The Primary: What Happened?
Republicans had a pretty good primary election in San Diego, winning a seat on the San Diego City Council and the San Diego County District Attorney's Office outright and defeating one community's plan that was years in the making.
Propositions B And C: Measures to ratify the Barrio Logan community plan fell victim to a campaign which labeled the plan as both job-killing and dangerous to the public health.
It is not clear what happens next, as the alternative plan favored by the shipyards is not likely to get five votes from the city council. If the council wants to vote again on the defeated plan, it will have to wait a year.
City Council: Republican Lorie Zapf won the seat for District 2 (Keven Faulconer's old seat) outright. District 6 will be treated to a run-off between two newcomers: taxpayer advocate Chris Cate and educator Carol Kim. It's possible the cost for the November contest will enter the realm of the absurd, as the outcome will affect whether the council’s Democratic majority remains veto-proof.
District Attorney: Bonnie Dumanis avoided a run-off and easily won re-election in spite of a well-funded challenger and allegations of questionable dealings with a Mexican donor. Dynamite name-recognition, early voting and a third candidate were all factors.
5th District Supervisor: The race between 20-year County Supervisor Bill Horn and Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood appears to be all but over, with Horn squeaking by for a 6th term. So how did a previously invulnerable politician come so close to losing?
Renewable Energy and CCAs
Ever heard of a Community Choice Aggregator? You're not alone.
California AB 2145 deals with CCAs, which turn out to be very important in the universe of power and energy. Under current law, when a CCA is established by a community, it transfers authority to buy and sell power away from investor-owned utilities like SDG&E to the board of the CCA. This is a problem — if you're a utility. The CCA board determines rates and how much local power comes from renewable sources — even more of a problem.
Currently (no pun intended), before a community forms a CCA, it must notify customers by mail and give them the chance to opt out. Customers who ignore the notice are automatically transferred to the CCA, but can switch back later. The utility continues to provide billing services, meter-reading and infrastructure maintenance.
AB 2145 turns the process on its head by having customers opt in— again by mail — to the CCA, a provision environmentalists view as a catastrophe for renewable energy. Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins supports the bill, for which she has been picketed recently. So does Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez. The San Diego City Council’s environment committee voted to have the full council pass a resolution opposing the bill.
