Everything's on Fire

This week's episode of the VOSD Podcast covers a wide variety of very unique topics. First, the San Dieguito Union High School District is taking heat for a 24 hour live broadcast they allowed in a high school gym. The County of San Diego moved some money around to cover county bonuses. Finally, the San Diego Unified School Distract is at a loss for one of their projects.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of the VOSD Podcast we have a lot of juicy topics to discuss. Is Congressman Darrell Issa going to run....in Texas? Will corporate backing of a trash tax repeal push the repeal forward? And Beef Week was in full swing, and our very own Bella Ross, Jakob McWhinney, and Jim Hinch brought their stories to the podcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The VOSD Podcast crew was without their fearless leader Scott Lewis this week, but Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña held it down and led us all through the news of the week. The pod crew talked about chickens as pets, county taxes, and some news stories that are safe to talk about at the dinner table. Have you ever walked past a neighbor's house and heard chickens clucking from their backyard? Well, Andrea now has chickens and she gave the rest of the crew the rules and regulations set forth by the city of San Diego. Some quick updates: The group pushing for a county sales tax are moving forward with their effort and we talked about what to expect. The San Diego Zoo is now going to charge for parking. Plus, a preview of Voice of San Diego's Beef Week! With the holidays coming up Andrea, Jakob and Bella took turns talking about some different stories you can share with your family. But that wasn't all! They ranked each story by how safe the subject was for those holiday family functions.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of the VOSD Podcast, we had a grand old time at Soda Bar for our latest live podcast Brews and News. The crew were able to get San Diego State Athletic Director John David Wicker to sit down for an hour to discuss a lot about San Diego State Athletics!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the latest VOSD Podcast episode, our hosts get into the Padres exploring a sale, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria makes some changes on his staff, Scott takes a math test, and a deeper look into Prop 36.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the latest VOSD Podcast episode, our hosts get into the rise and fall of a Poway councilmember and how San Diego Unified has been unable to keep kids enrolled in their neighborhood school. Also, will the city of San Diego’s most ambitions development project in Midway rise?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This weeks edition of the Voice of San Diego Podcast has some big decisions being made in the city of San Diego. The San Diego City Council approves a water rate hike for two years instead of four. How does that affect you? The county supervisors are trying to balance the budget behind closed doors. Jakob details the approval of safe parking by San Diego Unified and what it means for the future. Plus, La Jolla scores a big win against the city of San Diego. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The newest fight at City Hall is a doozy. It’s about that new tax announced at Politifest. It could be up to $5,000 per bedroom for a second home or vacation rental and it’s going to be a fascinating political battle. We’ll explain The big development at Sports Arena is once again falling apart because of the city’s inability to not trip over itself. We’ll explain why the project leaders and city officials think they can still build it.  Plus, the city of San Diego is trying to protect people from ICE raids and stop the police from helping. We’ll examine what exactly they’re trying to do. SHOW NOTES BANTER  UT - Property Tax Bills - What’s That??? Thousands of city of San Diego residents have flooded county offices over concern about increased property taxes but, in some cases, there is a simple explanation: trash. After decades of offering trash collection for free, city of San Diego will now charge many residents for trash collection. Residents got their first-ever annual trash charge of $523.20 in property tax bills that went out in early October. San Diego County Assessor Jordan Marks said his office, and the tax collector’s, have been inundated with in-person visits and phone calls about higher bills. He said there have been more than 2,000 inquiries over the charge, but it was hard to pinpoint an exact number because it’s been a steady stream for weeks. Residents who call the office, at 619-236-3771, get sent to an automated phone tree with the first option to ask about the trash fee. “The city of San Diego levied and controls this trash fee on your property tax bills,” says a voice recording. “They are the only party that can answer your important questions and address your issues.” SEGMENT 1 - Court Ruling Morning Report: Mayor: ‘Failure I s Not an Option’ for Midway Project Three days after the 4th District Court of Appeal once again threw out a voter-approved measure that lifted the building height limit for the Midway neighborhood, it was still not clear what it meant for the nearly $4 billion development project at the city’s Sports Arena land.  The mayor said… Twice, in five years, the city of San Diego has put on the ballot a measure to lift the height limit in the Midway neighborhood. Twice, voters approved it. And, now twice, a Court has thrown it all out because the city didn’t fully study the measures’ impact to the environment. SEGMENT 2 - Vacation Property Tax  Vacation Home Tax Moves Forward San Diego Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera’s proposal to tax vacation homes and empty second homes is moving forward. Battle Lines Drawn on Vacation Rental Tax Wednesday, the Rules Committee for the San Diego City Council will consider Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera’s push for a tax on empty second homes and vacation rentals.   Basics:  10K homes Half second homes. Half vacation rentals  They can tell based on tax rollsWon’t affect anyone renting out bedroom or normal landlords Won’t affect ADUs on “accessories” to main property   SEGMENT 3 ICE (baby) Local Ordinance - Bella’s vid KPBS - San Diego City Council passes ordinance restricting SDPD from ICE collaboration Citing a spike in Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and arrests, the San Diego City Council unanimously gave tentative approval to an ordinance Monday intended to prevent local law enforcement from joining certain federal task forces. The Due Process and Safety Ordinance will set "clear legal boundaries that protect residents, workers, and visitors regardless of immigration status, gender identity, disability, or healthcare decisions," according to a staff document from Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera's office. City staff will meet with recognized employee organizations such as the San Diego Police Officers Association to ensure the SDPD will be able to effectively do its job without joining certain task forces led by the federal government. Elo-Rivera, who sponsored the ordinance, thanked the dozens of people who spoke at the meeting and acknowledged that many in the community may not have felt safe to speak out. "We can't promise that the federal government won't make your nightmares a reality," he said to young residents in the council chamber waiting for the vote. "I so badly wish I could make that promise to you. Every day the Trump regime makes good on its promise of cruelty, hatred and vindictiveness."   CREDITS Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voice of San Diego. Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, managing editor Bella Ross, social media producer Jakob McWhinney, education reporter and theme music composer. Xavier Vasquez, podcast producer Journalism is integral to a healthy democracy: Support independent, investigative journalism in San Diego County. Become a Member: Voice Member BenefitsJoin today and receive insider access.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Registrar of Voters has made a dramatic change to how it evaluates signatures on petitions. A bunch of high-profile signature gathering campaigns have fallen apart in San Diego and it may not have been just because they were incompetent. This is a big change.  One of those campaigns was to raise a tax to fund an expansion of the Convention Center. It failed spectacularly. But then another initiative made the ballot in 2020 and courts have finally decided that voters actually approved it. But the Convention Center expansion is not happening.  And finally it continues to deal with enrollment declines, the San Diego Unified School District does not know or won’t say exactly how many students each school can fit.  SHOW NOTES SEGMENT 1 - POLITIFEST ROUNDUP Scott and Co. banter about the October 4, 2025 edition of Politifest, aka the festival of politics at the University of San Diego. SEGMENT 2 - SDUSD’S UNKNOWN SCHOOL CAPACITY VOSD - San Diego Unified Doesn’t Know How Many Students Each School Can Fit As districts across the county grapple with enrollment decline that will likely get worse in coming decades, San Diego Unified officials say they don’t actually know what the capacity is for each of the district’s schools. SEGMENT 3 - REGISTRAR OF VOTERS MAY HAVE BEEN TOO STRICT Registrar of Voters Suddenly Made It Easier to Qualify Ballot Measures with Signatures After decades of imposing a strict, unforgiving interpretation of compliance with petitions, the Registrar of Voters has quietly updated its guidance. SEGMENT 4 - CONVENTION CENTER San Diego Finally Secures Hundreds of Millions for a Convention Center Expansion; But It Isn’t Expanding the Convention Center After 20 years of failed signature gathering efforts, court battles and legally questionable efforts to raise hotel-room taxes, the city of San Diego has finally secured hundreds of millions of dollars for a long-planned expansion of the San Diego Convention Center.  But city officials are not going to do it.    CREDITS Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voice of San Diego. Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, managing editor Bella Ross, social media producer Jakob McWhinney, education reporter and theme music composer. Xavier Vasquez, podcast producer Journalism is integral to a healthy democracy: Support independent, investigative journalism in San Diego County. Become a Member: Voice Member BenefitsJoin today and receive insider access.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we revisit the Politifest 2025 Showdown awards at the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Theater on the beautifual campus of the University of San Diego. We have games, and plenty of solutions for our beleagured and beloved city on this week's podcast.  SHOW NOTES Here are all the videos from last weekend's Politifest 2025     Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voice of San Diego. Andrea Lopez-Villafaña, managing editor Bella Ross, social media producer Jakob McWhinney, education reporter and theme music composer. Xavier Vasquez, podcast producer Journalism is integral to a healthy democracy: Support independent, investigative journalism in San Diego County. Become a Member: Voice Member BenefitsJoin today and receive insider access.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.