The recent board meeting of the San Diego Association of Governments, the region’s lead transportation planning agency, came after an unprecedented year in which nearly a decade of doubts about SANDAG’s honesty and competence came into sharp focus.
First came the March announcement that the U.S. Justice Department had begun an investigation of the agency in the wake of scandals involving dishonest financial reports, intentional overbilling of toll road users, egregiously improper use of public money to boost employees’ compensation and years of disregard for reporting requirements on the use of federal funds. The probe was possibly foreshadowed by the departure of SANDAG CEO Hasan Ikhrata last December after he had lost the confidence of both the board’s pro-transit and pro-roads factions following years of unflattering revelations.
Then came county voters’ Nov. 5 decision to reject Measure G, which would have raised the sales tax by a half-cent countywide to help SANDAG pay for its multibillion-dollar plans to expand public transportation options, add carpool lanes and oversee regional road repairs. Even though it was billed as absolutely crucial to both everyday quality of life and the long-term regional response to the climate emergency, it lost in a close vote — despite proponents vastly outspending opponents with a happy-talk advocacy campaign. Many voters simply didn’t trust the agency’s promises.
But instead of this one-two whammy triggering soul-searching, it appears to have been quickly dismissed by some board members. Consider the reaction to the comments of Encinitas Mayor Tony Kranz at SANDAG’s Dec. 6 meeting about San Diego airport proposals. “Trying to pare down the number of billion-dollar projects SANDAG has should be the primary goal at this point,” he said, “and so I would encourage this board to focus heavily on rubber-wheeled solutions for [a proposed] transit connection to the airport because it’s going to be a long time before resources will be available to build a billion-dollar project that serves so few people.”
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This rational and obvious argument should have shaped the subsequent board discussion. Instead, La Mesa Councilmember Jack Shu essentially exhorted San Diego to be like other “modern cities” which have expensive “people mover” systems.
The “keeping up with the Joneses” argument is unserious at best. It implicitly downplays the importance of cost-benefit analyses of staggeringly expensive potential SANDAG decisions by suggesting the decisions would convey status. And in the broadest possible sense, this argument is rooted in assumptions from a bygone era. The world is in the middle of a transportation revolution because of autonomous vehicles. Once overhyped by the media, this technology is now underhyped for its transformative promise, according to comprehensive reviews by respected authors such as The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson. An editorial writer’s recent use of the Waymo commercial ride-sharing service in Phoenix was as flawless, satisfying and efficient as Thompson described. The 8 million rides that Waymo — a Google spinoff — has provided in the last year in Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Austin with a tiny number of complaints are sure to increase exponentially as more cities are added. This has giant implications for other transportation needs. As The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board observed last month, this development, as well as deep uncertainty over future state and federal funding, means “SANDAG is going to have to be nimble in dealing with the challenges it faces in coming years.”
This was not remotely the Ikhrata way. Under his imperious leadership, SANDAG never even seemed to consider the possibility that it needed to cultivate public support and very transparently make the case for the wisdom of multibillion-dollar projects. This approach didn’t work out well for Ikhrata, SANDAG or county residents.
We hope that Ikhrata’s successor — veteran transportation executive Mario Orso — and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria understand this. Orso is obvious, but why Gloria? Because the single least appreciated part of the SANDAG soap opera is that Gloria could force change on the agency if he had the time, energy and inclination. That’s because of a 2017 state law that required SANDAG to base member cities’ voting clout on their population. This was billed as a reform that would help the agency find its way. Instead, it’s mostly provided clarity on who deserves blame when SANDAG goes astray. Such blame games too often focus on faceless bureaucrats. They should start with San Diego City Hall.
When emergencies such as wildfires, floods and rockslides caused road closures on Native American reservations in San Diego County, tribal personnel — including law enforcement, firefighters and elected leadership — couldn’t access their own land to help their community.
This week, that changed.
The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians, a tribe with a 5,000-acre reservation in Valley Center, partnered with the Sheriff’s Office, the county of San Diego, the county’s Office of Emergency Services and the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association to launch a first-of-its-kind program Tuesday.
Rincon Tribe Chairman Steve Stallings said the idea for an Emergency Tribal Access Pass Training has been in the works for 20 years, following the East County fires.
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The three-hour-long training offers authorized tribal personnel instruction on emergency access procedures, incident command, wildfire safety and first responder coordination. With these passes, they are verified at emergency checkpoints for entry. All tribes in the county can take part in the training.
The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians hosted its inaugural Emergency Tribal Access Pass Training on Tuesday at the Rincon Government Center. (Sydney Brammer / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The pass does not grant entry under all circumstances; whichever agency has top authority at emergency scenes will ultimately determine if it’s safe enough for tribal personnel to enter.
While Stallings said there hasn’t been a recent emergency in which tribal members have been denied access to enter their land, he said this is a solution for the future, when tribal personnel need access to help their people and protect government operations and infrastructure on the reservation.
It benefits all groups involved when everyone is on the same page during an emergency, he said.
“If we’re not part of the process, then our team of specialists and urgent personnel are operating independently of other local law enforcement when what you want is everyone coordinated in that,” Stallings said.
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Sheriff Kelly Martinez said this has “been a long time coming” during her opening remarks at the inaugural training on Tuesday at the Rincon Government Center.
“It’s been long overdue that we allow you access to your critical infrastructure,” Martinez said. “I’m happy to support it.”
There are 18 Native American reservations in San Diego County — more than any other county in the United States.
Martinez said there were representatives from 16 of the 18 tribes, totaling about 260 people, in attendance at the Tuesday training.
That day, 143 access passes were distributed to authorized tribal representatives who had completed the required application ahead of the training. The other participants at the training will receive their passes once their applications have been finalized, according to a Rincon Band representative.
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“This is a game changer,” said Rincon Fire Chief Chip Duncan. “When we can’t get on the reservation, we can’t provide service.”
Stallings said the hope is for the training to eventually move online, so people can take the course more quickly.
“We know that this is a change for the better — puts us on equal footing,” Stallings said.
SAN DIEGO – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials are searching for an incarcerated person who walked away from the Male Community Reentry Program in San Diego on July 2, 2026.
At approximately 3:50 p.m., staff received a tamper alert indicating incarcerated person Randy Seitzinger had removed his GPS device while on an approved community medical pass. Staff immediately launched an emergency count, which confirmed Seitzinger was missing. CDCR’s Office of Correctional Safety and local law enforcement have been notified and are assisting in the search.
Seitzinger, 70, is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs approximately 191 pounds. He has a light complexion and was last seen wearing blue jeans and a light-colored short-sleeved shirt.
Seitzinger was received from Orange County on May 22, 2019. He was sentenced to 15 years for second-degree robbery and false imprisonment with violence.
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Anyone who sees Seitzinger or has knowledge of his whereabouts should contact any law enforcement agency, call 911, or contact the Office of Correctional Safety staff at 760-550-8782.
The Male Community Reentry Program is a voluntary program for eligible male incarcerated persons. Approved participants serve the end of their sentences in the community in lieu of confinement in state prison. Since 1977, 99 percent of the incarcerated people who have escaped or walked away from an adult institution, camp, in-state contract bed, or community rehabilitative program placement have been apprehended.
The victim was smoking outside the business when a 35-year-old man approached him, threatened to kill him and pulled a knife at around 10 p.m. Monday in the 900 block of Cardiff Street, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Police said the attacker stabbed the man twice in the chest and twice in the arm. It was unclear what prompted the stabbing.
