Why It Matters

Public Matters: Moving Midway Rising Forward

Developers of the big Midway Rising project insist their plans are still legal even after a court reinstated the 30-foot building height limit for the neighborhood. For our weekly Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis reports city leaders may be looking to change state law to push the project forward.

Money for convention center expansion

The money is coming in, six years after a majority of San Diego voters approved an increase to the hotel room tax. It was billed as a way to expand the convention center, fund road repair and homeless services. For our weekly “Why it Matters” segment, Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis says don’t expect a new convention center anytime soon.

San Diego Unified Postpones Vote on Affordable Housing

One thing the San Diego Unified School District has a lot of is excess land. For this week’s Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis explains why the district’s recent proposal to transform those properties is on ice.

Why It Matters: County dips into reserves for employee bonuses

San Diego County officials recently warned of major financial challenges on the horizon. That’s why a move to give out bonuses to all county employees surprised some people. For our weekly Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis explains what happened.

New movement to repeal San Diego’s trash collection fee

A political storm is brewing that could have major consequences for the city of San Diego. For our weekly Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis breaks down a new movement to repeal the city’s trash fee.

40,000 SD Unified students favor farther schools

About 15 years ago, San Diego Unified School District set a big goal: Create a quality school in every neighborhood. For this week’s Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis explains why that plan never materialized.

Battle Lines Drawn on Vacation Rental Tax

A new fight over short-term rentals is gaining momentum. It involves a new proposal to tax vacation rentals and vacant homes. Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis has our Why It Matters segment and tells us it could end up restarting the debate over trash fees.

Big ideas and big skepticism at Politifest

Taxes on second homes. Combining police departments. The city taking over the power company. There was a lot of news this weekend at Voice of San Diego’s Politifest. In our Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis has a rundown.

City Attorney Halts Conservatorship Filings – and Looks to the County to Step Up

San Diego is no longer going to court to try to force the county to aid vulnerable people. For the latest Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego reporter Lisa Halverstadt explains the controversial approach and concerns about the pause.

What to expect when San Diego votes on raising water rates

Next week, the San Diego City Council will hold a hearing and vote on a series of water rate increases for the next four years. In our Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis says what will happen is unclear.

Politifest 2025 puts San Diego’s biggest problems to a solutions showdown

It’s being billed as a Solutions Showdown. Voice of San Diego’s annual Politifest is slated for Saturday, Oct. 4 at the University of San Diego. Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis spoke with KPBS’s Amita Sharma to spotlight what’s on tap for this year’s public political summit.

Why election mailers are suddenly filling San Diego mailboxes

You may have noticed some new election mailers showing up in your mailbox. In our next Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis explains what they’re about.

County supes vote to tap reserves — but can’t yet

The county board of supervisors is in charge of giving out federal money, especially to people in need. And that means federal budget cuts have hampered that work. In our latest Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis explains the county’s plan for managing those cuts.

Padres do some polling

The city of San Diego is going to consider whether to pay hotel and other tourism workers a higher minimum wage of $25 an hour. In our latest Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis says that’s created a new player in local politics.

New safe parking site frees city to push campers out of Mission Bay

In the streets and parking lots around Mission Bay, RVs and large vans often set up camp. It’s been happening since the pandemic. But in our next Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego reporter Mariana Martinez Barba says that’s coming to an end.

The places in San Diego meeting their housing goals will blow your mind

Through our Public Matters partnership, we’re bringing you an ongoing series called “In Whose Backyard,” which explores where housing is — and isn’t — being built. For this week’s Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego reporter Will Huntsberry looks at which cities are meeting their housing goals.

San Diego 101: Why Is It so Hard to Build Housing?

We all know by now that San Diego — along with the rest of California — faces a housing crisis. But, how exactly did we get here?

In whose backyard? Where homes are being built in San Diego

A new analysis by Voice of San Diego and KPBS finds housing construction is on the rise. But the construction of new homes is not being distributed equally across San Diego’s cities. As part of our Public Matters partnership, we bring you this story from Voice of San Diego reporter Will Huntsberry.

Fearing lawsuits, El Cajon Police stopped responding to some mental health calls

El Cajon’s police chief has recently decided his department will stop automatically responding to certain mental health calls. For our Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego reporter Lisa Halverstadt explains why he made this decision and the reaction it’s received.

New plan to charge for Balboa Park parking could pack the zoo lots

San Diego is facing a major budget crunch, and to stay in the black, the City Council had to make some tough choices. For our Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis breaks down one of them.

Coronado and Imperial Beach haven’t produced a single affordable home in years

San Diego is far away from creating enough houses to support the population. Demand for housing far outpaces supply, which has led to eye-popping price increases. As part of our Public Matters partnership, Voice of San Diego reporter Will Huntsberry says two cities are especially struggling to build.

You’re Trying to Pull a Fast One

It’s no secret that water is expensive in San Diego — but now, a recent settlement could help get a little money back. Plus, in our latest “Why It Matters” segment, Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis explains what the settlement means for local residents.

School enrollment falls in San Diego, and it’s getting worse

San Diego County schools have lost tens of thousands of students over the past decade — and it’s part of a national trend that’s forcing tough decisions in districts across the country. Plus, some projections show the decline may only get worse in the years ahead. In our Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego’s Jakob McWhinney explains what’s driving the drop and what it means for local schools.

How the supervisors race will impact how much housing is built

Now that the District 1 county supervisor race is over, we’re starting to see how it could impact issues like health policy and immigration. But in our latest Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis says the biggest shift may come in housing policy.

San Diego’s risky bets to restore budget cuts

San Diego was facing big budget cuts this year. But the City Council brought back many popular things. In our latest Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis says they’re making some risky bets to pull it off.

What happens now that the trash fee is passed

San Diego was relying on a trash fee to help with its budget woes. In our next Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis recaps the crucial vote on trash and explains what happens next.

San Diego Unified Graduation Requirements

More than a decade ago, San Diego Unified leaders made a surprising decision – they made it harder for students to graduate. But earlier this year, the board approved a new graduation pathway that may undo some of those changes. In our next Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego’s Jakob McWhinney explains why this seemingly small tweak could be a big deal.

Future of Midway homeless shelter remains uncertain

A homeless shelter in the Midway district has been cheered as a model worth replicating. Now the shelter could be forced to close. For our latest Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego reporter Lisa Halverstadt explains what’s going on.

The backstory to San Diego’s lawsuit over La Jolla independence fight

The city of San Diego’s fight with La Jollans who want independence is going to court. Our resident La Jolla expert and Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis has this update in our Why It Matters segment.

What’s going on with the La Jolla independence fight

It’s still surprising to some, but La Jolla is not its own city — it’s part of the city of San Diego. In our next Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis has an update on an effort to change that.

Water Authority faces existential crisis

For our next Why It Matters segment, we look at big news around how we get our water. Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis explains.

How the new San Diego County proposal for a tax increase would work

Are you ready for the next election? Local politicians seem to be. In our next “Why It Matters” segment, Voice of San Diego’s CEO Scott Lewis explains proposals for new potential taxes.

San Diego proposed trash fee is lower, but not by much

The city of San Diego has been talking a lot of trash recently. Not insults, but how to pay for trash pickup. For our Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego’s CEO Scott Lewis explains how we got here.

Mayor’s office: Ex-COO alleging discrimination was fired

It’s no secret the city of San Diego is dealing with budget challenges. In our latest Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego’s CEO Scott Lewis explains how that has bled into a lawsuit against the city.

City of San Diego urging CARE Court reforms

A few years ago, Governor Gavin Newsom and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria announced a new law known as CARE Court. They suggested it would force people with serious untreated psychotic disorders to accept treatment – and counties to provide it. For our latest Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego reporter Lisa Halverstadt checked on CARE Court.

Why hotel room taxes are going up

In our next Why It Matters segment, we are talking about another cost that’s going up: hotel rooms. That’s because the city is going to raise hotel room taxes. But Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis says the money isn’t going where it was supposed to.

Trash fees for San Diego homeowners

We keep hearing about how things are getting more expensive. In our next Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis adds another item to that list: trash pickup.

Why are San Diego water rates about to soar?

People in San Diego are already feeling higher costs from food, housing and electricity. Now, water rates will also soar. Voice of San Diego CEO and Editor Scott Lewis explains Why It Matters.

Why the Padres are involved in the new minimum wage fight

The San Diego City Council is moving forward with a plan to raise the minimum wage for tourism workers to $25 an hour. In our next Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis says it’s not just hotels that are against the idea.

Are San Diego Schools Recovering from COVID Learning Loss? | VOSD Schools Guide

COVID-19 negatively impacted most schools in San Diego County, and many still haven’t fully recovered. In fact, less than half of local schools are showing signs of improvement.

More than 100 people in San Diego in jail due to Prop. 36

About 115 people are in jail right now who wouldn’t have been last year. That’s because of Proposition 36 that passed in November. It turned certain property and drug crimes from misdemeanors into felonies. For this week’s Why It Matters, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis looks at the local impacts.

La Jolla takes first step toward secession. What happens next?

The Association for the City of La Jolla turned in 8,000 signatures to the San Diego Local Area Formation Commission, or LAFCO, Wednesday, officially starting the process that could lead to La Jolla seceding from the city of San Diego. Voice of San Diego editor and CEO Scott Lewis explains how this process might play out.

Why Mayor Gloria was blaming the county in his speech

Mayor Todd Gloria’s State of the City speech addressed what the city can do during an era of austerity amid massive budget cuts. In our Why It Matters segment, Voice of San Diego Editor and CEO Scott Lewis highlights another key takeaway from the speech.

Why It Matters: Could La Jolla secede from the city of San Diego?

For decades, La Jollans have talked about wanting to be their own city. And now a serious effort yet to separate La Jolla has gotten one step closer to a vote. Supporters collected more than 7,000 signatures from La Jolla residents.

All of that puts San Diego’s new Council president in an awkward position. Joe LaCava represents La Jolla and lives in La Jolla. But now he’s also one of the top elected leaders for the city as a whole. He wants to remain open to the idea of La Jolla leaving.

Why It Matters: What’s going on with San Diego’s Civic Center glow up?

Last week, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria announced he was halting the effort to redevelop the six blocks around City Hall.

But that work was one of the main reasons Gloria said in a controversial decision two years ago the city needed to buy two towers downtown. Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis explains for “Why It Matters.”

Why It Matters: The shake-ups coming in San Diego leadership

In our next Why It Matters segment, we explore the new dynamics in city politics.

Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis dives into the origins of the council president’s role and examines the evolving landscape of the San Diego Republican Party.

He discusses the implications of leadership changes on city governance and sheds light on how these shifts impact local decision-making and public policy.

Why It Matters: How Prop. 36 could increase demand for treatment beds in San Diego

Proposition 36 got the most yes votes of any proposition on the California ballot. It will make punishment harsher for theft and drug crimes.

Almost 70% of voters supported it. Much of that support came because of promises prosecutors made that it would take care of people suffering from drug addiction.

There’s just one problem: Treatment beds are not available.

San Diego County has just 78 detox beds for the more than 1 million residents here who rely on Medi-Cal.

If someone decides they want to get off fentanyl or meth, and they don’t have private health insurance, getting one of those beds is like winning the lottery.

Why It Matters: How Trump’s election will impact San Diego’s Republican Party

Republicans across the country are pleased with last week’s election. Donald Trump is going back to the White House.

But in San Diego County, the Republican Party could be headed for a new low.

In the San Diego County District 3 election, Kevin Faulconer ran seven points ahead of Trump. But he essentially needed to do twice as well as he did. Trump seems to be slightly more popular in San Diego than he was in 2020. But it appears voter antipathy toward him is going to continue to hurt local Republicans for years to come.

Why It Matters: How Proposition 5 would impact local cities like San Diego

In our next Why It Matters segment, we explain another proposition on the ballot.

Several ballot measures have gotten most of the attention in California the last few weeks. But one of them, Proposition 5, is flying under the radar. But Prop. 5 has more potential to reshape cities than any other proposition.

Prop. 5 would amend the California constitution by lowering the required threshold to 55% for any borrowing to fund affordable housing construction, down payment assistance programs and a host of “public infrastructure” projects, including those for water management, local hospitals and police stations, broadband networks and parks.

Why It Matters: What exactly are the school bonds on San Diego ballots?

The word bond is all over the ballots of San Diegans this year. In San Diego, voters will have to decide on seven different school district bonds.

If they approve them, districts will borrow billions of dollars and then raise property taxes to pay them off. What exactly does this mean? We explain in our “Why It Matters” segment.

Why It Matters: What are independent expenditures and how are they impacting local races?

There are a new batch of ads supporting San Diego mayoral candidate Larry Turner, but they are not from Turner’s campaign.

They’re from the Lincoln Club, which has put $800,000 into a fund to support Turner. That came after a Point Loma attorney gave them $1 million. What they’re doing is called an independent expenditure.

Mayoral candidates can only raise $2,700 per donor but independent expenditures have no limits. For “Why It Matters,” Voice of San Diego Editor Scott Lewis explains the rules and how they’re impacting local campaigns.

Why It Matters: Can Republicans make a comeback in San Diego?

San Diego used to be more conservative than other cities in California. What happened? Can Republicans ever come back? Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis tells us about how San Diego lost its place as a Republican stronghold.

Why It Matters: Breaking down the rift between Carl DeMaio and San Diego GOP

As part of our new Public Matters initiative, we are launching a new segment with our Public Matters partner Voice of San Diego called Why It Matters. In the first installment, Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis explained a recent kerfuffle between Assembly candidate Carl DeMaio and the Republican Party of San Diego County.