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Our daily roundup of San Diego’s most important stories (Monday-Friday)
Assemblyman Todd Gloria holds a slim lead in the race to become San Diego’s next mayor, with nearly a third of voters still undecided, according to a new, exclusive poll commissioned by Voice of San Diego.
We also found that Democrat Terra Lawson-Remer has opened a large advantage over County Supervisor Kristen Gaspar in her bid to represent District 3, which would flip partisan control of county government.
The Voice Poll surveyed the two political races, as well as residents’ trust in civic leadership, the direction of the region and more. (You can see the full crosstabs for the city here and for D3 here.) The poll was conducted by FM3 Research from Oct. 8 through Oct. 22.
We’ll have more issues-specific polling results from the whole region later this week. Stay tuned.
San Diego Unified leaders, who have been under pressure for weeks to provide more details about when they might initiate a widespread back-to-school plan, set a tentative date for the second phase of their school reopening plan.
For elementary school students, the target date for returning to some in-person learning is now Jan. 4. For middle and high school students, Jan. 25 is the target date.
School leaders emphasized the plan is contingent on the severity of the virus in the community at the time, as well as the success of “phase one.” During phase one, a small group of students, who have fallen behind during online learning, have been invited back to some campuses for in-person services. Some schools are offering few phase one services or none at all, as we previously reported.
Under the phase two plan, elementary students would come back to school four days a week on a split schedule – they would attend for half days either in the morning or the afternoon. Fridays would be for distance learning. Middle and high school students would return two days a week.
Leaders admitted that none of the details around phase two has yet been bargained with employee unions.
A communication from union leaders to teachers last week noted that the plan the district presented was different than what had been shared with the bargaining team. No reopening plan will proceed until teachers agree to it, the communication noted.
The City Council voted Tuesday to have the San Diego Housing Commission – with assistance from nonprofit People Assisting the Homeless and the Regional Task Force on the Homeless – take over operations at the homeless housing navigation center downtown.
City Council members who have been critical of the project in the past, including City Councilman Chris Ward, said they believe the reworked program meant to help connect homeless San Diegans with housing and services can be successful. City Council President Georgette Gómez, the sole vote against the agreement with the Housing Commission, said she wished the city would shutter the former indoor skydiving center and instead offer it up as surplus property to be converted into affordable housing.
The Tuesday vote follows the city’s decision to have nonprofit Family Health Centers of San Diego, the nonprofit that has been operating the facility, exit its contract early. Family Health Center’s CEO has also publicly aired frustrations with city bureaucracy and the program model itself.
Housing Commission officials said Tuesday they hope to reopen the East Village facility, which they have renamed the homelessness response center, early next year.
The City Council also unanimously voted Tuesday to create a coordinated homeless outreach program led by nonprofit PATH. The initiative, set to kick off Nov. 1, will include two teams that focus on providing immediate help in neighborhoods with large concentrations of unsheltered homeless San Diegans, and on prioritized outreach and aid for the most vulnerable people living on city streets.
The Morning Report was written by Andrew Keatts, Will Huntsberry and Lisa Halverstadt, and edited by Sara Libby.