The future of Mission Valley and the land around the stadium appears to be in voters hands with two initiatives going forward.
The first, SoccerCity, has already secured a spot on the ballot in November 2018. The second, from Friends of SDSU, is currently gathering signatures to try and secure its spot on the same ballot.
The initiatives are similar, but there are some important distinctions. They differ in the size of the land that the plans cover, the promises of a park along the San Diego River, how much they would or wouldn’t pay for and the use of retail space.
VOSD’s Scott Lewis broke down the four major differences between the two proposals and lays out the questions still looming.
Sacramento Tackles Sexual Harassment
State lawmakers began an effort this week to dig into the extent of the sexual harassment problems in Sacramento and explore potential solutions.
At a hearing before the Assembly Rules Subcommittee on Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Prevention and Response, Escondido Assemblywoman Marie Waldron, starred.
She voiced her frustration that all complaints of sexual harassment aren’t recorded and tracked at the capitol.
“I didn’t realize how some of the cases were handled, that there wasn’t a recordation of complaints,” Waldron told VOSD’s Sara Libby in this week’s Sacramento Report. “I’ve been on the Rules Committee for five years, as long as I’ve been in the Assembly. But there’s been no complaints that have ever come before the committee itself. So we have no knowledge of anything like that.”
Also in the Sacramento Report: Talk radio host Carl DeMaio and Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox began signature-gathering efforts this week for a ballot measure to repeal the gas tax hike.
There are at least two measures aimed at repealing the gas tax that have so far been cleared to collect signatures, Libby reports.
VOSD Podcast: IDEA District Becoming a Reality
Dozens of projects are planned or under construction in East Village. Some of them are part of an area called the IDEA District, envisioned as a place for innovation, design, education and the arts.
The IDEA District was conceived six years ago by David Malmuth and Pete Garcia, but it wasn’t until this week that the first project was completed within the district – a mixed-use apartment project called IDEA1.
On this week’s podcast, hosts Andrew Keatts, Lewis and Libby talk to Garcia and Malmuth about their vision for the district, how its progressed thus far and the challenges that it still faces.
Libby, Lewis and Keatts also discussed whether the city will take over the job of buying electricity for residents and the SoccerCity versus SDSU discussion.
Quick News Hits
• Cities in San Diego County are facing revenue losses in franchise fees from cable companies as more consumers drop cable TV for online streaming services, like Netflix and Hulu. (Union-Tribune)
• The Port of San Diego is poised to pick a Dallas-based real estate firm to be the new manager of Seaport Village. (Union-Tribune)
• Coronado and Solana Beach top the list of the county’s highest rents. (NBC7)
• Irene McCormack, the first woman to publicly accuse former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment, writes about the #MeToo campaign and how finding her own voice to talk about her experience changed her life. (Union-Tribune)
• A candidate for San Diego County Sheriff says he’s being retaliated against because he’s running against his boss, current Sheriff Bill Gore. (KPBS)
Top Stories of the Week
These were the five most popular Voice of San Diego stories for the week of Nov. 24-Dec. 1. To see the full top 10 list, click here.
Four women who attended La Jolla High School between 2002 and 2013 say they were groped or touched inappropriately by a physics teacher at the school. An investigation by Voice of San Diego found no records of their complaints were kept by the San Diego Unified School District. Some student complaints may have never left the principal’s office. (Ashly McGlone)
California is one of a dozen states that allows school districts to charge parents fees for bus rides to school. Records obtained by Voice of San Diego show that in the 2014-2015 school year alone, the district referred 380 parents to a collections agency for debts that ranged from $10 to $500. (Mario Koran)
The city’s struggling to balance its response to a public health emergency and exploding homelessness with past and pending legal cases meant to preserve homeless San Diegans’ rights. (Lisa Halverstadt)
On this week’s podcast, Voice of San Diego reporter Ashly McGlone Talks about how she uncovered a sexual harassment story she’s been trying to nail down for years. (Kinsee Morlan)
Other cities have successfully implemented programs that allow students free access to public transit to get to school. When the city and San Diego Unified tried it out, “it was a mess.” Despite slashes to San Diego Unified’s busing program, there are no plans to revive such a program. (Mario Koran)