Voice Of San Diego Podcast

The Registrar of Voters has made a dramatic change to how it evaluates signatures on petitions. A bunch of high-profile signature gathering campaigns have fallen apart in San Diego and it may not have been just because they were incompetent. This is a big change.  One of those campaigns was to raise a tax to fund an expansion of the Convention Center. It failed spectacularly. But then another initiative made the ballot in 2020 and courts have finally decided that voters actually approved it. But the Convention Center expansion is not happening.  And finally it continues to deal with enrollment declines, the San Diego Unified School District does not know or won’t say exactly how many students each school can fit.  SHOW NOTES SEGMENT 1 - POLITIFEST ROUNDUP Scott and Co. banter about the October 4, 2025 edition of Politifest, aka the festival of politics at the University of San Diego. SEGMENT 2 - SDUSD’S UNKNOWN SCHOOL CAPACITY VOSD - San Diego Unified Doesn’t Know Ho

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 BenefitsJoin 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 S

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.or

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 big

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 Sout

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 Scott@VOSD.org to weigh in before our next episode! Support the show at vosd.org/podpeopleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio

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, fou

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 2025Politifest 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 Scot

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 pr

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 c

RVs are all over Mission Bay. Why the city now feels OK about cracking down on them.  Mack is Back! Mackenzie Elmer our environment reporter is dropping in to discuss bobcats that have been terrorizing the Wild Animal Park. And why the big news about a big Mexico/USA deal on the border sewage crisis is deja vu.  Finally hospitals used to panic that SB 43 would flood them with patients with drug and menthal health challenge who were being committed against their will. But so far that has’n’t happened. We’ll explain why.   SHOW NOTES   SEGMENT 1 - Promos Meet our South County reporter, Jim Hinch, on August 13 at the Civic Center Branch Library in Chula Vista for a discussion about his latest investigations and how they impact residents in South County. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.   RSVP at vosd.org/event to reserve your spot.   The City of Chula Vista Public Library does not advocate nor endorse the views or positions

You may be shocked to learn that of San Diego County cities Encinitas is closest to meeting its housing goals.    That’s right. The bad boy of North County with a history of failing to follow housing laws is actually building homes. Housing, or lack of, is among the top issues in our region and senior investigative reporter Will Huntsberry has spent months analyzing housing data. He’s here to dish on his findings.    Also, we’ve gone over how there are far fewer kids in San Diego schools than there were a decade ago. We’ll explain what school leaders are doing to address enrollment decline.   SHOW NOTES SEGMENT 1 VOSD Events Meet our South County reporter, Jim Hinch, on August 13 at the Civic Center Branch Library in Chula Vista for a discussion about his latest investigations and how they impact residents in South County. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.   RSVP at vosd.org/event to reserve your spot.   The Cit

There’s officially a new county supervisor and so there’s a new chair of the board of supervisors and they’re wasting no time making big changes.  El Cajon police have stopped responding to calls when a person says they’re going to hurt themselves. They blame lawyers but it’s complicating the response of civilian teams as well, we’ll explain. And we talked about school enrollment plunging across the county but there are a couple schools in particular seeing major surges in enrollment. How two charter schools are racking up their numbers.  Plus an update on the water drama. Always fun.    SHOW NOTES Segment 1County Supervisors swear in a new Sup and waste no time getting started. Aguirre Cements Democrats’ Control of County Government Newly elected South County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre took office Tuesday promising to clean up the Tijuana River and prioritize the needs of working San Diegans. She and fellow Democrats on the Board of Supervisor

The mayor is just flat ignoring the budget the city council passed and will not fire the top managers the Council cut. And you thought budget drama was over.  Local water managers are demanding an apology from one of their colleagues. Apologies after demands for apologies are always the best apologies. We’ll explain why this matters.  And Jakob published an extraordinary analysis and maps this week of how many fewer kids there are in San Diego schools. Why that is.   SHOW NOTES SEGMENT 1  Meet the Beat: Voice in North County Join our North County reporter, Tigist Layne on July 24 at the Escondido History Museum at 6 p.m. to talk about the stories she’s watching that impact residents in North County. Seats are limited. RSVP at vosd.org/events. 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 So

We’re drowning in education news this week.  The Trump administration’s grant freeze has put millions of school funds in jeopardy. The decision has some school leaders scrambling.  Our Jakob McWhinney got nerdy and figured out just how much money San Diego County stands to lose. Also, a San Diego Unified Board Trustee is calling it quits after one term. We’ll explain why.  And, meet our new City Hall reporter, Mariana Martinez Barba!   SHOW NOTES INTRO 00:00:44 SEGMENT 1 00:01:33 - Support VOSD SEGMENT 2 00:02:15 - Banter SEGMENT 3 00:08:27 - Spring Valley Swap Meet Addressing false ICE sighting https://www.instagram.com/p/DL7-rW-vAjn SEGMENT 4 00:13:45 - Meet our new City Hall beat reporter Mariana Martinez Barba https://www.reportforamerica.org/ BREAK 00:19:14  SEGMENT 4 00:19:24 - Drowning in Education News Trump Froze $50 Million in Education Funds. Here’s How Hard Each Local District Was Hit The Trump administration’s freezing of a slew of

The county is back in the hands of Democrats.    Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre is set to fill the vacant seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. The county has so much going on – there are big questions around the sewage crisis, homelessness, housing, budget, immigration.    The list goes on and on – and South County reporter Jim Hinch joins us today to dish on what Aguirre’s victory means for the direction of the county.    San Diego Unified is doubling down on its restorative justice efforts. But the district is also losing funding for some key positions. We’ll explain.    SHOW NOTES INTRO 00:00:00 SEGMENT 1 00:00:51 - Support VOSD SEGMENT 2 00:01:55 - Banter SEGMENT 3 00:07:17 - Aguirre Wins D1 Race (whew!)Aguirre’s Win Puts Democrats in Charge at Pivotal Time Tuesday’s election of Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre to fill a vacant seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors puts Democrats back in cont

The city has a new budget. There was a veto. A veto override and then an Instagram slam. We have a special guest, Councilmember Vivian Moreno is here. She’ll give us the insider take.  And the push to raise the minimum wage for hospitality workers is going forward.  And, the mayor has a new job!   SHOW NOTES   INTRO 00:00:00   SEGMENT 1 00:00:39 - Support VOSD   SEGMENT 2 00:06:39 - Vivian Moreno   SEGMENT 3 00:11:06 - Mayor’s IG Story “Today, some on the City Council attempted to fully override my veto—and failed. While the Council chose to override some items, the restored hours at libraries, rec centers, and lakes that San Diegans rely on will remain in place.” Mayor Todd Gloria SEGMENT 4 00:28:51 Audio Clips: 00:23:28 - Marni Van Wipple on the Council override of the Mayor’s veto.Start at 1:44:42 "I want to thank the Mayor for all the work ... whole city at once"   SEGMENT 5 00:28:51 Minimum Wage Hike   00:30:53 - Diana Puetz

The mayor does not want a chief operating officer gosh darn it! The most dysfunctional budget cycle in the city of San Diego continues with a big list of vetos from Mayor Todd Gloria.  And the biggest political battle in San Diego is finally nearing its end. Our reporter Jim Hinch went to a debate between Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre and Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and he’ll tell us how the race is looking.    SHOW NOTES INTRO 00:00:00   SEGMENT 1  00:01:14 - Support VOSD :) When we hired Tigist Layne to cover North County three years ago, we set out to provide northern cities with the coverage they deserve. But to keep doing that work, we need YOUR support.  Escondido resident, Jack Raymond, has put forth a $50,000 match to fund our North County coverage for the rest of the year. We have just $18,000 left to raise to meet our match and to keep our journalism going.  Support Tigist's reporting and Voice in North County by giving at vosd.org/givenorthcounty and

Federal immigration agents are trying to hit their quotas of people to arrest and deport and it’s causing some distressing scenes across California. On the eve of big protests, where are we headed? We’ll grapple with it.  For the first time in more than 100 years, owners of single family homes in the city of San Diego will have to pay for trash pickup. It almost didn’t happen. We’ll go through the tense meeting.  And with that, the city balanced its budget, sort of. The Council wants to take some big risks.    Show Notes: The Learning Curve: ICE Arrest in Oceanside Highlights Impact of Immigration CrackdownJob Corps Trump’s Cuts Thrust San Diego Students into Chaos and HomelessnessWhen President Donald Trump’s administration abruptly announced the shuttering of the more than 60-year-old Job Corps program at the end of May, many students who live at the San Diego site didn’t have a place to go. It’s only gotten more chaotic. San Diego City Cou