A curious legislative fight has broken out in Sacramento over a package of public safety bills and an anti-crime ballot initiative would both tackle retail theft and drug offenses. Republicans say Democrats are forcing voters to choose one or the other.
On the one side: the legislation includes bills to fight addiction and discourage smash-and-grab robberies and organized retail theft. For example, one provision would allow prosecutors to add up the value of items stolen over a period of time to classify the crimes as felonies. The bills are bipartisan.
The other side: The initiative, put on the ballot by signature gatherers and their funders, largely the retail industry, covers much of the same ground. Democrats, though, say it goes further, and would roll back criminal justice reforms they value that were instituted through Proposition 47 a decade ago.
Earlier this week some Democrats floated the idea of adding language to the bills that would kill them if the ballot measure also passed. They say the conflicts between their bills and the initiative would be too much of a problem. So, if voters pass the initiative, the other reforms would be rescinded. But Republicans called those “poison pill amendments” and disparaged the Democrats for trying to hurt the initiative.
You can read more about this fight over public safety laws in this week’s Sacramento Report.
This Week’s Pod: Education and AI
This week, the Voice of San Diego podcast hosts discuss how board members who oversee the San Diego Unified School District opened up a bold new tech frontier — allowing teachers to use artificial intelligence to grade students written work — without even discussing it. Could robot teachers end up providing feedback to students who used robots to do the writing? Who knows! It’s all very fun to talk about on a podcast.
Plus, they discussed search for a perfect place for a homeless shelter (spoiler alert: there’s no perfect place).
Tigist Layne also came into the studio to discuss her piece on how Assembly candidate Carl DeMaio has raised millions to put measures on the ballot in recent years but never turned in any signatures.
And finally, Mayor Todd Gloria is coming into the podcast studio this week for an interview. What would you like us to ask him? Email scott.lewis@voiceofsandiego.org.
Read more about the podcast and listen to it here
In Other News
- National City’s City Council voted unanimously to appoint retired cardiologist GilAnthony Ungab to the city’s vacant seat on the Board of Port Commissioners. (Union-Tribune)
- A San Diego City Council committee unanimously approved plans to increase allowed density and high-rise developments in an effort to double the population of Hillcrest and University City. The proposals will now head to the full City Council for a vote. (Union-Tribune)
- The San Diego Public Utilities Department mistakenly charged 690 customers in recent weeks. It’s unclear how much was withdrawn in total, but one customer said they’d been wrongly $25,000. (Union-Tribune)
- In March, right-wing provocateur James O’Keefe, who made his name producing undercover videos with Project Veritas, visited a Mission Valley shelter operated by the Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego posing as a pest inspector. He claimed in the resulting video that undocumented immigrants were being housed there, flaming tensions surrounding the charity’s work. Now, armed guards have been hired to patrol the organization’s facilities. (10 News)
- One of the latest organizations to settle allegations that it defrauded the pandemic-era PPP loan program is the Rancho Santa Fe Association, a homeowners association in North County. The HOA, which manages properties like a golf course and a hotel, recently paid $2 million as part of a settlement that alleged its nonprofit status made it ineligible to receive funds from the program. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney, Bella Ross and Deborah Brennan. It was edited by Scott Lewis.