A Planeload of Evacuees From Wuhan, China Arrive At MCAS Miramar And Other Local News

February 6, 2020 at 2:56 AM PST

Speaker 1: 00:00 Speaker 2: 00:54 Speaker 3: 01:18 Speaker 2: 01:29 Speaker 1: 01:45 Speaker 4: 02:12 Speaker 1: 02:21 Speaker 4: 02:54 Speaker 1: 03:11 Speaker 5: 03:34 Speaker 1: 04:53 Speaker 6: 06:21 Speaker 6: 07:14 Speaker 6: 07:58 Speaker 6: 08:47 Speaker 6: 09:35 Speaker 1: 10:22 Speaker 7: 10:49 Speaker 7: 12:35 Speaker 7: 14:39 Speaker 8: 15:25 It's Thursday, February 6th I'm Deb Welsh and you're listening to San Diego news matters from KPBS coming up, a plane load of evacuees from China now quarantined at MCA S Miramar and one of the candidates running for San Diego. Mayor has been called a career politician. Well first off I will make no apologies for spending my career serving my hometown that more San Diego news stories coming up right after the break. Wednesday morning, a flight from China carrying us citizens who may have been exposed to the Corona virus arrived at the Marine air station at Miramar KPB as reporter Matt Hoffman says about 170 people will be held under federal quarantine as the base for at least two weeks. Officials with the centers for disease control and prevention are closely monitoring the evacuees and so far none have showed signs of the virus. Men, women and children will be held on base at two separate locations. People will be monitored around the clock and if symptoms are found they will be taken to a local hospital. Dr Christopher Braden with the CDC says, even though the evacuees are considered a high risk for the virus, there is a low risk to San Diego bins right now in the United States. Communities across this country are at very low risk of it being exposed to this virus and including in San Diego and including on this base. CDC officials say there are plans to bring more evacuees from China to Miramar. The base says they can hold up to 350 people, although that could change. Everyone being held on base has access to their phones and can communicate with family and friends. Matt Hoffman, KPBS news, four of the passengers who landed at Miramar had been taken to the hospital. California officials don't expect anything close to the confusion in Iowa when our primary takes place March 3rd but they also think it will take weeks before we have full election results. KQBD political correspondent, Marissa Lagos' explains secretary of state, Alex Padilla wants Californians to know that there's virtually no chance what happened in Iowa could happen here. Unlike caucuses of which are led by political parties and volunteers. Elections in California are administered by elections professionals. That's not the only difference. Caucuses happen over the course of a couple hours and voters have to be in one specific location to vote. Four weeks out from our March 3rd primary Californians can already vote by mail and at County election offices. Also, piteous says every ballot cast in California has a paper trail allowing election officials to go back and audit results. But with more than 20 million registered voters, many of them voting by mail. California will be similar to Iowa in one way. This year we won't know the full results on election night. We have a lot of policies and procedures in place that both, uh, maximize accessibility for all eligible citizens. Uh, but also all the security measures in place. Uh, it's no wonder why it takes a few weeks to get final final results, uh, in California, but it's for good reason. But for those political junkies out there, [inaudible] says you'll still have a pretty good idea who's doing well on election night. For the California report, I'm Merissa Lagos'. California is 51st congressional district is one of the most reliably blue seats in San Diego County, but KPBS Metro reporter Andrew Bowen says a Republican is still challenging the four term incumbent Democrat in the March primary Democrat Juan Vargas has job security. The former San Diego city council member and state assemblyman was first elected to Congress in 2012 and has easily won reelection ever since. The district includes city Heights, Chula Vista, and Imperial County, and it's overwhelmingly blue. UCS, D political science professor Thad Couser says, Varguez has name ID money and the inherent benefit of incumbency. He's represented this district for a long time and it's hard to beat that person unless there's something that goes wrong as scandal, a vote on which he's out of step with his district and we haven't seen any evidence to that. Only one other candidate has qualified for the ballot in the 51st Republican one he doll ago who lost a Vargas in 2016 and 2018 he says he wants to bring jobs to the district and that he supports president Trump's border. Wall counselor says, even in deeply democratic districts like this one, Republicans and nonpartisan voters still make up almost half the electorate and also you're waiting around in case some scandal does strike and, and that's what Juan Hidalgo is doing. He's positioning himself to take this seat. If one Vargas somehow trips because of California's top two primary system, Vargas and dial Diogo are virtually guaranteed. Yet another rematch in November. Andrew Bowen KPBS news, one of the contests on the California super Tuesday primary ballot is an election for us. House of representatives from the 53rd congressional district. KPBS has Sally Hickson tells us a poll on the candidates running for Susan Davis. His seat has shown some surprising results. The results of that recent union Tribune 10 news poll may come as a shock to not only political observers, but the candidates themselves. Democrats. Sarah Jacobs is leading 14 candidates by a wide margin with 23% her closest rival is Republican Chris Stoddard, who received 10% the presumed top competitors, city council president, Georgette Gomez, a Democrat, came in a distant third with 5% only two other candidates receive more than 3% support. Nurse famela Ramos, a Republican and walking Vasquez, a Democrat. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.5 to 5.7 percentage points. Sally Hickson KPBS news. Todd Gloria has spent the last four years representing San Diego in Sacramento. Before that he on the San Diego city council. Now he's running to succeed Republican. Kevin Faulkner as San Diego mayor, we've already heard from his main opponents, fellow Democrats, Barbara Brie, and Tasha Williamson along with Republican Scott Sherman KPBS as mid day additions. Alison st John spoke to Gloria about his campaign. He began with his stance on the city's plan for the homeless. The city has normally adopted housing first. Yet when you see us spending millions of dollars on temporary tents, purchasing bankrupted indoor skydiving facilities for navigation centers. These are not in furtherance of housing first. This is largely a symbolic efforts to try and address what is the issue that is going on without really understanding how do we end homelessness and that requires really tough decisions like actually citing permanent supportive housing in neighborhoods across the city, which some of my opponents have been unwilling to do. And do we have enough resources to actually build enough new housing to solve this problem? Well, Oh, probably not currently, but the voters of the city of San Diego may have the opportunity to vote on a measure this fall that would fund the construction of more low income housing, particularly for low income. San Diego is informally homeless. I am supportive of this idea and concept. Unfortunately, other candidates in this race are not and I think that that's really at odds with a homelessness action plan that's been adopted that says we need additional resources to build this unit. I don't see how you can vote for a plan that says we must build this stuff and then simultaneously oppose the funding that actually we'll construct it. Of course, it's not just about money. It's also about where are you going to build this housing and Barbara Bree says one of your legislative proposals to build more housing near transit would actually destroy some of the older neighborhoods. How do you convince the existing neighborhoods that higher density is going to work for them? Well, first off it would require a leader that's not engaged in fear-mongering when it comes to additional housing development. You know that's an easy thing to say to the public, but ultimately neighborhoods do change. I don't believe that new housing is necessarily bad for communities. In fact, I think it can be helpful in community improving. I've seen it in my own city council district building housing out in the back country than the fire prone areas is not appropriate. Building high-rises that are the most expensive form of housing. Longer coast also not what we need. What we need is additional housing that is priced for working in middle-class San Diego near jobs, near existing infrastructure. And this would be important if we want it to solve what I think is the biggest issue in the city, which is communicating to San Diego that they have a place here that they can afford to live here. Now, do you support SANDAG that's the San Diego association of governments there. That's the regional planning board. Do you support their five big moves to transform transit in the region, which would get people out of their cars, perhaps onto bikes or number one, I do support the five big moves. I think that it is time for our world class city to have a world-class transportation system. And importantly, I would use the authority under assembly bill eight Oh five that restructured SANDAG puts the mayor of San Diego in a position to help lead the organization, um, to actually use that authority. Let's just talk quickly about police reform. Uh, one of your other democratic opponents, Tasha Williamson says she would replace police chief, uh, [inaudible]. Would you keep him on the job if you were elected? I'm not making any personnel decisions during the course of the campaign. Ultimately, I think that the next mirror San Diego should make it a priority to work on improving the relationship between our police officers and our communities. No. Uh, you have been called a career politician compared to Barbara Brie, for example, who has been in politics much less than you. Uh, Barbara Reese has that the San Diego city government is not accountable. And uh, so what would you say to people who, who feel like the city really needs somebody to shake things up or, first off, I will make no apologies for spending my career serving my hometown. I love San Diego and I've done everything I can to give back to the city that's given me so many opportunities. I want to take that experience and the relationships that I've created with people like governor Gavin Newsome with our attorney general and others. And to bring that to the benefit of San Diego, I think I will be a better mayor for having served in Sacramento. Uh, and combined with my experiences at the County of San Diego and at the federal government collectively. I think that that's something that I can bring that as a, uh, benefit, uh, to this, uh, to this candidacy and proof that I won't just be a mayor, but I'll be an effective and good mere assemblyman. Todd. Gloria, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you Alison. Like many Mexican States, the Nora Baha's neighbor to the East is struggling to STEM a rising tide of violent crime, but security forces are facing their own crisis. Morale is low as police take on a dangerous job with few resources and suspicions of internal corruption from the front terrorists desk and arrow CEO KJ zzz. Kendall bless reports on how killings and corruption are effecting Sonoran police. And we'll see. Oh, police officer Christina Garcia hops into a patrol car and a brisk January morning alongside colleague Lewis and Hill Moreno as they head out onto the streets of MLCO. Moreno's radio starts beeping, I say started the, it's like this all day. Garcia says, ain't no response to the call. Their job keeps them on their toes. And Garcia, who's been on the force for 23 years loves it with animals. So it's called [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] oysters. She says, police protect people, their businesses and their families even when it means neglecting their own. As a mother of two and grandmother, if three Garcia knows her family worries about her [inaudible] police killings and Sonora more than doubled from 11 in 2018 to 23 last year, coupled with low pay, scant resources and suspicions of internal corruption, the killings have led to dwindling among some sooner and police perhaps hardest hit the coastal municipality. Why mess? In October, 2018 five police officers were killed in a brutal attack that stunned the city. In nine months, nine house officers and two security officials were killed and why? Mass in January and other was shot in his home and left in critical condition. Went into personas and [inaudible] eat [inaudible] and manifesto. Why Ms. Mayer said of IAA says at least 40 police officers resigned last year, most out of fear. And that makes everyone less safe. In one case, last June opening called cleanse for help after being mugged, but she was told no one would be coming just days earlier. An officer had been killed in an ambush. No one wants problems. The dispatcher tells the woman they're killing us and by admits, it's not just fear. Corruption is also part of the problem. [inaudible] be in any of the narrow [inaudible] to address infiltration by organized crime. The federal government turned to what it calls trusted military professionals to head up a purging process. In September, military leaders were installed in five Sonora and municipalities and why mess? That's Naval captain Luis Alberto Cano. Nope. He says violent crimes are on the rise in women. That's why he's here to provide military backing for police who've been understaffed and under attack and to take out organized crime both inside the police force and out [inaudible], but some worry about increasing militarization. Emilios head's a Sonoran citizens group focused on public safety policy. He advocates for a systematic approach to identifying and solving problems within police forces. [inaudible] there's bail push to vet officers using a confidence exam. So far, large swathes of Sonoran police had failed and many haven't even taken it, but Ohio says the exam doesn't address underlying problems. He says the solution starts with transparency. Despite millions of pesos allocated for security. He says, police salaries are still low equipment and infrastructure and adequate, and the public doesn't know how funds are being spent. Back in the patrol car in MCO Garcia says she welcomes police reforms. [inaudible] she says, officers who are doing things right have nothing to fear, but the question remains, will those changes be enough to keep cups and the public safe? I'm Kendall blessed in MLCO. Thanks for listening to San Diego news matters. Do us a favor, and if you appreciate the podcast rate or review us on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you. [inaudible].

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The evacuees have been quarantined at the San Diego marine base. Four of them have been taken to the hospital. Plus, a poll of candidates running in the 53rd congressional district shows surprising results. And California’s primary election may go without a hitch but final results will be a long time coming.