Citizen oversight of San Diego's surveillance technology is at a standstill

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, July 18th

Citizen oversight of San Diego's surveillance technology is at a standstill. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….######

The City of San Diego is considering how to balance the safety of the public and Sea Lions at La Jolla Cove.

Over the past week, three sea lion pups have been found dead in the cove and recent viral videos have shown people getting too close to the marine animals.

Several environmental groups have called on Councilmember Joe LaCava and the city's Parks and Recreation Department to protect the animals from harassment, abuse and worse.

Last September, the City Council voted to close Boomer Beach and

Point La Jolla until permanent solutions could be found for interactions between the sea lions and the public.

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San Diego County's Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board is seeking applications to fill an open seat.

Applicants must live in Supervisorial District 1 to apply. Which encompasses the cities of Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and National City as well as 18 neighborhoods in San Diego, including Barrio Logan, Golden Hill, San Ysidro, and East Village.

The board's primary job is to investigate citizen complaints against San Diego County Sheriff's deputies and probation officers as well as recommend policy and procedure changes to the Sheriff.

For more info on the requirements and how to apply, go to San Diego County dot gov

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San Diego County Democratic Chairwoman Rebecca Taylor was killed in a motorcycle accident in Utah.

A party statement says she was fatally injured when she was hit from behind while returning home from a trip.

San Diego Democrats offered their condolences to Taylor’s family.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria thanked Taylor and said she was “a tremendous and fierce leader” for the local Democratic Party.

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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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San Diego’s privacy advisory board is tasked with reviewing the city’s use of surveillance technology.

But it can’t hold meetings right now, because more than half of its seats are vacant.

Investigative reporter Scott Rodd says this comes as the police department is proposing controversial changes to how it uses camera-equipped streetlights.

Ike Anyanetu has sounded the alarm for months. The Privacy Advisory Board chair repeatedly told city leadership that the watchdog group needs more members. Otherwise, independent oversight of the city’s surveillance equipment could be sidelined. “It's putting the privacy of the public at stake.” Then last month, his warning came true. The nine-seat board dropped to just four members. Without a quorum, it had to cancel its June and July meetings. The situation comes down to one question for Anyanetu. “Where are the appointments? That’s the real story.” Mayor Todd Gloria is primarily responsible for appointing members to the board. But he hasn’t filled the recent vacancies. Gloria declined an interview request. A spokesperson said finding qualified candidates is a challenge because the board has strict requirements. For example, one member must be a certified public accountant or auditor. Another has to be a computer specialist. The Mayor’s office confirmed it has received at least a dozen applications for the board…but has only interviewed a few of them. “It's important that the board continues to exist.” Brett Diehl is one of those applicants. He applied in June and hasn’t heard back from the city. Diehl is an attorney and appears to meet the criteria for one of the vacant board seats. “It's my hope that either myself or other individuals who apply are named to the board, so that a full quorum can be reached.” Gloria has been a vocal critic of the city’s surveillance oversight ordinance since it was passed in 2022. He has successfully pushed amendments that ease oversight requirements and exempt certain technologies from review — including police databases. Khalid Alexander is a former member of the Privacy Advisory Board. He argues the mayor’s inaction on filling board seats is strategic. “I think it's intentional.” Alexander left the board in June. He says the unfilled vacancies have hobbled surveillance oversight in San Diego. “I'm not very surprised, honestly, that he’s been dragging his feet to appoint new people.” A spokesperson for the mayor pushed back against this characterization. The Privacy Advisory Board’s work may be on hold for now…but the city’s surveillance equipment keeps on rolling. The San Diego Police Department recently announced a proposal to loosen the requirements on where it places camera-equipped smart streetlights…which investigators use to help solve crimes. The department also plans to fast-track installation of the cameras in the Hillcrest neighborhood ahead of San Diego’s Pride Festival this weekend. “I took a duty to protect people.” San Diego Police Captain Jeff Jordon says the department can’t wait around for vacancies to be filled on the Privacy Advisory Board. After all, that could take months. “Are we going to turn a blind eye and allow crime to continue and not make use of the tools? How would I defend this?” The camera-equipped streetlights have a long and controversial history in San Diego. They were first rolled out in 2016…and then used by police without the public knowing. They were turned off for several years…but deployed again late last year. This time, with the public’s knowledge. The new proposal on smart streetlight placement passed the City Council’s Public Safety Committee last Wednesday and will go before the full council for a vote in the coming weeks.

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The Republican nominee for vice president, J-D Vance, brings a number of things to the Trump ticket including his wife, Usha [Ooo-sha] who is from San Diego.

Reporter Thomas Fudge spoke about it with Bill Wells, a local Republican delegate and candidate for congress.

Usha Chilukuri Vance grew up in Rancho Penasquitos, the daughter of Indian immigrants. Bill Wells, the mayor of El Cajon also grew up in Rancho Penasquitos, though he graduated high school quite a bit earlier. A delegate at the Republican Convention, Wells says he thinks Donald Trump’s choice of Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate brings some youthful vitality to the ticket. Vance is 39. Wells says he knows Usha’s resume – her work as a lawyer and her degree from Yale – but he doesn’t know much more. He says he thinks the Republican Party tends to ignore California, seeing it as a one-party state, and he hopes Usha Vance could affect that.  “So anything that can bring more light onto the issues of California and San Diego and get Republicans more involved in that… I’m all for that.” JD Vance is the author of the best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy. Wells says he grew up in a similarly dysfunctional family so Vance is a candidate he can relate to. 

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As Pride week festivities kick off and as people celebrate, county officials are again reminding them about M-Pox.

Health reporter Heidi de Marco has that story.

This is my pride song. I know where I belong. Local performer Justin Renaissance says his pride song is about self love and that includes health awareness. Especially health issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community, like Mpox. The viral disease can spread through close or intimate contact. I still got vaccinated at the chance that I was at a club. I was wanting to dance shirtless at Rich's one night. And, you know, somebody there was infected. Renaissance is no stranger to performing for large crowds and recognizes Pride gatherings could contribute to the spread of the virus. Health experts recommend vaccinating now to prevent the next surge of the disease. For pride…everybody's going to be celebrating… And the fact that there are people that haven't gotten their vaccinations for monkeypox yet…do you want to be able to be in an environment where there's a hundred people in like a ten by ten foot space and be dancing and be enjoying and celebrating and drinking.. while still feeling safe. The county reported 5 new cases the week ending July 6. Public Healthcare workers  will be at Pride providing Mpox vaccines Saturday and Sunday.  Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.

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San Diego leaders want to make the city less dependent on cars.

Metro reporter Andrew Bowen says officials hope to do this with new street design standards.

City staff are working on an update to San Diego's Street Design Manual. It's a technical document that sets standards for things like the width of a travel lane or sidewalk. The update aims to infuse the values of safety and sustainability into the streets themselves. Councilmember Stephen Whitburn says most streets in San Diego were designed for cars. They were not originally designed to adequately protect the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists. And as such, pedestrians and bicyclists have too often been hit and killed or injured on streets that were designed for cars. A city council committee heard an update on the new Street Design Manual on Wednesday. A draft of the new manual is due out in the fall. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.

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40 years ago, a gunman killed 21 people at a San Ysidro McDonald's.

Survivors walked out forever changed.

Reporter Katie Hyson says their stories may reflect what a growing number of mass shooting survivors are facing.

A warning to our listeners, this story includes graphic descriptions of violence.

Wendy Flanagan’s walls are covered in butterflies and sayings like: Love every moment, laugh every day. Signs of a 40-year effort to find peace. The summer of 1984, Flanagan was chosen for varsity cheerleading. I was loud. I was very happy. I had never experienced loss. The San Ysidro McDonald’s was her first job. July 18th changed everything. Then, it was the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. For 77 minutes, the gunman killed 21 people, and wounded 19 others. Flanagan hid in a closet. When officers escorted her out, she was a different person. I was like, I don't want to be popular. Now, I don't want to be noticed. The next day, she went to work at a different McDonald’s. Everything was a reminder. The beeping french fry alarm. The floor tiles. Any little thing. Like, I don't. Like, you know, I think everybody's shooting at me. They sent her home. She switched schools. But didn’t find the normalcy she craved. They were like, oh, you're that girl from that shooting. I was like, I'm out of here. Then I started ditching class. She bounced between waitressing jobs for decades. And I would  . . . never succeed at anything. And I felt like a loser. Like, what is wrong with me? And it's been a long time. Like, get over it. But I never really could. She turned to crystal meth. I was just trying to stay alive any way I could. I did not ever go out of my house, hardly ever at that time. And when I did, I would have to take, like, two and a half hours to get ready. I would be full makeup, hair, nails, everything perfect so that I could present myself to the world. Like, look, I'm okay. But the majority of the time, I wasn't okay. When her mother lost their house, Flanagan became homeless. During that time, she says she found Jesus. And astonishing empathy. I know that people don't want to hear about the shooter. But I think he was a victim as well. I do. Any person with that much hatred. In her 40’s, she learned the word for what derailed her life: PTSD. And that it qualified her for disability benefits. Caseworkers helped her get rent assistance. She says it isn’t true that time heals all wounds. She’s had to figure out how to live with them. When I was a little girl . . . I just kept saying that I want to be a normal girl. I want to be a mommy, and I want to be a teacher. That's it. And I ended up not being a normal girl, not being a mommy, and not being a teacher . . . The things that happened to me kept me from those fulfilling those dreams, you know? But I'm not bitter. I mean, I'm saying, like, God has replaced what I lost  . . . I'm not, like, fun and go out and popular and pretty everything anymore, but I'm at peace. In the closet with Flanagan that day was Al Leos, defensive back for Chula Vista High. They had just won the championship. I was looking forward to my senior year. It was wiped out completely that day. Bullets just missed his heart and spine. I watched a lot of babies, moms, fathers . . . just have their lives just snuffed right from underneath them. And there was nothing I could do to help them. He crawled to the closet, where he made a deal with God. If you don't take me away, I'm going to do something good with my life. Leos’ wounds left him bedbound. So my dad stayed home from work for five, six months to take care of me. The San Ysidro community rallied. They put food on our table. They paid our monthly bills. When Leos healed, he became a cop in San Ysidro. His way of giving back. He says he had nightmares for years. Then one night he came across a burning vehicle. And heard a man inside. Protocol is to wait for firefighters. But Leos refused to be powerless again. He reached into the flames. It was like in the movies. I pulled him out . . . and as I'm dragging him away, the car blew up. He saved the man. The nightmares stopped. Still, the shooting feels like yesterday. A lot has changed since 1984. He’s a San Diego police captain now. Officers have SWAT equipment. They’re trained not to wait to take down an active shooter. The Violence Prevention Project says there have been 164 mass public shootings in the U.S. since. Leaving countless more survivors. Who, like Flanagan and Leos, have to figure out how to live with the wounds. Katie Hyson, KPBS News

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Coming up the Old Globe is putting on a presentation that puts audiences right in the action. We’ll have that story and more, just after the break.

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Before the Old Globe’s Henry 6 play tonight balboa park guests have an opportunity to take in a special presentation

Arts reporter Beth Accomando explains what Fight Call on the Plaza is all about.

For the Globe’s ambitious Henry 6 plays, director of arts engagement Adena Varner oversaw a series of workshops to engage the public in this summer’s Shakespeare productions. People could partake in design workshops as well as record video and audio for the plays. The final workshop will be Fight Call on the Plaza, says Varner. So some of the actors, some of the cast members are actually going to join us on the plaza, go through a fight call before their show, which is really exciting. So we'll demo that, and then participants will have a moment to try it out. And then when they actually see it on stage again, they'll feel closer to it. In addition to seeing a run through of the fight choreography, visitors to the plaza can engage in an installation showing all the community engagement work the Globe has done for Henry 6. Plus, people can decorate a large gold crown with flowers they can make representing the feuding factions in the War of the Roses depicted in the play. The Fight Call on the Plaza is Thursday evening only but the installation will be up and free to the public through September 15. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.

You can catch the action at the Old Globe’s Copley Plaza in Balboa Park from 6 to 7 P-M.

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 day.