San Diego, CA
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria takes big lead toward November in early election results
![San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria takes big lead toward November in early election results San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria takes big lead toward November in early election results](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0ddcc13/2147483647/strip/true/crop/900x473+0+17/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0d%2F14%2Fbdd2e2e548559b13c77a8ef771ac%2Ftodd-gloria-super-tuesday-030524.jpg)
SAN DIEGO (CNS) – San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria held a nearly 30-point lead Wednesday over his closest challenger, taking a major step in his reelection campaign.
The mayor faces four challengers, and the top two finishers in the race will head to a November runoff.
With early returns tallied, Gloria pulled in 52.5% of the early results, followed by 23.4% from San Diego police officer Larry Turner and 13.8% from Geneviéve Jones-Wright, an attorney/professor/nonprofit executive.
Gloria seeks to defend his incumbency after initially being elected in 2020, in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic downturn.
His term has been a challenging one, as San Diego faced a slew of problems, including increasing homelessness and housing costs, the rising threat of fentanyl and most recently, questions about the city’s infrastructure following the Jan. 22 storms.
“(Gloria) is committed to tackling San Diego’s most pressing issues — public safety, homelessness, housing and infrastructure,” according to his campaign website. “Over the past three years, his administration has successfully placed more than 3,600 people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing and more than doubled shelter options. From new fire stations to improved libraries and repaired sidewalks, the evidence of (Gloria’s) commitment to the people of San Diego can be found right in your own neighborhood.”
He served two terms on the San Diego City Council and was elected City Council president in 2012. Gloria took over as interim mayor upon the resignation of Bob Filner, then served in the Assembly from 2016-2020.
Turner decries what he calls Gloria’s lack of results.
“This crisis will be handled in the first 180 days of my tenure,” he said about the homelessness issue. “I will immediately direct the building of 5,000 shelter beds with true resources that address mental health and addiction. I will identify those on the verge of homelessness and provide help. I will empower police to end the violent criminal element that hides amongst the homeless.
“The only thing stopping us from solving this crisis is the lack of will and courage,” he said. “No more half measures.”
Turner has also put an emphasis on improving infrastructure, using the San Diego Convention Center year-round as an economic engine, keeping small businesses in San Diego, focusing less on bike lanes in transit, an expedited route for undocumented people to become Americans and increased police recruitment and presence.
Turner’s candidacy has been challenged in a lawsuit contending he was not a resident or registered voter in the city of San Diego 30 days prior to filing his nomination papers, as required. The lawsuit alleges that Turner was primarily living in El Cajon during that period.
Turner has denied the allegations. A statement from his campaign states that he lived in Bonsall in parts of 2016 and 2017, and between 2020 and early 2023 his family stayed in Alpine, but he otherwise has lived in San Diego. Turner said that during the period in question he was living in East Village, but has since moved to Ocean Beach.
A judge has ruled the suit will not move forward unless Turner is one of the top-two vote getters.
In the hypothetical event of Turner receiving the most or second-most votes in the primary election and subsequently being disqualified, the third- place vote-getter would receive his spot on the November ballot.
Another court hearing is set in the case for March 29.
Jones-Wright is an adjunct professor, was a member of the San Diego Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention and serves as the founding executive director of Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance.
“San Diego deserves a mayor who will lead our city with vision and a plan to tackle our most pressing issues,” her campaign website reads. “As mayor, I will lead a city that works for everyone by creating pathways for opportunities for all San Diegans.”
Her priorities include building “pathways to housing and homeownership for all San Diegans,” making all neighborhoods clean and safe and increasing transparency at City Hall.
Jane Glasson, a special education assistant, says her campaign is focused on supporting homeowners and renters. She had received 6.5% of the vote on Election Night.
Also seeking the office is Dan Smiechowski, a real estate professional and frequent commenter at City Council meetings. He currently holds 3.8% of the vote.
Copyright 2024, City News Service, Inc.
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San Diego, CA
Survey of nature’s superhero, eelgrass, kicks off Carlsbad bridge project
![Survey of nature’s superhero, eelgrass, kicks off Carlsbad bridge project Survey of nature’s superhero, eelgrass, kicks off Carlsbad bridge project](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sut-l-lagoon-surveys-002.jpg?w=1024&h=766)
Two researchers in an inflatable boat glided out onto Batiquitos Lagoon in Carlsbad Thursday morning looking for eelgrass, an underwater plant that provides a nursery for fish, crabs, shrimp and other sealife.
The boaters, equipped with sonar and diving gear, also were looking for any sign of Caulerpa, an invasive seaweed that can spread rapidly and choke out the native eelgrass. Nicknamed “killer algae,” Caulerpa taxifolia turned up in Carlsbad’s nearby Agua Hedionda Lagoon in 2000 and was eliminated only after an intensive, multi-year, $7 million battle.
Since then, the invader, which may have been dumped from a home aquarium, has been absent along the North County coastline. However, last year, small amounts of a slightly different but equally destructive species, Caulerpa prolifica, were found in San Diego Bay and efforts are underway to eradicate it.
The one-day Carlsbad survey are part of the preparations for replacing the 80-year-old wooden railroad trestle that crosses the lagoon. Construction is expected to begin this fall and be completed in 2028 at a cost of about $165 million. State law requires construction to pause from April 15 to July 31 each year during the California least tern nesting season.
A survey in 2015 showed several dense beds of eelgrass spread between a few sparse areas in the lagoon, said Derek Langsford, an environmental compliance consultant working with the San Diego Association of Governments.
Eelgrass is considered one of nature’s superheroes. One of many species of seagrasses, its long, slippery blades offer shade and camouflage for young fish. Eelgrass anchors shorelines and provides food and habitat for a variety of marine life.
Growth of the perennial plant varies from year to year depending on the weather, rainfall and other factors.
“We’ve had two relatively wet winters,” Langsford said. “That brings more freshwater flowing through the channel of the lagoon. Eelgrass does not like freshwater.”
Storm runoff also brings silt and sediment, which cloud the water and prevent light from reaching the plant for the photosynthesis it needs to survive.
“These lagoons are very sensitive, and they support a bunch of endangered species,” said Sue Scatolini, a biologist at the California Department of Transportation, or CalTrans. “Salt marsh and lagoon habitats are very important.”
More than 200 species of birds have been seen at the lagoon, including the endangered California least tern and the western snowy plover. The shallow water is a breeding ground for biologically and commercially important ocean fish such as halibut and sculpin.
Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune
Daniel Conley, a senior marine biologist at Tierra Data, and Emily Gardner, an associate marine biologist, head out on the Batiquitos Lagoon to map the sea floor. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Other than eelgrass, there’s not a lot of vegetation in the lagoon, Scatoline said. Most of the bottom is shallow and sandy, much of it only knee deep at low tide. The deepest part is the channel under the bridge, where the bottom is scoured by the current.
Eelgrass is a flowering underwater plant, not seaweed, that grows in areas from the tidal zone down to about 20 feet deep.
Native Americans collected it for food, roofing, basket weaving, smoking deer meat and as a cure for diarrhea. Early California settlers used it to thatch their roofs, as well as for fuel, bedding and a soil conditioner.
Industries have used eelgrass to make paper, cigars, upholstery and packing materials. However, today state law prohibits its commercial or recreational harvest, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
SANDAG, which oversees the bridge replacement project, will be required to replace any eelgrass that the survey finds growing in the area affected by construction. Should any Caulerpa be discovered, construction could be delayed until the invasive plant is removed.
“We don’t think we will encounter any Caulerpa here,” said Tim Pesce, a senior environmental planner for SANDAG.
The old, single-track railroad bridge is being replaced with a double-track concrete bridge that brings numerous environmental and operational benefits.
The new bridge will be longer with less of a footprint in the water, which will improve tidal flows and water quality in the lagoon. Instead of standing on more than 100 closely spaced wooden posts or piers in the water, the new structure will be supported by concrete piers set 56 feet apart.
Another benefit will be the excavation of about 40,000 cubic yards of sand, Pesce said. The sand will be used to replenish nearby South Ponto Beach and to expand an eroding least tern nesting area near the mouth of the lagoon.
As for operational benefits, a second set of tracks improves the speed and efficiency of service by allowing trains to pass each other.
So far SANDAG has double-tracked about three quarters of the 60-mile corridor from downtown San Diego to the Orange County border. The Batiquitos bridge project will add more than half a mile of double-track, eliminating a bottleneck between Carlsbad and Encinitas.
The bridge project strengthens an important link in the 351-mile Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo, or LOSSAN, rail corridor.
The LOSSAN corridor is San Diego County’s only passenger and freight train connection with Los Angeles and the rest of the United States. It’s also part of the federal Strategic Rail Corridor Network connecting military bases across the country.
Locally, the corridor is used daily by North County Transit District’s Coaster commuter trains, Amtrak passenger service, and BNSF Freight.
Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner makes 13 daily round-trips between San Diego and Los Angles. The Coaster makes 15 daily round-trips between Oceanside and San Diego on Mondays through Thursdays, 16 on Fridays, 11 on Saturdays and nine on Sundays.
Originally Published:
San Diego, CA
These Padres can sit stars and still win big
![These Padres can sit stars and still win big These Padres can sit stars and still win big](https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/t_2x1/t_w1536/v1723951254/mlb/ajlklojvgjwecwv9x7xy.jpg)
On Saturday night, San Diego played
San Diego, CA
San Diego mayor heads to Nev. to campaign for Kamala Harris
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — According to Todd Gloria’s office, the San Diego mayor is traveling to the state of Nevada Saturday to campaign for democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
A press release announcing his departure noted that Gloria is making the trip to participate in the the Harris campaign’s “Weekend of Action.”
This event is meant to kick off the Democratic National Convention, which is scheduled to be held Aug. 19 through 22 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
The “Weekend of Action” is taking place across battleground states with organizers, grassroots supporters, and others attending to voice their support for their preferred candidate.
According to the mayor’s office, Gloria will depart for Nevada Saturday afternoon and is expected to return to San Diego sometime during the night. Then on Sunday, he will travel to Chicago to take part in the Democratic National Convention as a delegate for Harris.
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