Last year, County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer’s office spent $89,000 in taxpayer dollars on two polls about possible ballot measures.
One sought to gauge countywide voter support for potential tax hike options and another floated possibilities for county governance reforms.
The second poll assessing voter support for proposals – including a third term for supervisors that could benefit Lawson-Remer – has stirred up controversy recently.
Now our Lisa Halverstadt pulls back the curtain on those polls and county spending on them.
There’s more: Local government-funded polls like these aren’t unusual but a prominent California election law attorney flagged questions in the second poll he thinks run afoul of state law. The county, for its part, says those polls funded by Lawson-Remer’s office are within the bounds of state law.
East County Supervisor Running for County Treasurer-Tax Collector
Republican Supervisor Joel Anderson is making it official: He’s running for treasurer-tax collector.
Anderson, now often a crucial swing vote on the Board of Supervisors, told Halverstadt he’s getting into the race with a mission to reform the office overseeing tax collection and managing county investments.
Anderson is touting his bipartisan bonafides and history of working with San Diegans on both sides of the aisle, plus several endorsements he says speak to that record.
His opponents now include veteran Democratic staffer and now-appointed interim Treasurer-Tax Collector Larry Cohen, Republican Party of San Diego-endorsed candidate and Certified Public Accountant Shirley Nakawatase and former Oceanside City Treasurer Victor Roy in the June primary.
South County Report: Beyond the Classroom
For his latest newsletter, reporter Jim Hinch spent time at Lilian J. Rice Elementary School to observe how school leaders are supporting students beyond the classroom.
The southwest Chula Vista school is one of 13 community schools in the Chula Vista Elementary School District. These schools are part of a state initiative that provides students services to help them achieve greater academic success. That includes offering families groceries, mental health services and even dental checkups.
Hinch writes that Rice Elementary leaders say student test scores are rising and they are tracking improvements in rates of suspensions and times a kid misses school.
Read the South County Report here.
In Other News
The county learned earlier this week it was awarded $99.5 million in state Proposition 1 funds to build a behavioral health campus next to its Midway District psychiatric hospital. Palomar Health also got good news that it will receive $50 million for an Escondido project after previously seeing a Proposition 1 grant rescinded. (Union-Tribune)
Both sides of the tax on empty second homes debate have submitted ballot statements to the San Diego City Clerk and are getting ready for an intense and costly campaign battle. (Union-Tribune)
NBC reporters tracked more than a dozen pay-to-enter parties in homes listed for sale or rent. Some of these illegal parties have caused hundreds of thousands in property damage. While former San Diego County District Attorney Paul Pfingst says police need to be doing more, Police Lt. Cesar Jimenez said there just aren’t enough officers to safely handle a large group of party goers. (NBC 7)
A Michigan synagogue attack Thursday morning prompted San Diego police to ramp up their presence around places of worship according to an online post by the San Diego Police Department. (NBC 7)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt and Rami Alarian. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.
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