Folks from all walks of political life have aligned against a

potential November ballot measure that would hike the sales tax by half a cent to pay for

freeway expansions, transportation projects and more.

The San Diego Association of Governments, the regional planning

group made up of representatives from 18 cities and the county

government, decided Friday to ask voters to approve the half-cent

sales increase. If passed, it would raise about $18 million

for a cornucopia of transportation and land needs.

There are a lot of people who don’t like SANDAG’s plan, so hosts

Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts talked to three of

them.

Kristin Gaspar, the mayor of Encinitas and a candidate for the

District 3 county supervisor seat, said she’s opposed to the

measure, in part, because of the way SANDAG is couching it as a

slick sales pitch to cities and voters.

“SANDAG has basically taken all of the buzz words that poll high

with voters and they’ve shoved them into this draft ballot

statement,” she said.

Nicole Capretz, executive director of environmental advocacy

group Climate Action Campaign, called it a “regressive sales tax to

fund a transportation future that unfortunately is mostly focused

on freeway and highway expansion.”

And Brian Brady, director of Stop Taxing Us, said any attempt at

new taxation should be opposed, this one in particular because of

how much money SANDAG wants to put in its coffers.

Also on the podcast, Lewis and Keatts talk about USA Today owner

Gannett’s offer to buy Tribune Publishing, the

owner of the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.

They brought on one of the foremost analysts of the newspaper

industry, columnist Ken Doctor, to help them parse through the news

and understand the recent uptick in newspaper consolidation.

Hero of the Week

Shades Oceanfront Bistro has been a mainstay in Ocean Beach for

13 years. The owner recently announced that the restaurant would be

closing this fall.

Goat of the Week

The city of San Diego has a 30 percent vacancy rate based

on budget and staffing in its 911 dispatch service. The staff

shortage likely played a part in the long 911 wait times experienced by the parents

of a newborn baby fatally injured by their family dog.

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