Mayor Todd Gloria and Councilmember Raul Campillo’s proposal to raise the city of San Diego’s sales tax by a full cent got a big thumbs up on Wednesday.
What is it? The proposed 1-cent tax hike would bring the city’s sales tax to 8.75 percent. It’s a general tax increase without explicit promises of where the money could go, but officials have said it’s key to tackling the city’s financial problems. The city is facing a $167 million budget deficit.
The proposal still has a long way to go, but it’s one step closer now that the City Council’s Rules Committee on Wednesday voted to support it and move it to the full City Council for placement on the ballot. The Union-Tribune has more on next steps.
Not everyone is a fan: The San Diego County Taxpayers Association has made it clear that they will oppose the measure if it doesn’t include a date for when the hike will expire.
Remember: This is a general tax increase, so it only needs a simple majority to pass if it makes it on the November ballot. Meanwhile, we’re keeping an eye on statewide propositions that could rock San Diego’s tax hike dreams. Read more about the big props to watch here.
That Law Messing with Political Campaigns Is Even Bigger
This one’s for all our politics nerds.
For the last year, we have been covering the impacts of SB 1439, the state law that requires elected officials to recuse themselves from votes that could impact the interests of anyone who gave them more than $250 in campaign contributions.
Here’s an example: If a developer contributed $500 to a City Councilmember’s re-election campaign, and that developer’s project came up for a vote, the City Councilmember could not vote on the item. Or, they would have to return the money within a month of learning the vote was coming to them.
It has had a major impact on political campaigns in San Diego and across the state.
The news: The city of San Diego’s Ethics Commission has now concluded that the law not only applies to contributions to the candidates for their races for city offices but also for their campaigns for Central Committees for political parties.
Several candidates ran for both their offices and Central Committee seats. They raised money for those party seats and may have thought it was separate and could accept donations that the other campaign would avoid. Nope, says the Ethics Commission.
The Ethics Commission provided its own example:
“Stated differently, if a Councilmember received a $300 contribution from Person X to a committee established to support that Councilmember’s run for a Central Committee seat, and within 12 months Person X appeared before the City Council regarding a proceeding involving a license, permit, or other entitlement for use, that Councilmember could not participate in that proceeding.”
And there’s more: “Additionally, donations made to any committee connected to an elected official will likely be aggregated for the Levine Act analysis. In this hypothetical, if Person X donated $150 to the committee established for the Councilmember’s Central Committee seat, and a separate $150 to the Councilmember’s reelection campaign for the Council seat, that Councilmember also could not participate in a proceeding involving Person X.”
The Learning Curve: The Principal Behind Edison’s Turnaround
Over the last 13 years, Voice of San Diego has written about Edison Elementary School at least three different times. The first time, we documented teachers trying to turn the school around amidst the high-pressure atmosphere of No Child Left Behind. The second time, we found the school excelling at an impressive level. And most recently, reporter Jakob McWhinney found the school is outperforming every other school in San Diego County on our income vs test score metric.
“Turnaround” stories can be a sensitive issue in education circles. Our schools are all doing great already, some education leaders argue. But what happened at Edison was undoubtedly a turnaround. In 2007, the school was found to be one of the lowest-performing in the county. By 2012, Edison had a new principal and its test scores had improved by roughly 40 percent.
McWhinney spoke to that principal Tavga Bustani about how she did it. Leadership was part of the equation, yes. But teacher buy-in and an educator-driven approach were also critical, Bustani said.
Read more about how she led Edison to such great heights in the Learning Curve.
San O Surf Beach to Reopen Post Rain Closure
A combination of winter rains and extra-high tides washed out the access road to San Onofre State Beach earlier this year. It reduced beach access by more than half.
Our North County reporter Tigist Layne found out Wednesday that state park officials plan to reopen full beach access by the end of next week.
Repairs will begin next Monday and will be completed by Friday, March 29, said Steve Long, founder of the San Onofre Parks Foundation.
Elsewhere in San Diego: Bluff landslides closed a popular Encinitas beach access point at Beacons in January, NBC 7 reported. Of course, Oceanside’s main beach called The Strand absolutely disappears during long periods in wintertime as it did again this year.
Call to readers: Has your favorite beach access point been lost to erosion? We want to know. Email our environment reporter MacKenzie Elmer at mackenzie@voiceosandiego.org.
In Other News
- The Associated Press declared that statewide Proposition 1 passed late Wednesday, two weeks after Election Day. Our Lisa Halverstadt previously wrote about what the behavioral health reform and bond measure could mean for San Diego County.
- An explosive new lawsuit completely throws into question the story of top MTS officials, who said they were not aware of sexual harassment allegations against former county supervisor Nathan Fletcher. A former employee who filed the lawsuit said MTS officials knew about the allegations at least two months earlier than they claimed. She also said she was retaliated against for refusing to hide certain facts related to the allegations and hack into email accounts. (CBS 8)
- KPBS released an in-depth series on the childcare crisis. The series examines multiple aspects of childcare: infant care, what it’s like to nearly qualify for subsidies, special education and more.
The Morning Report was written by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, Scott Lewis, Will Huntsberry, MacKenzie Elmer, Tigist Layne and Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.