Shift from Democrat to Republican voters in South Bay, Southeast
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, January 13th
Cost of living played a major role in how San Diegans voted in November’s election. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is set to discuss FILLING the District 1 seat at their meeting at noon tomorrow (Tuesday).
Chair Nora Vargas recently announced she’s stepping down from the board at the end of her term. That’s despite winning the District 1 reelection in November. She’s cited threats to her safety as the reason for her departure.
The board has multiple options to fill Vargas’ seat. Some choices — holding a special election, appointing someone, or both.
There’s also an open seat on the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board.
Also known as CLERB, the board is in charge of investigating citizen complaints against San Diego Sheriff deputies and probation officers. It also investigates deaths in connection with law enforcement.
CLERB is accepting applications starting January 30th. To be eligible, you must be a county resident, registered to vote and not be affiliated with the county or law enforcement. Applicants must also have attended a CLERB meeting prior to applying.
Last month, the County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution that gives CLERB more power in investigating in-custody deaths. A 2022 state audit found the county had some of the highest jail deaths among counties in the state .
The fires in LA have burned thousands of acres, destroyed homes and claimed lives.
San Diegans that want to help our neighbors to the north have many options.
Monetary donations are always welcome. Some organizations to give to are Project Camp, which runs day camps for kids displaced by natural disasters, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, and Global Empowerment Mission, which is passing out cash cards to evacuated residents.
The San Diego Humane Society is asking people to foster or adopt a pet. The organization took in dozens of animals displaced by the Eaton Fire. Find more ways to help at kpbs dot org.
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
Usually when there are wildfires in Los Angeles, smoke would make its way to San Diego.
So far that hasn’t been the case. North County reporter Alexander Nguyen looks into why.
San Diego air hasn’t been smokey despite the devastating wildfires in L-A That’s thanks to the Santa Ana winds. The wind that’s been driving the L-A fires is keeping San Diego’s air clean. “for the last few days, we've seen a pretty persistent, mid and upper level wind pattern.” Sebastian Westerink with the National Weather Service says there’s another pulse of Santa Ana wind coming that should keep San Diego air clean. Monday and Tuesday, we're going to start to see, those offshore winds again coming either from the north or the east, which will again blow that wildfire smoke, off the coast. Health officials say wildfire smoke is especially hazardous to young children, the elderly and people with lung conditions. AN/KPBS
SAN DIEGO AND LOS ANGELES ARE ONLY 120-MILES APART… AND THERE ARE COUNTLESS PEOPLE HERE WITH CONNECTIONS TO FOLKS UP THERE. REPORTER JOHN CARROLL TALKED TO A POINT LOMA COUPLE WITH FAMILY IN THE L-A AREA WHO’VE BEEN IN A CONSTANT STATE OF WORRY THIS WEEK.
“We grew up in Pasadena. So yeah, my whole life I’ve lived there.” “I’m from South Pasadena, which is more south, but anyone from the area knows that South Pasadena, Pasadena, Altadena, I feel like we’re really just from one community.” The voices of Riley Buoen and Sydney Rusch… voices full of concern and sorrow for their friends and family. Until this week’s fires, the Point Loma couple’s memories of growing up in that area were happy. They were at Riley’s grandparents house a few weeks ago. “We were just there for Christmas and celebrating, it’s just unbelievable. Riley’s mom’s boyfriend also lost his home. He’s a single dad with a 9-year old daughter.” Sydney and Riley say they’ll be heading up soon to see family, to do whatever they can to help, and to witness the kind of devastation that seems utterly incomprehensible. JC, KPBS News.
SANDAG’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAS A NEW CHAIR. METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN SAYS THE TRANSPORTATION AGENCY WILL BE LED BY SOLANA BEACH MAYOR LESA HEEBNER.
SANDAG has a big task this year: Update its regional transportation plan. That’s a list of infrastructure projects and policies that, under state law, have to reduce driving and greenhouse gas emissions. Last year county voters narrowly rejected a sales tax measure to fund such projects. Heebner, who was the board's unanimous pick for chair, says SANDAG has to be realistic. We all would love to see monorails and wonderful things throughout the entire region, but we can't afford it. So let's take a look at what we've got on the table that we can adjust so that we can be able to actually build it, and build it in a timely manner. Board members also chose San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava as vice chair. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
FORMER SAN DIEGO COUNTY SUPERVISOR NATHAN FLETCHER DROPPED OUT OF THE RACE FOR STATE SENATE NEARLY TWO YEARS AGO. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER SCOTT RODD REPORTS FLETCHER SPENT MOST OF HIS CAMPAIGN FUNDS ON LEGAL FEES.
Nathan Fletcher had nearly $1 million in his campaign as he ran for state Senate in 2023. He dropped out of the race just days before a lawsuit surfaced accusing him of sexual misconduct. Fletcher denies the allegations. Since then, Fletcher has paid his lawyers nearly $900,000 from the abandoned campaign to fight the lawsuit…which was filed by a former San Diego Metropolitan Transit System spokeswoman. The spending has drawn scrutiny. “Sadly, you know, Mr. Fletcher doesn't seem to have developed any ethical sensitivity to being respectful of his donors’ wishes.” John Pelissero is with the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. “They gave money to a political campaign for state senate that he dropped out of — they did not give funds for a personal legal fund for Fletcher.” The California Fair Political Practices Commission has launched an investigation into Fletcher’s use of campaign funds. Fletcher declined a request for comment. But his campaign has previously argued the spending is legal. Meanwhile … the woman who accused Fletcher of sexual misconduct has dropped some of her most serious allegations ... including claims of sexual assault and battery. She’s still alleging sexual harassment. SOC
THROUGH OUR PUBLIC MATTERS PARTNERSHIP, WE’VE BEEN LOOKING AT HOW LOCALS VOTED IN NOVEMBER. MIDDAY EDITION HOST JADE HINDMON SPOKE WITH VOICE OF SAN DIEGO EDITOR SCOTT LEWIS AND KPBS PUBLIC MATTERS EDITOR CLAIRE TRAGESER.
Claire, I'm gonna start with you. I understand we saw members of the Democratic Party here in San Diego jump ship this election. Where was that most prominent? Yeah. So for for this series, we looked at a couple different regions that had, kind of the most pronounced shift. And that was, in Chula Vista and National City, South Bay regions, San Ysidro. Also, in neighborhoods like Choyas View, Encanto, other parts of south Southeastern San Diego. And then, we also looked at Imperial Valley which actually flipped from, blue to red for the first time in many years. But I know we'll we'll talk about that more. Let's Scott, break that down, for us. People are feeling like the system failed them. What's the appeal of the Republican ticket then? Well, it might not be just an appeal to, of the Republican party. It could also be a lack of appeal of the other party. Right? The 1 of the biggest stories of the election isn't isn't necessarily the surge towards Trump as much as there's there was, we have more voters in San Diego than we did 4 years ago, and, but we had far less turnout. And Trump got about what he got 4 years ago from, you know, about the same number of voters. But the number of voters for the democratic ticket was much, much lower. There was just not a lot of enthusiasm. And that is so interesting because there was so much conversation before the election about what was at stake. This was the biggest election, especially from the Democratic point of view of just what was it. They literally took out the guy who was running and put in somebody else because they felt like so much was at stake. And yet that the the people who actually voted, who they counted on to vote, didn't feel it and and didn't believe that things would get much better if they, if they voted for the Democratic ticket. And, Claire, it it seems like there's this frustration, like a a perceived sense of hypocrisy, both nationally and locally. Yeah. I mean, that's resonates with with what Scott and Jamie are talking about as well where, you know, people who maybe would typically have voted democrat just were feeling left out or, you know, just weren't weren't maybe interested in voting. And, Amita Sharma talked to voters in, neighborhoods like Choice View and, Encanto and and heard there first of all, that maybe young voters who might have otherwise turned out, were, you know, kind of just turned off by both parties and and weren't interested in voting. And then people who are affected by the floods, in January of last year were really feeling like the system had just failed them, you know, that the city hadn't cleaned out storm sewers and and, you know, that the repair efforts were were slower than they should have been. And so that might have contributed to an overall feeling of just frustration and then maybe lack of support for the Democratic party or lack of support for for voting in in general. So for those people, what are they thinking the Trump administration will do for them? People like what they understand. Right? And I think that the democratic message had a lot of, points about how much the economy had recovered, how well it was doing compared to other countries, how much inflation was coming down, all the investment that they'd created. And yet people didn't feel it. The this especially in this community where the cost of living has soared and and was already high and it continues to soar. The power bills, the gas prices, the electric bills, and and water bills. I mean, the the cost of living in San Diego, literally what it takes to just get by, has been overwhelming to people. And so they hear all these things about, well, maybe I'll help you eventually buy a home with a small tax rate. That kind of thing doesn't resonate. When there's massive inflation, we see a lot of frustration about that. Throughout history, we've seen a lot of frustration about that. And the people who pay for it as at least in power are the people who are in power. And they there's just very little they can say that are gonna make people that is going to make people feel better about their situation. And they they really wanted to just see a change. I think Godzilla could have been on the ballot and they would have said, you know, it it it how can it be worse? We've been waiting for something to get better and it's not. And so we need to shake it up. There are few things that resonate as much in people's daily lives as inflation, I feel like, because you're just reminded literally every time you go to the grocery store and eggs cost $7 or whatever or you buy gas. It's just a constant and regular reminder. Even if other things in the economy are going well, as long as prices are still high, people just it contributes to a feeling of things are not good.
THAT WAS JADE HINDMON SPEAKING WITH SCOTT LEWIS AND CLAIRE TRAGESER.
ON DEC. 29, MARIGOLD BAGELS SOLD ITS LAST BAGEL AT THE MISSION VALLEY FARMERS MARKET. BUT DON'T PANIC! ARTS REPORTER BETH ACCOMANDO GOT UP AT 4 A.M. TO GET THE LOWDOWN ON WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE POPULAR NEW YORK STYLE BAGEL COMPANY.
Mike Rabinowitz is an organic chemist by training. He’s also retired. But at 3AM he’s up making bagels. I turn on the ovens, I start the kettle for boiling, I pull the bagels out of the refrigerator and let them warm up a bit, prepare all the toppings, and…every minute is full… Lots of beepers going off, lots of timers beeping. He has to make 580 bagels by 7:30am. We're at maximum capacity just based on the time we have. We're missing a bagel. Fortunately the missing bagel was found floating in the kettle. Rabinowitz and his marketing slash kitchen assistant Courtney Schwartz never stop moving. Behind you. Oh, it's a rehearsed dance. Pas de deux. Rabinowitz is the founder, owner, and lone bagel maker at Marigold Bagels, He began making bagels in his home kitchen, then expanded to a professional kitchen. For nearly two years, he sold bagels online and at Mission Valley Farmers Market. But back in November, a TikTok video from a loyal customer changed everything. She said, Mike, I just posted this, you better get ready. Well, it turns out she had over 20,000 followers in San Diego, and it went viral. And then, the next time we showed up at the market, we went from maybe 20 people online at any given time to, we counted about 250. Matt Eisenberg was one of the many lining up for a bagel at 7:45am on a chilly December morning. Mike's Bagels are fantastic. I think they live up to the hype. They are authentic New York bagels. And that was Rabinowitz's vision, to bring authentic New York bagels — the ones he remembered as a kid — to San Diego. The best ones are high gluten, they're baked the same day of course, they have a bit of a chew to the crust, but a soft sort of mouthfeel. As a New Yorker, Rabinowitz is familiar with the adage that it’s the New York water that makes the bagels so special. But as an organic chemist, he wasn’t going to accept that as fact. So at JFK Airport, he smuggled some New York tap water home and conducted an experiment with six self-defined foodie friends. I made three batches of bagels exactly the same way, except one had New York tap water, one had San Diego tap water, and the other one had the water we use. We did a blind taste testing, and people had a lot of opinions, but there was no consensus on what the best bagel was. I could tell the difference between the San Diego tap water and the New York tap water. But I couldn't tell the difference between New York tap water and the filtered reverse osmosis water that we use. That background in organic chemistry has proven surprisingly valuable in the kitchen. Organic chemistry really involves working in the laboratory, and controlling temperature, time, humidity, the way you add — we call them starting materials and products —but in here, they're ingredients. The way you add them, the quality of what you use, that's all drilled into your head about how you do chemistry. And it turns out that all those things are important in baking. Rabinowitz refuses to call himself a baker but he does call himself a bagel maker — and still, a scientist. I have hundreds and hundreds of test batches and pages in a notebook, and each one describes how I made it, the batch, the ingredients I used, where they're from, times and temperatures, and, and then pictures, and then the final results of what I thought of it and what I thought could be improved. And eventually got to the recipe we follow now and the techniques we follow now. Those techniques are traditional: cold fermenting for two days, hand rolling, boiling, topping and baking, using only the most basic ingredients. There's no secret recipe. I don't use anything that no one else uses. I don't use any technique that no one else uses. But what I did do was assimilate lots of ideas from people I saw online baking, books I've read, articles I read, cookbooks, and I took what I thought were sort of the best ideas from the ones I like the best… Marigold Bagels recently paused its farmers market booth to focus on opening a storefront. It has ramped up online sales but getting a bagel has become as challenging as getting a Comic-Con badge. I would say within 5 to 7 minutes, they're all gone. Even though I knew we'd get a storefront, it became all the more important to do so quickly, because we can go from baking and selling twice a week to, well, every day of the week. And that’s something we can look forward to. Marigold Bagels new storefront is coming to North Park, hopefully in May or June. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
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 Monday.
