New data shows how immigration sustains San Diego’s population growth. Plus, the San Diego City Council will vote on whether to accept a proposed settlement in an unfair housing lawsuit. SANDAG considers adding mass transit to and from Riverside County. And a look ahead at the Latino Film Festival.
San Diego City Council considers unfair housing lawsuit settlement
March 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM PDT
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Tuesday, March 18.
The San Diego city council will vote today on settling a sweeping fair housing lawsuit.
More on that next. But first ... the headlines….
San Diego Representative Darrell Issa late last week sued the state of California in an attempt to change the way it counts mail-in ballots.
The state allows ballots mailed on or before election day to be counted up to seven days after the election.
The lawsuit says this gives Democrats unfair electoral advantages because these late-arriving ballots tend to favor Democrats.
Issa, who is a Republican, is asking the court to rule the election law unconstitutional and force the state to stop counting ballots received after election day.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Issa by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal advocacy group.
San Diego City Councilmember Marnie von Wilpert says she’s running for State Senate.
The Democrat is running for the 40th District seat, and will face incumbent Brian Jones.
The district includes much of East County and inland North County.
Jones, who is a Republican, was first elected to the State Senate in 2020. Democrats hold a slight edge over Republicans in district voter registration.
Four San Diego Division One basketball teams are heading to the N-C double A tournament.
Both the men’s and women’s teams from San Diego State and UC San Diego begin play this week.
On the women’s side, both San Diego State and UC San Diego are in after each won their respective conference championships last week.
For the men, it’s UC San Diego’s first trip to the tournament since moving up from Division Two in 2020. They’re in after also winning their conference championship.
San Diego State, no stranger to March Madness, is in as an eleventh-seed. They tipoff against North Carolina in a play-in game this evening (Tuesday).
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.
Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY’S POPULATION IS RISING - FOR ONE REASON: IMMIGRATION. REPORTER JOHN CARROLL TALKED TO AN ECONOMIC EXPERT WHO SAYS A POPULATION DECLINE COULD HAVE MAJOR ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES.
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE CONTINUE TO STREAM OUT OF THE COUNTY EVERY YEAR. NEW DATA FROM THE CENSUS BUREAU SHOWS NEARLY 24,000 LEFT BETWEEN JULY OF 2023 AND JULY OF LAST YEAR. BUT, A FEW HUNDRED MORE IMMIGRANTS MOVED IN DURING THAT SAME TIME PERIOD. UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO ECONOMICS PROFESSOR ALAN GIN SAYS THE CONSEQUENCES OF A DECLINING POPULATION COULD BE DIRE. “If we had a shrinking population, number one, there wouldn’t be enough workers to fill some jobs. We’d have a labor shortage, and already, even with the small net that we gained, labor is a problem in some areas. Then, on top of that, if we have fewer people here, that means fewer people spending money.” GIN SAYS LAWMAKERS FROM THE FEDERAL LEVEL ON DOWN SHOULD FOCUS ON CRAFTING SENSIBLE IMMIGRATION POLICIES, AND WORK ON MAKING HOUSING HERE MORE AFFORDABLE SO PEOPLE STAY HERE - PEOPLE THAT ARE NEEDED TO FILL THE JOBS THAT MAKE SAN DIEGO COUNTY WORK. John Carroll, KPBS NEWS.
SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL WILL VOTE TODAY (Tuesday) WHETHER TO AUTHORIZE A 650-THOUSAND DOLLAR SETTLEMENT AND SEVERAL HOUSING POLICY CHANGES.
REPORTER KATIE HYSON SAYS THE LAWSUIT BLAMES CITY POLICY FOR WORSENING SEGREGATION.
Federal law requires cities to actively undo segregation. The 20-19 suit claims the city violated that by concentrating San Diego’s poorest residents in low-income, high-minority neighborhoods in the southeast. State data from that year show the majority of low-income housing projects were located there. The same year, some majority white neighborhoods – like La Jolla and Point Loma – had zero low-income projects. Plaintiffs blame city policy – like community plan updates and funding decisions – for fueling unequal access to opportunities and basic needs. The city council voted to approve the settlement in a closed session. District 4 Councilmember Henry Foster III was the lone vote against it. His office did not answer why. The council and the housing authority will vote again in public meetings Tuesday. The settlement includes more than half a million dollars in compensation. And seven changes to housing policy meant to increase affordable housing in wealthier areas. The city would have to prove that at least 70% of affordable housing projects are permitted in middle to highest resource areas by 20-28. City staff denied the lawsuit’s claims, and declined to speak with KPBS. Katie Hyson, KPBS News
EVERY DAY, INTERSTATE 15 IS PACKED WITH COMMUTERS TRAVELING BETWEEN SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTY AND SAN DIEGO FOR SCHOOL OR WORK.
THE DRIVE CAN SOMETIMES TAKE HOURS.
NORTH COUNTY REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN SAYS SANDAG IS LOOKING INTO PROVIDING SOME RELIEF… THROUGH MASS TRANSIT.
As more workers return to the office … the freeways become more clogged. So now SANDAG is seeking inputs on a proposed Rapid Bus route. “This route is specifically planned for commuters between Temecula and San Marcos.” Brian Lane is a senior planner for SANDAG … the San Diego Association of Governments. He says the agency is exploring options for riders who go to Cal State San Marcos or work in that surrounding area. “or even riders who may be going the other way up to Temecula or Riverside area to get the jobs up in that area.” Riverside Transit Authority used to offer a similar bus route before COVID, but it was discontinued when ridership dropped. Lane says Cal State San Marcos and Palomar College approached SANDAG, asking how to bring the route back to help their students commuting from Temecula. SANDAG is collecting feedback on the proposed route until April 23. Alexander Nguyen /KPBS.
THE SAN DIEGO LATINO FILM FESTIVAL KICKS OFF ON WEDNESDAY WITH A CONDENSED FIVE DAY SHOWCASE OF FILMS AT TWO VENUES. ARTS REPORTER BETH ACCOMANDO PREVIEWS THE FESTIVAL AND LOOKS BACK ON ITS 32 YEAR HISTORY.
The San Diego Latino Film Festival has a rich history that executive director Ethan Van Thillo has been a part of from the very beginning. We started this as a small student film festival, and now look at us. 32 years later, we have our own nonprofit organization. We have our own movie theater. We teach kids how to make films all year round. And then we're expecting over 120 movies this upcoming film festival, five days of cinema, close to 100 actors filmmakers coming from all over the US, Mexico, and Latin America. So super excited to once again bring Latino cinema to San Diego. The festival may be 32 years old but it still has the spirit of a rebellious teenager refusing to follow any rules or conform to any conventions.Take Bionico’s Bachata from the Dominican Republic. It opens with a man literally falling out of the sky and landing on earth…To take us on a trippy trek of love and addiction. Then the animated Olivia and the Clouds observes no visual boundaries to spin a surreal tale about the challenges of modern relationships. And the film Mexico Will No Longer Exist! defies genres with its sensory overload of feverish images colliding like atoms to spur a reaction in viewers. You can feel an experimental energy bursting off the screen in many of the films. But the festival also embraces rom coms, emotional dramas and documentaries. All the films share one purpose: to present a diverse and honest portrait of the Latino and Latinx community. We're just constantly hearing the negativity and the stereotypes about the Latino community, about immigration, about the border. I really try to always have a film festival that really shows a more accurate portrayal of Latinos and a more accurate portrayal of our border. And so I want the festival to break down walls, break down barriers, invite people in to learn about each other, watch these incredible movies that we have from all over Latin America, Mexico, and the US. This year the festival is shorter than usual – just five intense days – primarily because of construction near the AMC Mission Valley Theatres where films will be screening. It’s also re-evaluating how to operate in a new era of moviegoing.…We want to really encourage people to celebrate a movie-going experience, see it on the big screen with a wonderful sound, and not only see it on the big screen, but also meet filmmakers. So this film festival is going to include many filmmakers coming from around the world to be here, to be a part of Q&A's. One of the festival’s key sidebars is the Frontera Filmmakers Showcase designed to support local artists like Giancarlo Ruiz, who has been screening his work at the festival for more than two decades. I would say that for me, this festival is like home field advantage. Ruiz was part of a new wave of Tijuana filmmakers pushing the envelope at the start of the new millennium. So we were really like a wild bunch down there in TJ. I think it was the city itself. I think Tijuana is a very, in a sense, It's got an experimental, I think, DNA in it. It's always evolving. There's a lot of things happening, and it's a city full of chaos as well. This year Ruiz does not have a film he directed in the festival but rather is on hand to support one he acted in called Broken Borders.Restaurant scene It's directed by Rodrigo Álvarez Dolores. He's also a filmmaker from Tijuana. It's a story about a family and their own personal lives outside the house. So the story is told in three points of view, basically. So it's a mother and two kids, and you see what happens to them during their day individually… very nonlinear, very interesting points of view. I think it's very fresh. At 32, the San Diego Latino Film Festival remains as fresh and vibrant as ever, providing the city with a cultural celebration that’s more important than ever at this moment in history. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
THE SAN DIEGO LATINO FILM FESTIVAL RUNS WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY AT THE AMC MISSION VALLEY AND DIGITAL GYM CINEMA.
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.