Portland and San Diego’s first meeting at Providence Park on Saturday night will mark the 12th time the Timbers host an expansion franchise for the first time.

When first hosting expansion sides, the Timbers have a record of 5-5-1 since joining MLS in 2011. The last time an expansion side made their Providence Park debut, the Timbers dropped a 2-1 result to St. Louis CITY SC on March 11, 2023.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A veteran San Diego police officer who was forced by a judge to turn in her firearms after finding she stalked her ex-husband has been put on unpaid leave by the force.

Stephanie Cockrell has been given an ultimatum: apply to transfer to a non-sworn position, take an unpaid leave of absence, or resign, according to court documents she filed Wednesday.

“I was only offered the three options above, or I would be terminated,” Stephanie wrote in a declaration obtained by Team 10.

A judge ordered Stephanie, who has been with the department for 13 years, to turn in her firearms on Oct. 1st after finding she was “less credible” and stalked and harassed her ex-husband, Tyler Cockrell.

Team 10 reported in August that Stephanie was facing termination from the force for stalking, theft, and untruthfulness. After being sworn in as police chief last year, Scott Wahl overturned her termination and allowed her to return to duty.

San Diego police officer accused of placing spy cameras in ex-husband’s home

Hidden cameras, GPS trackers

A months-long investigation revealed Tyler accused his ex-wife of installing spyware and cameras in his home and planting a tracking device on his truck.

Stephanie fought to have her Amazon purchases kept private, but failed after Judge Charles Bell, Jr. ordered some of her online shopping history to be released.

The records revealed Stephanie bought spyware Tyler found in his home, Bell said.

Her purchases included GPS trackers, 11 cameras, and voice recorders.

Tyler also alleged his ex-wife, who admitted in 2016 to hacking the phone of an officer she had an affair with, stalked his girlfriend who is also a San Diego police officer.

The judge, who reviewed a photo of Cockrell’s truck outside the girlfriend’s residence, sided with Tyler and issued a restraining order barring Cockrell from contacting her ex-husband or his children and from possessing firearms or body armor.

Team 10 asked San Diego police for comment on Oct. 7th after learning about the restraining order.

Judge says San Diego police officer stalked ex-husband, orders her to surrender firearms

Officer suing for discrimination

Court records show that on the same day, the department sent Stephanie a letter stating the restraining order “came to their attention.”

“I was directed to immediately relinquish any department-issued weapons and controlled items, including my service pistol, Ruger Carbine, shotgun, AR-15, handgun magazines, police radio, high-capacity magazines, OC, baton, taser, body armor, electronic key card, badge(s), and identification card,” Stephanie wrote in her declaration.

Last month, the officer announced she was suing SDPD for discrimination.

Her attorney told reporters after Wahl let her return to work, rumors spread that she had an affair with him , which she denies.

“She became the target of sexist and degrading rumors that she had an affair with Chief Wahl, that she traded sex for leniency,” said Mila Arutunian, Cockrell’s employment attorney.

Amol Brown/Team 10

Team 10 reported in August the City of San Diego paid over $37,000 to a law firm to launch a confidential investigation into allegations made against Wahl.

Stephanie said in her legal claim last month an anonymous letter sent to the city council alleged she had an affair with the chief and triggered an internal affairs investigation.

‘Heightened personal safety concern’

The officer, who said she has no criminal record or history of violence, is now asking the court to grant her an exemption so she can get both her personal and service-issued firearms back.

She said as a female officer, she is often at a physical disadvantage.

“I have been recognized while off-duty by individuals that I previously arrested, which creates a heightened personal safety concern. Being permitted to carry a firearm while off-duty is a critical component of my ability to protect myself,” she wrote.

Court records show Stephanie was scheduled to undergo a psychological evaluation Thursday — a mandatory requirement before a court can consider restoring an officer’s right to possess firearms.

Stephanie and San Diego police did not respond to Team 10’s requests for comment before press deadline Thursday.

A judge is expected to rule on her request in November.

San Diego is stepping up its efforts to tackle billions in overdue infrastructure projects by shifting to a model where contractors help design projects, instead of just building ones already designed by city engineers.

Officials expect the new model, which the City Council approved last week, to reduce cost overruns, improve quality, boost transparency and help the city tackle its massive infrastructure backlog more quickly.

“These changes aim to help the city meet growing infrastructure needs by streamlining the capital improvement program, enhancing public works contracts and encouraging innovation,” said city engineer Rania Amen. “This diversified approach will enable the city to better manage costs, schedules, risks and quality.”

City officials say the new method will be used for large and complex upcoming projects like the Hodges Dam replacement, convention center expansion and new drainage channels in parts of southeastern San Diego that flooded in January 2024.

They say early collaboration between a contractor and city officials boosts understanding of project goals and agreement on them, making projects easier to build and allowing innovations that improve quality.

San Diego faces nearly $12 billion in infrastructure projects over the next five years, and the city expects to have only about $5.5 billion to spend on infrastructure during that time.

That leaves a $6.5 billion gap, which is the largest ever. And the gap has more than tripled since early 2020, when city officials estimated it at $2.16 billion.

Officials say the new method could help them more quickly replace the city’s daunting amount of aging infrastructure — a result of so much of it having been built during the city’s population boom of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Because contractors will be chosen based on qualifications instead of submitting the lowest bid, costs for some projects may be higher, city officials said.

But because the new model fosters earlier collaboration between the city and the contractor, cost overruns are much less likely and savings from mutually agreed-upon value engineering are more likely, they said.

Some projects might start more slowly because a contractor must be chosen before design begins, but the new model is likely to end up being faster overall because it will eliminate some tasks now handled sequentially, the city’s independent budget analyst said.

A key element of the process is the contractor being required, partway through the design process, to propose a guaranteed maximum price. The city can either accept that price or reject it and find another contractor.

Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera called the new model an important change in city policy.

“We’ve actually missed out by not having these tools in the city’s toolbox,” he said.

The new tools are called “progressive design-build” and “construction manager at risk.” The key difference from the city’s existing policy is that contractors will participate in design.

The city’s existing process has design work being completed either by city engineers or outside architects before a contractor is chosen — a decision based on which contractor submits the lowest bid.

City officials said that method will still be used for smaller projects with clear scopes and fully developed plans.

They said the progressive design-build approach will be used for projects that require significant innovation and that face potential permitting and regulation headaches, such as sewer and water projects.

They said the “construction manager at risk” approach would likely be used for projects that require more design work, such as dams and large buildings.

Officials said other city projects that are candidates for the new method include Fire Station 49 in Otay Mesa, a proposed joint training facility for police and firefighters in Kearny Mesa and Phase Two of Pure Water — the city’s sewage recycling system.

While San Diego hasn’t previously used these construction methods, many other local agencies have since they first became common about a decade ago.

They were used to build the new Terminal 1 at San Diego International Airport, the sheriff’s Ramona substation and the San Diego Trolley’s Blue Line extension to University City.

“Early contractor involvement is critical,” said Matthew Fleming, a local contractor.

Michael Daneshvar of Turner Construction said the new method is the right move.

“It’s better value for the city of San Diego and better value for the taxpayers,” he said.

Mike Guzzi of Clark Construction said shifting to the new method will encourage higher-quality contractors to pursue the city’s projects.

“I think all of the major, competent and qualified general contractors in the area will lean more into San Diego projects,” he said.

Councilmember Marni von Wilpert said it can’t hurt for the city to have multiple possible ways to tackle projects.

“We need to broaden the options,” she said.