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Steph Johnson says there's a perception problem when it comes to homelessness. The local jazz musician founded Voices of Our City Choir in 2016. In the beginning, Johnson simply wanted to provide an artistic outlet for people sleeping on the streets. She found a rehearsal space and invited homeless people to sing with her once a week. The project, though, has since morphed into an advocacy group that works to humanize homelessness, build empathy for people experiencing it and advocate for change. In a new episode of Culturecast, Voice of San Diego’s podcast covering arts and culture in the region, I talk to Johnson and three choir members about how the chorus has become a powerful voice for homelessness in San Diego.

Talk about an epic clash of worldviews. When President Donald Trump came to San Diego to kick the tires of the border wall prototypes, he used the opportunity to trash California. "The place is totally out of control," he said. "You have sanctuary cities, where you have criminals living in the sanctuary cities." The thing is: San Diego is really safe. Last year, crime rates were the lowest they've been in 49 years. Trump's comments turned hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts into San Diego boosters this week. In the podcast, they put aside their usual criticisms of the region and its issues and instead talked about how things are pretty good here. Also in the show, Lewis and Keatts discuss the conflicts and nuances between federal immigration policies and California's SB 54, which limited the ways local law enforcement can interact with federal immigration officials. And they talk about the big power shifts happening with local labor unions. Also, how about that solid Politics Report open rate, eh? People are really digging Lewis and Keatts' new Sunday email newsletter. Fighting for District 8's Fair Share Antonio Martinez wants to replace Councilman David Alvarez in representing Barrio Logan, San Ysidro and the rest of District 8. In the second half of the show, Martinez joined Lewis and Keatts to talk about why he's running. He complained that San Ysidro, his neighborhood, is disconnected from the city. He said people in there, and in other parts of the district, deserve more services and better representation. "I really want to make sure we get our fair share," he said. "District 8 has been short-changed by the city of San Diego, historically." Hero of the Week San Marcos Unified School District is the hero this week. Most of the time, we fight government agencies for public records, but this time we're fighting alongside San Marcos Unified School District for public records related to sexual harassment and misconduct complaints. Some school districts and their attorneys want the records to remain private. They argue the identity of employees reprimanded for wrongdoing should remain secret, but San Marcos Unified said the records should be disclosed. Goat of the Week This is a little wonky, but the goat this week is the San Diego Unified school board elections. Two trustees in the upcoming election are running unopposed. The system is set up to discourage people from running for the school board. Reform is needed.

Entertainment and hospitality is one of the top 10 industries in San Diego. Because hotels play such a big role in our region, their owners have some political power. In a new episode of , a VOSD podcast about the people behind the...

They work in an all-cash business and get taxed multiple times on the same dollar. Most are forced into the parts of town where the adult-entertainment shops go. The products on their shelves remain illegal under federal law. Given the incredible risk and cost, why would anyone operate a marijuana dispensary in San Diego? On our second episode of the Voice of San Diego Potcast, Kinsee Morlan and I consider the difficulty of steering an industry that still has one oar in the prohibitionist era. The podcast is a semi-regular endeavor, and its goal is to make marijuana culture and politics accessible to the average citizen. Before opening storefronts in Kearny Mesa and Mission Valley, Rocky Goyal worked in commercial real estate. He said he discovered the medicinal qualities of marijuana after his mom got sick. Alex Scherer also worked in real estate and began looking for his next endeavor after the market crashed. He came to cannabis with a social justice perspective, founding the Southwest Patients Group in San Ysidro. “Cannabis has impacted communities of color disproportionately,” he said, “and now that it's legalized, I'm hoping to see a lot of relief for those communities. Overall, it's just an exciting thing to be a part of.” They see themselves both as businessmen and advocates — entrepreneurs with a sense of morality. Scherer also founded the United Medical Marijuana Coalition, a trade group that played a key role in writing San Diego’s regulations. Later in the show, we talked to our colleague Maya Srikrishnan about the implications of a growing market for California-grown marijuana in Mexico. Some wealthier residents of Tijuana, she recently wrote, cross the consume marijuana products in San Diego. Others are openly driving supplies through checkpoints and getting away with it, because Mexican border agents busy looking for green baggies and joints; they don’t know how to spot oils and edibles. Not all bud is making its way across the border illegally. A Poway-based company is permitted to sell CBD products — which are non-psychoactive — to Mexicans who have a doctor’s prescription. There’s now a push to legalize medical marijuana in parts of northern Mexico. When and if that happens is anyone’s guess, but the influence of Proposition 64 is undeniable. Send your suggestions, for future guests and questions, my way. Check out the first episode about independent delivery services.

San Diego Dems are gaining steam. Shifting demographics are driving the region further away from its traditional Republican roots. In this week's show, Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts talk about how Democratic leaders and labor unions are wielding their growing influence. Dems have used some of their momentum to push reform of several local government agencies – powerful institutions that have a big impact on regional planning, land use and governance. Keatts broke the news this week that Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher is proposing legislation to put the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority back under the Port of San Diego's umbrella. She says the move would make for a more cohesive approach to regional planning. Meanwhile, the Airport Authority's chairwoman says they're doing just fine. Reforming the Airport Authority is just the latest move by the Democratic leader. Gonzalez Fletcher also joined labor unions in the effort to revamp Civic San Diego, the downtown redevelopment agency that's now in the midst of a major overhaul, and she wrote the bill reforming SANDAG, the regional agency mired in scandal last year. And earlier this year, Democratic Councilwoman Georgette Gomez became the Metropolitan Transit System’s board chair, yet another example of Democrats ascending. Also on the podcast, Lewis and Keatts discuss how neither of the proposals to redevelop the Mission Valley stadium site include solid guarantees to voters, according to a new city attorney memo, and the co-hosts narrow down the list of local politicians who might want to greet President Donald Trump when he visits the border wall prototypes in Otay Mesa next week. Finally, The Kept Faith, a VOSD Podcast Network show, produced a hilarious parody episode, which we sample in the show. Hero of the Week The hero this week is Nathan Page. When a special education student was sexually assaulted by a classmate at Lincoln High, Page, a teacher there, pushed unsuccessfully for a more stringent response to the incident. The school's response tormented him and he's since died of an apparent suicide. Goat of the Week The San Dieguito High School Academy administration is the goat. After San Dieguito math teacher Donn Boyd was reprimanded last May for inappropriate behavior with students, he was allowed to finish out the school year and returned to the classroom for a new year in the fall.

Last year, $9.4 billion flowed to defense contractors in San Diego. At the helm of one of those local private firms getting some of those military dollars is David Inmon, the CEO of Redhorse Corporation. In a new episode of , a...

A Comic-Con center is starting to take shape in Balboa Park. In a Q-and-A, Adam Smith, the organization's new director, and David Glanzer, a long-time Comic-Con staffer, talk about what we can expect from the new home of popular arts.

A Comic-Con center is starting to take shape in Balboa Park. In a Q-and-A, Adam Smith, the organization's new director, and David Glanzer, a long-time Comic-Con staffer, talk about what we can expect from the new home of popular arts.

Downtown redevelopment has survived scandals, the death of the state's tax-funded redevelopment program and strong opposition from labor unions and others who don't like how the city's redevelopment agency operates. Now a lawsuit alleging misconduct at Civic San Diego could be the thing that brings the downtown redevelopment agency down, or at least inspires major reform. On the podcast, Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts discuss the ongoing turmoil at Civic San Diego. None of the accusations against Civic San Diego have been proven, and Civic denies all of them. The agency is tasked with regulating private development downtown and in surrounding neighborhoods. Its mandate has been to get development deals done more quickly than city staffers. A lawsuit filed by Murtaza Baxamusa, a former Civic San Diego board member affiliated with the county’s largest construction workers union, has unearthed a collection of concerns from four current and former Civic San Diego employees. The accusations don't compare to the criminal behavior that plagued Civic San Diego's predecessors, but allegations over the agency's contracting process created enough tension at the agency that Civic president Reese Jarrett abruptly announced his retirement this week. Also on this week's show, VOSD invited Mayor Kevin Faulconer to roast us at a donor event last week and he delivered some brutal blows, including some slams at the podcast. And with President Trump on his way to San Diego to visit the border wall prototypes, Lewis and Keatts ask listeners to check out the Voice of San Diego Podcast Facebook group and join a discussion about which local politicians might join him.  Former Public Servant Runs for Public Office Ken Malbrough is a retired deputy fire chief who's running for a San Diego County Board of Supervisors seat. In the second half of the show, Malbrough talks to Lewis and Keatts about why he entered the race. "I'm in a community that needs changes," he said. "I don't think there's enough people at the table to help make those changes and I want to be there." If he wins, he said he'll push for more county participation in reducing the homeless population, building affordable housing and investing in disaster preparedness. Hero of the Week The hero this week is a Michael Rosenblatt, an artist who's leading an effort to fill Lincoln Park and other neighborhoods in southeastern San Diego with murals. Goat of the Week The Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute gets the goat for its experimental fish breeding that has failed to help restock the ocean with white seabass, according to a new report by an independent panel of scientists.

Hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts consider the Democratic response to Rep. Darrell Issa's departure and talk to Fayaz Nawabi about his bid for the San Diego City Council.