New Encinitas Mayor Bruce Ehlers is playing the long game.
He wants to bat back state housing laws that he says have forced the North County city’s hand on controversial housing projects.
But as Tigist Layne writes, Ehlers has decided playing the long game means approving controversial housing projects to avoid a state smackdown or legal issues while also pushing for changes to state housing laws he opposes.
Layne reviewed Ehlers’ recent votes on housing projects – which he described as a “Sophie’s choice” scenarios – and previewed his tactics to try to rally for state-level reforms.
Palomar Health Board Member Calls for CEO to Resign
Palomar Health Board Director John Clark sent an email to Palomar’s CEO Diane Hansen and other board members requesting that she resign in light of Palomar Health’s financial struggles.
“Your leadership has been ineffective,” wrote Clark in the email, followed by examples, including the public hospital system’s worsening financial position, a controversial management agreement she spearheaded that raised fears of privatization, a previous vote of no confidence she received from doctors and nurses and more.
In December, the hospital system, which operates Palomar Medical Centers in Escondido and Poway, revealed that it had a $165 million operating loss in its previous fiscal year, the Union-Tribune reported.
In 2023, Voice of San Diego was the first to report that Palomar Health financial position was rapidly declining. It’s part of a larger trend of hospitals across the nation seeing less patient volume and less overall revenue.
“In the best interest of preserving the hospital district, I urge all district voters, public officials, and the physicians, nurses, and employees of our hospital to join me in demanding your immediate resignation,” Clark wrote in the email.
Blakespear Bill Aims to Address Proliferating Freeway Area Homeless Camps
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has long had a beef with Caltrans’ slow response to homeless camps along freeways, a dynamic that has become more apparent since the city instituted a camping ban in 2023.
Now Gloria and the League of California Cities are co-sponsoring state Sen. Catherine Blakespear’s SB 569 aiming to make it easier for cities and Caltrans to partner to clear camps on state property.
Blakespear’s office says SB 569 would require Caltrans “to develop encampment resolution plans and establish advisory committees” in each of its 12 districts plus make it easier for Caltrans to pursue contracts for encampment clean-ups.
Blakespear’s bill comes a month after Gloria called out Caltrans during his State of the City address and suggested the agency should allow the city to clean up camps if it can’t. Gloria and a Caltrans spokesperson hinted last week that they were working on a potential solution.
How to Set Your Child Up for Financial Success
For this year’s A Parent’s Guide to San Diego Schools, we set out to understand what opportunities Career Technical Education programs are offering high school students.
Instead of auto shop or metal working, today’s CTE programs are in industries like design, biotechnology and more. As our Jakob McWhinney writes, the programs act more as a supplement for college rather than a substitute.
Many of San Diego’s schools have these programs, but they all offer different choices for students. We tapped the experts at the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation to help explain what parents should consider.
Dig into the data: We also worked with UC San Diego to develop a new metric that grades how well a school’s program is working and what opportunities they offer students. That’s all our guide. You can download it here for free.
In Other News
- As the city of San Diego stares down a massive budget deficit, a new strategy meant to ensure more equitable funding for its recreation centers is already delivering for some of those centers. (Union-Tribune)
- CBS 8 reports that the Imperial Beach City Council gave its final stamp of approval to a new tenant protection ordinance earlier this week. Our Jim Hinch shared a few more details in his latest South County Report.
- Attn: San Diego motorists: The city is about to start issuing tickets for violating a new state law that bars parking within 20 feet of an intersection. (NBC 7)
- A Superior Court judge nixed one challenge seeking to put the kibosh on the city’s plan to sell the Tailgate Park lot in East Village to the Padres. (Union-Tribune)
- Nathan Fletcher is getting sued, again. A new lawsuit is accusing the former county supervisor of mishandling political contributions, the Union-Tribune reports. An attorney representing Fletcher told the paper the new suit was “baseless”” and “politically motivated.”
- UC San Diego is bracing for cuts. The university is putting a freeze on hiring faculty, the Union-Tribune reports, because of funding cuts at the state and federal level. One faculty member told the paper this was “the biggest financial challenge in UCSD’s history.”
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt and Tigist Layne. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.
How long will the Palomar Health Board continue with Diane Hansen? How much closer to the brink of insolvency can you be? I agree with Mr. Clark’s recommendation for her resignation.
Palomar Health’s financial stability, as measured by “days cash on hand,” has experienced a significant decline over recent years under Ms. Hansen’s stewardship.
In fiscal year 2022, Palomar Health reported 105 days of cash on hand. By the end of fiscal year 2023, this figure had decreased to 67 days. The downward trend continued into fiscal year 2024, with days cash on hand dropping to 31.4 days as of June 30, 2024.
The most recent data indicates that, as of February 2025, Palomar Health’s liquidity has further diminished to approximately 15 days of cash on hand. As a direct result of Ms. Hansen’s ineffective leadership, Palomar Health has entered into default with its bond obligations.
ANY OTHER CEO would be IMMEDIATELY terminated for this type of performance. The board is derelict in their duties in not terminating Ms. Hansen’s tenure at PH.
If there is a failure to carry out their fiduciary duty to the district and terminate the employment of Ms. Hansen, I recommend recall of the board members that are enabling her poor leadership.