Evictions On the Upswing During Pandemic

San Diego County Health Officials reported more than 2,000 new coronavirus infections on thursday for the second day in a row. 11 deaths were recorded. A vaccine could be here by next week. County health officials are prioritizing healthcare workers, specifically those in acute care, psychiatric and correctional facility hospitals. Vaccines will go to those in emergency departments and ICU’s. San Diego county sheriff’s department says they’ve assisted with more than 150 evictions through the end of november. The statewide moratorium on evictions expired in September. But, a state law passed after the expiration of the moratorium continues to bar evictions for people who can’t pay rent… Tenant advocates say that landlords have been trying to circumvent that law by filing cases based on other causes than non-payment of rent.. Many tenants are pushing back against less formal evictions -- when landlords may try to work something out with the tenants to avoid calling in the sheriff’s department. Available affordable units are hard to find. . Greg Knoll is with the legal aid society of san diego. the real problem is that unless you know someone on the private market, being homeless and applying for some random apartment, is just not going to get it done. there’s not a lot of stock available. Last week, the county reopened applications for rental assistance, meant to reach an additional 10,000 households economically impacted by covid-19 A sailor may have been lost off the southern California coast. Navy Officials say a lookout on the USS Theodore Roosevelt spotted what looked like someone in the water AT about 7:30 Thursday morning. Rescue efforts began soon after. So far there’s been no update on the search. It’s Friday, December 11th. This is San Diego News Matters from KPBS News. I’m Anica Colbert. Stay with me for more of the local news you need to start your day. San Diego officially has a new mayor and a new City Council. KPBS metro reporter Andrew Bowen says Mayor Todd Gloria is promising a productive first 100 days. TG: "I, Todd Gloria, do solemnly swear…" AB: The swearing in of Gloria, City Attorney Mara Elliott and the five new council members Thursday took place entirely online via Zoom. Gloria noted the significance of his ascension to the city's highest office: He's both the first non-white and openly gay person to be elected mayor. He also promised in his first 100 days to move past what he called "small issues that past leaders have struggled to resolve." TG: Let's be done with just saying we're America's Finest City. It's time for us to dare to be a truly great city. A city where your zip code doesn't determine your destiny. AB: Topping the priority list, he said, is addressing the devastation COVID-19 has brought upon families, small businesses, the city budget and people experiencing homelessness. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news. And...A freshly inaugurated San Diego City Council has selected Jen Cambell as its next council president. Here’s KPBS’ Andrew Bown again AB: Campbell beat out Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe for the position, which is one of the most powerful in city government. Montgomery lost a 5-4 vote to Campbell despite being supported by the vast majority of community organizations and public commenters who participated in the meeting. In her remarks, Campbell said she had spent her two years in office putting the city's interests ahead of her own political gain. JC: My entire vision as council president is predicated on making sure that each one of our nine council districts can succeed in improving their communities while advancing the goals of our city at the same time." AB: The council president is responsible for running meetings, giving out committee assignments and setting the council's agendas. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news. UNLESS THE SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT RECEIVES MORE STATE AND FEDERAL DOLLARS, IT WILL FACE A MASSIVE BUDGET DEFICIT HEADING INTO THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR. KPBS EDUCATION REPORTER JOE HONG has more. Without another injection of cash from the federal government and additional support from the state, San Diego Unified projects a 155 million dollar budget deficit for the 2021-2022 school year. Richard Barrera is the vice president of San Diego Unified’s board of trustees. If we had new federal stimulus, if we had a cost of living adjustment for next year, that would wipe away that entire 155 million dollar shortfall, but we’ll obviously know more over the next six weeks. But district officials have reason to be optimistic. With Joe Biden entering the Whitehouse and higher-than-expected tax revenues in California, Barrera said the current deficit projection is a very conservative estimate. Joe Hong KPBS News. ONE BIG CHALLENGE during this PANDEMIC IS HOW PEOPLE OF FAITH can actually practice that faith.. WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO GATHER IN THE WAYS THEY DID BEFORE. AS HANUKKAH GETS UNDERWAY, KPBS REPORTER JOHN CARROLL SAYS ONE RABBI IS THINKING OF HOW TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE THROUGH UNCHARTED WATERS. As soon as the pandemic hit in March, Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort knew the way he’d done things for years would have to be different at the synagogue he leads… Chabad at La Costa in Carlsbad. “People are going to need our support and we’re going to have to change how we offer that.” Like many faith communities, Chabad at La Costa has taken much of what they do online. But Rabbi “E” as people call him, still wanted to keep some human interaction in the mix. So this year, he and some volunteers are distributing Hanukkah boxes complete with a menorah, dreidels… everything needed to celebrate Hanukkah safely, at home. Rabbi “E” admits the struggles of the COVID era have gotten him down from time to time. But when that happens, he says he thinks of the big picture. “I have a decision to make. Am I going to curse the darkness, or am I going to try and kindle a light? As Hanukkah begins, the focus for Rabbi “E’s” congregation… for Jews around the world is light. In a metaphoric sense, the whole world looks to the light at the end of this dark tunnel… vaccines that will eventually lead to the end of the pandemic. JC, KPBS News. Coming up on the podcast….San Diego Opera’s David Bennett talks about presenting their 2018 opera All Is Calm as public health guidelines for events keep changing. DAVID BENNETT: Calm is a good word, isn't it? So we are we're trying to remain calm in a shifting sea, right, of circumstances. (:09) Ahh but the show must go on...we have that story next, after this break. San Diego Opera is planning a drive-in screening of its 2018 production of “All Is Calm” on Dec. 21. But it’s hard to plan a production as public health guidelines keep changing with the latest surge in COVID-19 cases. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando speaks with David Bennett, director of San Diego Opera, about remaining flexible in lockdown. ALLISCALM_TWOWAY (ba) TRT 4:00 (with music going to 6:27)BETH ACCOMANDO: David, the opera has decided to play “All is Calm” in a drive-in setting now, even though you made this decision, things have changed recently that are impacting you. So tell me, where are you at right now with the idea of presenting “All is Calm” to audiences DAVID BENNETT: Calm is a good word, isn't it? So we are we're trying to remain calm in a shifting sea, right, of circumstances. So clearly what we're trying to do is make sure that we can do this in a safe way. Right. And guaranteeing the safety of everyone, not just the audience, but also our employees is paramount to us because we had a huge success with La Boheme in terms of safety. We know that drive-in theaters, movies, are an approved activity, even with the new announcement by the governor. So we know that aspect of it is going to be approved and can be safe. We are still getting approval of whether we can have the 30 minute concert of live singing that we are trying to hold. BA: Now explain what people will be getting in terms of “All is Calm.” This is not a live performance, but this is a performance that you staged. DB: That's correct. So we had, we did “Allis Calm” in 2018 and it was had a live telecast on KPBS, which of course KPBS filmed it beautifully. It's a very, very beautiful video capture of that performance. We had intended to do a live performance this year, safety, not allowing us to do that. So we decided to try to take advantage of that beautiful capture that we have. And we're going to be showing it at a venue that has been built at Del Mar, the racetrack called Concerts for Cars, and it's around stage with four screens and cars parked all the way around it. So you have a lot of proximity to the stage. And if we're allowed to, it'll be preceded by about 30 minutes of live holiday singing by members of our chorus and a sing along portions so encouraging people to be in their cars and enjoying that experience. It’s on December 21st and of course, we know that's the first week that school is no longer in session. So by that Monday after the weekend, parents might be looking for a safe thing to do with their children, which this would be wonderful. BA: And why do you feel that it's important to have a production of this in some shape or form in this particular time? DB: What we learned from La Boheme that we did in October is we're missing not just seeing live performance, but everyone is missing a communal experience. Right? We spend so much of our time in a conversation like I'm having with you right now. We're all in our own individual homes. Right? And the opportunity for us to find a way to be together as a community safely is a very important thing. BA: And for people who may not be familiar with “All is Calm,” this is about the Christmas truce where, you know, we're talking about having this communal experience and this is this very interesting sense of enemies at war being so close to each other that they could literally, like, hear each other singing and talking. DB: Right. And it was you know, it was the warring factions. It wasn't the, you know, the commanders that made this decision. And it was actually soldier to soldier hearing the singing across no man's land in the opposite trenches and coming out. CLIP For a single night, no man’s land was every man’s land. And we, the lowest of the ranks, achieved what the Pope himself could not. In the middle of the war we had ourselves a merry Christmas. DB: So it really is a story about using Christmas as an opportunity for a collective communal experience. CLIP Silent night, holy night….(fade out music) San Diego Opera’s drive-in “All is Calm” will be presented on Dec. 21st at the Del Mar Fairgrounds parking lot.