Supervisor Nora Vargas entered office with high expectations. She was the first Latina to represent heavily Latino District 1, which runs from San Diego’s southern neighborhoods, through National City, Chula Vista and Imperial Beach to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Her win also helped deliver Democrats a majority on the board for the first time in decades. Leaders then promised significant improvements on everything from homelessness to public health emergencies like the Tijuana River sewage crisis.
But just four years into her tenure, much of Vargas’ luster has worn off – particularly among some of the constituents and allies that helped secure her victory. In the second installation of this year’s Beef Week series, South County reporter Jim Hinch details how the breakdown occurred.
From a sense that she’s been unresponsive to constituents’ concerns or slow to act on issues she campaigned on fixing, to perceptions of aloofness, some South Bay activists and political operators are souring on the supervisor. Those reservations even led the Imperial Beach Democratic Club to rescind its endorsement of her earlier this year.
More Beef is coming: You won’t get a Morning Report in your inbox tomorrow or Friday. But we will be back Monday with more beef. Read our latest Beef Week story here.
South County Report: Exploring Chula Vista’s Backyard
A trip down to Chula Vista’s waterfront proved to be an eventful trip for our South County reporter Jim Hinch.
In the middle of reporting on some political infighting and turf battles in the South County, he visited a massive boat repair and refurbishment facility, Marine Group Boat Works, that has made Chula Vista an unlikely destination for the world’s biggest, most exclusive yachts, Hinch writes.
The repair facility and a mega-yacht dock near the San Diego Convention Center recently became a designated free trade zone. That allows yacht owners to park their yacht and put them up for sale – while avoiding U.S. customs fees.
Hinch writes that a single yacht can generate hundreds of thousands a dollars a month in business for a surrounding community. The new designation could bring millions of dollars to the local economy per year, one person told Hinch.
And not too far from the fancy yachts, Hinch visited the Living Coast Discovery Center. The wildlife sanctuary is hoping to draw more visitors with the development of the Gaylord Pacific Hotel and Convention Center.
Read the South County Report here.
Song of the Week
The Zeros, “Don’t Push Me Around”: While songs like “Wild Weekend,” put The Zeros’ ability to crank out frenzied, high-octane noise on full display and “Rico Amour,” highlights the band’s sharper edge, it’s hard to stop playing “Don’t Push Me Around.” Full of snot, vim and vigor, it’s simply a perfect early punk track. Read more about the Song of the Week here.
Like what you hear? Check out Zeros 77, made up of founding members of The Zeros, at Casbah on Friday, Nov. 29.
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
- Surprise surprise – the height battle over the proposed Midway Rising development is still raging on in courts. (Union-Tribune)
- A Vista property that became the center of a bidding war amongst parties interested in developing housing options for homeless people is already home to an RV park that acted as affordable housing for its residents. Now that the property’s been sold, eviction notices have already gone out. (KPBS)
- Regulators from the California Fair Political Practices Commission have ruled that Poway Unified illegally used taxpayer money to fund mailers supporting a 2020 bond measure. (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego officials last week agreed to pay $700,000 to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District for lead pollution violations at a police shooting range. The range has been shut down for more than two years. (NBC 7)
The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.