San Diego, CA
Morning Report: A Trans Republican School Board Member
In August, a Republican school board member of Escondido Union High School District had an announcement for the public.
“I was elected to this board in November 2014 as Bill Durney and re-elected in 2018 and 2022. This year I have come out as a transgender woman, and I have changed my name to Carol Durney,” she continued.
Conservative contempt for trans people is nothing new, but how would Republicans react to one of their own coming out as trans?
At that first meeting, not well.
People referred to her as an “abomination” and called on her to resign. But at a board meeting this Tuesday, the tone changed. Far more people showed up to support Durney than castigate her.
Our Jakob McWhinney has an in-depth and moving profile of Durney and how her transition has (and hasn’t) shaped her politics.
Read the full story here.
County Health and Human Services Chief Out in November
Another high-level official is preparing to depart county government.
Kim Giardina, who has led the county’s massive Health and Human Services Agency for the past year, announced that her last day at the county will be Nov. 6.
Giardina wrote that she plans to “explore other options,” in an email obtained by Voice. The decision came with a “mix of emotions,” she wrote.
This is a turbulent time for the county. It’s facing federal cuts that will impact services and has already endured other major departures. The county’s top attorney abruptly retired in July and its behavioral health director caught even insiders off guard with his resignation. The county official who oversees Medicaid and food stamp programs that will be hit hard by federal cuts is also set to retire in December.
“Change can be hard, but it is expected in a large organization, and the county is committed to a smooth transition,” county spokesperson Tammy Glenn wrote.
North County Report: Shaffer’s Court Appearance
Reporter Tigist Layne takes us inside the courthouse for Encinitas Councilmember Luke Shaffer’s arraignment for hit-and-run charges.
Dozens of supporters showed up for Shaffer.
“They offered each other condolences, hugs and words of encouragement. I heard people say things like, ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’ and ‘It will all be over soon.’ One person said it felt like they were mourning,” Layne writes.
Read the full North County Report here.
About Those Robots at City Council
The City Clerk’s Office confirmed on Wednesday that AI bots have not breached Council’s online comments after a series of strange audios made their way to meetings this week.
City Clerk Diana Fuentes said in a statement that the city’s system, ZoomGov, does not allow it.
“It appears that an individual chose to play a pre-recorded audio clip once they were recognized to speak,” she said. “We are monitoring this matter and will continue to ensure public participation in City Council meetings is conducted in line with our established rules of order.”
An Insane Bond Deal Exposed
Back in 2012, Voice of San Diego published one of its all-time bangers.
Poway Unified School District had borrowed $105 million for construction projects. Former reporter Will Carless discovered that the district would be on the hook to pay back roughly $1 billion — almost ten times more than it had borrowed!
The story led to national media attention, lots of pissed off residents and a new state law that capped debt-to-principal ratios on government borrowing.
This story is part of our 20th anniversary series on Voice’s impact. Read it here.
In Other News
- The San Diego city council voted Tuesday to settle for nearly $900,000 for a police response involving excessive force. The payout is the result of an incident last year, where officers shot beanbag rounds at a man and released K-9 units on him, after he had surrendered. (KPBS)
- A residential care facility in Mira Mesa is facing elder abuse charges. California’s Attorney General’s Office brought the charges forward earlier this week, alleging that residents suffered from bedsores and malnourishment because the facility was understaffed. (NBC 7)
- Potholes are one of the greatest obstacles San Diegans face on a daily basis. The City of San Diego is trying to do something about it, recently adding four new trucks to a fleet dedicated to smoothing city streets. We’ll see if this “gets it done.” (CBS 8)
The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry, Lisa Halverstadt and Tessa Balc. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.
San Diego, CA
WEBTOON Brings Top Creators for San Diego Comic-Con Panels
Global entertainment company Webtoon is returning to the hallowed halls of San Diego Comic-Con with a larger-than-life slate of panels featuring top talent and fresh announcements.
They will be shining the spotlight on some of today’s most engaging webcomic creators, including Derek V. Song (Fantasy High) and Punko (Cinderella Boy).
Let’s take a look at their schedule:
Thursday, July 23 – 10am – Room 29AB
Creature Craft: Visionaries of Horror Comics Share Their Secrets
This panel features Punko, creator of Stagtown and Cinderella Boy on WEBTOON; Cullen Bunn, creator of Ripcord and Deluge for Ignition Press; and Cat Staggs, co-creator of Death Mask, and artist on Tales for a HalloweeNight for Storm King Comics. Rotem Rusak, Editor-in-Chief at Nerdist, will moderate.
Friday, July 24 – 10am – Room 32AB
Love in Every Universe: The Great Romance Trope Debate
Join ROSEOAK, creator of Not So Silent on WEBTOON, Alessandra Ferreri, Head of Content at Wattpad, E.M. Wilson, author of Situationship, and Becca Erin Title, founder of Meet Cute Romance Bookshop. The panel is moderated by Crystal Bell, the Culture Editor at Mashable.
Friday, July 24 – 1pm – Room 32AB
Adapting Fantasy High for WEBTOON with Derek V. Song
Featuring Derek V. Song, writer of Fantasy High. Fans will get a behind-the-scenes look at adapting the beloved Dimension 20 series for WEBTOON and learn more about bringing the world of Fantasy High to a new visual format.
Saturday, July 25 – 11:30am – Room 24ABC
What’s Next from WEBTOON Entertainment
Featuring Ryan Lee, Head of Content at WEBTOON; Sydney Bright, Head of Global Animation at WEBTOON Productions; Erik Kozura, Producer at WEBTOON; ROSEOAK, creator of Not So Silent; Derek V. Song, writer of Fantasy High; Punko, creator of Stagtown and Cinderella Boy; and Ucheomaaa, creator of Vibe Check! on WEBTOON. Journalist, comic critic, and 2026 Eisner judge, Tiffany Babb, will moderate. his panel will deliver a slew of announcements, exclusive first looks, and Creator appearances from its platform and entertainment businesses. Additionally, the panel will give fans a window into what’s next from WEBTOON’s most exciting stories and projects, with news from WEBTOON Originals, WEBTOON Productions, WEBTOON Unscrolled, and more.
San Diego, CA
Terrifying moment huge sea lions chase tourists off popular California beach
Beachgoers in one Southern California town had to run for their lives after two massive sea lions came out of the ocean and onto the beach in San Diego.
In a video posted July 7 on Instagram, Dion Ruzicka captured the terrifying moment the two giant sea creatures hit the shore and began chasing people at the beach on a sunny California day.
One sea lion suddenly charged at stunned beachgoers, barreling across the sand as terrified visitors shrieked and sprinted away while the barking beast gave chase.
Moments later, a second sea lion joined the chaos, sending panicked crowds scrambling for higher ground — and even into the surf — to escape the pair’s path.
The more people ran, the more determined the hefty marine mammals seemed, waddling after the fleeing beachgoers in a bizarre game of chase.
“Oh my God,” one person could be heard saying, in the midst of the chaotic scramble.
It didn’t matter whether the visitor was young or old, the sea lion just kept chasing them. Finally, both animals dived back into the ocean and swam away at a quick pace.
It is not the first time such an encounter has happened in the popular La Jolla spot. A year ago, a video showed a pair of sea lions chasing beachgoers around before finally leaving.
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San Diego has warned the public about the potential dangers of going near wildlife living in the area.
“With the increase in the sea lion population, Point La Jolla has become a popular tourist destination for the public to view these wild animals close up,” a message on the city’s website read.
As a result, interactions between sea lions and the public have increased.
“Members of the public have been observed trying to touch, take selfies, and get as close to sea lions as possible which is a dangerous situation for both the public and the animals,” it added.
Officials suggest people watch the animals from the boardwalk and keep their distance from the sea lions.
While it is unclear what lead to Tuesday’s chase, the summer months are pupping season for these ocean animals. Mothers and fathers become protective of their young ones, and will display aggressive behavior, if they sense a threat, per officials.
“These interactions are not only dangerous for both humans and wildlife, it may be a violation of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act which helps to safeguard these animals,” the city said.
The California Post has reached out to the La Jolla Parks and Beaches group for further comment.
San Diego, CA
Opinion: More apartments eased rents. Townhomes could aid buyers.
San Diego’s most beloved neighborhoods, like North Park, Golden Hill and Sherman Heights, were built by people who needed a place to live and found one. But the bungalows, fourplexes and cottages that gave working San Diegans a foothold in those neighborhoods can hardly be built anywhere else in the city.
Rules written decades ago banned them. For 70 years, San Diego has been paying for that mistake in the form of a city its own workforce can no longer afford to live in.
Neighborhood Homes for All of Us is the city’s plan to fix that: family-sized townhomes, rowhouses and small duplexes built in the neighborhoods where San Diegans most want to live.
While San Diego rents are softening as new apartments are built, the cost of buying a home is not moving, and it won’t, because the rental and ownership markets run on entirely separate tracks. Renters benefit when more rentals are built, forcing landlords to compete for them.
However, a family trying to buy a home benefits only if more homes are available for sale. San Diego home prices now exceed nine times the median household income, among the worst ratios in the nation, according to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. Building rental housing is important, but it does not change the math for a buyer.
The homes that would change it — family-sized, on the ownership track, in the neighborhoods where people most want to raise children — have been illegal to build for decades. San Diego produced roughly 7,000 condos and townhomes a year in 2005. By 2022, that number had collapsed below 500. Part of that drop is because of litigation rules that drove up insurance costs for builders, caps on pre-sales that finance these projects and high fees. Another major reason is that we simply do not allow starter homes on smaller lots. So, instead, builders default to rentals because that’s what current rules allow them to build profitably.
London Moeder Advisors, a San Diego real estate economics firm, finds that eliminating the city’s large-lot-size mandates could produce new townhomes at 42% less cost than surrounding single-family homes without taxpayer subsidies. While this price point is still high for many, it’s more attainable for young families starting out. And importantly, the price could drop further if the state advances reforms to address litigation rules and pre-sale caps that drive up costs.
The city’s program is also focused on adding homes in San Diego’s neighborhoods with the best-performing schools and most accessible jobs. These are also the neighborhoods with the most restrictive regulations on smaller starter homes. A teacher whose classroom is in La Jolla cannot afford to live there. A firefighter stationed in Mission Hills commutes from Santee. The homes that would let them stay are currently illegal to build in much of these areas. Neighborhood Homes changes that.
While critics may say San Diego already has the tools for adding homes to neighborhoods, why add another program? Because each of those tools was for a different purpose. None were designed to add more for-sale housing.
ADUs, the backyard homes now common across the city, typically top out at 750 square feet (because of fee cliffs) and entail intricacies when selling to own. Other tools, like Senate Bill 9, have been layered with requirements that make it far too complicated and expensive for many homeowners to split their lots to add homes. Laws like Senate Bill 79 are important for adding more housing near transit. But none of these tools focuses on family-sized, ownership-track townhomes in an established neighborhood.
The Neighborhood Homes initiative asks a simple question: Where do the families who can’t afford a million-dollar home but don’t want an apartment go? We can continue to say certain neighborhoods are off-limits to the teachers, trades workers and young families who want to live there, or San Diego can set its own terms for how they grow, with local standards in a form the city controls.
San Diego’s most beloved streets were not preserved into existence. They were built — a duplex here, a rowhouse there — by people who needed a place to live in the city they loved and found one. That is what Neighborhood Homes makes possible again.
Asad is a former board member of the YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County. He resides in Mid-City.
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