vosdpodcastnetwork201707

Finding the right school for your kids just got a little easier. Voice of San Diego has launched an inaugural issue of . On the podcast, hosts Scott Lewis and Laura Kohn talk about the guide and arm parents with the information they need to...

Sam Humeid has seen many sides of the marijuana industry. He ran a medical dispensary in Los Angeles at a tumultuous time. He later relocated to North County, where he counseled patients and delivered product directly to their door. But on Jan. 1 — as the state’s regulatory system officially got off the ground — he was forced to stop operations. Cities across the region have either banned marijuana outlets or required that drivers work for licensed retail shops. In the meantime, Humeid has been lobbying local city councils as part of the San Diego Cannabis Delivery Alliance and educating its members about the patchwork of regulations. “Moving forward, it's not so much that we're looking to have pot-slingers running around the city,” he said. “It’s very much still a cannabis-therapy-practitioner kind of business, where independent retailers have their core group of 30, 50 or 100 patients that they know intimately.” He joined us for the launch of "Voice of San Diego Potcast," a new, semi-regular podcast series we're trying out that will work to demystify the world of marijuana culture and regulations and bring regular folks into the discussion. Kinsee Morlan and I also talked to Humeid about the prevalence of illegal shops, pending ordinances in the South Bay, the problem with an all-cash business model and more. At the end of the show, we also heard from our friend and photojournalist Vito Di Stefano, who scoured the internet for two interesting marijuana-related stories. A California winery is converting into a Wonka Factory for weed. And is North Korea really awash in marijuana, as some media outlets claim? It’s all part of an occasional segment in the show we’re calling “Puff Piece.” Send your suggestions, for guests and questions, my way.

Bonnie Dumanis' more than three decades of public service have earned her a hefty annual pension of $268,800. The former district attorney is now running for a County Board of Supervisors seat, and last month The San Diego-Union Tribune uncovered that she had hired a legal team to look into whether she could continue collecting her pension even if she wins a seat on the county Board of Supervisors, where she could earn a sizable salary as well. Dumanis' political consultant told the U-T that despite the inquiry, Dumanis never intended to accept a county supervisor salary. But records obtained by the U-T did not mention that she planned to decline her salary. Lawmakers had largely banned "double dipping" — simultaneously earning a public pension and a government salary — but the practice is back for most elected officials in California, thanks to laws passed quietly in two recent budget bills. On Wednesday, Dumanis held a meeting with reporters where she again said she will not accept a salary if elected. On this week's podcast, hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts discuss Dumanis' strange explanation for why she didn't say she wouldn't collect a salary on top of her pension while her lawyers were fighting for her right to collect a salary on top of her pension. She said it's because her official campaign – which everyone thought was officially announced in September  – doesn't begin until March. "I have not announced formally yet," she told KUSI. "But I have always intended to not take the salary of a supervisor and just keep my pension, which I have earned after 35 years of service." Also on the podcast, Lewis is seething over ReserveCalifornia, California State Parks' new online system for reserving camping and lodging reservations. He says it's the worst. Pushing for a Different Kind of DA's Office Geneviéve Jones-Wright, a Democrat and public defender running for district attorney, joined the podcast this week to discuss her reform-minded campaign. She said the district attorney's office needs to shift from its tough-on-crime mindset and instead spend some resources on building community trust and preventing crime. "The district attorney's office should be looking at other ways to address public safety," she said. "I think that when you're constantly focusing on convictions, you don't have the right focus." Jones-Wright had harsh words for former Dumanis and the County Board of Supervisors. She called the way in which Dumanis stepped down and promoted a preferred replacement, whom the board appointed to the interim position, a corrupt succession plan. "This is a democracy," Jones-Wright said. "This is not a monarchy. We don't have a queen who sits on the throne and says you know what, this is the person that's going to succeed me, this is how this is going to happen." She also talks about her stance on the prosecutorial and prison reforms in initiatives like Prop. 57 and Prop. 47, her take on the death penalty and more. Hero of the Week This week's hero is the San Diego Unified School District, which this week reversed course and will no longer send debt collectors after parents who are late to pay their children’s school bus fees. A recent Voice of San Diego story revealed that in the 2014-2015 school year alone, the district referred 380 parents to a collections agency. Goat of the Week The city's water department gets goated for its initial dodging of responsibility for overblown water bills received by many residents, a problem the city later acknowledged was likely its fault.

For music engineer Justin Watson, music has always been a part of him. Growing up in Detroit was tough. He lived near the stretch of highway known as the 8 Mile Road, in a neighborhood where everyone and everything was about work. Watson, who goes by...

Later, Tronc. This week, Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong bought The Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune from Tronc, a Chicago-based media publishing company that owns papers across the country. On a new episode of the Voice of San Diego Podcast, hosts Andrew Keatts and Lisa Halverstadt discuss what the paper's new owner might mean for San Diegans. The U-T has changed hands several times over the last decade. Each new owner has made big shifts at the paper, changes that were often most visible on the editorial pages, or with the investment in its staff and coverage areas. There seems to be a wave of cautious optimism washing over the city as Soon-Shiong takes the reins. So far, the billionaire has talked about the important role that strong, local journalism plays, and he's signaled that he intends to let the papers preserve their missions and independence. Also on the podcast, Halverstadt and Keatts talk about pot, and how the legalization of it is disrupting local government and playing a role in this year's top law enforcement races. Saldaña Push for a Progressive County Vision In the second half of the show, the hosts talk to Lori Saldaña, who's running for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors' Fourth District, about the issues motivating her. Saldaña talks about her change from an Independent to a registered Democrat after her outspoken criticism of the local Democratic Party's handling of the sexual harassment allegations against former Mayor Bob Filner. She also offers her take on the turmoil in the local organized labor movement surrounding sexual harassment allegations against Mickey Kasparian and gives her thoughts on affordable housing, homelessness, public health, the county's cannabis ban and more. She also addressed how she would handle being the lone progressive on the county board if she wins. She said she's confident she can get buy-in from the rest of the Republican supervisors on issues like clean energy and affordable housing. "What I intend to bring forward is not just policies that will be voted down by colleagues," she said. "I can find some common ground. Not a hundred percent of the time, but certainly on some issues that are important." Hero of the Week This week's hero is VOSD contributor and freelance journalist Kelly Davis and the attorneys at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton who represented her pro-bono after she was hit with a demand from the county to give up notes, interviews and recordings linked to a series of investigative stories about the stunning death toll in San Diego-area jails. Goat of the Week The city's water department gets the goat this week. Residents facing exorbitant water bills have recently inundated the city with complaints, and the city's handling of the issue has been lackluster at best.

Ilisa Goldman thinks it should be easy for a group of neighbors to spruce up a vacant, city-owned lot with seating, shade, art and other simple amenities. Instead, they often end up having to claw through a series of bureaucratic barriers and many...

San Diego's new police chief says he has a new approach to building community trust. Selected last week by Mayor Kevin Faulconer to succeed retiring Chief Shelley Zimmerman, Assistant Chief David Nisleit will take the helm of the San Diego Police Department next month. Nisleit sat down in the podcast studio with co-hosts Andrew Keatts and Scott Lewis to discuss the status of the department's staffing shortage, his plan to engage the community in a conversation on racial profiling and his hopes to recommit to community policing. Along with hiring more police officers who are native to the region, Nisleit plans to focus his efforts on building trust with community members. One of the main areas of focus surrounds growing concerns of racial profiling. The San Diego Police Department recently faced backlash after a San Diego State University study found some evidence of bias in the department towards Hispanic and Black drivers who were three times more likely to be pulled over. But records later obtained by Voice of San Diego showed that a draft copy of the study was far more aggressive than the one presented to City Council on November 2016. Zimmerman has previously said that enhanced training will help police officers ignore their natural biases, but Neislet wants to take it a step further. "We're going to be very transparent about it," Neislet said. "We do need to look at this and if there's a way we can improve that perception or improve that reality for folks, then it's my job to make that happen." He said he took the findings of the SDSU study seriously and looks forward to new data the department will collect as required by a new state law taking effect on July 1. "We're doing a lot of training, and the whole areas about cultural diversity, implicit bias, non-bias policing, procedural justice," he said. "I'm very aware of the disparities especially when it talks about searches and so some of the variables that we need to look at is to kind of get more into depth of of how that came about."

The November 2018 ballot is going to be packed. On this week's podcast, hosts Andrew Keatts and Lisa Halverstadt discuss some of the proposals that will likely be put in front of voters this year. Next week, a City Council committee will hear a pitch from the San Diego Housing Federation to put a $900 million bond measure on the ballot. The Housing Federation wants to raise property taxes to fund roughly 7,500 subsidized apartments for homeless people and other vulnerable, low-income populations. That many new units won't solve San Diego's housing crisis. But if the measure passes, it could house a significant portion of the city's chronically homeless population. A measure to hike the hotel tax to fund a Convention Center expansion, homeless services and road repairs will also be on the November ballot. Halverstadt talks about potential opposition to the pitch from two construction groups that could make passing the measure a challenge. Also on the podcast: Keatts and Halverstadt note that half of Voice of San Diego's staff is sick, which makes running a news website interesting, and chat a bit about the new chief at the San Diego Police Department. Plus, Keatts is still trying to get used to the fact that City Council races are no longer decided in June thanks to last year's Measure K, which requires a November runoff between the top-two vote-getters in the June primary. Zapf: Prop. 47 is a Problem and the Stalemated Vacation Rental Debate San Diego City Councilwoman Lorie Zapf is running for re-election in District 2, which includes Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Bay Ho and Bay Park. In the second half of the show, Zapf joined Keatts and Halverstadt and shared her thoughts on home sharing, homelessness, the city's possible redevelopment of its Sports Arena land, density in Bay Park and more. Zapf  had a lot to say when it comes to Proposition 47, legislation passed in 2014 that mandated downgrades of certain misdemeanor crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. She said the passage of Prop. 47 correlates with the city's increase in homelessness, and has also caused an increase in crime and open drug use on the streets. She said there are a few fixes, including tweaking the law so that chronic repeat offenders can more easily face jail time. On the City Council's failure to pass policies regulating vacation rentals in San Diego, Zapf, who's pushed for strict regulations on home sharing, said she thinks the issue may have to be taken to the voters in order to get anywhere. "On that particular issue, it seems to be a stalemate," she said. "But what's happening is our neighborhoods are just completely falling like dominoes. And there are turnstiles of tourists living in single-family residential neighborhoods." Hero of the Week Former San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers is our hero this week. He helped lead the team to many victories, and died of cancer this week. Goat of the Week San Diego's business subsidy program gets goatted this week. The city doesn't track it well, or have a good system of determining who deserves special assistance, and the benefits rarely go to the city's poorest communities.

The Poway Unified School District is one of the highest regarded school districts in the state. Its schools are good and its students are high-performing. But the district's sterling reputation has a few big dings. Poway Unified's leadership has been...

Something's up with San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. He kicked the year off with a tenacious State of the City speech where he acknowledged the city's shortcomings on homelessness. A week after, he showed up at the Metropolitan Transit System’s board meeting to support Democratic City Councilwoman Georgette Gomez’s successful bid to be the new chair.   And just a couple of days ago, Faulconer tapped political guru Kris Michell as the city's new chief operating officer. Although Michell is no stranger to San Diego politics, her new position marks a major change for the role, which has generally gone to technocrats rather than political operators.   On this week's podcast, hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts discuss the big changes at City Hall.   "The mayor is really trying to infuse the operations now with more of his priorities, with more of his will," Lewis said. Scott Sherman also joins the first half of the podcast via telephone to discuss his new proposal to appoint San Diego City Council presidents by seniority. Scott Peters Might Run for Mayor Rep. Scott Peters is not a fan of President Donald Trump. "The Trump administration is eviscerating everything," he said. The third-term congressman, who's running for reelection in the 52nd District, stopped by our podcast studio this week to talk with Lewis and Keatts about Trump, net neutrality, the Convention Center expansion, marijuana policies, immigration and more. He called Trump's proposed border wall "boring and a waste of money," and he also discussed the possibility of running for mayor of San Diego. "I'm totally considering it," he said. "I've been working really hard on this town. I love the town. It's my home. I care a lot about it. And in Congress, it's my mission to serve San Diego as much as it is to serve the country."