Roundtable: What's next for the Sheriff's Department?

Speaker 1: (00:01)

The sudden retirement of San Diego, sheriff is raising questions over who will lead going forward a dream that will have to wait as single payer healthcare for California, doesn't even get a vote. And the start of something new as San Diego's pro-woman soccer team takes the pitch. I'm Matt Hoffman, and this is K PBS Roundtable

Speaker 2: (00:31)

That I will, and faithfully discharge the duties, discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter upon which I'm

Speaker 3: (00:38)

About to enter, meet the new sheriff in town, a sworn in ceremony for bill gore at headquarters in Kearney, Mesa, he'll finish out the remainder of bill Hollander's. ER had been sheriff for 14 years. Gore becomes the 29th sheriff in county history. I

Speaker 4: (00:54)

Think we have a proven record of using the latest in technology, uh, to stay ahead of crime in this county. Uh, we will go after and aggressively pursue federal grants, wherever it's appropriate. And I think we have to take our level of cooperation and collaboration in this county to a new

Speaker 3: (01:10)

Level. Gore had been under sheriff before that he had a long career in the FBI where he ran the San Diego office.

Speaker 1: (01:18)

That's how county new surface covered the first swearing in of sheriff bill gore. That was back in July of 2009. And this weekend, the long serving law enforcement officer is returning to civilian life after stepping into retirement on Thursday. And all this is happening just months ahead of an election for his successor. So why now the union tribunes Charles Clark had a recent calm that dives into Gore's departure and some trust issues inside the apartment and the community that it serves. Okay. So we know that former sheriff gore has certainly earned his right to retire. He's 74 years old. He spent decades working in law enforcement, the bulk of it here in San Diego, but the announcement was sudden with just a few weeks notice, could he have gone about this differently?

Speaker 5: (02:00)

I mean, he, he certainly could have, right. I mean, he could have filled out the remainder of his term and held office till the end of the year at the same time. You know, I think that if he was at the point, right, where he felt like it was time for him to step away and he wasn't gonna be able to, to give what he needed to, to the post. Anyway, maybe it does make sense to just step aside and let an interim sheriff who can devote their full attend to addressing the many problems the county is facing. And

Speaker 1: (02:27)

We know that the county board of supervisors, they're gonna be the ones that are choosing an interim sheriff until a new one is elected. It's the same situation that landed bill gore, the position back in 2009, but we have a very different dynamic politically now versus 13 years ago. Charles, do you think that a new board led by dead Democrats approaches this decision any differently?

Speaker 5: (02:47)

Uh, I think early signs are absolutely Nathan Fletcher. The chair of the board has, you know, pretty much flat out stated that he will not appoint or sign on to appoint to anyone who is currently a candidate for sheriff, uh, which right. Would be a dramatic contrast to kind of how gore came into office to begin with that allowed him to run as a defacto incumbent. So it certainly seems like the county board, adventure guests, they're gonna follow Fletcher's lead and not put their thumb on the scale in any way with no

Speaker 1: (03:17)

Candidate likely to be chosen then to fill this interim role. Do you think that that makes this election maybe more fair for those who are running?

Speaker 5: (03:25)

I do. I, I really do. I mean, I think, you know, I thought it was quite telling when this news came out initially that that was one of the first things you saw people kind of speculating about online, right? Was, oh, it was gore stepping down early to, to help pave the, for his, you know, shows and successor. Now, obviously it, you know, as we got a little farther away, it seems pretty clear. That's not the case, but people wouldn't have had that concern. Right. If it weren't for the fact that having someone who is running on the ballot, even as interim sheriff is a distinct advantage over their competitors, right. It essentially allows the 'em to run as if they are the incumbent. And I believe on the ballot, it would've, you know, appeared that they were, you know, acting sheriff or something of that sort. So it certainly makes sure there's a more even playing field. I think your

Speaker 1: (04:13)

Column is all about the trust between the community and the Sheriff's department. What do you feel is the biggest issue contributing towards some of that mistrust or is there

Speaker 5: (04:21)

Mistrust? Well, I think there's certainly mistrust in certain segments of our community. I mean, I know there's some PLA you know, parts of the county that are quite comfortable with the way the Sheriff's department has operated. Uh, I think there are other subsets of this county that certainly are not. And I think for those that have some trust issues with the department, myself included, I think the two big things, it kind of comes back to our, you know, transparency and candidness, right? So this is a department that hasn't been the most transparent, you know, when it comes to a variety of issues, be it, you know, how open they are about announcing jail deaths, be it their disparities and polic or, you know, even something like I remember sitting in a board meeting many, many years ago where, you know, immigration advocates were very frustrated because they couldn't really get a better feel for how much the department was actually inter interacting with ice.

Speaker 5: (05:18)

Uh, because the data that the department had internal only collected even year to year was dramatically different. So I, I think that's certainly a big part of it. And then I think the other part would be candidness. And by that, I think that really relates to the racial disparity side of this. I think there is certainly a frustration at this point, both with the San Diego county law enforcement and the city of San Diego police depart when it comes to just the racial disparities we see in policing. I mean, we've had study after study, bear that out by and large, it seemed like law enforcement leaders tended to, to try to pretend that anything other than bias was at least contributing to the problem.

Speaker 1: (05:58)

You also write that voters will need to really examine who will ultimately get this job among the four known candidates that are in this race. Do you feel that there's potential for people to be able to achieve that goal?

Speaker 5: (06:08)

I certainly think so. I mean, in one nice thing that it looks like at least for the four candidates in the race is they all do have, you know, crew careers in law enforcement, right. And careers in public service. Uh, even if it's not in a, you know, more public facing capacity, they do have a record to run on that you should be able to look at and they should be able to talk about quite comfortably and openly. So that certainly should help. I, I think the big thing really is just gonna fall on voters to care enough to, I, I think, you know, county sheriff is one of those positions that probably doesn't get the amount of attention that it should from voters. I think there's kind of just a defacto thing cuz the county sheriff tends to be outta sight outta mind for a lot of people, but it is, you know, the, the head of the biggest law enforcement agency in the region. So whoever does fill that seat will have plenty of power and influence to, you know, impact how law enforcement looks like here. Okay.

Speaker 1: (07:04)

Let's talk about some memorable bill gore moments. We know that he can be a somewhat soft spoken as a public figure. Charles, what do you think his legacy is here in San Diego?

Speaker 5: (07:14)

I'm not quite sure, you know, it is, he's an interesting figure in that he's, as you point out a pretty soft spoken guy, at least in public and he never came off as a real fire brand, which I think frankly probably served him well as sheriff. I think for most people, you know, the sheriff is not someone you want to be out there as this really hyper political figure. I, I think that's certainly kind of par for how gore operated was. I think he kind of just did the work and, and I don't think he was particularly seeking of the public approval as far as his legacy. You know, I think the, the two big things I kind of look at, at least for him as a positive legacy perspective are one, my understanding is that the department did, uh, he, it much more fluid in how it worked with federal law enforcement agencies, be it on different task force and things.

Speaker 5: (08:06)

Now the flip side of that, you know, I know a lot of people are very uncomfortable with their relationship with immigration and customs enforcement, which I think there are some very, very concerns there, but given we are a border community, I'm sure there's a lot of people who really value the fact that the sheriff did seem to develop a, a better working or a more clear working relationship with some of those agencies. And I, I think the other thing right, is just in general, you know, remove the, the last two years, cause those are kind of a, a weird thing from a data standpoint, but in general crime, you know, as it, and for, you know, most of the nation has been on the decline, uh, at least violent crime. And it seemed like my understanding is San Diego county tended to follow that suit. Now the flip side of it is there's a lot of very big problems that the next sheriff will be stepping into. You know, they may not necessarily be directly Gore's fault, but they are some serious issues plugging the department, right? Jail deaths being one of the biggest, you know, we have one of the highest mortality rates or the highest mortality rate in the state for county jails. So that that's certainly something, you know, that will be looked at

Speaker 1: (09:15)

Well. It's definitely, always good to get your perspective, Charles, Charles Clark, as a calmness for the San Diego union Tribune and Charles, thanks so much for your time.

Speaker 5: (09:22)

Thanks for having me, Matt

Speaker 1: (09:32)

Transforming something so huge and entrenched like our healthcare system is a heavy lift and approved to be too much. Once again, this week, California will not become the first day in the nation to move to a single payer system. It dashes the hopes of progressives who say that corporate interests fueled by billions of dollars in profits weigh too heavily on Democrats. Keep in mind, they hold full control of what gets done in Sacramento in this case, what doesn't get done, joining us as a reporter Alexi Keff, he's been covering the legislature for years for the Sacramento, B and San Francisco Chronicle. He recently joined the news team up at Cal matters and he's here on round table now. Hey

Speaker 6: (10:10)

Alexi, thanks for having me on. Okay.

Speaker 1: (10:12)

So first off, can you define what a single healthcare payer system actually?

Speaker 6: (10:17)

So this is a bill that would've moved California toward a universal healthcare system. That's entirely taxpayer funded and run by the government. It would've moved to do away with private insurers in almost all cases and created the kind of unit reversal system that we might see in other countries like Canada or many European countries. Just

Speaker 1: (10:44)

A few weeks ago, we talked with your colleague Cal matters, health reporter, Kristen Wong. We brought up a telling moment when governor Newsom pitched something far less for healthcare in his budget proposal. Here's some of that,

Speaker 7: (10:56)

The difference here, the is when you are in a position of responsibility, you've gotta apply. You've gotta manifest the ideal. This is hard work. It's one thing to say it's another to do. And with respect, uh, there are many different pathways to achieve the goal.

Speaker 1: (11:17)

Alexia, I wonder was the writing on the wall at that point with the governor sort of presenting his own counter

Speaker 6: (11:22)

Proposal. I don't think that his lack of endorsement is what killed it, but it certainly does. Doesn't help when you've got a very controversial issue like this and it you've got interests on all sides, lobbying and trying to kill the bill. I mean, certainly would've helped if he had been out there pushing to keep this conversation going

Speaker 1: (11:48)

Well, it's no secret that the current system, it leaves a lot of people dissatisfied. We know it can be expensive and it can be largely tied to people having a full-time job. So Alexi, why didn't politicians just move this forward, knowing that many people might want something different

Speaker 6: (12:02)

Here. You would think that in a state like California, which is seen as this liberal bastion for the country, that this might be the best opportunity that orders of a single payer system have for getting this through. But this is also an enormous state and doing anything like this is enormously complicated. Um, the reality is that even with as much work as the supporters of this proposal had put into it, it was still just a sketch of an night idea. They hadn't worked out all the details and it was gonna take a lot more development to really get it into a full-fledged idea. So that already had a lot of people sort of nervous and wondering about whether it was something they would wanna support. Then you add on the very complex politics of an issue like this. You had insurance company and the California chamber of commerce and doctors and all kinds of powerful groups that have a very big lobbying presence at the Capitol, running a very intense campaign to try and kill the bill. And at the same time you had Republican lawmakers hoping to make a election issue out of this by pointing out out that it would require enormous tax increases to pay for it. And sort of trying to scare voters and paint Democrats as, as these, you know, tax hungry politicians. And it just started to look like a very unappealing option for a lot of the lawmakers who had to consider this proposed as all.

Speaker 1: (13:35)

Well, let's get into some of the politics of this year. We know that you, yourself, you spend a lot of time at the capital. Uh, Alex, how would you describe the political spectrum between, you know, progressive Democrats who are upset by what happened this week and those unnamed Democrats who simply couldn't support the bill?

Speaker 6: (13:50)

One thing to know about the capital in Sacramento is that it is a, a super majority democratic legislature. In fact, both houses of the legislature, the assembly, and the Senate have three quarters Democrats. So as you can imagine, that means it's a very big tent party. You have a broad spectrum from the most leftist kind of lawmakers from San Francisco and Glen to some very, very moderate Democrats who come from the central valley, orange county, places like that. And it's hard to get everybody unified around about a policy like this. They needed 41 votes in this 80 person chamber, so they could lose a lot of Democrats and still get it. The problem is that the pressure really started ramping up in, in recent weeks from progressives activists from the party started threatening to pull the endorsement of Democrats who did not vote for the bill. And that actually sort of had maybe the opposite effect of what they intended instead of drawing people more toward supporting this bill. It really turned off a lot of people who were on the fence health

Speaker 1: (15:05)

Has been top of mind for a lot of us the past couple of years, especially during the pandemic with that in mind, Alex, was there a hope among progressive that things might be different this time that, you know, maybe perhaps this, you know, collective experience might have been the push that they needed to get it over

Speaker 6: (15:19)

The hill? Absolutely. Certainly you heard that from activists who felt like now more than ever, the pandemic has shown that we need a healthcare that is gonna care for everybody and not gonna let people fall through the cracks. And they used that in their messaging and they hoped that would convince more people to get on their side. I think it also made the pain of this loss a lot harder for them to accept. Many of them have been very angry, uh, lashing out online and directly to lawmakers who didn't support the bill. And even some who did, uh, the author, um, Ash cholera. He has born the brunt of their frustration. Many of them have accused him of betraying their cause and even threatened to primary him or try and push him out of office because they feel let down by the fact that he didn't bring it up for a vote. And

Speaker 1: (16:17)

Then in terms of this single payer push, is it completely dead in the water? So

Speaker 6: (16:20)

This particular bill is done. It needed to pass the assembly by Monday. And it didn't, it seems rather late in the year for activists to try again. And so it's more likely that they'll regroup and perhaps try and come back next year with another proposal. But so far, Ash Cora has been unwilling to sort of discuss what his plans are. And it's not clear whether he'll be the one to carry it. If perhaps he's burned a as bridges and somebody else might become the next champion for it in the legislature. You know, at this stage, everybody's still sort of picking up the pieces.

Speaker 1: (17:03)

I've been talking with Alexi Kaif. He covers the legislature for Cal matters. And thanks so much for your time today, Alex,

Speaker 6: (17:09)

Thank you.

Speaker 1: (17:17)

Major league baseball and its players are jeopardizing the start of their season with the ongoing lockout. Maybe they can learn something from San Diego's latest professional squad, the national women's soccer league. It's also known as the NWSL and they've achieved labor piece just as teams are opening training camps here to, to talk about the breakthrough for women's sports and San Diego's newest team is Alicia Rodriguez. She covers soccer for ESP speed nation, and she's here on round table now. Hey Alicia, Hey, how's it going? Going well? So we know that the national women's soccer league, it's new to San Diego, but it's been around for nearly a decade. And it really is a chance to see some top level competition stars from team USA and other countries are a part of this league. Alicia, what should casual sports fans know about the on field product here?

Speaker 8: (18:03)

Well, I think the big thing is that it's, uh, certainly one of the best leagues in a world for women's soccer, quite possibly the very best. I think the, the level of competition is top to bottom. Probably the, the most competitive overall in, in world soccer, you know, the women's game is, is catching up to what the men have been doing for, uh, over a century at this point. So they still have some time and, and some space to, to catch up. But I think the NWSL it's it's real selling point is not only the talent level at the very top, but the fact that I think pretty much every week, you know, any team that comes into a match has a good shot of winning. And, you know, I think that's something that American sports fans are, are very accustomed to and, uh, something that's gonna be, uh, quite welcome.

Speaker 1: (18:48)

We know that this league is growing. It sits now at 12 teams and both of these newcomers are from Southern California. We have the wave obviously here in San Diego and angel city FC up in Los Angeles. Part of that process was further this week when the players union and the league reach its first collective bargaining agreement. We'll talk about what's in it for the players in just a moment, but first generally what makes this such a big step forward? The

Speaker 8: (19:12)

Biggest reason is because it's the, the first CBA in league history. And, um, I think anybody who knows anything about, uh, labor organization getting a union off the ground, uh, in any workplace is, is pretty difficult. It's, it's a long haul. It's something that takes a long time. And then on top of that, you know, to have that first CBA that sets the groundwork for what's gonna come, you know, later. And I think all in all, uh, the initial impressions are that this was especially for first CBA, but in general, I think it, it was a good deal for the players overall.

Speaker 1: (19:43)

Yeah. I think something that everybody can understand, you know, these players, these athletes that are at the top of their game and they want their pay to reflect that generally, how does this new new CBA improve their situation, the

Speaker 8: (19:53)

Minimum salary? So that's the lowest paid players in the league are gonna be making around 35,000 annually for context, when the league launched in 2013, the maximum salary was not that high. So, uh, we've come quite a ways in a, in a decade. And obviously 35,000 does not seem like a lot compared to, um, many other American pro sports, but, uh, you have to start somewhere. And I think that the fact that they're getting closer and closer to a living wage, I think in San Diego, you know, you, you have to be a little bit creative with, you know, 35,000 on up salary, but you, you can get by if, if you, you know, take on a couple roommates and find a good spot to live, know it it's certainly possible. And, and in the past, frankly, it was not possible. Players would have to live with host families. They would have to take two or three additional jobs on top of being players. So, uh, we're getting to a moment where I think, you know, they can really focus on being professional athletes. So financially it's, it's, it's a, a really good start for them

Speaker 1: (20:50)

Negotiations. Like these are often a lot more than just about a paycheck. What, what else in this deal got your attention?

Speaker 8: (20:56)

Yeah, there's a lot of other benefits. They have stated leave policies for a variety of, of kinds of leave, whether it's, you know, me vacation time, you know, having that spelled out, having leave for mental health for parental leave. Obviously some of the players in the league are parents. Some of them give birth themselves. And that obviously is a big time commitment for them. Something that they have to interrupt their careers to, to do if they adopt, they can also, they're also entitled to leave. So I think that's a really great step as well. And then they also have 'em standards for medical personnel on teams, which, um, you may say, well, that seems like a, an odd provision to include, but the reason they do that is because, um, in the past there's been some problems on some of the teams in the league with having enough support staff to help the players, you know, not having a trainer on site during practices, the like that, you know, so having that spelled out is really important because they need that, that support to make sure that they can do their jobs properly.

Speaker 1: (21:54)

The league has had a bit of a tumultuous off season and that included a sexual harassment scandal, two players who are now with the wave manna shim and Alex Morgan, they went public with their stories. How were they instrumental in this effort to fix some of the culture not just with, than the league, but women's sports in general?

Speaker 8: (22:10)

Yeah, it it's been a, a very strange year in a lot of respects. And I think the positivity surrounding the CBA is, is tempered certainly by many of the scandals that came out, uh, last year. And, and frankly there were quite a lot of them and, and that scandal of sexual harassment and, and sexual coercion coercion that you mentioned happened in Portland in a, a couple other markets that was obviously the biggest, uh, bombshell. It's really nice to see Monheim turn up in San Diego's camp. You know, she was one of the players who very bravely spoke about her experiences and, you know, Alex Morgan is a superstar. She really, I think, you know, obviously Mona and the others who experience the, the trauma, having to relive it, having to, uh, tell the world about it. They're extremely brave for, for doing that in the first place.

Speaker 8: (22:56)

But someone like Alex Morgan, who presumably, you know, was not the target of, of the same harassment due to her, her status as a star, you know, she really stuck her neck out and supported her teammates. And I, I think the efforts that, that she's done behind the scenes to really be an ally for teammates has, has been really tremendous. So I think that as an aside, that's a really exciting thing for San Diego to have as kind of the, the superstar of their team, somebody who is that caring for, you know, for teammates and whatnot, but it's been a tough time and, and these are not scars that are gonna go away overnight.

Speaker 1: (23:30)

All right, now let's dive into some San Diego soccer talk here after the CBA was announced, the wave, they broke camp up in Del Mar what are you hearing about how it's going up there

Speaker 8: (23:39)

So far? Well, there's a lot of excitement. , you know, I think one of the fun things is the very first training camp, you know, for an expansion team is just so exciting. And, uh, that excitement is, is, is palpable. And, you know, the players are excited. Obviously the club is excited, you know, it's just a lot of fun to see everyone see something that has been in the works for so long, come to fruition and, uh, get out there, put on that team gear, kick the all around, um, and really get ready for the season ahead.

Speaker 1: (24:07)

Yeah. You know, Sandy Eggins who have been around for a little bit, they might remember going to, up to charger training camps, or even making the drive out to Arizona for Padre spring training, getting a look at some baseball there. Uh, Alicia, do we know if the wave practices, are they open to the public or are there any, uh, upcoming fan events being planned?

Speaker 8: (24:24)

So cuz of COVID, you know, we're still in that era. So, uh, things are, are still pretty locked down. I think the, the best course of action, if, if you're a fan and you're interested in, in checking something out is to, if you're able to sign up to be a season ticket holder, um, and you know, then you'll find out kind of the exclusive events, that sort of thing. Um, or you can join a supporter group, uh, for example, there's the sirens, you know, I think they'll, that's kind of your best in as far as finding out about fan events and exclusives and that kind of thing. But, um, I think probably we'll see those kinds of events leading up to a season more in the future, you know, knock on wood, assuming that we'll get through this COVID era, um, before too long.

Speaker 1: (25:06)

Well, we are getting very close. The waves inaugural season begins next month. They'll first play at the university of San Diego before moving into the brand new snap stadium and mission valley. That's gonna happen this summer. Alicia, how could we follow your coverage of the league between now and then

Speaker 8: (25:21)

You can find my work on San Diego wave FC on led confidential.com, which is part of the ESPP network. And you can find me on Twitter at soccer musings.

Speaker 1: (25:32)

I've been talking with ESPB nation reporter, Alicia Rodriguez and Alicia. Thanks so much for your time. Of

Speaker 8: (25:37)

Course. Thanks for having me on.

Speaker 1: (25:38)

Thanks so much for tuning into this week's edition of K PBS Roundtable and thank you to my guests, Charles Clark, from the San Diego union Tribune, Alexi Costa from Cal matters and Alicia Rodriguez from ESPB nation. If you missed any part of our show, you can listen anytime on the K PBS round table podcast. I'm Matt Hoffman. Join us next week on round table.