S1: Welcome to KPBS roundtable. I'm Scott Rod. Election season is ramping up , and some politicians are warning of a migrant crime wave hitting communities across the country. But the facts show that narrative just isn't true.
S2: There is ample data. There are several studies that that show that migrants commit less crime than people born in the US.
S1: Then we discuss a local foster care charity that's been funneling millions of dollars into a mysterious foundation based in Montana. Plus , we talk about some other big stories from this week , including the long term closure of the Ocean Beach Pier. The sentencing of a former Chula Vista City Council member and local adaptive athletes. That's just ahead on KPBS roundtable. As the general election nears , the rhetoric around immigration is heating up and is coming from candidates on both sides of the aisle. Many Republicans claim there's a , quote , migrant crime wave hitting cities across the country. Some candidates , including Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump , want to shut down the border and initiate mass deportations. The rhetoric from Democrats hasn't been as fiery , but some candidates are boasting about their tough on crime credentials. But here's a reality check. The whole migrant crime wave narrative is a myth. That's according to KPBS border reporter Gustavo Solis , who joins us now. Gustavo , welcome to roundtable. Hello , Scott. You're reporting on this issue is part of a larger effort to fact check claims around immigration and border security.
S2: So I think this is the right time to do something like this. Um , but as somebody who's been covering immigration for years now , it's a space that is kind of rife with misinformation and false narrative. There's a lot of people talking about immigration on TV and surprise , surprise that they may not always know what they're talking about , or they may know what they're talking about and could be misleading you , you know , for for political gain. So I think in the immigration space specifically , it's so complicated and nuanced that it calls for this type of reporting every once in a while.
S1: Well , it's really important reporting , and I'm glad you've been doing it. Let's talk about this claim coming from Republicans of a so-called migrant crime wave. Your story referenced comments made by El Cajon mayor and Republican congressional candidate Bill Wells as an example. Here's what he said on Fox News earlier this year. There are a lot of.
S3: People coming over. We have no idea who they are , and it stands to reason that many of them will be criminals.
S1:
S2: They may be coming. They may be like criminals. You could hear that and say , oh , that's a fair question to ask. But then the the kind of more aggressive version of that rhetoric is , you know , Trump at the RNC saying they're releasing prisons and criminals and insane asylums and America's less safe because of this. So I promise you that we're going to do mass deportation. That's a little bit more forceful than maybe they're criminals , right ? Where's it coming from ? I think there's just a history of this , especially in political seasons. Right. Uh , we've seen before in this country in periods of hard economic conditions , migrants are used as scapegoats for various reasons. We've seen it more recently in European politics with things like Brexit and things like that. Politicians using immigrants as a reason to blame whatever woes are happening in their in their countries.
S1: All right. So then let's dive into the numbers. Let's separate fact from fiction. What do we know about crime statistics for immigrants crossing the border.
S2: There are several studies that that show that migrants commit less crime than people born in the US. And there's also other data showing basically dispelling what well said. Right. There's data because Border Patrol does track and keep count of who they encounter along the border with criminal convictions , whether they're in the United States or those convictions are in their home country. Last year , the Border Patrol apprehended something like 15,000 migrants with previous criminal convictions , which is a big number if you look at it in isolation. But that year they also apprehended more than 2 million people. So if you look at it in the bigger pool of 2 million people , it accounts for less than 0.001% of everybody.
S1: And talk about Texas specifically. You know , they're the state that tracks immigration status of people charged and convicted with crimes.
S2: I don't know why. I know why California doesn't. And several states that have passed , uh , sanctuary type laws would be prohibited , right ? Like here in San Diego , if I get pulled over by a police officer or a sheriff's deputy cannot ask me for my immigration status. So if they don't ask me , there's no way to track that data just doesn't exist , right ? Uh , Texas doesn't have those rules , so they do track that data. And Texas is interesting not only because they track it , but also because of what that state is , right ? It is a border state. It is a state with the second highest undocumented immigrant population in the country. It is a state that historically is very tough on crime when it comes to enforcing criminal law. So all these things make it a very interesting state to study. And several folks have. And what the data shows is that when you compare arrests and convictions by immigration status , those people born in the US are much more likely to be arrested and convicted of crimes. And not only does it break it down between citizens and non-citizens , it breaks it down between people born here , people in the country legally and people in the country illegally. And it shows that the ones most likely to be arrested and convicted are people born here. The second category is people in the country illegally , and the least likely category is legal immigrants.
S1: So if there isn't data to back up this concept of the migrant crime wave.
S2: I think they see it as a way to to drum up support in their base. Right. I mean , what are the things you and I are most concerned about ? Our own personal safety , right. If we think that our safety is threatened and somebody is coming and trying to do something about it , we're going to like that messaging. But it's not true. Right. And that's kind of what this is getting at. I talked to Aaron Raichlen Melnick , a policy director at the American Immigration Council , who said , not only is there no migrant crime wave , there's no crime wave going on right now. Right ? If you look at crime stats in San Diego , violent property crime is down. And that kind of mirrors national trends , even in cities that have received a lot of these immigrants in recent years. Right. New York , Chicago , Denver , LA , San Francisco. I looked up crime stats for all those cities , and violent crime is down in each and every one of them. So if it were true that migrants bring about more crime , and we've seen high numbers of migration coming in recent years , you would expect there to be more. But we're seeing the opposite.
S1: There have been some recent isolated , violent crimes allegedly committed by undocumented immigrants. And I mentioned this because those crimes , which were very troubling , have gotten a lot of attention , especially from right wing news outlets.
S2: Even last election cycle , I think Donald Trump has invited a families of victims of these crimes which are horrible and awful. And folks who commit those crimes should be , you know , arrested , charged , convicted. And if they're in the country without status , they should be deported. I think the issue with those incidents is that they're being used to paint an entire brush over a population of more than 10 or 15 million people that have different nationalities , different languages , different cultures that are only unified by the fact they don't have legal status. So to take these legitimate , real , horrible examples and use them to blame an entire community , that's where this narrative kind of crosses the line.
S1: The general election happening in just over two months. The presidential nominees are set. We've been talking a lot about rhetoric from Republicans , but it's also coming from Dems.
S2: Right. If you remember 2016 when when Trump got elected and in the first Trump term , there was a lot of outrage , a lot of moral outrage by the left about the treatment and the way migrants were talked about. I read some old clips from then-Senator Kamala Harris , who was very clear in what she was saying. Right. Being an undocumented immigrant is not a crime. That's what she said. And she was referring to the fact that being in the country legally is a civil violation , not a criminal one. Fast forward to now. You're not hearing that kind of talk from Democrats at the DNC. I didn't hear a lot of people fight back or push back on some of the Republican talking points. You know , um , President Joe Biden , to his credit , did say , you know , we are a nation of immigrants and we want to treat people well. And the rhetoric on the left relative to the rhetoric on the right is a little nicer towards migrants. But when you look at the policy , a lot of what they were talking about border issues , both the president and Vice President Harris were talking up there. Kind of tough on border bonafides , right ? They talked about the bipartisan border bill , which they both described as the toughest border measure. In her speech , Kamala Harris said she would sign it into law if she became president. And that bill would make it a lot more difficult for people to seek asylum in this country. So it kind of blends into that narrative , right ? Why are you making it harder for people to seek humanitarian protection if there's nothing suspicious about them ? Right. And we have all this data showing , right. If if the goal for either party is to reduce crime in the United States , we have data showing that reducing immigration is not a good way to go about it.
S1:
S2: The last couple of years we were at more than 2 million. Back in the 90s , we had a period of every year was well over 1 million , 1.5 million , 1.8 million. So those numbers were kind of a little bit lower , but sustained over a longer period of time. We've seen in the last three months or so a dramatic reduction in apprehensions along the border to the point where now , for the last few months , there have been fewer apprehensions at the southern border than there were at the tail end of the Trump term. And that's before the pandemic. Right. It's kind of unfair to compare now during the pandemic. But if you look at the fall of 2019 , apprehensions are lower now than they were around that time.
S1: As voters are preparing to cast their ballot in the coming months.
S2: And now they're kind of have to fact check things that they're hearing on television and on the radio and from elected officials. But I think if you want to be a responsible voter , you should seek independent sources of information , primary sources , if you can. But you have to educate yourself on these issues , unfortunately , because the programming you're getting isn't completely unbiased. I think immigration remains a big election issue for a reason , right ? It raises concerns , but it also touches a lot of aspects of our lives , right ? Not necessarily crime , but the economy. Right. Who can who can work here ? Who cannot work here ? Anything from vital industries struggling for labor , I think. Agriculture. Think housing. Think college students graduating from San Diego State and UCSD who are on foreign visas , and they have this great education and want to contribute to our economy. But then they have to go back home because they can't get status to be here. It. Immigration touches so many aspects of our lives directly and indirectly. That , of course , is a big issue. But I think people should be mindful of people who try to touch on that big issue and use it for their own means.
S1: I've been speaking with KPBS border reporter Gustavo Solis. Gustavo , thanks so much for joining us.
S2: Thank you. Scott , I appreciate you having me on.
S1: When roundtable returns , we dive into a foster care charity in the San Diego region with some questionable financial practices.
S4: To see a charity stocking away. Millions like this is pretty rare. Frequently , the charities operating in this space locally are operating on very thin margins and they constantly need more money.
S1: That's just ahead on Round Table. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Scott Rod. Foster care is an essential safety net for children in San Diego and beyond , but a recent story in The Voice of San Diego found some questionable practices at one foster care charity in the region. It's called New Alternatives. The organization has pumped millions of dollars into a Montana based nonprofit that hasn't done much in recent years. Aside from pay new alternatives. CEO Will Hansberry is a senior investigative reporter at Voice of San Diego. He broke this story and joins us now. Will , welcome to our roundtable.
S4: Thanks for having me , Scott.
S1: To start , tell us about new alternatives.
S4: It's a nonprofit foster care charity that is a big time government contractor for San Diego County and for Orange County as well. And they do many different services that touch the foster care industry. You know , they have some what we think of as group homes. They help with transitional housing for people aging out of foster care. They provide psychiatric services for kids actual living with foster families. So , you know , when it comes to foster care in San Diego , if you're involved in that world , you're going to be , you know , interfacing with new alternatives.
S1: So they're a pretty big player in the foster care industry in San Diego and Orange County.
S4: And in Orange County , some of it comes from the feds in the state , but it passes through the county and goes to them.
S1: Your first story on New Alternatives looked at how this organization has been funneling millions of dollars for roughly a decade into a Montana based nonprofit called the Mack Foundation.
S4: We actually got a freelancer in Montana to help us out with that. Um , she went out to the address and found no trace of Mac whatsoever. Since 2015 , New Alternatives has pumped nearly $20 million into Mac. And that money has grown a little bit because they invested as well. But it turns out Mac has done almost nothing during that time except for pay new alternative CEO on a yearly basis , anywhere from 35,000 to $95,000. He's listed as the CFO of Mac. When it comes to spending money , Mac has literally only ever done one other thing than that. San Diego County wanted to fund a study of a place called San Pasqual Academy that was run by New Alternatives. They contracted with new alternatives for that study to be done. Mac actually wrote some of the checks for that , but it's unclear why they were even necessary in the transaction. This was a deal between new alternatives in the county.
S1: I see , sort of following the money. There's kind of a swirling pattern where money is , you know , passing between these organizations and individuals that are all connected. Uh , stepping back to general question , the Mac Mack Foundation is in Montana.
S4: You know , our freelancer in Montana managed to track down the woman who had incorporated Mac Foundation. She's a lawyer in Missoula. Her husband had previously done work for new alternatives. So , uh , she suggested that it had something to do with new alternatives. Relationship to the husband that it's incorporated in Montana , but , you know , new alternatives. Um , you know , has said in some of their conversations with me , you know , we don't do anything in Montana. We are related to new alternatives. Our activities are mostly in California.
S1: And it seems like it's maybe still kind of a mystery. To be clear , this arrangement between new alternatives and Mac , is this legal ? You know , what did experts in the nonprofit and charity space have to say.
S4: Yeah , you know what it definitely is , is highly unusual. That's what people said to me , um , to see a charity stocking away millions like this is pretty rare. Frequently , the charities operating in this space locally are operating on very thin margins , and they constantly need more money rather than stocking money away. You know , and I think the other thing that makes it irregular , of course , is the makeup of , of the Board of New Alternatives.
S1: Tell me about that. Because again , something that really jumped out to me in this story. Yeah , it was the unusual circumstances and figures on both of the boards. So break that down for me.
S4: Sure , sure. Well , for any listeners who are familiar with big nonprofits , they're always are run by a board of directors. And usually those board of directors are kind of a diverse group of people from the community who , um , either have a connection to the community , like San Diego in this case , or maybe they have a connection to foster care in some way. Um , but new alternatives board and Mack's board as well. They're both made up of a lot of people who are Michael Brooke's friends. Michael Brooke being the CEO of New Alternatives. His a lot of his friends and buddies are the board members , people who he played football with at Harvard in the 1970s , who live in Massachusetts and are involved in sports , or who live in Connecticut and are involved in finance , or another guy who lives in Sacramento and is a big developer. Um , and so people I spoke to , um , said that was a big red flag , frankly , to have a board like that , because your board needs to be independent nonprofit boards , they ensure that the nonprofit follows its mission and that it exists to serve the public , not a private individual , because as taxpayers , we're all subsidizing , if not funding these nonprofits. These nonprofits don't pay taxes. And in this case , this was a major government contractor who taxpayers are funding.
S1: What did new alternatives.
S4: Their attorney responded to my inquiries. John Clifford , you know , they said that there's nothing unusual about Mac Foundation and that all large charities create other nonprofits or foundations so the work can be continued on into the future. Um , and they said the board is full of individuals with high qualifications who are very proud of the work they've done. Um , so , you know , they kind of said nothing to see here was essentially their response to that story.
S1:
S4: I've.
S1: I've.
S4: Kind of made a little space for myself in San Diego , covering nonprofits who've done highly unusual things that have frequently made people mad when they found out about them. So I think , um , that helped in people coming to me with , with information that then I was able to run down. You know , I certainly relied really heavily on 990 , the tax forms used by nonprofits. Those don't provide just full financial transparency for an organization , but they provide a lot of info , like the names of the board members and , um , where a fair amount of the money goes. So I relied on those heavily. I relied on some audits I was able to get my hands on. And , um , you know , once you put all those documents next to each other , you can kind of see how the money moves.
S1: One aspect of your reporting that jumped out to me , and it was a small thing , but it said to me , man , this guy went deep. You confirmed a connection between board members based on a logbook from the Navy in the 80s. While I read that and as a reporter , I said , uh , he's got the stuff. He's got the goods. That's great.
S4: Yeah , there was a board member named , um , uh , Janice Stackhouse. I believe it's how it's pronounced. I was never able to get Ahold of her , but , um , she's a was somebody who was a major flight investigator for the transportation board who then worked for NASA , who , like , lives on the East Coast now. And I was like , who is this person ? And finally , in an old Navy log , I found a connection to she. This person was connected to Michael Brooks wife , who had done a lot of work for the Navy.
S1: Again , impressive work. You were able to speak with someone who was a part of the foster care system , and then went on to work for new alternatives.
S4: The person I spoke to , because she had lived in a new alternative facility as a youth and felt like it was a safe haven for her. But then she went on to work for new alternatives , and she felt like , um , the organization was taking the cheap route on everything. Um , and , you know , I have been talking to former new Alternatives employees. A couple other people have said that to me as well. And so she was really hurt to hear that all this millions of dollars is going to this foundation that doesn't really do anything while , you know , um , She felt like the kids deserved higher quality stuff than they were getting and and things like that.
S1: On that topic , you published a follow up story about citations that new alternatives have received in recent years.
S4: Um , there are two in San Diego County , two in Orange County that new alternatives run. Today's group homes are a little different than those of the of older days. California has tried to get rid of the big warehouse like environments for foster youth. And so these are smaller places with more specialized treatment for people with , you know , social and emotional issues going on. Um , but yeah , I looked at the citations against these places. And anytime anybody raises a complaint , State investigators go. They investigate that complaint. I found since 2019 , there have been 18 type A complaints. That's the most serious. That means are a type A citations , rather not complaints. Um , that's the most serious and immediate risk to health , safety or personal rights. And 20 type B citations , which essentially means a potential risk to um , to health , safety and personal rights. And some of the citations were pretty disturbing in terms of what happened. And one of the themes was state investigators citing new alternatives for inadequate supervision at its facilities. And I will say , new alternatives denies that , of course. And they say , you know , we've always had our our supervision levels at the state mandated requirements are higher.
S1: Can you give a few examples of some specific citations and the circumstances ? Sure.
S4: I think , um , you know , there are a couple that really stick out. One was in Orange County and there was a staff member on a girls wing , um , who she said , or the staff member said that it was more understaffed than usual. It was just that staff member there. They were responsible for cleaning and watching six girls. And so one of the girls asked somebody to leave some drugs for them in the bushes. Um , the Xanax bars , which is a type of sedative , a benzodiazepine and a very strong one. Um , the girl was able to sneak out and get them while the staff member was cleaning to , um , youth took those drugs. One was found unresponsive. The other was walking funny. They took them to the E.R. immediately. Um , investigators were able to confirm that happened and cited new alternatives for inadequate supervision. Um , so , you know , the kids were all right , it seems , but very scary. Of course. Another really scary one here in San Diego. Um , there was a youth who knew alternatives , knew to be violent , according to state investigators , and they did not adequately supervise that person or the other students. And so , um , that foster youth beat another foster youth so badly that they needed five staples in their head. So , you know , I can give some more examples , but those are really two of the very most extreme.
S1: Alarming and troubling for sure. Especially , again , we're talking about a vulnerable population here , youths who are in foster care. Totally. Let's bring this full circle.
S4: These.
S5: These.
S4: Youth who are the most vulnerable , arguably in our state and in our county , and we've decided as a state that we want to really try to take good care of them and set them off on the best possible foot in life , because it has not been easy. And so , you know , I think when you think about this money going to Montana , nearly $20 million and that money just sitting there , and then you think about some of these conditions going on with these youth that foster homes. Another example of a citation was the Chula Vista facility was cited for just being in really terrible condition , ripped carpets , graffiti all over the place , just basically like really disgusting was how state investigators described it. And so I think people in the foster care industry who I've spoken to , who are aware of those two facts side by side , are very angry about it.
S1: Can we expect more reporting on this topic in the future ? Definitely.
S4:
S1: All right. Well , we look forward to it. Keep up the good work , Will. Hansberry is a senior investigative reporter at Voice of San Diego. Will , thanks for joining us.
S4: Thanks for having me.
S1: When we come back , it's our weekly roundup. We'll chat about some other stories that caught our attention , including the long term closure of the Ocean Beach Pier.
S6: When they closed it last October. Ahead of the winter storms that they expected , you know , most people were like , oh , it'll open up again in the spring. That wasn't the case because the damage from the storms was just too great. And now it's closed indefinitely until we get this new project.
S1: That's next on Round Table. You're listening to KPBS roundtable. I'm Scott Rodd. It's time for our weekly roundup , where we discuss some stories , big and small , that caught our attention this week. Joining me is Jacob Air , reporter and producer at KPBS. Hey , Jacob.
S6: Hey , Scott.
S1: Start us off. What have you been reading and watching this week.
S6: As a San Diegan , hearing that the Ocean Beach Pier won't be reopening before they're fully going to be redoing this project , you know , because of ongoing issues with just structural integrity. It's sad , but I kind of get where or why it's happening. Yeah.
S1: It's understandable. Safety is priority. But piers in this region are such an important part of the geography , the culture. So when I saw that as well , I had a similar reaction. You know , I'm not from here , but I do enjoy going to , you know , the peers in this region. It makes such a wonderful day trip. And so seeing that , it's saddened me. Right.
S6: It's iconic , as we mentioned , and this wasn't necessarily a surprise. They have had issues for , you know , last five years at least kind of saying that it's towards the end of its lifespan. And when they closed it last October ahead of the winter storms that they expected , you know , most people were like , oh , it'll open up again in the spring. That wasn't the case because the damage from the storms was just too great. And now it's a , you know , closed indefinitely until we get this new project.
S1:
S6: So who knows how much longer it'll take to actually complete costs right now is estimated between 170 to 290 million. But those things fluctuate. But at least , you know close to a couple hundred million. Wow.
S1: Wow. That's that's incredible. You know , it occurred to me that Obpa will be closed for a long duration. Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach has been closed for a while , also because of storm damage. And then you had , uh , you had the Oceanside pier that that had damage. Fortunately , they were able to open it up pretty quickly. But you got to say like , man , what's going on with these piers ? And then you have Imperial Beach , which is a lovely pier , but it's surrounded by a swirl of sewage right now. I mean , some days you go down and it smells pretty bad , so you have to endure that unpleasantness. So again , just sad to see the state that a number of our peers are in in this region.
S6: Yeah , this is 58 years old talking about the Ocean Beach Pier. It's something that's been around for decades. People who , you know have been here for a couple generations remember it , as you're saying , this larger issue with piers , it's sad , but the silver lining is it's not gone for good in Ocean Beach. Yes , it'll be closed for a couple of years at minimum , but we will see something replacing it in its place.
S1: Yeah , and the replacement ideas looked pretty cool , so I look forward to that some years off , but I'm sure it'll be great. Switching gears , I cut a story this week that I thought was pretty interesting. It's from Politico. They covered how Elon Musk is backing a California bill that would regulate AI. So essentially this bill would create guardrails , safety requirements for AI and AI systems. There's been a lot of pushback from folks in Silicon Valley , especially in the AI space. Elon Musk , who has expressed concern in the past about potential dangers with AI , broke from that PAC and has said , look , I think we need to have these guardrails in place.
S6: And it's interesting having Musk's voice , I guess , in this conversation , pushing back because he himself is someone who's very involved within the tech and AI I space so to hear someone who's that involved and has probably his own , you know , uh , priorities and reasons for trying to evolve this. Say , hey , we need to take a step back here. That makes me , as a member of the general public , feel extra concerned.
S1: Yeah , absolutely. There's also an insider baseball perspective here in terms of politics. This bill is , uh , was introduced by Senator Scott Wiener from San Francisco. He and Musk have had a number of public spats. There's a lot of animosity and tension between these two. A lot of it is related to social and cultural issues , things like parental rights , things like transgender rights. But here they agree it's a perfect case where strange bedfellows , people who are enemies , and most of the departments , you can almost always find some ground where there's agreement. And in this case it's it's an unusual pairing.
S6: And as we've talked in the past on other roundtable segments , AI is just a field that is evolving so quickly. So this need to regulate , I think is extra important as these things will continue to grow.
S1: All right. What's up. Next.
S6: Next. So I was looking at a story that KPBS has been following. In this case , it was our very own Corey Suzuki about Chula Vista Council member Andrea Cardenas , who was sentenced to probation and community service. This is coming after , you know , back in February , she actually pleaded guilty. There was a whole thing where her brother was wrapped up in this. There was two charges of grand theft for fraudulently obtaining over $200,000 from the state and federal taxpayers , but she's just going to be serving one day in custody at the San Diego County Sheriff. Her and her brother will be required to pay back all of the funds they stole. But , you know , prosecutors were seeking more jail time.
S1: I was a little surprised by this verdict. You know , this Chula Vista City Council member. The charges were stacked against her and the evidence was there. So I was expecting that there would be some jail time here. You know , two years of probation , 100 hours of community service. You know , that's not nothing. Certainly.
S6: And for a while , you know , when these were brought up , she actually refused to step down , and she was filing to run for reelection. She did eventually change her mind. And then she resigned in February , just weeks before that. And that leaves us where we are now heading into November.
S1: And Carter was on the primary ballot in March , even though she had resigned her position , she was not one of the top two finishers. So she she's not going on to the general election. But it did pose this potential quagmire where in Chula Vista has seen similar situations like this in recent years , where you have a candidate , almost sort of a dormant candidate on the general election ballot. So anyways , this fit into a bigger story that caught my attention this week , which is from the New York Times , and the headline was How California Became a New Center of Political Corruption. And the story looks at how California , especially Los Angeles and the and they looked a bit at San Francisco representatives , officials and their sort of surrounding staff and posse. Many of them have been ensnared in corruption cases in recent years. Just one example in Los Angeles in recent years. One council member accepted $1.8 million in bribes in the form of casino chips , luxury hotel stays , prostitutes and just straight up cash. That person has been convicted and will be going to jail. And that's just one example of many in recent years in California that have been caught red handed.
S6: And like you said , this fits in very well with what we were just talking about in Chula Vista. This story from The New York Times also touched on corruption in San Francisco and over the last ten years , thinking statewide , there's been over 576 public officials who have been convicted on federal corruption charges. That is a lot in ten years.
S1: That's crazy. In the story notes that yes , California is big. You know , it has a large population. But that's not the only reason experts actually pointed to a number of other reasons why corruption may be on the rise here. So they blamed the demise of local news outlets , which are often a watchdog check on local politicians. There's also the population , generally speaking , has become less engaged in politics , especially local politics. And then there was some observation that the Democratic supermajority in the state , statewide and also in local governments is on the rise. And , you know , it's worth noting there's nothing inherently nefarious about the Dems.
S6: So people are expecting all this good and dandy when in the reality there might be situations that play out like we saw in Chula Vista.
S1: Absolutely , absolutely.
S6: It focused on , you know , climbing and the sport of climbing and how it can actually help to break down barriers. I actually , in my free time , sometimes do go into a rock climbing for the past year and a half. It kind of helps me recenter myself and , you know , feel strong while also challenging my mind. But you were able to find this organization that actually helps people with different disabilities. Sometimes that even includes people who are missing , you know , partial limbs. And these folks are still rock climbing. I mean , tell me about , you know , how you heard about this organization and in some of their stories.
S1: The organization is called para cliffhangers. It's actually a national organization. But there is a San Diego chapter that started up at the Mesa Rim Climbing Center in Mission Valley. They started up in the last year , and this was part of our ongoing series about volunteering. And I got a suggestion from someone in the newsroom that I take a look at this organization. I went in , first off , just wanting to learn more about the organization and meet the people who are participating. And I was blown away because you're right , they have people who are missing limbs , people who are blind , deaf , paraplegic , who are scaling these walls , and it's incredible to see what they're doing. And I note in the story that rock climbing is like solving a vertical puzzle while 30 , 50 , 100 plus feet in the air. That's hard enough as it is , but you're talking about trying to do it without a hand , without a leg , without , you know , vision. It's just it was stunning to see. And , you know , in talking about breaking down barriers in community , the great thing about this story was that the volunteers and the participants really operated on an equal level. So especially when participants first start out , you know , they're usually the ones mainly getting the help. But over time you start to see them working with the volunteers. Maybe the volunteers want to take a turn on the wall and the participants will help them out. They'll belay which is the person standing on the ground , working the ropes and making sure the that the volunteer doesn't fall. So it was just great to see. And I will note that many of the volunteers themselves have disabilities , and that allows them to pass on this knowledge of adaptive climbing to the participants.
S6: Well , in representation matters too. To have someone who you know might have a similar struggle to you. And in terms of just like in the case of your story , people who were missing maybe part of their arm and then they have to make certain holes with just whatever they are actually dealt with. Like just knowing that someone can relate to that I think makes a huge difference.
S1: Yeah , 100%. And that is something that the organizer of the chapter said. Representation so essential. On a similar note , a story that I really loved listening to this week was a midday edition interview that Andrew Brown hosted with Dana matthewson. She's a Paralympian and wheelchair tennis player on team USA. I believe she's ranked number one on team USA. She's going to be playing in the Paralympics and listening to her story , listening to her describe the way that wheelchair tennis works and her approach to the sport and the importance of the Paralympics was just such an incredible interview. I encourage anyone to go. You know , once you finish listening to us , of course , go and listen to that interview.
S6: We had the other set of Olympics wrap up just a few weeks ago , but we were able to talk in this midday show to , you know , folks From different kind of adapted athletics backgrounds and just kind of learning about how folks like in your rock climbing story , are able to overcome difficulties and still accomplish these amazing feats.
S1: And on a personal note , as you discussed , you know your enjoyment of climbing. I'm an avid tennis player , so this interview really spoke to me personally , and it also ties in with the ongoing US open right now , one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world. So all in all , great interview , great timing. All right. That's it. That's a wrap. I've been speaking with Jacob Air. Thanks for joining. Us.
S7: Us. Thanks so much Scott.
S1: That's our show for today. You can listen to KPBS roundtable anytime as a podcast. Roundtable airs on KPBS FM at noon on Fridays and again Sundays at 6 a.m.. If you have any thoughts on today's show or ideas for a future one , you can email us at roundtable at pbs.org. You can also leave us a message at (619) 452-0228. Roundtables. Technical producers this week were Brandon Truffaut and Ben Read lorsque. This show was produced by Jacob Air and Ben Lacy. Brooke Ruth is Roundtable's senior producer. And I'm Scott Rob. Thanks for listening. Have a great weekend.
