San Diego, CA
San Diego prosecutors target employers withholding overtime pay
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, August 15th.
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San Diego prosecutors are targeting employers that withhold overtime pay. More on that next. But first… let’s do the headlines….
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Vista is the latest city in the county to enforce a ban on homeless encampments.
The city council voted earlier this week (Tuesday) to enforce a ban that was established more than 50 years ago.
Advocate Holly Herring says that Vista does not have enough resources for those experiencing homelessness to start enforcing the ban again.
“Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should necessarily sweep encampments and start enforcement without having a robust housing, offering supportive housing, permanent options. so that’s ultimately why i’m still against the bans.”
Vista mayor John Franklin says officers won’t clear encampments or ticket people without offering shelter first.
Vista banned camping on public property in 19-68, but enforcement was paused during the pandemic.
According to the latest Point-In-Time count, Vista’s homeless population nearly doubled from 88 last year to 170 this year.
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Unionized nurses at Rady Children’s Hospital reached a tentative contract agreement with the hospital yesterday (Wednesday) .
The agreement comes days before more than 16-hundred employees at Rady were planning to go on strike because of failed negotiations between the hospital and the union.
United Nurses of Children’s Hospital Teamsters Local 16-99 is representing the nurses.
Union leaders say it’s “the best contract offer in decades.”
It includes a one-thousand-dollar bonus for every registered nurse in the bargaining unit.
The new contract will go to the union membership for a ratification vote today (Thursday).
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The city of San Diego had a drop in violent crimes during the first half of this year, compared to the same time last year.
That’s according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association’s mid-year Violent Crime Report.
The city had 18 homicides in the first six months of the year, compared to 34 during the first half of 20-23.
There was also a drop in reported rapes, from 183 to 151.
Robberies and aggravated assaults also decreased between last year and this year.
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From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
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As prosecutors in San Diego plan a crackdown on wage theft, they’re targeting employers that withhold overtime pay.
Metro reporter Andrew Bowen says some employees falsely assume they’re not eligible for overtime.
AB: The majority of people who work more than eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week, should get time and a half pay. Kyra Greene is executive director of the Center on Policy Initiatives. In a survey of more than 800 employees in San Diego County, the think tank found about a quarter had missed out on overtime pay at some point in the past year. KG: “Sometimes when employees reach that eight-hour mark, their employer just tells them, ‘You have to clock out now and work off the clock.” And so that is actually two violations, because any work off the clock is illegal. And anytime you’re not paid overtime for additional hours, that’s a different violation.” AB: Even salaried employees can be entitled to overtime pay if they earn less than $66,560 per year. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
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Journalist Bill Moyers once said that, “the quality of democracy and the quality of journalism are deeply entwined.”
Well, local news outlets are on life support across the country while democracy itself is on the ballot in the November presidential election.
Investigative reporter Amita Sharma spoke with Evening Edition fill-in anchor John Carroll to discuss two bills in the California legislature, that would require search engines and social media platforms to compensate outlets for accessing their news content.
1. Amita, tell me about the two bills. The first bill, AB 886, would mandate that a platform – whether social media or search engines — compensate news websites for accessing their stories, possibly through a set fee or an amount set by negotiation. The bill would require that 70 percent of those fees be used toward keeping news reporting jobs in California. The second is Senate Bill 1327. This is an interesting one.It would force the big platforms to pay a tax for the data they collect on all of us..users..and that tax money would be handed over to news organizations through a tax credit, again for employing news reporters. 2. Amita, the goal here is to throw a lifeline to journalism in the state, in fact SB 886 is called the California Preservation Act. You’ve written extensively about the shrinkage of local news coverage…what are supporters of the bill hoping for here? They’re hoping it stems the bleeding…a little context…Since 2005, the United States has lost an average of two newspapers a week, according to researchers at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism…there are around 6,000 newspapers left in the country and most of them are weeklies. And in California, here’s a little bit more background on just how big a financial hit newspapers have taken…Over the past 10 years, advertising at newspapers has plummeted 66 percent…newsroom staff has sunk 44 percent…you and I have been around for a long time John…if you look at the UT…20 years ago, it had a newsroom of 400 people…today that staff has dwindled to about 50 . Look at the LA Times, The Orange County Register, the Riverside Press Enterprise…those papers are all mere shells of what they once were. The massive hit to newspapers has left vast swaths of news deserts or coverage so inadequate, it’s irrelevant…this has huge implications for democracy…if you don’t have journalists digging up the truth, shining a light on corruption..or as Scott Lewis at Voice of San Diego would say…sharing the story of your community, you’re out of touch with your own environment. You’re left with no idea on what government is doing in your name, you don’t know what business is doing, and you don’t know how to vote…studies show that voting dips when local news shrinks…this is why Brittney Barsotti, general counsel for the California News Publishers Association says the organization is co-sponsoring SB 886. Brittney Barsotti/General Counsel of CNPA “We have a number of small publications that have come out in support as well as labor. They came out, they vote unanimously to support AB 886 because of the requirements that the money go to journalism jobs. As one of my colleagues there says, When management and labor are aligned on something, you should really pay attention. That means that this bill is going to be really critical.” 3. What does Google have to say about all of this? A company spokesperson declined an interview but did send me a write-up on testimony on the issue offered by google executive Jaffer Zaidi to the California Senate Judiciary Committee in June. in that testimony, he said, while Google shares the goal of preserving local news coverage, it believes SB 886 is the wrong approach and will have damaging consequences…and that Google’s “surfacing links to news content is not commercially lucrative for Google.” What happens next? Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, who authored SB 886, is currently in negotiations on the bill and her spokesperson told me this week that the bill will be heard in Senate Appropriations on Thursday. As for SB 1327, I have no update other than I’ve been told that it’s been voted out of the Senate and is in the assembly now. Amita, thank you. Thank you John.
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San Diegans got their first look at a sculpture in Balboa Park that symbolizes how San Diego and Tijuana became this year’s World Design Capital.
Reporter Thomas Fudge says the event showcases architecture and urban planning.
The pavilion in Balboa Park is a symbol and a gathering space. San Diego city councilman Raul Campillo was an early supporter of World Design Capital 2024. He says the inclusion of two cities this year is emblematic of life in the region. “I think the idea that we’re a binational region that operates as one organism rather than two separate cities in two separate countries is going to be achieved here… I think a lot of people don’t realize that the educational institutions on both sides of the border exchange a lot of ideas, a lot of technology, a lot of jobs.” The World Design Capital is a recognition and celebration of the power of design in a community. Past capitals have included Mexico City and Seoul South Korea. San Diego-Tijuiana was the first joint application in the program’s history. A list of events linked to World Design Capital, 2024 can be found on it’s website, wdc2024.org. SOQ.
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It’s not every day you get a chance to make your dreams come true.
But in Tijuana, this week hundreds of young soccer players got that rare opportunity.
Border reporter Gustavo Solis went to a tryout for the youth academy for San Diego’s new Major League Soccer team.
Decent save and generic soccer sounds This is about as high stakes as you can get for youth soccer. gol to finish out the session These kids are trying out to be part of San Diego’s new Major League Soccer team – San Diego FC. The team will start playing at Snapdragon Stadium next year. Jackson Scott, defender, Chula Vista “I’m trying out cause hopefully I can make the team and grow in soccer.” Devin Parella, defender, Tijuana “It’s really cool actually. I love it. I hope I can make it. I’m going to give it my all and try.” David Renteria, goalie, Ensenada “Es mi sueno y seria maravillos cumplirlo.” This is my dream, and it would be marvelous to make it happen. This is one of many tryouts and tournaments San Diego FC scouts will be attending over the next few months in San Diego and Tijuana. They’ll evaluate more than 20,000 players, with only 30 moving on to join the team’s youth academy El Cajon. “These kind of events, for sure, we’re looking for the top players.” That’s Rafael Calderon, one of the team’s scouts. “At the end, we’re looking for players. This is not rocket science, it’s soccer. And in both sides, because we get the players super young, we get the time to develop them to go to the next level.” About 1,000 kids – born between 2010 and 2014 – registered for the open tryout in Tijuana on Monday. That this is happening south of the border is historic. So says Joaquin Escoto, who runs San Diego FC’s youth academy program. “We are in our first ever tryout, open tryout in Mexico which starts in Tijuana. We’re super excited, it’s the first team that any MLS team comes to scout in Mexico. For us, it’s a lot of responsibility but we want to give opportunities to any kid in Tijuana to come play for San Diego FC.” That’s because Major League Soccer limits each team to a specific geographic area from which they can develop youth players. And San Diego FC is the only MLS team with an assigned area that includes Mexico. “I think it’s definitely a competitive advantage. It’s also unique and a huge opportunity for us and for anybody in Mexico.” Think of the academy as a farm system where the ultimate goal is to develop talented youngsters into MLS players. San Diego’s academy will be free to the lucky few who are selected. Escoto says that includes training, education, and room and board. Players from Tijuana will get student visas to live and study in the facility. “Once you come into our academy, you’re either going to be a professional soccer player or you’re going to go to a top school in the NCAA.” It’s also a dream come true for parents. Arturo Jimenez Crus drove from Los Angeles to watch the Tijuana tryout. “We hear that they’re providing school and everything so that’s like a plus for us. So yea, we’re excited.” He even brought grandma and grandpa along. Carlos’ phone broll of parents cheering. Vamos Armando! “I think they’re doing a great thing. Everybody deserves a chance.” After a few hours Monday morning, scouts began selecting players for the next round of tryouts. Those chosen to move on were presented with bright red wristbands with the letters VIP printed on them. Thiago runs by and says papa! Showing off the tag Thiago Alica Morales was one of them. The 11-year-old attacking player gave his dad a big hug after hearing the news. “Pues bien padre. Me siento super emocionado.” Then he called mom. Hola ma Gustavo Solis, KPBS News.
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Last month, we told you about two Lincoln High sumo wrestlers who qualified for the world championship in Poland, but couldn’t afford to go.
Reporter Katie Hyson says since then, community members gave well over 10-thousand-dollars.
At first it was going to be a stressful event because we didn’t know if we would have enough. Sumo coach Christina Griffin-Jones. But you know what? I should have had more faith in San Diego and the people who care about equity and access for sports. She says the community’s response was a healing journey for the team. And it freed them to focus on training. Such a valuable lesson to teach young folks that you can do anything anywhere as long as you have that love and care for self and that supportive community. One of the wrestlers, Jaheim Galeana, couldn’t get his passport in time to compete. But he will be there to cheer on fellow Hornet Maily Lo. They fly out September third. Katie Hyson, KPBS News.
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That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Join us again tomorrow for the day’s top stories. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Thursday.
San Diego, CA
Automated license plate readers and public surveillance cameras are coming to Imperial Beach
The city of Imperial Beach will soon install four Automated License Plate Readers and two additional “public safety cameras” in hopes of improving public safety.
On June 3, Imperial Beach city councilmembers voted to enter into an agreement with the San Diego Sheriff’s Office to place four license plate readers manufactured by surveillance giant Flock Safety at four proposed intersections, and they will also install two cameras in the city to monitor for criminal behavior.
The cameras, part of a two-month pilot program, seek to improve public safety in the South Bay coastal town.
The four proposed locations for the license plate cameras are Imperial Beach Boulevard and 13th Street, Palm Avenue and 13th Street, 13th Street and Elm and 9th Street and Elm Ave.
The proposed locations for the public cameras are on the median of Palm Avenue and 8th Street, Palm Avenue and Seacoast Drive and Imperial Beach Boulevard and Seacoast Drive.
For the license plate readers, city staff said they have proven their usefulness in cities and unincorporated areas throughout San Diego County for years.
“[License Plate Reader] technology has contributed to multiple arrests, including identifying suspects’ vehicles involved in retail thefts, gas station thefts, and vehicle burglaries. [License Plate Readers] have also assisted in identifying a suspect vehicle in an international hit-and-run homicide in Lemon Grove and a vehicle involved in a [pellet] gun case in Encinitas,” reads the city’s staff report to the city council.
City staff said the Sheriff’s Office recommends a total of eight license plate readers, but the city opted for four.
“This is a pilot program. We have to consider the trade-off of privacy for security,” said public speaker Vivian Dunbar. “People have been falsely arrested and falsely identified through the use of these cameras.”
Imperial Beach Mayor Pro-Tem Jack Fisher said that while he understands the privacy concerns, the benefits outweigh any negatives. “This is one of those programs where IB is not leading the charge. A few weeks back, everyone was aware of the tragedy that happened at the Islamic Center of San Diego and the license plate readers were key in tracking those individuals down. It’s good for us to do our part.”
Added Fisher, “The era of big brother has passed, if you have a cell phone, you know there is already tracking.”
The council unanimously voted in favor of the pilot program.
Utility man Samad Taylor was selected to the Major League roster from Triple-A El Paso in a corresponding move.
Tuesday night was a tale of two parties. Two election night parties.
At Liberty Station’s Stone Brewing, a small coterie of Democratic elected officials and functionaries and a larger coterie of news media shuffled around trying to make sense of the lackluster returns trickling in.
Meanwhile, at downtown’s US Grant Hotel, a much more spirited collection of Republican operatives and supporters laughed and drank in a blindingly-lit convention room, backed by a pianist’s rendition of “Billie Jean.”
The takeaway seemed clear: this was a not-so-great night for San Diego’s Democratic in-group. Chula Vista’s Republican mayor had a huge lead over his Democratic opponent. A tax on second homes lagged behind in the vote count. And several Republicans seemed to make it out of crowded primary fields in local races.
Hell, even if it was only a just-OK night for Republicans – that still seemed worth celebrating to them.
Normally we now get long stretches of days, even weeks of fingernail-biting anticipation as the county so slowly tallies the rest of the votes. But there doesn’t appear to be many close races to watch this time around. There are a couple. We start at the top:
It’s Becerra vs. Hilton
As of 11 p.m., with more than 50 percent of votes counted, it appeared that a Republican and Democrat — rather than two Democrats — would make it through to the general election. Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra led the race, with billionaire Tom Steyer on the outside looking in. The New York Times has a nice tracker here.
Empty Homes Tax Goes Down
Measure A presented a simple choice. What do voters in the city of San Diego have more disdain for – people with enough money to own a second home they leave empty, or new taxes? Turns out, it’s additional taxes. For now, at least.
Championed by Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, Measure A would have placed a tax on homes left vacant for more than half of the year. It was pitched as a way to both raise badly needed revenue for the city and, potentially, make available badly-needed housing.
As of Tuesday evening, the measure’s prospects looked grim, with about 58 percent of voters casting a ‘No’ vote. It will become the second citywide tax increase rejected by voters in as many years. Despite the poor showing, intern Naomi Granata found the pitch resonated with some voters in North Park.
San Diego County Assessor-Recorder-Clerk Jordan Marks was one of a number of local electeds who came out in opposition of the tax. He said the city’s housing problems couldn’t be solved by what he called “bad taxes.”
“This result reflects that Sean Elo-Rivera and the City Council have lost the trust of the public and that voters are reading the fine print,” Marks said.
Elo-Rivera said it wasn’t looking good, but he was hopeful the picture would improve. Ultimately, he thought the money spent opposing the tax — and the distorted message he felt it sent — was too big to overcome.
“There was an enormous amount of money spent, and not just money spent, but money spent to trick voters into thinking that something was going to impact them that wasn’t,” Elo-Rivera said.
No Ammar
Republican County Supervisor Jim Desmond led the way in the 48th Congressional District on Tuesday night.
What we were waiting for is the candidate who would go with him to the runoff. It will attract a ton of national attention and money. It was one of the seats made more competitive by Democrats in the special redistricting vote last year.
San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert and Ammar Campa-Najjar, squared off for a chance to wrest the seat out of longtime Republican control. With 53 percent reporting, von Wilpert held a commanding lead over Campa-Najjar. The councilmember will advance to face Desmond in November.
On the ground in the district, reporter Tigist Layne found that the national politics that led to the redistricting fight were also front and center on voters’ minds as they headed into vote.
Bailey vs. Crosby in Coastal Council District
Former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey and Deputy City Attorney Nicole Crosby will advance to the November election in District 2 of the San Diego City Council.
Bailey, a Republican-turned-Independent, seemed destined to finish in the top two after he attracted significant attention on social media. The race for the second spot was more uncertain. Josh Coyne, like Crosby, attracted significant Democratic support. And Mandy Havlik — a more development-resistant candidate — also had strong grassroots support in Point Loma.
Our new intern Fiona Bork talked to voters in District 2, which covers the city’s southern coastline, who said that affordability was the most important issue. Exactly how that explained their electoral choices differed by a lot. One voter said Coyne’s market-driven approach to building more housing appealed to him. Another liked Havlik’s approach to limiting vacation rentals. A third voted for Bailey because she wanted less development and more public transit. It seems unlikely that Bailey, who is fiscally conservative, would support massively expanding public transit options. Read the full story here.
City Council District 4: The race for southeastern San Diego’s council district featured three candidates: incumbent Henry Foster, Martha Abraham and Johnny Lee Dang.
Abraham was highly critical of Foster in her campaign and that seemed to resonate well with voters. At the latest count, she led Foster by several hundred votes.
Foster has many supporters in the district, but the city’s handling of catastrophic flooding in January 2024 — among other issues — has led to massive distrust of City Hall.
Council District 6: Incumbent Kent Lee had one prominent opponent, Mark Powell, who is a former member of the County Board of Education. They will both make the runoff but Lee got 55 percent of the vote in early counting.
City Council District 8: San Ysidro School Board Member Antonio Martinez and current District 8 chief of staff, Gerardo Ramirez, lead in this race — which was crowded with Democrats. Venus Molina, who serves as the chief of staff to Councilmember Jennifer Campbell, trailed closely behind in third place. This is one of the races close enough to change as the registrar continues counting votes. Molina’s count improved slightly as the night went on.
Our South County reporter, Jim Hinch, spoke with voters outside the Otay Mesa/Nestor Branch Library. One voter told Hinch she voted for Molina because she liked that she is local and a single mother. Read the full story here.
Election Watch Party Bonus: Ramirez’ supporters and family gathered at the Landing Strip, a bar and restaurant at Brown Field Municipal Airport, to watch results roll in. They broke out into applause when results showed him coming in second.
“For some of the folks it might seem like ‘hey man’ you’re second place, but we’re in there. This is a huge, wonderful sign,” said Ramirez.
DeMaio’s Gonna Gloat
Two local elections were something of a proxy battle between two warring factions of the Republican Party. Assemblymember Carl DeMaio’s team won, again. Every time local Republican leaders unite to oppose him or the people he supports, DeMaio wins. This time it was about two races: the one to replace County Supervisor Jim Desmond and the one to replace State Sen. Brian Jones.
In the county supervisor race: San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones left no doubt she would make it to the runoff. The only remaining question is who will face her — Vista Mayor John Franklin or Kyle Krahel, the former chair of the Democratic Party. After the first votes were counted, Krahel held a slight advantage with 20 percent of the vote compared to Franklin’s 19 percent. DeMaio went all in for Jones and she led the field with more than 41 percent of the vote.
In the state Senate race: As expected, former San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott made the runoff for the state Senate District 40 seat. She got nearly 45 percent of the votes counted so far. The real question was who would go with her. That Republican battle between Kristie Bruce-Lane and San Marcos City Councilmember Ed Musgrove seems to have also gone DeMaio’s way with Bruce-Lane holding a 4.7-percentage-point advantage over Musgrove.
That’s not enough of a gap to call the race but it’s significant.
Teachers Union Pushed Barrera to Runoff in Statewide Race
The race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction became something of a flex test for the state’s largest teachers union. Could the California Teachers Association almost singlehandedly lift a relatively unknown San Diego board member over a bevvy of better financed, higher profile candidates? Yup. Easily.
Fueled by nearly $5 million in spending from the state’s largest teachers union, longtime San Diego Unified Trustee and labor-darling Richard Barrera sailed to a convincing second place finish in the race for state supe. In his nearly two decades as the power behind the throne of the second largest district in the state, Barrera has engineered a progressive labor friendly transformation that the union hopes can be taken statewide.
He will now face off against Republican Chino Valley Trustee Sonja Shaw in November.
Brews and News + Your Chance to Win Padres Tickets
Meet our team and get an election debrief at our Brews & News Live Podcast at Soda Bar on Thursday, June 11. We will be joined by San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera. Get your tickets here and you’ll be automatically entered to win two tickets to a Padres game. Winners will be announced at the event.
Obligatory note: No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win the Brews and News Live Podcast Giveaway. A ticket purchase or donation will not increase chances of winning. All applicable federal, state, local and municipal laws, rules, and regulations apply. Void where prohibited by law.
In Other News
- Opinion: A retired lifeguard finds irony in SDG&E’s stance on residents putting solar panels on their balconies. The company once argued against rooftop solar because it was unfair to renters, but now, he writes, “a low-cost system allows most of those same people access to solar, but SDG&E seeks to deny them as well.” (ICYMI: Our MacKenzie Elmer wrote that plugging in such a device could put her at risk of getting her power cut.)
- San Diego County officials warned South Bay residents to limit their exposure to the outdoors after a broken pipe spilled millions of gallons of sewage into the Tijuana River. (Union-Tribune)
- NBC 7 reports that a judge ruled that the city of San Diego illegally collected parking ticket late fees for three years.
- About that cross-border tunnel: The U.S. Attorney’s office says a recently discovered, massive tunnel stretching from Tijuana to Otay Mesa leads to a fake store in the southern San Diego neighborhood. Four people have been charged in connection with drug trafficking linked to the tunnel.
The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney, Mariana Martínez Barba and Will Huntsberry. It was edited by Will Huntsberry, Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña and Scott Lewis.
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