Voice of San Diego Podcast

A million dollars has already gone into the big county supervisors race from outside groups – most of it in support of mayor Kevin Faulconer, and if you’re in the district, you can tell from your mailbox. Usually mail waits until ballots are out. 

That’ll be our introduction into Politifest Week. We’ve been trying to run the show like normal while preparing for our big annual gathering. We’re going to go through some of the sessions we’re most excited to see.

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Why the San Diego Republican party has had it with Carl DeMaio. Nobody has been more influential than him in the party but resources are now  going to flow to DeMaio’s opponent in a closely watched Assembly race. We’ll get into the beef. 

Also, we’ve got more details on the allegations of sexual harassment against former San Diego Unified Superintendent Lamont Jackson. New documents reveal the allegations against him from two former high-ranking district officials. 

And if you haven’t heard, we welcomed a new reporter this month. Jim Hinch is covering South County San Diego. He’ll join us later on the show to discuss his latest stories. 

All of that and more in this week's episode.

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The city of San Diego stands to lose hundreds of shelter beds. Mayor Todd Gloria is proposing one solution: move some people from the Golden Hall shelter to the city’s safe camping sites. 

Feels like the city and county are going backwards on shelter. We’ll dig into it. 

University researchers raised an alarm about a toxic gas in the Tijuana River Valley, but the county says there’s no reason to panic right now. 

And moments after we published a story about battery storage fire fears, a site in Escondido went up in flames.

All of that and more in this week's episode.

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San Diego Unified School District, the second largest district in the state, fired its superintendent. It appears trustees have already settled on his successor. We’ll talk about what she apparently doesn’t want to talk about. 

It’s been 10 years since California banned plastic bags at grocery and liquor stores. Now a San Diego lawmaker is trying to get the state to ban plastic bags at grocery stores. Why one of the statistics is shocking. 

And we’re back with one of our favorite recurring segments: Climate change promises that are fun to make but really hard to pull off. This week? Battery facilities. Recent fires have caused a panic and may lead to bans. But where else are they going to store power for when the sun doesn’t shine.

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A few months ago Jakob here broke news that San Diego Unified School District had commissioned an investigation into its superintendent for alleged misconduct. Now, they’ve apparently finished that investigation. We’ll tell you what we know. 

For months, Nathan Fletcher’s advocates have said he was wrongly accused of assault and that soon enough, they’ll have the receipts to prove it. A new court filing last week revealed text messages his accuser sent that do not help her case at all. We’ll review. 

Finally, the county quietly lifted a major barrier to building housing in unincorporated areas of San Diego because of a case involving a recycling plant. We’ll explain how that happened.

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Mayor Todd Gloria didn't speak at this year's Democratic National Convention, but it's no secret that he's tight with Vice President Kamala Harris. The crew talks about their friendship and whether Gloria could be headed to Washington if Harris wins in November. Jakob also takes a look back at Harris' record as attorney general of California, and senior investigative reporter Will Huntsberry discusses his latest reporting on foster care charity New Alternatives.

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The Padres made franchise history with their latest winning streak and Scott can't wait to tell the crew about it. Also on the show this week: San Diego Unified gets slapped with significant Title IX violations, Cajon Valley School District tests a new state law and local foster care charity New Alternatives is the subject of a Voice investigation into its finances.

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One of the mayor's employees, a city police officer, is running to try to oust him. Larry Turner, a retired Marine, wants to make big changes to the police department. He wants to reduce pensions for future city employees, including police, and perhaps use bankruptcy to get there. He opposes a new sales tax for the city, which is on the November ballot. He thinks we could reapportion the hundreds of city special project funds to close the deficit. Voice Editor-in-Chief Scott Lewis talked with Turner about how he would change city government if he were to win.

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Scott and the team catch up on what he missed, including a big development in the local stormwater tax which won't make it onto the November ballot. They also discuss the latest development in the city's organic waste recycling program and share some honest admissions about their own green bin behavior.

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The city of San Diego is building a massive wastewater-to-drinking water recycling plant. It's going to cost billions and will require tearing up roads in the process. But after years of dumping sewage into the ocean, it may be time for a change. Plus, Lisa Halverstadt is back on the show this week with updates on county detox beds, the Hope @ Vine mega shelter and her take on Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent executive order.

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