A new trolley line in East County
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, September 30th. >>>>
There’s a new trolley line in East County.More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….######
A record number of Californians have registered to vote for the November presidential election. That’s according to a report released Friday by Secretary of State Shirley Weber.
More than 22-million people are registered. That’s up more than 1 million from this time four years ago.
Weber says the more people learn about the voting process … the more likely they are to vote. Her office is hosting a series of webinars to familiarize voters with what’s on the ballot.
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“we want to make sure that they understand the voter information guide, which is a huge guide this year, much larger than it has been in some of the other years with lots of information on it. so we're trying to make sure that they understand that there's a lot of resources available to them to help them to vote”
The next webinar is today (monday). Visit the california secretary of state website to sign up.
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Chula Vista could be the next city to declare an encampment ban.
On Tuesday, the Chula Vista City Council will take a final vote on the ban.
It would limit lying on sidewalks and in other public areas, and would entirely ban camping around schools, parks, conservation and transit areas, and shelters.
The ban was passed unanimously by the council in its first reading.
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Also on Tuesday, the San Diego City Council will vote on whether or not to pass a resolution regarding the Tijuana River sewage crisis.
It would ask the federal government to declare a national emergency and fund the EPA’s infrastructure solution for the river.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, part of the plan includes diverting part of the river to treat polluted water and installing trash control and water recycling measures.
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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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MTS’s new Copper line is now open. It runs from Santee To El Cajon. Reporter Katie Anastas says officials hope it will prevent delays across the trolley network.
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[trolley ambi] The Copper line replaces Green and Orange line service north of the El Cajon Transit Center. Previously, those trolleys had to wait for access to a single track in the area, causing delays throughout the system. Now, the Green and Orange lines will end at the El Cajon Transit Center. Riders continuing north will transfer to the Copper Line. San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn chairs the MTS board. What we've done right here is going to improve reliability and dependability for every rider across the system in San Diego County. And that's one way, that we are going to encourage more people to take transit, and improve ridership systemwide. [16s] MTS says putting a third track at the El Cajon Transit Center cost about $14 million. About half of it was covered by state grant funds. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.
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Although part of the Imperial Beach shoreline is re-opened to swimmers, residents tell reporter Alexander Nguyen the air still stinks of raw sewage from the Tijuana River Valley.
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Marvel Harrison came to Imperial Beach five years ago to retire with her husband. She says the putrid air is making her sick. “There's always been waves of stench. But the hydrogen sulfide that's now being measured is really difficult. I've ended up with a low grade infection that allows my back, my lungs, not to function properly.” Earlier this month … researchers from UC San Diego and San Diego State … raised the alarm about the high levels of the toxic gas … hydrogen sulfide. County officials … however … say the air is safe to breathe. County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer is asking four cities in her district to help buy air filters for Imperial Beach residents. She says her office will match any money raised by Del Mar, Encinitas, Solana Beach or Carlsbad for the filters through a county grant. AN KPBS News.
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California voters will decide in November whether to give cities and counties more power to limit rent increases.
Reporter Katie Hyson looked into the support and opposition to the ballot measure.
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California limits rent increases to 10 percent a year for tenants living in apartments built before 1995. But a law known as Costa-Hawkins prevents cities and counties from passing further rent control, like for newer buildings, single-family homes or new tenants. The Justice for Renters Act, Proposition 33, would repeal that law. Allowing cities and counties to control rents for any housing. Jose Lopez is a community organizer in San Diego. He supports Prop 33. SOT :10 This matters a whole lot, especially for the thousands of Californians who are really one rent increase away from having to move out of their homes. Typical monthly rent for a California apartment has risen about 500 dollars over the last 7 years. In San Diego, it’s more than twenty-six hundred dollars. And homelessness is increasing, despite more being spent to address it. Lopez is advocating for families like his own. Eventually became an organizer, and I couldn't believe that they actually would pay me to go and talk to people about the things that most people told me to just be quiet about. He had been paying a little over 21-hundred dollars in monthly rent. After a leaky sink flooded their house, he says the landlord evicted them, remodeled and raised the rent. He now pays almost 38-hundred to live a couple blocks away. SOT :08 I had to invite my brother to come in and live with us to help pay part of the rent. And then besides that, just making sacrifices, cutting expenses . . . Lopez and other supporters are up against a long list of local leaders who oppose Proposition 33. Including San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and the mayors of Carlsbad, Chula Vista and Temecula. And Senator Toni Atkins. Apartment and realtor associations have donated more than $67 million dollars to fight the measure. Lucinda Lilley recently served as president of the Southern California Rental Housing Association. SOT :29 Our industry as a whole find it sad that it's us versus them. It's not the way we see it. We'd love to get together and work out solutions rather than just get hammered every time somebody comes up with an idea that says, ‘You own rental housing, therefore you're really rich, therefore you're a bad person, therefore I'm going to screw you over.’ She says rent increases are necessary to cover repairs. Most housing in the city of San Diego is more than 30 years old. She says California overregulates rental housing already, and it’s driving landlords out of the market. More rent control would make that worse, she says. And discourage developers from building new housing. Instead, she would like to see local governments offer more rental assistance. SOT :08 A lot of times it's a matter of my car broke down, I can't afford to pay my rent. I just need a short term loan to get me through the next month, right? A few years ago, researchers analyzed more than a dozen studies on the impacts of rent control. They found it does work to keep rent lower, and increase housing stability for current tenants. They say there’s not much evidence that it reduces new construction or housing quality. But, it does tend to reduce the total number of rental units, as owners take them off the market. Ricardo Flores leads a nonprofit that advocates for affordable housing. He says rent control isn’t a perfect solution. But it’s necessary. SOT :05 You've got to stop the crisis and then think about where to go from here. And he thinks it has to be done with changes to zoning. SOT :03 We don't really have the luxury to say, Well, let's do one or let's do the other. SOT :04 People continue to have to make decisions about food, medicine, or rent. Single-family only zoning takes up more than 80% of San Diego’s residential land. Flores argues that has to change for enough affordable housing to be built. San Diego has a housing crisis. But he says it’s a solvable one. SOT :03 This is not putting a man on Mars or a woman on Mars. Katie Hyson, KPBS News
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We want to hear from you. Rents are high and rising twice as fast in Tijuana but still not quite as high as San Diego.
So, have you considered moving across the border because of the cost of living in the San Diego region? If you’ve moved what has it been like? And If you’ve lived in Tijuana for some time, have you noticed your community change in recent years?
We’d love to hear about your experience. Give us a call at (619) 452-0228 and leave a message.
That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
