This week we revisit the Politifest 2025 Showdown awards at the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Theater on the beautifual campus of the University of San Diego. We have games, and plenty of solutions for our beleagured and beloved city on this week's podcast. 

SHOW NOTES

Here are all the videos from last weekend's Politifest 2025

 

 

Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voice of San Diego.

Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, managing editor

Bella Ross, social media producer

Jakob McWhinney, education reporter and theme music composer.

Xavier Vasquez, podcast producer

Journalism is integral to a healthy democracy: Support independent, investigative journalism in San Diego County.

Become a Member: Voice Member Benefits
Join today and receive insider access.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SHOW NOTES

SEGMENT 1 - POLITIFEST

Buy Your Tickets for Politifest 2025

Politifest is back on Oct. 4, and this won’t be our usual public affairs summit.  This year, we’re bringing together community leaders to go head-to-head in our first ever Solutions Showdown. Hear their ideas and cast your vote on which proposals you think could solve the biggest issues facing San Diego.

Save on tickets with early bird pricing at vosd.org/politifest

Politics Report: Politifest Brain

My politics mind has been focused on Politifest this week.

When we started Politifest in 2011, I envisioned an idyllic outdoor party – beer garden, tug of wars (tugs of war?), dunk tank, exhibits — where politics could be the central feature. Over time, it evolved into a day-long collection of debates and panel discussions.

The tugs of war didn’t draw the crowd but the debates did.

This year, we have taken another step in its evolution. You’ll have to help us decide if this mutation survives.

Solutions Showdown: We made each session a problem and asked participants to present their solution. They will present their solutions and then the moderator will manage a good discussion between them and then the audience will vote on a winner.

 

SEGMENT 2 - EDDIE VEDDERGATE

Vedder Cup

Eddie Vedder leads "Wrigley Field in Take Me Out To The Ballgame"

 

SEGMENT 3 - COUNTY PHARMACY CHIEF’S MOONLIGHTING POSES QUESTIONS

VOSD  - County’s Pharmacy Chief Also Works at a Law Firm

The county of San Diego’s chief pharmacy officer, who collects a $232,419 yearly salary, moonlights as a partner at a New York-based law firm that advises pharmaceutical companies.

 

SEGMENT 4 - KENT LEE

San Diego’s Water Department Is Not Alright

If the San Diego City Council doesn’t pass water rate increases, the city will probably have to lay off Public Utilities Staff, analysts say. 

SEGMENT 5 - UNCHARTED WATERS

Mayor’s Water Rate Increase ‘Dead on Arrival’

San Diego city councilmembers join forces to stall a proposed rate increase even though city staff warn too much delay could risk staff layoffs or falling behind on debt repayments. 

Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voice of San Diego.

Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, managing editor

Bella Ross, social media producer

Jakob McWhinney, education reporter and theme music composer.

Xavier Vasquez, podcast producer

Journalism is integral to a healthy democracy: Support independent, investigative journalism in San Diego County.

Become a Member: Voice Member Benefits
Join today and receive insider access.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next week the San Diego City council will vote on a series of new water rate increases. But city hall is abuzz that they may not have the votes to pass them. If they don’t, we’re entering uncharted waters. 

We have an update on San Diego Unified School District’s decision to close the middle school portions of some K through 8 schools. They’ve already backtracked on one. 

And finally South Bay reporter Jim Hinch has a fascinating story out of National City. How a falling out between friends came to dominate small town politics.

 

SHOW NOTES

SEGMENT 1 - POLITIFEST

Buy Your Tickets for Politifest 2025

Politifest is back on Oct. 4, and this won’t be our usual public affairs summit.  This year, we’re bringing together community leaders to go head-to-head in our first ever Solutions Showdown. Hear their ideas and cast your vote on which proposals you think could solve the biggest issues facing San Diego.

Save on tickets with early bird pricing at vosd.org/politifest

 

SEGMENT 2 - LEONARDO DI CAPRIO WAS IN TOWN AND DIDN’T SAY HI

County News Center - New Blockbuster Already a Big Hit in San Diego County

It doesn’t arrive in theaters until Friday, but a new blockbuster movie generating Oscar buzz has already been a big financial hit for San Diego County.

“One Battle After Another,” a new Warner Bros. movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn and others, spent about six weeks filming on location in San Diego County in 2024. And it pumped nearly $7 million into the local economy, according to Warner Bros. accounting.

The movie was written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, best known for his 2007 film, “There Will Be Blood,” 2012’s “The Master,” and 2014’s “Inherent Vice.” His new movie stars DiCaprio as an aging, in-hiding, former revolutionary who is pushed into trying to save his teenage daughter by the return of an old enemy, Sean Penn’s “Col. Lockjaw.”

SEGMENT 3 - MATT VESPI

Port of San Diego  - Matt Vespi Will Join the Port of San Diego as Chief Administrative Officer

Port of San Diego President and CEO Scott Chadwick has appointed Matthew Vespi as the Port’s new chief administrative officer. Vespi has over 20 years of public sector experience including oversight of human resources, information technology, employee safety, labor standards and enforcement, performance and analytics, strategic planning, and more.

 

SEGMENT 4 - MIDDLE SCHOOL 

San Diego Unified Superintendent Walks Back One of Four K-8 Middle School Closures

After we reported San Diego Unified’s plan to cut middle school grades at four of its K-8 schools, district leaders have decided to keep one open. Still, three others are slated for closure.

SEGMENT 5 - UNCHARTED WATERS

City Staff Deflect Blame Away from Pure Water Before San Diego’s Big Water Rate Vote

City staff dropped updated costs of a huge wastewater-to-drinking water recycling project showing that its water would be cheaper than buying from the Water Authority.

Segment 6 - NATIONAL CITY TELENOVELA
A Broken Friendship Is Breaking National City Hall

A development dispute has spiraled into a months-long saga of corruption accusations, lawsuits, allegations of mishandled human remains, shouting matches at City Council meetings, a sexual harassment investigation and a claim against the city filed by the mayor’s executive assistant. 

 

Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voice of San Diego.

Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, managing editor

Bella Ross, social media producer

Jakob McWhinney, education reporter and theme music composer.

Xavier Vasquez, podcast producer

Journalism is integral to a healthy democracy: Support independent, investigative journalism in San Diego County.

Become a Member: Voice Member Benefits
Join today and receive insider access.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the most popular public affairs podcast in San Diego:

Nathan Fletcher reappeared. We’ll review his first public comments since he went from the most prominent politician in San Diego to just gone. 

San Diego Unified School District is changing some kindergarten through 8th grade schools to just kindergarten through fifth grade.They’ve already backtracked on one.  Is this the beginning of many years of these tough conversations?

And joining us today to talk about the city of San Diego is its city council president Joe LaCava. It was a big week of new fees, new minimum wage and a plan to protect people from ICE.

 

SHOW NOTES

SEGMENT 1 - POLITIFEST

Buy Your Tickets for Politifest 2025

Politifest is back on Oct. 4, and this won’t be our usual public affairs summit.  This year, we’re bringing together community leaders to go head-to-head in our first ever Solutions Showdown. Hear their ideas and cast your vote on which proposals you think could solve the biggest issues facing San Diego.

Save on tickets with early bird pricing at vosd.org/politifest

SEGMENT 2 - LA CAVA - FLETCHER

Politics Report: Good Luck, Council President

The San Diego City Council chose Joe LaCava as its new president Tuesday.

It was a recognition of LaCava’s decency and his efforts to position himself between the poles of this all-Democratic City Council. And it was a win for Mayor Todd Gloria. Gloria told us on the podcast that he didn’t have a preference for who got the Council president role. Maybe, but Gloria’s team sure did and they were pleased with LaCava.
by Jakob McWhinney - December 4, 2024

Morning Report: Fletcher’s Accuser Files Complaint Against His Wife

Nathan Fletcher’s accuser is asking a court to protect her from his wife, Lorena Gonzalez.  Grecia Figueroa filed a civil harassment restraining order request against Gonzalez on Monday, just days after Fletcher made his first public appearance since the abrupt end of his political career in 2023, when Figueroa accused him of sexual harassment

 

SEGMENT 3 - SDUSD CLOSING SCHOOLS - THE CITY’S MINIMUM WAGE DEAL

The Learning Curve: San Diego Unified May Reverse One K-8 Closure

News that the district would axe middle school grades from four of its K-8 schools elicited significant pushback from some families. Now, district leaders may walk back one closure.

Politics Report: Minimum Wage Dealmaking Wraps Up

Recently a poll circulated gauging the public’s interest in an initiative to repeal the new trash fee the city of San Diego implemented. I don’t know yet who did the poll but just that it was out there may have been the point. The message: We can hit back. Big hotels, SeaWorld, the Padres all…

 

SEGMENT 4 - PARKING AT BALBOA - CITY ORDINANCE TO PROTECT SAN DIEGANS FROM “LAWLESS FEDERAL AGENTS”

Morning Report: No More Free Parking at Balboa

Balboa Park visitors can forget about free parking.  The San Diego City Council on Monday OK’d parking fees for Balboa Park. They agreed to delay charging for parking until city staff develop frequent visitor passes, but that move could cost the city millions.  Councilmembers dropped some parking rates for residents and increased rates for tourists…

From NBC San Diego: City, county leaders unveil proposed ordinance aimed at federal enforcement actions

The Due Process and Safety Ordinance seeks to put safeguards and protections in place in the event of "discriminatory and warrantless federal activity" in local neighborhoods.

 

SEGMENT 5 - CITY SEAL AND FLAG

Official City of San Diego Flag

Official City of San Diego FlagThe official flag of the City of San Diego was adopted by the City Council on Oct. 16, 1934, when a sample banner was submitted by Albert V. Mayrhofer, on behalf of the California Historical Association, Native Sons of the Golden West, Native Daughters of the Golden West, and The San Diegans.

The flag is composed of three vertical bars, from left to right, red, white and gold. In the center white field is the official seal of the City and beneath it the date "1542," the year explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo first entered San Diego Bay and claimed the area for Spain. The use of the three vertical bars is reminiscent of the colors of the flag of Spain, which flew over Cabrillo's ship.

Official City of San Diego Seal

The official seal of the City of San Diego consists of a coat of arms within a circle. Above the arms are the names of the City and the state, and below the arms is the City’s official motto. official seal of the City of San Diego

In 1913, the City Council authorized the City Clerk to invite design submissions for an official seal. The previous seal depicted an outdated cityscape. The winning design was the work of architect Carleton Monroe Winslow (1876-1946). Winslow would go onto design multiple buildings for the Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park, and the Bishop's School in La Jolla. The new seal was adopted by Resolution 17024 on April 15, 1914.

Segment 6 - LA JOLLA SUCCESSION & HOT TAKE

La Jollans Are Trying to Divorce San Diego (Again)

Since the 1950s San Diegans living in the La Jolla neighborhood have been uncomfortable with their semi-separate status. What they’ve really wanted is to be independent. Every effort thus far has failed – will the latest one be any different?

School District Closes PB Park Because of Dog Poop and Holes

During the Thursday recording of the Voice of San Diego Podcast, San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava dropped some news: “The joint use field at Crown Point Junior Music Academy is going to be closed to the public because of the dogs and the dog owners that have beaten up the field so badly that it is now unplayable and dangerous for the students.”

LaCava predicted more of San Diego Unified’s joint-use fields would close in the future.

“I think the school district is finally going to say ‘Enough is enough. We cant risk the health of our students,’” LaCava said.

 

Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voice of San Diego.

Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, managing editor

Bella Ross, social media producer

Jakob McWhinney, education reporter and theme music composer.

Xavier Vasquez, podcast producer

Journalism is integral to a healthy democracy: Support independent, investigative journalism in San Diego County.

Become a Member: Voice Member Benefits
Join today and receive insider access.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Violence against outstretched palms – as in hands not the trees. The curious case against Encinitas City Councilmember Luke Shaffer. 

San Diego County Water Authority leaders may have thought the chatter about dissolving their agency may be in the past then came LAFCO. The funny agency nobody knew about is making headlines again. 

And guests to the Zoo spend a bunch of money in San Diego. The Zoo and the city want them to spend a bit more.

SHOW NOTES

 

SEGMENT 1 - Promos

Buy Your Tickets for Politifest 2025

Politifest is back on Oct. 4, and this won’t be our usual public affairs summit.  This year, we’re bringing together community leaders to go head-to-head in our first ever Solutions Showdown. Hear their ideas and cast your vote on which proposals you think could solve the biggest issues facing San Diego.

Save on tickets with early bird pricing at vosd.org/politifest

 

SEGMENT 2 - Palm Trees Are Not Trees

There’s a particular palm tree making its mark on Southern California... and not in a good way.

The Mexican fan palm — those tall, classic pseudo-trees along with other invasive species — isn’t native to Southern California, but nonetheless maintains a death grip on its ecological landscape.

Within the past year, San Diego has seen multiple canyon fires propelled by these pesky out-of-towners. And within weeks of the smoke clearing, they’re already resprouting, providing fuel for another fire before native plants are able to regenerate.

While fire is a natural to California’s ecosystem, necessary for many native plants to survive, it can be detrimental if it occurs too frequently.

This is one of many reasons San Diego won’t be planting them on public land anymore. Our intern, Tessa Balc, sat down with the executive director of @sdcanyonlands to see how we can nurture San Diego’s native landscape.

🎥: Tessa Balc

 

SEGMENT 3 - Nathan Fletcher is Returning to the News Cycle

ICYMI: Judge Dismisses Suit Against Nathan Fletcher

by Scott Lewis and Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña - August 8, 2025

SEGMENT 4 - YES We’re Talking About Minimum Wage in San Diego Again

ICYMI: Politics Report: Zoo Freed from Minimum Wage Push

by Scott Lewi - August 30, 2025 

SEGMENT 5 - Shaffer and the Outstretched Palms Incident

North County Report: Inside Luke Shaffer’s First Day in Court

County prosecutors are going after the Encinitas councilmember for an alleged hit-and-run. Here’s what went on during his first court appearance.  

by Tigist Layne - September 10, 2025

 

Segment 6 - LAFCO and the Water Authority

Blowing Up the Water Authority Isn’t Off the Table at LAFCO

The group that rubber stamped a divorce from the agency plans to look at getting rid of the agency altogether.  

by MacKenzie Elmer - September 9, 2025

 

Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voice of San Diego.

Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, managing editor

Bella Ross, social media producer

Jakob McWhinney, education reporter and theme music composer.

Xavier Vasquez, podcast producer

Journalism is integral to a healthy democracy: Support independent, investigative journalism in San Diego County.

Become a Member: Voice Member Benefits
Join today and receive insider access.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Voice of San Diego team is embarking on an ambitious pursuit: Developing a public policy for how AI should and shouldn't be used in our newsroom. And we're bringing our listeners along for the ride.

Tap in for an unfiltered conversation where co-hosts Scott Lewis, Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña, Jakob McWhinney, Will Huntsberry and Bella Ross grapple with our concerns surrounding this new technology, and how we may consider using it to deliver more, better journalism. 

Should this include public disclaimers when AI is deployed? What is the bar for such a disclaimer? Are certain kinds of writing more sacred than others? We hope to answer these questions over the course of a few episodes -- with your help!

We encourage listeners to share your thoughts about all of this as we continue to work on a policy that is both ethical and forward-thinking. Please email [email protected] to weigh in before our next episode!

Support the show at vosd.org/podpeople

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s dealmaking season at City Hall. The push for a new $25 minimum wage for some workers in the tourism and entertainment industry in San Diego is heading to a City Council vote Sept. 16. Here’s what we know about all the entities trying to get out of having to pay workers that. 

Prop 50 mailers are hitting mailboxes and the ads are on TV. We’ve talked about it the last two podcasts but now it’s already set a congressional race in motion.

 

SHOW NOTES

Buy Your Tickets for Politifest 2025

Politifest is back on Oct. 4, and this won’t be our usual public affairs summit.  This year, we’re bringing together community leaders to go head-to-head in our first ever Solutions Showdown. Hear their ideas and cast your vote on which proposals you think could solve the biggest issues facing San Diego.

Save on tickets with early bird pricing at vosd.org/politifest

SEGMENT 2 - Subscriptions Gone Wild

The Atlantic wrote about Alden Global Capital, the U-T’s owners, four years ago.

“What threatens local newspapers now is not just digital disruption or abstract market forces. They’re being targeted by investors who have figured out how to get rich by strip-mining local-news outfits. The model is simple: Gut the staff, sell the real estate, jack up subscription prices, and wring as much cash as possible out of the enterprise until eventually enough readers cancel their subscriptions that the paper folds, or is reduced to a desiccated husk of its former self,” the magazine wrote.

Bottom line: I think the U-T’s journalism is worth $2,000 a year, if it were a philanthropic cause and I could afford that. We have lots of donors who make bigger contributions than that. But this is not the way and it’s hurting trust.

Nieman Lab 

Alden Global Capital is miffed that The Dallas Morning News won’t offer itself up for disembowelment

The hedge fund threatens to shift their takeover bid to shareholders — while trying to sweet-talk the only shareholder that matters.

 

SEGMENT 3 - Minimum Wage, the Cost of Living, and the Padres

SD Chamber teams up with Padres

SEGMENT 4 - Congressional Race - The (potentially) Redrawn 48th District

Mason Herron ran numbers:

Congressional District 48 - Issa

Trump +15.3%

Trump: 56.4% | Harris: 41.1%

Harris +2.6%

Trump: 47.4% | Harris: 50.0%

 

Congressional District 49 - Levin

Harris +7.8%

Trump: 44.7% | Harris: 52.5%

Harris +12.1%

Trump: 42.5% | Harris: 54.6%

 

Congressional District 50 - Peters

Harris +29.6%

Trump: 33.6% | Harris: 63.1%

Harris +17.5%

Trump: 39.7% | Harris: 57.2%

 

Congressional District 51 - Jacobs

Harris +23.5%

Trump: 36.7% | Harris: 60.2%

Harris +18.0%

Trump: 39.6% | Harris: 57.5%

 

Congressional District 52 - Vargas

Harris +21.2%

Trump: 38.1% | Harris: 59.3%

Harris +16.8%

Trump: 40.3% | Harris: 57.1%

 

• San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert announces congressional campaign

"I've spent my career fighting for workers, women's rights and safety for everyone — the very priorities Darrell Issa and Donald Trump attack at every turn," she said. "This will be a must-win seat to take Congress back from Trump, and I'm the only Democratic candidate running who has won an election, flipped a seat from red-to-blue and actually delivered for working people."

Early endorsements include State Senators Catherine Blakespear and Steve Padilla, Assemblymembers Tasha Boerner and Chris Ward, San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer and her council colleagues Stephen Whitburn and Jen Campbell, among others.

 

• Ammar Campa-Najjar has also found a hat to throw into the ring

"This campaign is about making sure that all families, from San Diego to Riverside, have a representative who works for them," Campa-Najjar said in a statement released Friday. "That's why I've officially filed to run in CA- 48. If the proposed maps are approved, I'll be on the ballot, ready to represent this community and fight for a fair economy, affordable health care, and take on corruption."

 

Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voice of San Diego.

Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, managing editor

Bella Ross, social media producer

Jakob McWhinney, education reporter and theme music composer.

Xavier Vasquez, podcast producer

Journalism is integral to a healthy democracy: Support independent, investigative journalism in San Diego County.

Become a Member: Voice Member Benefits
Join today and receive insider access.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

San Diego’s Sunset Cliffs are crumbling. The city’s plan to save them is … a one way street? 

The County Board of Supes has officially voted to tap into previously off-limits county reserves, but thanks to a labor agreement nearly half of those funds are already spoken for. 

Also, why an aging north county dam has one company saying “Damn!”

And finally, Assemblyman Chris Ward is calling into to talk about a controversial housing bill and the redistricting ballot measure he supported.

 

SHOW NOTES

SEGMENT 1 - Promos

Buy Your Tickets for Politifest 2025
Politifest is back on Oct. 4, and this won’t be our usual public affairs summit.  This year, we’re bringing together community leaders to go head-to-head in our first ever Solutions Showdown. Hear their ideas and cast your vote on which proposals you think could solve the biggest issues facing San Diego.

Save on tickets with early bird pricing at vosd.org/politifest

SEGMENT 2 - Richard Bailey and Scott Peters give slightly committed running for office vibes
AXIOS
Meet the former mayor turned micro influencer who's making city policy go viral
Richard Bailey was Coronado's mayor until last yera. Now he's weighing in on big San Diego issues.

POLITICO
The House Dems bracing for redistricting sacrifices

SEGMENT 3 - County Reserves
Voice of San Diego
Lisa Halverstadt
If County Dips Into Reserves, Millions Would go to Employee Bonuses
If county supervisors vote to approve updates to the county’s reserve policy Tuesday, county employees are set to receive bonuses.

SEGMENT 4 - Damn Dams
Voice of San Diego
Tigist Layne
San Diego Is Getting Sued Because of One of Its Troubled Dam
A $300 million lawsuit claims the city’s release of water from El Capitan Dam damaged a property meant for sand mining.

SEGMENT 5 - Sunset Cliffshanger
Voice of San Diego
MacKenzie Elmer
How the City Will Save Sunset Cliffs from Sea Level Rise

The city is proposing to move cliff parking onto the street and eliminate a lane of traffic at the southern point at Sunset Cliffs.

 

SEGMENT 6 - Redistricting with Chris Ward
Ballotpedia
California Proposition 50, Use of Legislative Congressional Redistricting Map Amendment (2025)

Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voice of San Diego.

Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, managing editor

Bella Ross, social media producer

Jakob McWhinney, education reporter and theme music composer.

Xavier Vasquez, podcast producer

Journalism is integral to a healthy democracy: Support independent, investigative journalism in San Diego County.

Become a Member: Voice Member Benefits
Join today and receive insider access.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Were you hallucinating too or do you also remember the city of San Diego saying pizza boxes could now go in the green bin. Also, a lot of people do not understand how to use the green bins, apparently. 

We haven’t had a chance yet to talk about it but we should: A judge dismissed the sexual harassment case against Nathan Fletcher that ended his career. But he’s still got one going against the accuser. 

And we have a special guest here co-hosting – Congressman Scott Peters is in the studio. We’ve got a lot to discuss with him. 

 

SHOW NOTES

 

SEGMENT 1 - Promos

 

Buy Your Tickets for Politifest 2025

 

Politifest is back on Oct. 4, and this won’t be our usual public affairs summit.  This year, we’re bringing together community leaders to go head-to-head in our first ever Solutions Showdown. Hear their ideas and cast your vote on which proposals you think could solve the biggest issues facing San Diego.

Save on tickets with early bird pricing at vosd.org/politifest

SEGMENT 2 - Banter

 

The City

The Chips Fall as Rivals Fry the Mayor

The jokes and jabs are flying as Eric Adams’ closest aides was slapped with new criminal charges the day after another of his longtime allies offered a reporter cash inside a potato chip bag.

SEGMENT 3 - Organic Waste

Voice of San Diego

MacKenzie

To Compost or Not to Compost: The Pizza Box

Whether you can put pizza boxes in your green bin is largely dependent on who picks up your trash.

SEGMENT 4 - Nathan Fletcher

NBC7 San Diego
Judge dismisses Nathan Fletcher sexual harassment lawsuit

The lawsuit by former MTS public relations specialist Grecia Figueroa was set to go to trial next month, but Superior Court Judge Matthew Braner ruled that too much evidence had been deleted or not turned over to the defense for the case to go before a jury.

SEGMENT 5 - Redistricting and the California Democratic Party

Cal Matters
Gavin Newsom’s redistricting plan is on its way to voters. What you need to know

 

Cal Matters
5 things to know about Gavin Newsom’s plan to redraw California’s election maps

The Assembly just passed the first vote that would pave the way for mid-decade redistricting. Some background on our independent commission.

 

Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voice of San Diego.

Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, managing editor

Bella Ross, social media producer

Jakob McWhinney, education reporter and theme music composer.

Xavier Vasquez, podcast producer

Journalism is integral to a healthy democracy: Support independent, investigative journalism in San Diego County.

Become a Member: Voice Member Benefits
Join today and receive insider access.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, the Padres are getting into politics. The team just took first place in the National League west for the first time this late in the season in 15 years. Success on the field could help them in the field of politics. 

We’ve got a special guest host today, former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey is in the studio. He’s now become something of a conservative tiktok pundit weighing in mostly on city of San Diego politics. He’ll explain why you should care. 

And finally, El Cajon stopped having police respond to some mental health calls and a big debate has erupted there since our story about it. We’ll break down the latest. 

 

SHOW NOTES

SEGMENT 1 - Promos

Buy Your Tickets for Politifest 2025

Politifest is back on Oct. 4, and this won’t be our usual public affairs summit.  This year, we’re bringing together community leaders to go head-to-head in our first ever Solutions Showdown. Hear their ideas and cast your vote on which proposals you think could solve the biggest issues facing San Diego.

Save on tickets with early bird pricing at vosd.org/politifest

SEGMENT 2 - Banter

VOSD

Politics Report: Padres Do Some Polling

 

Fox5 San Diego

Tickets available soon for San Diego Rodeo at Petco Park

SEGMENT 3 

The Coronado News

The Coronado News’ second anniversary

 

New Revenue Hub

We support journalism that improves lives — and fights misinformation.

 

Tijuana/ US Sewage
EPA

United States and Mexico Reach Agreement to Permanently and Urgently End Decades-Long Tijuana River Sewage Crisis

 

Enivronment California

RELEASE: Pathogen risks found at 79% of California beaches tested in 2024

 

SEGMENT 5 - 

Trump Policies

Pew Research
Trump’s Tariffs and ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Face More Opposition Than Support as His Job Rating Slips

Gallup
Surge in U.S. Concern About Immigration Has Abated

 

Migration Policy Institute 
Profile of the Unauthorized Population:United States

 

Carl DeMaio
VOSD
VOSD Assemblymember Carl DeMaio Is Back To Promoting Ballot Initiatives

SEGMENT 6 - 

El Cajon Police
El Cajon Official: Want Cops to Back Up County Crisis Teams? Pay Up.
El Cajon councilmembers reviewing their police department’s shift on crisis call responses had a lot of questions about San Diego County’s crisis call policies.

Development

VOSD
In Whose Backyard

 

Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voice of San Diego.

Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, managing editor

Bella Ross, social media producer

Jakob McWhinney, education reporter and theme music composer.

Xavier Vasquez, podcast producer

Journalism is integral to a healthy democracy: Support independent, investigative journalism in San Diego County.

Become a Member: Voice Member Benefits
Join today and receive insider access.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.