S1: Hi , San Diego , it's time for KPBS roundtable. I'm Jade Hindman in for Andrew Bracken today. The stories of the week shaping San Diego and the region. Remembering Billy Ray Smith , the former linebacker , sports journalist and San Diego standout. Plus , a look behind an effort to shake up Chula Vista government. Then how Salton Sea pollution is impacting kids in the nearby Little League. That's ahead on KPBS roundtable. San Diego lost a legend this week. Billy Ray Smith passed away at 64 Wednesday after his long journey with dementia caused by CTE. Smith played ten seasons as a linebacker with the San Diego Chargers. He was a College Football Hall of Famer and part of the Chargers 50th anniversary team. He also spent decades in sports broadcasting. Best known for co-hosting the long running show Scott and Wbir on The Mighty 1090. Here's Billy Ray on the air in 2014 , alongside his co-host Scott Kaplan.
S2: On a Tuesday afternoon. Today is Tuesday , isn't it? It's Tuesday. It is Tuesday. It's Tuesday. Great friends comedy hour. 313 in the afternoon with a big show coming your way , man. Look at that show. Anything is you. That's true. How are we feeling today? Bit of rain. Feeling great.
S1: Scott Kaplan joins us now to remember his great friend , Billy Ray Scott. Welcome to the show. I'm sorry for your loss. How are you holding up?
S2: Well , thank you for having me , first of all , and just hearing that on the air and knowing that Billy Ray's voice is going out over the radio airwaves makes me so happy. And when you ask me how I'm holding up , I appreciate that. Um , you know , I think for most of us who are very close to Billy Ray , you know , we knew this was coming , people. And somebody said to me earlier today , this , you know , came from out of nowhere. And I'm like , yeah , not really. Um , we we've known about this. I was pretty numb in the early part of the week , but I will just say this , I did spend about three hours last night at Billy Ray's home with his wife , Kimberly Hunt , his daughter , Savannah Smith , her husband , and , uh , and his mother in law. And , um , so the five of us last night sat around the table telling stories , laughing , crying , and , um , and it definitely made me feel a lot better today.
S1: Uh , I'm glad to hear that. You know , when you think about those stories , I'm. I'm curious to know , you know. Do you remember your first time meeting Billy Ray?
S2: Oh , I remember it very vividly. Um , Billy , I was I was living in New York City , and , um , I was told by a radio consultant that I should meet this guy , Billy Ray. So I went down to the Super Bowl in Tampa. The Giants were playing the Ravens that year in the Super Bowl. This is probably 2000 ish. And , uh , maybe the beginning of 2001. And I was trying to get Ahold of Billy Ray , and I was calling him , and I was leaving him voicemails because this guy was saying to me , hey , you and Billy Ray , there's a job available in San Diego on Xtra sports 690. They've got Billy Ray Smith , the former player , and they need somebody who can be like the driver of the show. We think you're the guy. And I , I can remember getting to San Diego and going to a lunch with Billy Ray , and he doesn't know me. I mean , he has no idea who I am. And I'm young and I'm obnoxious , and he is like Mister San Diego. And we had lunch. And , uh , the deal was that we were going to go on the air for a week , and we were I was I was auditioning to be his partner. And things were not they didn't go smoothly , as you might imagine. I mean , you put two people together from opposite worlds and you say , hey , go on the air and be funny together. And so it took about two days and until we got to the end of Tuesday's show and I said , Billy Ray , I said , do you have any interest in the Daytona 500? Because that was what was coming up that weekend in sports. And he's like , man , I don't care about auto racing. I'm like , me neither. I'm like , but we probably should just make a mention of it. And he goes , okay , what do you have in mind? I said , well , you play guitar , right? And he said , yeah , I play guitar. I said , why don't you go home and learn Tracy Chapman's song Fast Car? I'll learn the words to Fast Car and our producer , a gentleman by the name of Joe Latino. I said , Joe , all you have to do is just play sound effects of cars going.
S3: Zoom , zoom zoom zoom.
S2: So Billy Ray comes in , he has his guitar , and he said , hey everybody , you know , it's our third day on the air together. And today we're going to cover the Daytona 500 , and here's what we're gonna do. Billy Ray starts playing the song and I start singing.
S3: He ain't got a fan. His calm , he ain't got a ticket. Anyway. I see him working in the canteen.
S2: So Joe is playing sound bites.
S3: Zoom zoom zoom. Zoom.
S2: Zoom. And that was it. That was our coverage of the Daytona 500. And I swear to you , in that instant , in that snap of a finger , Scott and B.R. was born.
S1: Oh my gosh. You know , that kind of chemistry is magic. I'm gonna tell you , that's a great story. You know , our technical director , Brandon Truffaut , used to work with you. You two at 1090 , and he remembers br. Um , with this , like , infectious laugh and extremely firm handshake. Uh , is that , you know , is that pretty accurate? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Well , you know , first impressions , right? Billy Ray , when he would meet anybody , he would want to shake their hand , and he would want to rip their arm right out of their socket. And and he. I'll never forget , actually , one time he , um , he met a guy , say , Billy Ray , go. Uh , this is my buddy Bruce. And Bruce cuts my hair. Billy Ray and Billy Ray goes to shake his hand. And this guy told me that he did not cut hair for , like , the next two months. Now , he may have been exaggerating , but his point was you had to be careful if you were a if you were a hairdresser , if you were a surgeon , if you used your hands , you needed to be careful because he would just try. And by the way , if , if , when he shook your hand , he didn't feel like you had given him a good , firm handshake. In return , he would correct your style , he would correct your form , and he'd make you shake his hand. But he had big hands and big teeth and a big , loud , booming voice. And when he went into a room , he made his presence felt. And again , the laugh , the handshake. Plus , he was a really big guy. I mean , he was an NFL linebacker for years , and he was still six three , six four , 242 50 until probably 2020. I mean , he was still very big. Wow.
S1: Wow. You know , he wasn't just a sportscaster. He had this incredible sports career too. How did that influence his approach to broadcasting?
S2: Well , when I first got the job back then , there was a media critic in the Union Tribune. All the newspapers had him back then. And Billy Ray said something like , yeah , we think it's going to be a good show because you're going to get the perspective of a real athlete like myself , and then you're going to get the perspective of a kicker. And so , you know , Billy Ray was a real linebacker. He was the tough guy on the team. He was the leader of the team. And I was just a lowly kicker. And , you know , kickers opinions didn't matter. And he always made fun of the fact that when we talk sports , he was giving it to you from a real player perspective. And he always reminded me , you're just a kicker. So that he. He.
S3: He.
S2: One thing about Billy Ray , I'll tell you this though , is that is that he prepared to do a radio show like he was preparing to play a football game. So in a football game Monday , Tuesday , Wednesday , Thursday , you're studying film , you're lifting weights , you're eating properly , you're sleeping properly. You're doing everything you can do to get to Sunday to be at your best. He did that every day on the radio show. He had stacks of paper. He studied statistics , he watched everything. He knew what was going on. And that was the beauty for me , is that I always knew he'd show up , he'd be on time , he'd be ultra prepared , and that we could just do our thing. Because I had come from other places where I had other radio partners , and it wasn't as smooth and as easy as it was working with Billy Ray.
S1: That's great. You know , you used to call Billy Ray the big old rascal. What's the story behind that nickname?
S2: Well , you know Billy Ray. You know , his dad had played college football at Arkansas , and Billy Ray grew up in suburban Dallas. But he had gone back to Arkansas for college. But Billy Ray was like the ultimate southern gentleman. He looked for doors to open for ladies. He looked for somebody carrying something heavy that he could take off their hands and say , hey , let me give you a help here. He just was the ultimate southern gentleman , and I would always tell him , I love it when he goes southern fried. So he'd say to somebody , well , let me help you with that little lady. And I was like , little lady who says things like that , you know. But he anytime we would see somebody that was big , you know , a football player , a big dude in a place , he'd say , man , that's a big old rascal right there. And so , you know that southern fried Dallas , uh , slash Fayetteville , Arkansas would come out of him. And so we just called him the big Ole rascal. And he was the what we all called the original big Ole rascal , you know? And so , uh , it was just a phrase we used that when we saw somebody that was a big dude. Uh , but Billy Ray was , as we called him , the original big Ole rascal. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well , what impact did did Billy Ray have on the sports journalism scene in San Diego?
S2: Well , I think he had a very big impact , and I'll tell you why. Um , and this is no knock at anybody else. But here's the thing. Billy Ray played ten years for the Chargers. And the fact of the matter is , is that most guys who played for the Chargers , it was an in-season job. This is where they lived. They worked. And then when the postseason came the off season. They went home. I mean , just for example , I've been emailing back and forth with Dan Fouts. Dan Fouts is an absolute legend in San Diego for his playing career , but Dan Fouts has lived in his home state of Oregon this entire time. He'll come back for San Diego Chargers games. He would come back to broadcast preseason games , but Dan was a guy who lived in Oregon. Um , and I'll use another example , a guy like Stan Humphries who led the Chargers to the Super Bowl in 1994. Stan Humphries was from Louisiana when his playing career ended. He went back to Louisiana. Very few guys played their career , went into the media and stayed in San Diego. Before Billy Ray , there was Hank Bauer , and then Billy Ray was the guy. So Billy Ray was really a guy that people loved because not only did he play for ten years for the Chargers , but Billy Ray stayed. And of course , don't forget he married Kimberly Hunt. Kimberly , at this point is an established news anchor in town , and the two of them combined their forces in many ways. I always compare them to the homecoming king and queen. You know , she was the beautiful on air anchor when television was really , really powerful. And he was the charger linebacker , and he got the first round draft choice. And the two of them really combined their forces. And the thing about it is they always I'm getting goosebumps saying it. They always used their local notoriety to help other people. Billy Ray was not capable of saying no to anybody. If there was a charity golf tournament , if there was a charity gala , if somebody asked him to emcee , uh , if somebody asked him to be there , he showed up every time. He did not understand the word. No , he did for other people all the time. Wow.
S1: Wow. You know , and the two of them actually just received this year's nice Guy of the year award for their community service and and charity work. Um , and you speak so , so well about that aspect of Billy Ray's life. Uh , along with his wife. Um , what's something you think Billy Ray doesn't get enough credit for?
S2: Well , it's a great question , and I'll just say this about the nice guys. You know , the nice guys had invited Kimberley and Billy Ray to be their nice guys of the year many , many months ago. And they came to me and they said , would you emcee this event? You'd be the perfect person to really make it heartfelt. And I , of course , was flattered I would do anything for Billy Ray and Kimberley. So this was been this has been in the works for quite some time. My biggest worry was I knew he wouldn't be able to be there , but my concern was would he still be alive when this all happens? And so I keep encouraging people who ask me , how do I make a donation in Billy Ray's name? I say , come to the Nice Guys event , buy a ticket , buy a table. Let's celebrate his life that night. But I'll tell you the one thing that he doesn't get enough credit for. You see , all these charity events that we're talking about , every celebrity golf tournament and every gala that he hosted. Um , that's what people saw. What people didn't see was what he was doing for other individuals. and I mean one on one. There was a gentleman that met Billy Ray when Billy Ray was a player , and this guy was a very big guy , like a six , eight , £280. But he had , I don't know what the disease was called , where your bones are really big. And he was confined to a wheelchair and he had , like , braces on his leg , and he had a conversion van. And Billy Ray was his pal. When Billy Ray was a player , Billy Ray was one of those guys that would visit Children's Hospital and light up the room. Well , this one guy , his name was big Mike , and big Mike would come around. Sometimes he'd drive in and he'd he'd get his out of his conversion fan. He'd wheelchair into the studio and I'd say , Billy Ray , what's going on? He goes up. Big Mike is hanging out with us for today. Okay , great. Hey , Billy Ray , what are you doing on Tuesday night? Oh , I'm going to pick up big Mike. I'm taking him down to the amphitheater. I'm taking him to a concert. I'm like , you're just picking him up and taking him by yourself. My point is , is this is that Billy Ray didn't just bring , um , happiness when there was a gala of 150 , 500 people , didn't he didn't just do it for public appearance sake. He did it one on one with people. And when this guy big Mike needed a conversion van because his , you know , gone hundreds of thousands of miles , Billy Ray was there to to pick it up whether he was giving him money or helping him find more money or dealing with a car dealership to get him the right van , he literally did this stuff one on one. And just one other small example is , you know , he had a former teammate , I won't say names. And this this gentleman hit really hard times. And the guy called me one day and he said , hey , he said , Scott , I need $2,500 for rent. And I , I was not in the position to help him at the time. And I said , let me talk to Billy Ray about this. So I said , hey , Billy Ray , I talked to so-and-so , and he's really hit some hard times and he doesn't have money for rent. He asked me for help. And frankly , honestly , I got four little kids and I just can't. I don't have it. And Billy Ray , without even asking , like , you know , he just he literally , like , took cash from a bank and went and hand-delivered it to him. And he didn't say , hey , now pay me back next month , or hey , you know , just give me $500 a month for the next five months. He literally gave him the money knowing that he'd never see the money again. And as I was sitting at Billy Ray's house last night , I was talking to Kimberly about this. We laughed and laughed and laughed because there were so many times where he did these things literally without her knowing , because she was a businesswoman. You can't just give money to everybody , Billy Ray. But he did. And it wasn't just money , it was time. It was looking at you eye to eye. It wasn't making you feel rushed. Like I have to go run away and find out who's more important in the room. He gave you his time , and that was. People don't know that because they. They saw that. They saw him standing in front of a room in a tuxedo , at a gala , at a downtown swanky hotel. But they didn't see him one on one. And how generous he was to other people. Wow.
S1: Wow. I mean , I can hear in your voice that Billy Ray lived an admirable life. And the last few seconds that we have here. What did you learn from Billy Ray?
S2: Well , the thing I learned is this , you know , you have to live the right way. And that sounds simple , but many of us have other things going on , and we don't always live the right way. And and Billy Ray , what I mean by that is this Billy Ray. He thought his daughter was the smartest person on the planet. He thought his wife was the most beautiful woman on the planet. He thought his life was the best life that there was. And he just lived in a way where he did everything right. And. And there was never put it this way. There was never going to be a scandal of any kind because there was no lying , there was no cheating. There were no skeletons in the closet of any kind. He just lived the right way. And I. I hope to do the same.
S1: I've been speaking with sportscaster Scott Kaplan , longtime co-host with Billy Ray Smith , on their show Scott and Wbir , which aired on The Mighty 1090. Scott , thank you so much for remembering Billy Ray with us.
S2: An absolute pleasure to spread the word of what kind of an angel. Billy Ray Smith was still ahead.
S1: A look behind an effort to shake up Chula Vista government. The roundtable is back in a bit. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Jade Hindman in for Andrew Bracken in Chula Vista. A labor union has lost a battle with voters. The union wanted to make major changes to local government , like how city leaders are paid and elected. The proposal would have been the biggest change to Chula Vista government in a long time , but voters rejected it. Joining me with that story is Jim Hinch. He covers South County for Voice of San Diego. Jim , welcome. Hi.
S4: Hi. Thanks.
S1: So listen , to understand this story we first need to understand this union. So who are they?
S4: Uh , they're local 89 of the Laborers in Laborers International Union of North America. They're sort of known locally as La Luna. 89 or just La Luna. They're a union that represents construction workers and other skilled laborers. And in recent years , I think they've they've made a concerted bid to become sort of one of the most influential players in San Diego politics. They've spent quite a bit of money backing various politicians in the region , and also kind of in the most recent cycle of elections to the Democratic Party Central Committee. They also spent money helping to elect a slate of of candidates who were allied with their interests. And while that sounds kind of wonky and obscure , it's actually very important because since Democrats play such a major role in San Diego area Uh , politics. Um , uh , endorsements from the party and financial backing from the party can often make a major difference. Uh , for candidates. So if the union is in an influential position there , then they're in. And then they're in a position also to have influence in a lot of other races , uh , throughout the region. Right.
S1: Right. Well , and you say they've they've poured a lot of money into this. And , you know , over the last two election cycles , the union spent , uh , I believe more than $200,000 just backing all four Democratic members of the five member city council in Chula Vista , along with the city attorney , Marco Verdugo. So , um , definitely a huge impact there. But I want to talk about the initiative here at the center of this story. It's a 30 page proposal drafted by the union for the November ballot. So give me the overview here. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. This kind of appeared suddenly on the scene in the middle of June. The Union kind of presented completed text of this ballot initiative to the mayor , and the city council sent it in an email and said , hey , we'd like you to put this on the November ballot. So this was a very rushed timeline , to say the least , and the measure really would have made major changes to the city's government. Um , currently , due to another voter initiative , city council members and the mayor and city attorney are limited to two terms in office. This measure would have given them an additional term in office , and in addition , it would have reset their term limit clocks so that all of the council members , mayor and city attorney would have started with a like a fresh clock. So if they'd already served 1 or 2 terms , they would then get to serve up to an additional three terms so they could have served , you know , like they could have ended up in office for , uh , for terms like 16 years. Um , it would have given the council members a , like a very significant raise. Um , when sort of calculating the new way that they wanted to calculate the council members salaries , it would have amounted to a 70% salary increase , and it would not have required the council members to do any more work. Currently in Chula Vista , City council member serving as a city council member is a part time job. The council members earn $64,000 a year plus city benefits for that job. Under the new terms of this ballot measure , they would have earned $110,000 for a part time job. The mayor in Chula Vista , that is a full time job. The mayor would have gotten a smaller raise , but it was about it was orders of magnitude less than the city council. The duties of the council would have expanded. I think most importantly , they would have introduced a new , um , budget committee that I think would have had the practical effect of increasing the the elected city council's role in the crafting of the city's budget , which is a little bit similar to moves being made in a similar ballot measure at the county of San Diego , which similarly looks to expand the role that the elected Board of Supervisors plays in the drafting of the county budget. Usually those things happen under the purview of the just the staff bureaucrats at the city. Both these ballot measures would have increased the role of elected officials , and then it would have also introduced some changes to ethics rules would have given kind of would have created a new ethics commission with subpoena power. It would have introduced new lobbying disclosure rules , stuff like that.
S1: Let me ask you this. I mean , what were the union's main arguments for these changes?
S5: It's really interesting. Nobody could really quite figure out what they were up to.
S4: And what.
S5: Their kind of what.
S4: Their main goal was. They said that they thought that this would make for a better government , that it would increase transparency , that it would bring discussions that previously maybe had been happening behind closed doors into the open , and that the reason why they wanted to give the council members these large salary increases was because it would make it possible for a wider variety of people to run for office. So if somebody was deterred from running for office because they weren't able to quit their job , but they knew that they wouldn't have time both to do their job and serve on the city council , then they could have quit their job and served on the city council and earned enough to live on in Chula Vista. In point of fact , an original version of this the union wanted to make the council members full time employees , which was why the salary increase was so high. But a few of the council members pushed back on that because they have jobs that they really like , councilmember will say. Preciado is an administrator at San Diego State University. And , you know , and I think he's very happy with his job and did not want to have to quit his job to become a full time city council member. So the union compromised. They enabled the council members to keep the part time jobs , but they still paid them the higher salaries. Still making the argument that this would both professionalize the council , maybe encourage a higher caliber of candidate , and at the and at the same time widen the the potential pool of people running for office. Okay.
S1: Okay. So , um , Chula Vista mayor John McCann , though , rallied to oppose the measure. What were his problems with it?
S4: Well , he articulated several. Um , one was that he felt that the salary increase was just way out of proportion , as he said over and over again in several public meetings. He just thought it was inappropriate and outrageous that City Council members would award themselves a 70% raise without asking themselves to do any more work , especially at a time when ordinary citizens are struggling to make ends meet , contending with inflation and challenges in the economy. He also objected to the rush timeline , saying that this had been introduced late and that ordinarily the city refers to these things. It has a Citizen's Charter Review Commission , and that step had been skipped , and he just felt that the normal procedure was being trampled over and that this thing needed a lot more time to be evaluated and needed a lot more public input. And then in the in sort of last week's meeting , he introduced kind of another bombshell reason why he opposed it. He accused the director of Government affairs for the Union of essentially offering him a kind of a backroom quid pro quo to support the measure. He said that the government affairs director told McCann that if he supported the ballot measure , the union would not support McCann's challenger in his re-election campaign this year. Now , the director of government affairs for the union strenuously denies this accusation and says that the mayor is misrepresenting their conversation. But nevertheless , when the mayor made that announcement at the meeting , it really sort of caused quite a stir. There were , you know , loud gasps in the room. So I think he was making another claim , which was that this ballot measure represented an underhanded bid for influence by a powerful special interest that was trying to push something through without the proper , without the proper public vetting.
S1: Let me ask you this. I mean , was equity and governance a concern at all in all of this? I know that low pay is often a barrier for people with lower incomes , in particular , who would otherwise , you know , participate in run for , for city leadership , but but wouldn't be able to afford to do so with the salary um , provided or a part time , um , opening.
S4: Well , and that was the interesting thing , is that I think that some voters regarded many of the individual proposals in the ballot measure as reasonable on their face. It made it it made changes and strengthened ethics provisions that some people appeared open to. Most people seem to like the lobbying , uh , disclosure proposals. And many people said maybe Chula Vista would get better governance if we had full time city council members who were paid enough money. so that average people could run for office. Basically what what several people said was most of the people who run for office these days , either you know , are retired or have enough money that they could quit their jobs. Now , that being said , none of the like none of the current city council members is wealthy. One is a teacher , another is a university administrator. Until recently , another one of the council members worked for the California School Boards Association. And then um , and and another of them works for a cross-border , uh , health care company. So they're all fairly middle to upper middle class residents of , of , of Chula Vista. So there's not an indication right now that the way it's set up is , is only enabling people who are wealthy in the city to run for office , but nevertheless , I think some people thought that this , that , that that was a legitimate discussion worth holding , but they mostly seemed opposed to was the way that the ballot measure had been introduced so late , was being moved so fast , and that there was so little opportunity for public input. People felt that it was being kind of rammed through , and they thought , if it's being done that way , maybe that's because there's something to hide. Mhm.
S1: Well , so the city Council then ultimately voted to refer the initiative for further review. What does this story think say about voters priorities in Chula Vista right now.
S4: I think it suggests that Chula Vista , like other South County cities , remains an interesting place where partisanship doesn't play out quite like it does in some other areas. Um , there's a large proportion of union members in Chula Vista. It's a it's a city with a large working class population. It also has a large kind of more middle to upper middle class bedroom community population on the eastern half , but definitely in its older , um , more densely populated , uh , western neighborhoods. So you might have thought the city would be , you know , kind of all in for a union backed ballot measure that would make it easier for people to run for office. But I think that , um , you know , people in Chula Vista , they looked at it from a purely local politics point of view and seen through that lens. They felt like they they themselves had not been given enough time to participate in the public process around this. And , um , they resented , I think , the fact that a politically powerful organization was trying to push something through they felt without consulting them first.
S1: I've been speaking with Jim Hinch. He covers South County for Voice of San Diego. You can find a link to his reporting on our website , KPBS. Gorg! Jim , thank you so very much. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. Thank you.
S1: Next on the roundtable , the impact of Salton Sea pollution on kids in the nearby Little League. We're back after the break. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Jade Hindman in for Andrew Bracken. Our next story takes us to a baseball diamond five miles from the Salton Sea and Callopistria. Little League players step up to bat on the bleachers. Their moms have inhalers ready. That's because asthma is common in kids living near the Salton Sea. Joining me with the story are Rebecca Levin and Zoe Meyers. They covered this story for Capital and Maine , a nonprofit media outlet. Zoe , Rebecca , welcome to the roundtable.
S6: Thanks for having us.
S7: Thank you so much for having us.
S1: So glad to have you both on. Zoe , before we get into baseball , let's talk about the Salton Sea. Remind us why it's such a big source of pollution. Sure.
S6: Sure. So where the Salton Sea is now is an ancient lakebed. It's significantly below sea level. So throughout thousands of years , it's been a lake. At different times , it's very significant culturally and historically to local tribes. The sea as we know it now , was formed from a flood from a canal breach in the Colorado River in 1905 , and over the course of days , this depression filled with water. It was a super popular destination in the in the 50s and 60s for people to come in boat and do other recreational activities. But then in the 2000 , there was an agreement made between the Imperial Irrigation District , which started to sell water from the Colorado River to urban centers. So the main inflow of water into the Salton Sea is from agricultural runoff. And so as that water was taken away from agriculture and less was running into the sea , the the sea started to recede , so it became more saline. And then also what's most relevant to our story and public health concerns is that as it receded , there is more and more lakebed exposed. So when there's any type of wind event , a lot of that dust from the lakebed blows up into the air and contributes to particulate pollution in the air , which is already a concern also from other sources of dust in the desert , but is connected to very high asthma rates for children , in particular in the area and other respiratory illnesses.
S1: That's interesting. I want to go back to something you said , and I'm curious. So no one was living in that depressed area when it flooded.
S6: In in the early.
S1: Yeah , 19 , 1905.
S6: There have always been especially tribes , indigenous groups that have lived in that area. Um , but once water was brought in from the Colorado River is when the region became a real agricultural center. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Okay , so. So perhaps maybe some folks are flooded out. Um , so I'm curious. Rebecca , bring us back to this Callopistria little league game. How did asthma and allergies affect the players? Sure.
S7: Sure. So , you know , we attended the Patriot Little League game in April. Um , the Dodgers were playing against the Apache Braves. Um , as you mentioned , the opening. You know , it's a small town. The bleachers are packed with this multigenerational crowd. There's a snack bar , there's a trucks out , you know , hawking snow cones. Um , and , you know , right away you could see how asthma affects the kids. Um , you know , we spoke with one kid who had to take his inhaler before the game because he said he couldn't breathe. Something that really struck me is that for the Callopistria Dodgers , both the pitcher and the catcher , they're brothers , and they both have asthma. And so when you would have a batter step up to the plate who also has asthma or allergies. You have , like , you know , the main focus of the game the pitcher , the batter and the catcher , all of these respiratory challenges. Um , you know , I spoke to the to the pitcher and catcher at the end of the game and the the boy who was the catcher , he said that he had felt some heaviness in his chest at , um , during the game and had to do his , his breathing exercises. So , you know , asthma and allergies are just really a fact of life. Um , by the Salton Sea. You know , I felt like everyone I spoke to either had asthma or knew someone with it or had bad allergies , um , you know , and all that's to say also that , you know , asthma is a really serious condition. But the you know , I spoke to a pediatrician for the story who said that people can manage it. And we certainly did see that among the players. You know , the kids know where their inhalers are at all times. Um , families have regimens at home to control asthma and allergies , and all of that allows kids to keep playing this game that they love , even while they're exposed to the , um , you know , environmental conditions that can trigger their asthma and allergies.
S1: Well , Zoe , what does medical care access look like for these families?
S6: Um , there is a shortage of of specialists for , like , paediatric respiratory care in the area. So people often have to travel pretty far in order to get care , often to San Diego. Um , we also spoke with families that will cross the border and go to Mexicali in order to get medical care. Mm.
S1: Mm. Um , Rebecca , has the town proposed any solutions to combat the pollution?
S7: Yeah , sure. Um , you know , I spoke with the mayor , and he talked about , um , you know , that they they tried they're trying to pave roads to tamp down , pave dirt roads to tamp down dirt. They're trying to plant , you know , hundreds of trees throughout the city. They have a 200 acre airport in the city that's , you know , has a lot of dust. And they're trying to , you know , build a park there. They're trying many ways to mitigate this dust. But , you know , as the mayor told me , um , you know , when your community is surrounded by fields , um , you know , there's only so much you can do.
S1: So you tell me more about Kilpatrick as a community. I mean , how is the so-called lithium valley affecting them? Yeah.
S6: Yeah. Um , well , we we came about this reporting because we were interested in doing a more community based angle to Lithium Valley reporting. There's so much great national and local coverage , um , including from KPBS , about Lithium Valley. And we really wanted to get at what does it look like for the communities that are closest to where this development would be happening? Um , so Callopistria is one of the bigger population centers , um , that would be closest to the development. Um , it's there's also Bombay Beach , um , and Niland , But , you know , it's it's a small town , but there are a lot of people living there. It has its own high school. It has this little league. Um , and that's what we wanted to show. Like how do we get into a give people a glimpse of of what? It's like they're. Interesting.
S1: Interesting. You know , there's this , um , tension between the job creation argument and the environmental justice angle. Rebecca , walk me through that. Sure.
S7: Sure. So , yeah , let's we can talk a little bit about Lithium Valley first. You know , um , below and surrounding the Salton Sea , there's this underground reservoir of geothermal brine that contains one of the world's largest lithium deposits. And lithium , of course , is critical to producing batteries for electric vehicles. Um , you know , in Imperial counties proposing to to develop 51,000 acres along the Salton Sea for renewable energy , lithium extraction. Um , and the hope is that Lithium Valley will transform Imperial County into this green energy hub. Um , you know , under the county's proposal , They also want to fast track other industrial projects for the area besides lithium mining that could include data centers , anaerobic digesters , green hydrogen facilities. And so in the county's draft environmental report , they estimate that the development will deliver 40,000 jobs , with 10,000 of those being temporary construction jobs. And you know , that's a big deal because the county's unemployment rate is chronically very high. But of course , Lithium Valley isn't without controversy , as you're mentioning. Um , you know , people question that jobs estimate. Um , some of the industries proposed , like I mentioned , you know , green hydrogen , anaerobic digesters , data centers are not known to , you know , be huge employers. Um , people also raise concerns about , um , whether those jobs will go to locals. They question whether the jobs will be the type of high quality , high quality , high paying jobs that would meaningfully improve people's lives in this region. Um , and then people also raise concerns that the plan doesn't acknowledge the region's existing environmental challenges and high asthma rates. You know , I reviewed some public comments , and residents were urging county supervisors not to prioritize job creation over residents health , like over the existing environmental challenges and asthma rates people are already dealing with.
S1: So how are families in Callopistria feeling about these developments? Zoe?
S6: Well , this kind of also adds to what Rebecca was saying , part of , um , what families and , um , you know , people who live in Callopistria are hoping is that if this lithium development moves forward , some , um , tax revenue will come back to their community. And so perhaps there's a they hope there's a jobs benefit and more economic opportunities , but also more money available to pay for infrastructure fixes. Um , pay for more resources for the city , but currently the way that the tax will be distributed because the state did pass a bill which will tax the industry. That money goes to the county , and then the county will distribute a portion of the revenue based on population. So the majority of the money will be going to the population centers like Brawley and El Centro , not to the smaller towns like Kilpatrick and Niland. So there is a concern and I think disappointment as well , among people who live there , that they may not see as much revenue as they were hoping to. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. This Little League story is part of a bigger series you're doing called Imperial Divide , and your last piece took you to a deli and diner. And , Niland , tell me about your approach to these stories , Rebecca. I mean , they're really set in community here. Thanks.
S7: Thanks. Yeah. Um , yeah. So imperial. So the series is called Imperial Divide , and it's a series that Capital Main is doing , um , examining energy development , economic growth , climate justice and inequality. And Imperial County , especially at this time when Lithium Valley is on everyone's minds. Um , you know , and there are certainly , you know , important policy stories to be told. Um , but Zoe and I and our editor , too , I think we share we share this interest , this passion , really in telling , you know , stories from the ground up that really center the community and the community voices and also weave in some of these bigger questions and policy issues. Um , but we just really , um , we really enjoy going to like community , like community hubs and getting a chance to spend time and talk to people and get to know people and , um , you know , really put the that the face and the local color into the story. Um , so , yeah. So as you mentioned , um , Zoe and I also spent the better part of two days at the Buckshot Deli and Diner in Niland , is the only remaining restaurant in this tiny community , again near the Salton Sea and near Lithium Valley. And it was a chance for us to speak with the customers , to ask them , you know , their thoughts about Lithium Valley. We ask them , um , you know , their their their their dreams for Niland. Um , and then we also spend a lot of time with the owner , who , um , is both like a , you know , she's she's she's the she she does everything for the restaurant and is a real proponent. Um , you know , a real champion for her community , too.
S1: Um , yeah. Well , Zoe , how can news outlets do a better job capturing the complexity and the humanity of stories in Imperial County?
S6: I think it's helpful to spend as much time on the ground there as possible. You know , I'm it's there aren't a lot of journalists based in Imperial County. And I think that there's just so much nuance and depth that you miss if you're if you are kind of limited to doing a lot of reporting by phone or through the computer. I mean , we found these places through I was there doing some pre reporting and talking with people and like heard about Little League from someone and then was connected to one of the directors. Um someone who I was interviewing took me to the diner and then I met Vicki. And so those kind of organic moments I don't think happen unless you can really physically be there. So I would just encourage people as much as possible to , to go do reporting on the ground , meet people in person. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Good advice. I mean , I thank you both for this great reporting. You can find the Little League story from Capital and Main linked on our website , pbs.org. I've been speaking with Zoe Myers and Rebecca Pleven , their freelance journalist , bringing Imperial Valley stories to Capital and Main. Rebecca. Zoe , thanks.
S6: Thank you.
S8: Thank you so much.
S1: That'll do it for this week's roundtable. Thanks for listening and thanks to all my guests today. If you have any thoughts on today's show , you can email us at roundtable at KPBS. You can also leave us a message at (619) 452-0228. Roundtables. Technical producer today is Brandon Truffaut. This show was produced by Ashley Resch. Brooke Ruth is roundtables senior producer. I'm Jade Hindman in for Andrew Bracken. We'll talk again Monday. Until then , make it a great weekend on purpose , everyone.
