Paula Whitsell is out as chair of the San Diego County Republican Party.
What went down: Whitsell sparked controversy at an April 1 meeting of the Republican Central Committee by trying to change the party’s endorsement of Andrew Hayes in the 75th Assembly District. The endorsement, Whitsell contended, was only for the primary election. Candidate Carl DeMaio, who will face Hayes in a head-to-head in November, should be the party’s new guy, Whitsell insisted.
The vote to change the endorsement failed.
Whitsell then removed former San Diego Councilmember Scott Sherman from the party’s Executive committee. Both moves sparked outcry from other members of the Central Committee. In a fiery email, Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey, also a committee member, accused Whitsell of “abusing her power as Chair to circumvent party rules.”
The news: Monday night, Central Committee members learned Whitsell was resigning her post as chair. The committee then unanimously elected former congressional candidate Corey Gustafson as its new chair.
Whitsell’s resignation put an end to any talk of shifting the endorsement to DeMaio, and the committee reaffirmed its endorsement of Hayes.
There was one big asterisk, though: The party decided it would not help Hayes raise and spend money. Candidates can often send donors to the party where they can donate more and the party can freely spend it on behalf of candidates. It is usually one of the main benefits of a party endorsement.
In other Central Committee news: The internal machinations of the Central Committees of local political parties don’t often receive much ink. This week was different. The Union-Tribune reported that big names and dollars have begun to flow into the Democratic party’s Central Committee races.
That’s likely because, as San Diego has become more Democratic, being able to control who emerges from competitive primaries into less competitive general elections is where the real action is. Local Central Committees decide on party endorsements, which can pay off big in close primaries.
So, some interest groups, like Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 89, shoveled money into the race, dropping about $400,000 on mailers and door hangers. It was an unprecedented spending spree, and it seems to have worked. Two Central Committee candidates connected to the union won seats on the committee.
A number of high-profile officials also leaped into the Central Committee world. Mayor Todd Gloria and a handful of San Diego City Council members won seats of the 41-person committee, giving them an even greater hand in the crafting of party priorities.
State Auditor: San Diego Needs to Track Homeless Spending, Outcomes
A new state audit calls for the city to do more to gauge the effectiveness of its efforts to reduce homelessness.
The State Auditor’s Office concluded in two separate audits released Tuesday that the state and the cities of San Diego and San Jose need to more consistently track spending and impacts tied to their homelessness programs.
Auditors noted that neither city could definitively track all their homelessness funding and spending in a single place and argued both should bolster their use of performance measures to evaluate how well programs they fund are working. The audit also urged San Diego to make a formal plan to deliver more permanent homes for its homeless residents.
City’s response: City Chief Operating Officer Eric Dargan wrote that the city has added positions in its homelessness department to track performance and expects to release an affordable housing master plan.
The Housing Commission, meanwhile, disputed some of the audit’s findings.
Housing Commission CEO Lisa Jones wrote that the audit “lacked the context necessary for a comprehensive assessment of the homelessness shelters and service system” and that the housing agency closely monitors programs it oversees.
Fox 5 San Diego rounded up more details on the audit’s findings and how city officials – including Mayor Todd Gloria – are responding to it.
Song of the Week
Neutral Shirt, “I Don’t Know Anything”: The first serving from Neutral Shirt’s new EP “Egg Time,” finds the band in full form, loading up on the sonic density and fuzz. It’s full of muscly grit, chorussy guitar plucks and Terrones trademark plaintive vocals. It’s also a gleeful display of both Terrones’ knack for writing catchy, compact songs and their ability to weave in angular musical left turns. At times the song gallops, at others it jogs and at still others it chugs along, satisfying a whole host of musical cravings all at once.
In short, it’s a stellar jam. Then again, I don’t know anything.
Read more about the Song of the Week here.
Like what you hear? Check out Neutral Shirt at the 61st House Ever Built on Saturday, April 13.
Do you have a “Song of the Week” suggestion? Shoot us an email and a sentence or two about why you’ve been bumping this song lately. Friendly reminder: all songs should be by local artists.
In Other News
- UC San Diego is in talks to purchase the gallery space housed in downtown’s Santa Fe Train Depot just a month after the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego packed up. (Union-Tribune)
- Long wait times to get into Mexico have become a regular occurrence, but multiple construction projects that could shorten the trip and a plan to open more crossing lanes aren’t likely to be completed soon. (Union-Tribune) Related: Border Reporter Sandra Dibble covered the consternation of commuters last year, adding that more San Diegans moving to Tijuana may also be affecting long wait times.
- Non-tenure staff at the University San Diego have taken a key step in their efforts to unionize. (Fox 5)
- Have you paid your property taxes? A deadline is coming up. (KPBS)
The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney and Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.