SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Local first responders heading out to assist with the devastation from Hurricane Helene are now three members short.

A crash injuring a battalion chief and two captains marks the first serious accident of its kind in the long history of aiding natural disaster relief.

That history spans years.

From a series of wildfires in maui:

“I’ve never seen fire touch the beach and beyon – never seen it burn to the shoreline,” said Doug Nakama, a FEMA program specialist based in San Diego.

To flooding in Northern California:

“People losing their homes, homes being flooded, property being destroyed. The potential for people losing their lives,” said San Diego Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Aide Barbat.

One task force deployment was Hurricane Harvey, which devastated parts of Texas and Louisiana in 2017, followed closely by Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm.

Seven years ago, the Urban Search and Rescue Team Task Force 8 had just about one day between disasters to recuperate, gather their supplies, and hug their families.

“As the task force was arriving yesterday, to meet their families returning from Hurricane Harvey, it was about the exact same time we got the evacuation order from Hurricane Irma,” said Dave Gerboth, a Battalion Chief with San Diego Fire Rescue. “Certainly the families are a cornerstone to us being able to do what we do, I know that I couldn’t be doing it without having that support back home.”

Their assistance dates back to one of the most significant hurricanes in history – Hurricane Katrina.

Task Force 8 members, along with San Diego fire captains, were deployed for about three weeks.

“We’re primarily a rescue team, but we’re kind of a rescue team on steroids because we have that additional capability and knowledge,” said a member of the task force.

Whether it’s fire or rain, heartbreak or destruction, San Diego first responders have been there – then and now.

 The Union-Tribune’s Nick Canepa grades the Chargers following Sunday’s 17-10 loss to the Chiefs: 

 Quarterbacks: A

Justin Herbert probably shouldn’t have started with his bad ankle and severely depleted offensive line, but he did, and he hit his first seven throws, one for a touchdown. Presnap penalties — not unexpected with the problems up front and noise from Chiefs fans — constantly had him in a hole. Nothing much after the first quarter, but he gets an A for a mighty effort.

Running backs: C

It didn’t figure running would be a thing with that O-line, and it wasn’t. J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards & Co. were running in a little room.

Receivers: D

There simply is not enough danger here, and not much separation from an inexperienced group. Ladd McConkey, improving by the minute, made a pretty catch for a TD at the end line. Tight end Will Dissly caught a big 22-yard screen early. Josh Palmer actually surfaced. Quentin Johnston finally had a catch at the end of the third quarter.

Offensive line: Incomplete

Presnap penalties? How many would — you like? A nightmare after the first quarter. Both — BOTH — starting offensive tackles (Rashawn Slater and super rookie Joe “Delete” Alt) were in the nurse’s office, which normally means … not good. Trey Pipkins started at right tackle, Jamaree Salyer at left tackle. Sam “Ah,Who?” Mustipher started at guard and chop-blocked right away.

Defensive line:  C+

The D got tired. Teair Tart had a sack (he limped off in the fourth). But the guys in the middle — Poona Ford, Otito Ogbonnia and Tart — are stout.

Linebackers: B

Joey “Big I’m Hurt” Bosa was out. Again. Tuli Tuipulotu forced an early fumble and batted down a pass. Bud Dupree had an early sack. Troy Dye and Tarheeb Still split a sack. Dye later got juked out of his tighty whities by Patrick Mahomes. Khalil Mack had an important stop when the DBs had blown coverage, then a nice batdown.

Secondary: C+

Star safety Derwin James should not have been — but was — suspended for this game for tackling too hard. Replacement A.J. Finley immediately allowed a pass to Travis Kelce. Elijah Molden recovered the first fumble. Kristian Fulton picked Mahomes and then allowed a long TD, despite interfering. But he’s skilled.

Special teams: B

Cameron Dicker The Kicker’s 50-yard field goal put his side up 10-0, but he later missed a 55-yarder. Derius Davis, who simply can’t learn, had a fair catch at the 5. JK Scott is a really good punter.

Coaching: B

Teacher had no problem with Jim Harbaugh going for it with the game tied 10-10 in the fourth quarter and the ball at the goal line, but the pass play call stunk (after refusing a challenge that might have overturned a play). But it’s hard to find many flaws in his plan. He held the Chiefs to 17 points. He will have something going here.

Next opportunity — bye: A++

Bye the bye: never, in the history of byes, has one bye meant so much to so many.

Originally Published: September 29, 2024 at 5:21 p.m.

San Diego county already has one of the highest cost-of-living burdens in the nation and working families are being crushed by recent spikes in inflation.

Despite this, San Diego local politicians want to make things even more expensive by putting 35 separate tax hikes on the November 2024 ballot.

What’s worse, many of these tax hikes are hidden behind deceptive ballot titles that the politicians write to fool voters into approving them.

That’s why in each election, Reform California publishes a “Plain English” voter guide to flag all the tax hikes on the ballot and expose the deceptive word games being played on these measures.

In San Diego county, there is one county-wide sales tax hike on the ballot, 11 city sales tax hikes, and 23 local property tax hikes – mostly tied to bonds.

Measure G is a half-a-percent sales tax hike countywide that backers say will fix our roads. But not a single penny of Measure G is legally earmarked for roads.

Worse, the funds in Measure G will go to SANDAG – the same agency that raised your taxes in 1988 and 2004 promising to fix roads, but has repeatedly raided those road funds ever since.  Recent SANDAG audits have also uncovered millions in waste, fraud and abuse at the agency.

Just like with Measure G, backers of city-specific sales tax hike measures also make false claims on where the funds from their tax hikes would go.  Every city measure has been placed on the ballot claiming the funds will go to specific purposes – with the magic words of “police, fire, 911, road repairs, etc.” being used in almost every measure. Yet none of the city measures contain language legally earmarking the funds for these popular programs.

All of the city tax hike measures go into the general fund of the cities – and politicians can spend the money any way they want. In fact, the fiscal forecasts for each of these cities prove that a massive portion of funds are being diverted by city politicians to cover bloated and overly-generous pension payouts to city workers.

With the exception of a National City property tax hike for their general fund, the 23 property tax hikes on the ballot across the county are tied to bond measures that include parcel tax assessments.

These bonds are all being sold as improving school facilities – with all kinds of promotional language on improving academic outcomes.

The reality is these bonds and associated increases to your property taxes do nothing to improve the quality of instruction in our schools, but instead simply seek to build fancy new facilities.

What backers of these bonds do not tell you is we have a growing problem of underutilized facilities in school districts across the county. That’s because local public school enrollment has plummeted in the past five years – and is expected to drop even more in the coming years. Only a handful of our rural school districts have had stable or modest increases in enrollment.

Instead of building more facilities during a time of declining student enrollment, school districts should be required to do a comprehensive needs assessment of their existing facilities and right-size – using the proceeds from this process to invest in deferred maintenance and improvement of remaining facilities.

Several of these bonds are from school districts who have passed requirements that all of their contracts must be awarded using Project Labor Agreements (PLAs).

PLAs allow school districts to avoid fair and open competition on contracts in favor of union-only firms. In doing so, PLA’s discriminate against small and minority-owned businesses.

According to the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction (CFEC), PLAs result in a 25-40% increase in the cost to taxpayers for projects while reducing the chance that hiring will benefit local workers.

Just who benefits from these discriminatory PLA contracts? School district politicians who receive campaign contributions from union political action committees funded by the dues generated by union-only projects.

So what will approving all 35 tax hikes on the San Diego County ballot cost you?

Our analysis shows the average San Diego household will be impacted by 2-3 of these tax hikes and will end up paying $200-300 more per year in higher cost-of-living. That’s simply too much for San Diegans who already are struggling with their finances.

Vote NO on all 35 tax hikes and tell San Diego county politicians to instead reform their wasteful spending!

Carl DeMaio is a former member of the San Diego City Council and a candidate for the California Assembly.