Recently, we\u2019ve written about three transparency issues in county government.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Supervisors have held secret subcommittee meetings behind closed doors<\/a>; Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer spent $89,000 in county funds to poll-test potential ballot measures<\/a>; and we sued the county because it has delayed, and refused, the release of public records<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Wednesday, County Supervisor Joel Anderson pushed forward policies to try to usher in more transparency on all of the above \u2013 and his fellow board members unanimously approved them.<\/p>\n Our Lisa Halverstadt has a rundown of the proposals. They would make secret committees public, create guardrails and other requirements for county-funded polling and standardize part of the county\u2019s response to public records requests.\u00a0<\/p>\n Next steps: All three policy pitches require work and reports back from county staff before they are enacted. We\u2019ll be watching to see what happens next.<\/p>\n Read the full story here.<\/a><\/p>\n North County Report: Ex-Fair Leader\u2019s Checkered Past<\/p>\n Earlier this week, our Tigist Layne unearthed a new lawsuit<\/a> that may be connected to the sudden ouster of former Del Mar Fairgrounds CEO Carlene Moore. The Fairgrounds\u2019 board of directors abruptly fired Moore on April 14.<\/p>\n Turns out, the problems leading to Moore\u2019s firing were just the latest in what Layne reveals were years of troubled leadership both at Del Mar and in Napa County, where Moore led the fairgrounds for nine years before coming to San Diego.<\/p>\n A 2017 citizens\u2019 Grand Jury report found the Napa Fairgrounds had declined markedly under Moore\u2019s leadership. Facilities had deteriorated and the fairgrounds faced a structural budget deficit and declining attendance.<\/p>\n The Napa fairgrounds to shut down completely in 2020, soon after Moore left.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a hard job here, you\u2019re running a big business,\u201d one Napa Valley resident previously said of Moore\u2019s fairgrounds leadership there. \u201cShe can\u2019t do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Read the full North County Report here.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n In Coronado, a Rooftop Jet Showdown<\/p>\n Call it the granddaddy of all HOA disputes.<\/p>\n A group of Coronado Cays property owners filed suit to halt construction of a home that features an unusual design touch: the fuselage of a 40-foot Gulfstream 550 jet on the roof.<\/p>\n The suit contends the Coronado Cays Homeowners Association failed to follow its own rules when it approved plans for the house. The jet, says the suit, \u201cwill create the unmistakable and grotesque appearance of a plane crash site atop a private residence.\u201d<\/p>\n Some residents have even created a website<\/a> to the fight the plan. \u201cA 40-foot jet fuselage has no place on a residential roof,\u201d it reads.\u00a0<\/p>\n Carlos Cortez, a neighbor of what construction plans call \u201cThe Jet House,\u201d said residents in the neighborhood of multi-million-dollar custom-built homes plan to speak out at an HOA meeting today. Cortez said residents fear drones and selfie-seekers will swarm their neighborhood.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this is allowed to happen, what\u2019s to stop someone from putting an Artemis II rocket on the roof?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In Other News\u00a0<\/p>\n Correction: Yesterday\u2019s Morning Report<\/a> contained an error related to the city\u2019s Climate Equity Fund. The mayor\u2019s budget proposal would redirect millions of dollars away from the Climate Equity Fund and into the city\u2019s general fund. It would not raid money already in the fund.\u00a0<\/p>\n State water officials on Tuesday approved rules<\/a> guiding distribution of up to $50 million in bond funds to clean up the Tijuana and New rivers in San Diego and Imperial counties. State officials said they expect to begin reviewing applications for cleanup projects later this year. (KPBS)<\/p>\n City councilmembers on Wednesday endorsed a possible November ballot measure<\/a> that would levy a tax on corporations that own and rent out more than 10 single-family homes. Councilmembers said they hoped the measure would free up houses for individual homeownership. (Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n The Encinitas City Council on Wednesday was set to consider removing<\/a> a member of the city\u2019s Urban Forestry Advisory Committee in response to a social media post by the committee member. The committee member, Steven Houbeck, posted a message in February describing a video of African-style dance as \u201cscenes of blacks dressed in tribal gear banging on drums.\u201d (inewsource)<\/p>\n