered controversy elsewhere for bungling tasks that lead to real-life consequences for individuals, particularly when it comes to facial recognition software.
“The problem isn’t just that they’ll use it, it’s the assumption that the technology is less biased and more correct than human beings,” said Khalid Alexander, president of Pillars of the Community, an organization that supports San Diegans impacted by law enforcement.
Weird Del Mar Meeting Still Weird; DA Declines to Charge
You may remember a strange story in August, when the Del Mar City Council called an emergency meeting for the sole purpose of discussing a letter they supposedly received and requesting a criminal investigation because of it. The councilmembers ended up voting on a resolution to request a criminal investigation into California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 22nd District Agricultural Board Member Mark Arabo.
They argued the two seemed to have some kind of conflict with an affordable housing development in another part of Del Mar. The idea was they were so supportive of the other development they would resist Del Mar’s plan to put affordable housing at the Fairgrounds instead.
Now we have the DA’s response: She’s wondering what they’re smoking. District Attorney Summer Stephan wrote in a letter she would not be prosecuting the case.
“Despite several efforts, we have not been able to confirm the complaining party’s identity or legitimacy as a complaint,” she wrote. “Nothing in this matter suggests that the performance of Rob Bonta’s duties is connected in any way with contributions to his political campaign.”
And this kicker: “As an aside, we wanted to convey that the way this complaint was referred was very irregular, especially with the media publicity surrounding its submission,” she wrote.
Dem Vying for Desmond’s Seat Wants Change to VMT
During the Politifest 2026 debate to fill Supervisor Jim Desmond’s seat, Democrat Kyle Krahel said it should be easier to build in the unincorporated county.
That means making changes to a climate policy called vehicle miles traveled or VMT. The state policy requires local communities to design cities that encourage less driving. The more miles a new project created residents to drive, the more developers had to do to address the greenhouse gas emissions tied to mileage.
Krahel said that state policy is why people are buying homes in Riverside County instead of San Diego County.
“Let’s be honest we have a vehicle miles traveled policy that’s supposed to reduce driving and emissions and all it’s doing is driving people to buy homes in Riverside County,” he said. “That’s not an effective vehicle miles traveled policy.”
The Big Ballot Breakdown
Long-form media fans, rejoice!
Voice of San Diego reporter Bella Ross and KPBS Public Matters reporter Jake Gotta whipped up an in-depth ballot breakdown for Youtube just in time for last week’s ballot drop.
Tune in for explainers of some of the biggest local races, featuring guest appearances with local beat reporters on elections happening in East County, South County and local school districts.
Special Mailer Museum for the Politics Report
Scott Lewis loves campaign mailers and he ran through some of the ones readers have sent in and what makes them interesting. The Politics Report is open this week here. In District 2, it’s a race for who is worse to be associated with supporting: the mayor or president.
Podcast: Best of Politifest: We ran through some clips from the debates and discussions at Politifest. You can check it out here.
California Voters Face Major Debates Over Props 40 and 39
California voters will decide on two major ballot measures this November: a tax on billionaires and new voter ID requirements. Both measures have attracted millions of dollars from wealthy donors and political groups on both sides.
Prop. 40 would create a one-time 5% tax on certain assets owned by billionaires to help pay for healthcare. Supporters say billionaires should pay more in taxes, while opponents worry they might leave California. Two other proposals, Prop. 41 and Prop. 42 would void this proposal if either receives more votes.
Prop. 39 would require voters to show a government ID when voting in person and provide ID information when voting by mail. Supporters say this would help prevent voter fraud, but opponents worry it could make voting harder for some people.
Read the Sacramento Report here.
In Other News
- Lyft will pay $272.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and several California cities, including the city attorney of San Diego. They accused the company of misclassifying drivers and paying them less than minimum wage from 2016 to 2020. (LA Mag)
- San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez has approved over 200 gun letters since 2023 allowing deputies to skip California’s 10 day waiting period to buy personal guns. Her predecessor approved only five in 2021, after a former captain went to prison for illegally selling guns. (San Diego Union Tribune)
- Oceanside and Tamarack Beach parking lot in Carlsbad got the worst of Tropical Storm Rachel’s surf surge but the storm spared San Diego the chaos it wrought in Orange County. This is the best compilation we found of the video that came out of Newport Beach and elsewhere.