City Council Ratifies Ordinance Requiring Guns To Be Stored Safely And More Local News

July 31, 2019 at 2:51 AM PDT

Speaker 1: 00:00 Speaker 2: 00:31 Mm. Speaker 1: 00:33 Speaker 3: 01:00 Speaker 1: 02:07 Speaker 4: 02:18 Speaker 3: 02:42 Speaker 4: 02:54 Speaker 3: 03:00 Speaker 1: 03:07 Speaker 3: 04:25 Speaker 5: 04:42 Speaker 3: 04:56 Speaker 6: 05:26 Speaker 3: 05:39 Speaker 1: 05:51 Speaker 7: 06:02 Speaker 1: 06:45 Speaker 8: 07:00 Speaker 9: 07:05 Speaker 8: 07:13 Speaker 10: 08:10 Speaker 8: 08:20 Speaker 10: 08:31 Speaker 8: 08:43 Speaker 10: 08:45 Speaker 8: 08:55 Speaker 11: 08:56 Speaker 8: 09:08 Speaker 11: 09:29 Speaker 8: 09:49 Speaker 1: 09:52 Speaker 12: 10:37 Speaker 13: 10:45 Speaker 12: 11:29 Speaker 13: 11:48 Speaker 12: 12:56 Speaker 13: 13:25 Speaker 12: 14:03 Speaker 13: 14:05 Speaker 12: 14:31 Speaker 13: 14:33 Speaker 1: 14:35 It's Wednesday, July 31st I'm Deb Welsh and you're listening to San Diego news matters from KPBS coming up. San Diego City Council ratifies an ordinance requiring guns to be stored safely and for generations. San Diego's attracted people looking to be healthier. They get this good vibe, this good healthy feeling when they're here. They feel like they're their best self. That and more San Diego news stories coming up right after the break. Thank you for joining us for San Diego News Matters. I'm Deb Welsh, gun owners in San Diego. We'll now have to lock up their firearms. We're not use the law which was passed by the city council. Tuesday aims to reduce accidental shootings and suicides. KPBS reporter Matt Hoffman says it requires people to store guns using a trigger lock or a safe container. Which opponents say we'll give home invaders an upper hand. You've got seconds to defend your home, you know, against intruders then. Then you're, you're talking about putting in a stressful situation, some, some barrier between you and that Barbara Star with the San Diego County gun owners, political action committee says she's also concerned about the vague wording of the law. It applies to guns not being carried or in a person's quote, immediate control. I like having my firearm in the general area like if I'm watching TV, but is that in under my control or not? Am I in violation? The orange are not supporters of the law like San Diego City Councilman Mark Hershey say it will prevent tragedies that can happen with loaded guns in homes. We need fewer kids having access to weapons. There's just no doubt about that and so I think as a parent is absolutely incumbent upon parents to keep their firearms in a safe place that is accessible if you need it. Some are concerned about how the law will be enforced. A city attorney, spokeswoman says police will enforce it when they are already in homes for other calls and notice an unsecured firearm. They won't be going to homes solely looking for violators. Matt Hoffman, K PBS news. The San Diego City Council on Tuesday made a big change to the city's affordable housing regulations. KPBS metro reporter Andrew Ball and says the debate might not be over. The update to the city's inclusionary housing policy is easily one of the most controversial housing proposals in recent memory. The plan is to raise the fee developers pay to avoid including low income housing in their projects. Developers say the change will slow down housing production as the housing shortage is already getting worse, but councilman Chris Ward says the city must do more for poor families. I know that this means that we are asking a lot more from development partners too and that's exactly why we're bringing it forward because we've been asking a lot from low income. San Diego's for far too long and their backs are breaking. Mayor Kevin Faulkner is facing pressure from his supporters to veto the policy it five four meaning there would not be enough votes for the council to override such a veto. Andrew Bowen. KPBS News, a report released Tuesday by the San Diego Association of governments found that drug use among youth booked into juvenile hall reached its highest rates since 2000 KPBS. As Sally Hickson says, 58% of those interviewed, tested positive for an illicit drug. Last year, 55% of 109 juveniles interviewed for the report tested positive for marijuana. Also the highest rates since 2090% of those interviewed from detention facilities in 2018 reported trying marijuana compared to 88% for alcohol and 71% for tobacco overall, those who had used marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco reported getting started at or before age 13 on average, when asked to rank how harmful they thought specific drugs were on a four point scale, 11% of respondents said marijuana was very bad or extremely bad. 33 and 60% thought the same for alcohol and tobacco respectively. Sally Hickson KPBS News Could California force homeless people to accept shelter space against their will as capitol public radio, as Chris Nichols reports a right to shelter proposal by Sacramento. Mayor, Darrell Steinberg has some civil rights groups concerned that homelessness could be criminalized. Steinberg heads the governor's Task Force on homelessness. He says, California should create enough shelter space for all homeless individuals and then obligate them to accept it. He told the Sacramento Bee it would be a temporary solution while longterm housing is produced. And we have sort of tacitly accepted as a society that it's okay for people to live under the bridges on the riverbank and on the streets while we quote fix the problem. Guess what? It's not working. But Kurt, child of disability rights of California says there's no law that would allow this for most unsheltered people. You can't compel individuals to be held in a place where they don't want to be. Steinberg has acknowledged there would be no way to enforce homeless people going to a shelter until enough new beds are built. A Bray Connor of the ACLU foundation of Northern California says, even then, it would be legally questionable. That would depend on the facts because you know, temporary shelter space, um, is very different than permanent shelter space. And at the current moment. It's hard to kind of speak on that hypothetical. Well, Steinberg spokesperson says the task force will begin fleshing out the proposal and addressing any concerns later this year in Sacramento. I'm Chris Nichols. The assault rifle used in the Gilroy shooting Sunday was purchased legally in Nevada capitol radio. Scott Rod has the latest on how the gun wound up in California. California has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, but illegal guns still make their way here from other states. That's what happened in the Gilroy shooting over the weekend, which left for dead, including the shooter in over a dozen injured law enforcement officials say the 19 year old gunman legally purchased an AK 47 style rifle in Nevada on July 9th while certain guns can be transferred to California from out of state, the process is tightly regulated. Guns that meet California's definition of assault weapons, for example, cannot be brought into the state at a press conference Monday morning. State Attorney General, Javier Baserra said the gun used in the shooting could not be purchased or transported into California in Sacramento. I'm Scott. Rod San Diego is attracted to health seekers for generations. People lured by the sun and coastline. And the third part of our series for the California Dream Collaboration KPBS is Amica Sharma looks at how that promise continues to shape the city. The San Diego Tourism Authority leans in to San Diego's reputation as a place to [inaudible]. I feel great today in an ad. People play on the beach. They surf kids frolic, they hit volleyballs. The promos as communications director Kandace Eley taps into the fundamental Akil at San Diego. She calls it Sun Vibes. They get this good vibe, this good healthy feeling. When they're here. They feel like they're their best self when they're here. 35 million tourists come to San Diego each year. They spent more than $11 billion in 2018 as they walk outside of the airport, they just say they feel a difference in the air. This is tourism authority. Chief operating officer carry Verbeck cabbage. They actually say it makes them feel better and different immediately upon coming into the city and in spite of rising housing costs, people keep coming. My of Los Angeles County lost people last year. San Diego County added nearly 18,000 to its population in 2018 I think it's natural. Beauty is the main thing right away and then I think everything is sort of surrounded by the sun and the weather. The coastline, that's real estate agent Joe Farrage at the beach in del Mar. He says many home buyers he works with come for the promise of the San Diego lifestyle that is really appealing to people. And then when you come here and you experience it, you'll see people, you know doing paddle board Yoga, you'll see people surfing. You can tell he's made this pitch before. Yes. See people kayaking. There's so many things to do or you can just see them meditating. It really inspires people and the appeal has helped health resorts thrive in the region with the first fitness spot in the world. We're the original one and we have had all kinds of wars as the best in the world. That's Deborah's a cake. She and her husband Admin started Rancho La Puerta back in 1940 in nearby Takati Mexico in the 1950s they opened the golden door spa in San Diego County. Both still operate today. Deborah credits the beauty, the sea, the climate, but there's something else she can't name. I wish I knew it just is, but the Indians, you know who settled here had quite a high degree of culture and had the sense to pickets. So I mean it's always been a place people select in San Diego. I'm, I'm Ethan Sharma. This story is part of our California dream collaboration. It's the latest of a three part series on how San Diego developed a reputation as a place where people go to feel good and get healthy. You can read, watch and listen to the complete series@kpbs.org the San Diego Association of governments has been working to rebuild credibility since a scandal that broke in 2016 the regional planning agency got a new executive director, Asana Curata state lawmakers also reformed the agency's governing structure and they created a new position, independent performance auditor, KPBS Metro reporter Andrew Bonn sat down with the woman hired for the job to talk about how she'll approach her position. Mary coach Mash. Rob, thank you so much for speaking with us. Thank you. So you were hired in February after a pretty long recruitment process. What have you been up? Okay, since you started? Oh, my actual start date was April. So it took a little time for me to get 'em acclimated and move to San Diego from Sacramento, but I've been up to a lot. Part of the responsibilities of an auditor when they take on a new organization, especially one that has not had the position previously, is to really gain an understanding of the organization and perform a risk assessment. So that's really what I've been doing along with creating some policies that will be coming to the board shortly that will bring some accountability and transparency to the agency. Uh, working on my two year audit plan says, uh, where is the risk at that I can see thus far? And really just getting into the habit or the, um, environment and getting to understand it. Your position was created after SANDAG went through a scandal and that involved revenue forecasting, but your position now really goes beyond just finances. You're also asked to look at program effectiveness management structure is really the fundamental issues of this organization. Where do you start? Yeah, absolutely. And that's where the risk assessment comes in and you're right, it's kind of like a, a big bundle of, okay, now, now what? Right. And so though there's a lot of external auditors that look at SANDAG and they look at the fiscal aspects of it and pieces of it. And then we do have an internal auditor here at SANDAG, a that looks at the internal controls and compliance and performance types. But my job really is to look at the riskiest of those areas and fill in the gaps. We're, uh, external auditors and the internal auditors are not looking at or considering and there are a lot of risk and as a result of a lot of missed forecast revenues and such, that in itself is a big risk moving forward. We have a lot of unknowns, right? We have the five big moves that are kind of unknown and there's an unknown price tag to that. So me and Hassan have been working closely and needless to say, I'll be on him the whole step of the way to make sure that those projections and forecasts are more accurate and have really considered, uh, everything that we possibly can consider. So we're on target a little bit better. You brought up the five big moves. Now this is sand x framework for the next regional transportation plan and there's a really, um, strong debate going on right now at the board, uh, about what the future of transportation in this county should be. Should SANDAG continue with freeway expansion projects, should it shift focus and invest more in public transit? Now that's a policy debate, right? But there are also some risks involved with both paths. So tell me just, do you see it as your job to get involved in that today? Absolutely, and I'm at every board meeting listening to those debates, I pull up every article that Hassan, uh, participates in in that all the board members are participating in because I want to again, learn all those perspectives, understand all those perspectives, and then also learning myself, gaining understanding myself. Uh, but, uh, the nice thing is I don't have to get into the politics of it. I don't have to get into the, uh, the, okay, here's what we're going to do with the money of it. It's really just me providing additional information for decision makers, right. And helping them identify their risks and helping them and making recommendations for them to mitigate those risks. What makes a good auditor? Uh, integrity, a willingness to really not back down as long as it's supported. Um, you have to be unbiased. It's not about personal, it's not about an opinion unless it's a professional opinion, which should be based on facts and evidence. Um, so I think just the willingness to look from both perspectives that have an auditor that is management, but also that of the public. Well, Mary coach Mash. Rob, thank you so much for speaking with. You're welcome. Thank you for having me. Thanks for listening to San Diego News matters. If you liked the show, do us a favor and tell your friends and family to subscribe to the show.

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The San Diego City Council formally approved an ordinance Tuesday requiring gun owners to store their weapons in a locked container or disable them with a trigger lock when not in use or being worn on their person. Plus, the city council considers changing the city’s affordable housing policy and America’s finest city continues to captivate health seekers.