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Roundtable: The Pope Makes News, A Cop Sues SDPD, An Iconic Building Is In Trouble

The Botanical Building in Balboa Park, pictured here, is the Conservancy's first fundraising project.
Ron Garrison
The Botanical Building in Balboa Park, pictured here, is the Conservancy's first fundraising project.
Roundtable: The Pope Makes News, A Cop Sues SDPD, An Iconic Building Is In Trouble
Roundtable: The Pope Makes News, A Cop Sues SDPD, An Iconic Building Is In Trouble
HOST:Kenny GoldbergGUESTS:Gina Diamante, Fronteras editor, KPBS News Greg Moran, Watchdog reporter, San Diego Union-Tribune Lisa Halverstadt, reporter, Voice of San Diego

I am Kenny Goldberg the San Diego St. live North of Interstate 8 differently than those who live South, a recent lawsuit says so. It's been five years since Balboa Park Conservancy was launched so what's been accomplished so far? For analysis and a look at some of the week's most interesting features stories right here on KPBS But Apple says that would set a dangerous precedent. The parties have agreed to give Apple until February 26 two layout is legal opposition. A hearing has been set in a federal court in Riverside of March 22. Venues Washington Members of the public continue to pass the casket of justice Antonin Scalia. His body like the repose of the great Hall of the US Supreme Court until the funeral service in the morning. Describe the impact Scalia that will have in the coming days. One little access to me a very rarely go right way but I just can't imagine arguing your case without having him on the bench. It was be a very different place. We still don't know whether Monday there will be at the chair or whether they will remove it until his field. Literary fans are remembering the life of Harper Lee, family members say that legendary author died in her sleep earlier this morning. McKenzie base of all the public reader has this appreciation. She is best known for price from to kill a Mockingbird about racial injustice. She's a professor emeritus of English at University of Alabama hemangioma several locations in the Mockingbird is a book that will stand the test of time. When you talk about okay talk about it in the same room as the Bible, this is the most important ethical moral book that I have ever read. Just last year if it all goes setting watchmen will of the released last July. Lee was 89 years old. The Catholic archdiocese is calling on versions to cut ties with the Girl Scouts. They are incompatible with Roman Catholic teachings. This event argues. In Mexico Francis offers hope to the poor and harsh words for Donald Trump. Former SDPD officers . It's been five years since the à la carte Conservancy was established so why is this delete such a mess? I Kenny Goldberg in the Roundtable. Welcome to our discussion of the week top stories I'm Kenny Goldberg and join me at the Roundtable today are Gina Diamante , from Fronteras editor, KPBS News. Greg Moran, from Watchdog reporter, San Diego Union-Tribune, and reporter, Voice of San Diego, reporter, Voice of San Diego. On the way home from this whirlwind trip to Mexico this week Pope Francis said. He thinks he's a birth control may be permissible because the Zika virus poses threat to pregnant women. Yet the choice words for Donald Trump in view of his to build a wall about immigrants and have Mexico pay for it. Gina, Francis certainly things up this week. He was asked if birth control or abortion would be the lesser evil in the case of the Zika virus and he said abortion is not just a lesser evil is a crime, but he said avoiding community is not absolutely evil. In other words contraception could be okay in very limited basis. How radical a statement was that? Is very opposite of what the Catholic church has taught for a very long time but the headline is seems very radical but you also have to consider that he thinks is very specifically regarding the Zika virus and preventing babies from being conceived who might be at risk for microcephaly. There is some precedent within the church, he noted that politics, had approved birth control for nouns in the Belgian Congo 60s because they were being systematically great. There is some precedent there and he was nothing contraceptive use is okay in all cases he was really being very specific about it. He didn't do it backtrack on that later and what does that tell you? It still does with many things that have been saying about, yes the church for possessing too much on sexuality and not necessarily looking at the bigger picture, he is looking at a larger picture of can we prevent these problems that have been happening just last night there was a story on NPR about babies with microcephaly being abandoned. That's correct. He is looking at that larger picture of how you avoid those things. He also has a worse say about Donald Trump and I understand he did not call in the spiritual leader of North America. He was asked about Trump called for a wall between Mexico and the US, to prevent illegal immigration and the way it sounded talking about building walls instead of pages, is not a Christian. That is the way you put it and today the Vatican has said this is not anything new, he's always said that is not question to talk about shutting out kind of definitely keep in line with Catholic teachings of welcoming the immigrants. And welcoming (helping the poor, but what got people upset with the idea that he is saying Trump is not Christian. I want to have to like to what extent is the message that even Mexico about having compassion for the poor and the right of our cartels it wasn't the message get overshadowed by this whole Trump nonsense? Everything seems to mention his name the spotlight is on him but clearly wasn't said about trumps policy position, this is very with what he said he Mexico which is a very question, Catholic teaching that Jesus teaching like it says in Exodus those of us the border, because you are a foreigner was in Egypt it was a way through the [Indiscernible] we are all one body of Christ. Trumps indignation was misplaced but well-placed because he got a lot of attention. In what way does this whole conundrum affect the presidential race you think Lisa? I thought it was most interesting that the other candidates response to this. Donald Trump eventually came out and tempered himself on his comments of the others are really trying to thread the needle because they recognize that a lot of folks candidate) may also be Catholic. And I thought that John cases response was most telling it amusing that the kind of sad I'm going to go with, that's not my place. If you are the president, you might be in a position to be sitting down with a chat with it. I thought it was interesting because in many ways this comment got the majority of the attention of some kind of started he said that when it was incumbent of the Mexican cartel, when he said now, he fired the first shot and you kind of the biggest fight, he's got Stalin famously said how many legions of the past. He has a lot more. And presummit interesting which is Gina, how much power and authority doesn't have really public? We know what authority he has to the church what about late public? Was interesting is that in Mexico they have the second largest number of Catholics following Brazil. Many Mexicans they are Catholic, he identified himself and Catholics, and they like that. They really like Francis. On the other hand they don't always follow all of the charges teachings, they don't agree with everything like most places in the world. There is dispute over what the church is telling them to do. New research says 20% of Mexican think that conception is morally wrong, 28%, that a very large number of Catholics who supposedly are following the teachings of their church. There is a lot of honoring the, I like that but I don't like everything he has to say the Excuse me. What about what he said about drug cartel and the property is not shy away from a Mexico. That very much a piece of his he is certainly on to call balls and strikes and as he sees them I thought it was in many ways it is for us all about it when we see and are exposed to a lot of it violence the most important thing he said was the violence by the cartel and the complicity of the government in that it really spoke to people who are caught in the middle I thought to that is getting back to his comments about Trump what authority whatever the past, was going on in South Carolina there are a lot of questions in that demographic particularly in that state and Republican demographic, not necessarily Catholics. The southern image of the movement is not quite on board with a lot of what Catholic teaching is in the Catholic church. I suspect that was a pretty well populated shot by truck, he knew that it would not really hurt him so much in other places. It was definitely populated. He was also looking at a piece of paper as he was responding which I have never seen. Is a very crafty little thing. Donald Trump had some discouraging things to say about it is nothing sacred for this guy, can he say anything? He didn't say during last night's Townhall I like them, I respect that is the way he is, he's got a lot of personality and it was a little bit of a from the vitriol of earlier in the day so it may seem think once the initial response just a quick knee-jerk reaction but as Lisa says, when you're reading that is not necessarily knee-jerk. Thank you very much genome. A former San Diego police officer said he was sacked for complaining about the Matthew François who is black with my last October today's before his probation period ended. He said the problems began when his training officer in the northeastern division chastised him for over a white motorist and 20 records check easily the Department for information. Chris, take us back to the beginning of this what happened? That was one of a number of quotes by the Police Department, he went to the Academy event the first year, probationary year, we can move around a lot. He did very well according to the lawsuit, when in his first two assignments which is in the southeastern division and Ms. city which are south of Interstate 8, he says when he moved to the northern division he began, he did the same things that he was trained to do love the Academy and in these articles these which is when you already motorist, you run a background check a records check. His lawsuit says when he did it the training officer who was a white officer said berated him for over a white motorist, we don't do that on here. You only run records check on people who looked like criminal. He asked well what you mean what of a criminal look like? Response according to the lawsuit was with tattoos, people give you live and who have a lot of failures to appear on the records. In other words the stereotype. That I take it according to this lawsuit was an isolated not an isolated incident. No. Later on there was another incident but what precipitated this problem was he contacted than another African American officer, Sergeant. , Scott, and he said what I do with this, what happened, I'm kind of the two different things. According to the lawsuit Scott contacted officer supervisor and talk to him and I kind of set off a pretty hostile chain reaction among some of the officers and supervisors in the northeastern division without that there was sort of a teaming up of black officers to kind of promote their own interests and it'll spiraled from there. Ostensibly why is it part in saving this officer go? They -- he, in the summer he had a couple of subsequent writeups, that the lawsuit characterizes as minor incidents as they were overblown and then was simply told as the Police Department and the end of the probationary period that is not working out, and you are gone. Is is his claim that this reaction he got from his training officer and some of the comments that this is an actual policy and not just a couple of statements from rent of these officers? I don't know if they would call it that, I don't this goes back to that. He said that his job he lost his job not because of his performance but because of these other incidents that triggered an unfair response to him. And he was retaliated against raising questions about how these were please density of the policies and things like that and is not, you can sound in court because the city has done studies in the past about vehicle stops and racial profiling and the show that if you are a non-white motorist in San Diego, you have somewhat higher chance of getting over and stop and eat you are quite. This lawsuit seems to give some credence or reinforce what that statistic fighting which was released last November. It seems to me that that's not a problem only for San Diego. Racial profiling, that's what we are talking about correct? That certainly been at the forefront of national conversation recently, there has been a lot of the question about this and shootings. The back of event a little out of it at the time this is all happening, it was a really big composition having about what San Diego used to do and not too expensive tracking traffic stops and it was any real community conversation went chief certain whether to was racial profiling in the San Diego Police Department and some real division between the Police Department having said that they had not heard from the community that it was a racial profiling, and the community really firing back and saying, yes, we think there is a problem and that conversation really continues today. This lawsuit was that initial comment by supervisors saying that we don't do that later on with a different Lieutenant. he kind of got the thing lecture reinforced which is we do things differently. Northeastern than you do in other parts of the city. Including, these are all allegations at this point, these people up your boat and you can be public over city Council members and things like that so there was a real copy of a real by the things are done differently in some communities, predominantly white than in others. What the lawyers have to say about this whole issue? He represents the fellow that he confided in or sign counting it was a sweet on kind of similar grounds that this was supervisor who had set he witnessed and was exposed to incidents of racism or tolerance within the Police Department. The attorney Dan Gilleon listed the Police Department a lot and have turned over a lot of rocks, look these are not one office, not isolated incidents, but San Diego Police Department has a problem with it ranks of how minority officers and sergeants and supervisors are treated compared to their white counterparts and these are the tip of the iceberg. What are we hearing from the police department about this suit? They just say we treat everybody the same, kind of a blend statement says that we were not aware of this lawsuit but as a general matter the don't discriminate, we treat everyone the same, we don't have these policy that treat 100 city different than the other subleased offices just said we're going to defend the lawsuit. It's very early on, this was just filed in January so no have had a chance to gain traction what these allegations are. Anyhow the Police Department has come out and say we don't have a written policy and that we do did things differently. Let me ask you finally about the legal hurdles that this man faces in trying to prove his case. What are some of the? He's got a long way to go. They have to take that depositions, motions for summary judgment, they have to make sure that all the claims which I'm sure are going to be legal and if he got in front of a jury, if he ever get that far, which would be a year or two, these are not easy cases or claims to prove our ticket to juries because you're going to hear from the city is probably more on why he was not let go, why he did not continue on as an officer in that reflect poorly on him and weaken his case. Hard to say certainly this completed very detailed, it has a lot of information, it wasn't just Thomas Stauffer scratch often once, he went through the State Department of fair housing procedure and he got a right to sue letter so it's interesting. Thank you very much. It's one of the most photographed buildings in Ottawa the botanical building is worth 100 years old and falling apart. The iconic building was supposed to get a $3 million facelift, and 2015 but so [ MUSIC ] Park Conservancy's chief fundraiser has not raised nearly enough to get the project off the ground. Here is that Mayor Jerry counting the We are here to announce the next step and important initiative to ensure Balboa Park San Diego cultural heart and the crown jewel of our parks system for the past 95 years retains its magnificence in the second century. The city simply doesn't have the resources to provide the level of care that this magnificent deserves. Lisa, why was this Conservancy created for As you just heard the mayor saying there was a real concern about around the time of the recession and all of his needs and how was the city fill the gap so there was a big discussion if you're that came out that suggested (models and other places. Like New York City, Buffalo, Lewis, they have Conservancy we're having a discussion act as the fundraising arms for those parks that are the community care so much about and in some cases conservative have actually not a roller there even helping with operations in the park or being a really key leadership function for the That I was quite what kind of shape of the building in now? What a great to see? If you look closely, often many people go and take pictures of this building, but if you look closely you will see that some of the work on that dome covering is kind of spinning off, there are rusty spots when you look behind some of the plant displays, there is a water display that has been out of commission by a while so the building is falling apart but it may just not be super repair a tear to people. The Conservancy is charged with raising money to do this makeover. However they done so far Is gone Elizabeth slowly than they had planned on. They came on out about least 20 least 2013 and said that they wanted to raise $3 million, thus far they have raised about $457,000. That just doesn't cut it. Nonoperative project. Manistee started making? They talked a lot about the Centennial and that was meant to celebrate a year-long celebration for the 1915 exposition patches of work on the but at the time there was a lot of these, competition but also the stories about them. That proved to be a distraction but even more brutal they say was Irwin Jacobs has come forward to put money down for a parking garage in bypass bridge and his project that I'm falling apart and that really chilling effect on other flash of is in town. That was the Phoenix using the city use with the Balboa Park Centennial whether they cannot pull that off because the donors were offended because it was offended increase me to say this but Balboa Park is such a magnificent place, what does it say that the only raised $450,000 for this really iconic beautiful building. Gina, I want to ask you. Why isn't the same coughing up money for this? In the city property? There is always budget issues and yes this is city property. Considering all the issues we have seen with other project, especially the part of the panel, can we get agreement and City Hall on what needs to be done? I think everybody agrees yes, we need to do something about Balboa Park, leads to say this building but is not necessarily what is to be done but how do we do it. Let me throw this out there. The city wants to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on you city for the Chargers, they can spend $3 million on iconic building? Position that the city made in partnering with his conservative that the Conservancy will be the philanthropic arm and eventually dries out to have a really big impact and help to cut into the big means of a workbook which it away the least estimate or estimate the total tab at about $300 million and a lot of folks get higher than that as Gina that there is tons of competing interests and there is still this group really has not proved himself as far as fundraising and ability to serve that role. That sort of one of the questions of policy and community question, where do we want to put our money, and we want to the money into a Staples or something is used by everybody. I think that's a discussion that the city is unwilling to have. The city center watching his hands. Where does this whole process go from here? The conservative actually excited right now believe it or not if you have some things I got better be exciting related to this product project They recently hired an architect who has recently worked on the billion building in the Japanese French-American service firm has mobile experience, and experiences on the challenges that come along with all the stakeholders in Balboa. They think that they will have a stronger story to tell, pictures, drawings, different things that they can show that get excited about investments. The Conservancy has also in more recent times had hired a new CEO, and also the development and they believe can really help sell this project where in the past they were largely relying on volunteers to go out until the street while those volunteers were really passionate, they didn't have the professional fundraising experience or the time into it. In our last few seconds do you have any target date for the completion of this entire project? Initially they were hoping to have it done, exposition, but they now are looking at 2018 or so, they are really hopefully can get it done by that which is actually the 150th anniversary of Balboa Park. Thank you very much. That reference anatomy of stories that the KPBS roundtable, we would like to thank Gina Diamante, Greg Moran, and Lisa Halverstadt. A reminder on Thursday as they are available on our website KPBS.org I and Kenny Goldberg thank you for joining us today on the roundtable.

The Pope, contraception and Donald Trump

The visit of Pope Francis this week to Mexico produced waves of emotion in the throngs who turned out to see him in Juárez and in the state of Chiapas.

He spoke against the inhumanity, violence and intimidation that are part of life for Mexico's poor, while offering a message of hope.

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Talking with reporters Wednesday on his way home, the Pope suggested that women threatened with the Zika virus could use artificial contraception to prevent pregnancy. Abortion, however, was a nonstarter under any circumstances.

And there was something else. He suggested that anyone who wants to build walls to keep people out is "not a Christian.”

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has used harsh campaign rhetoric against immigrants and has promised to make Mexico pay for a wall along the U.S. border, called the Pope "a disgrace."

Favoritism at SDPD?

Matthew Francois, a former officer in the San Diego Police Department, has filed a lawsuit claiming discrimination and retaliation by the department.

Francois, who is black, said in his training year he was told by supervisors to treat citizens who live north of Interstate 8 differently than those who live to the south, and when he complained, he was fired.

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His suit alleges that on his first day of training in the Northeastern Division, he pulled over a white motorist and ran a records check. He said he was told it was a waste of time and resources and to only check on “people who looked like criminals.”

He complained to another black police officer, Sgt. Art Scott. He said he was subsequently told to back off issuing tickets for stop sign violations and that citizens in the Northeastern Division deserved to be treated better than those south of I-8. Francois was fired two days before his probationary period ended.

Attorney Dan Gilleon is representing both Francois and Scott, who has filed his own lawsuit.

Balboa Botanical Building Blight

Established in 2010 to be the chief fundraising agency for Balboa Park, the Balboa Park Conservancy is struggling.

Its first project was to fund the restoration of the park’s iconic, but shabby, Botanical Building. The Conservancy announced it would raise $3 million for the project, which would be finished by the centennial of the 1915 Panama-California Exhibition in 2015.

So far, they’ve raised $457,000. Leaders say the struggle to get the centennial celebration going, a reliance on volunteer fundraisers and an inadequate pitch didn’t help.

The Conservancy now has a director, Thomas Herrera-Mishler, and the restoration project has an architect, San Diego-based RTN Architects. They project a 2018 finish to the reconstruction, which now includes an archway and landscaping.

KPBS has created a public safety coverage policy to guide decisions on what stories we prioritize, as well as whose narratives we need to include to tell complete stories that best serve our audiences. This policy was shaped through months of training with the Poynter Institute and feedback from the community. You can read the full policy here.