Community reacts after school board member comes out as transgender
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH >>>>
A SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER IS IN THE SPOTLIGHT AFTER COMING OUT AS TRANSGENDER.
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HOSPITALITY WORKERS IN THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO COULD SEE SIGNIFICANT WAGE INCREASES OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
THE CITY COUNCIL IS EXPECTED TO VOTE ON AN ORDINANCE TODAY (Tuesday) TO RAISE THEIR MINIMUM WAGE TO $25 AN HOUR.
FORMER CITY COUNCIL MEMBER CHRIS CATE IS NOW PRESIDENT & C-E-O OF THE SAN DIEGO REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. HE SAYS THE MINIMUM WAGE CHANGES COULD LEAD TO INCREASES IN PRICES AND JOB CUTS.
MINWAGE 2A (:09)
“Were opposed to it and we believe that it's the wrong approach to target a specific industry, especially one that's so vital to our regional economy.”
THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO'S CURRENT MINIMUM WAGE IS $17.25 AN HOUR.
IF THE ORDINANCE PASSES CITY COUNCIL, WORKERS AT HOTELS AND AMUSEMENT PARKS WILL START EARNING $19 DOLLARS AN HOUR ON JULY FIRST, 20-26… AND WORKERS AT EVENT CENTERS WILL START MAKING JUST OVER $21 DOLLARS AN HOUR.
BOTH GROUPS WOULD REACH THE $25 DOLLAR MINIMUM WAGE BY JULY FIRST, 20-30.
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AS SAN DIEGO TRANSITIONS AWAY FROM FREE TRASH SERVICE, PARTICIPATION FROM THE PUBLIC IS FALLING SHORT
THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE REPORTS LESS THAN HALF OF PROPERTIES RECENTLY DECLARED INELIGIBLE FOR CITY SERVICE HAVE SECURED TRASH PICK UP FROM PRIVATE HAULERS
THE CITY IS STILL PICKING UP TRASH FROM THOSE CUSTOMERS AND FOOTING THE BILL. BUT AS THE UT REPORTS, IT COULD COME WITH A CITATION FEE IN THE FUTURE
ALSO PER THE U-T, OF THE 225 THOUSAND PROPERTIES THAT ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CITY TRASH SERVICE, LESS THAN A QUARTER OF THOSE HOMES HAVE ACTUALLY SELECTED THEIR BIN SIZE VIA THE CITY’S WEBSITE
THE DEADLINE FOR THAT IS SEPTEMBER 30TH
ALL THIS STEMS FROM MEASURE B :A SUCCESSFUL 20-22 CITY BALLOT MEASURE THAT REQUIRES THE CITY END FREE TRASH SERVICE
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THE SAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY IS CHANGING ITS HOURS DUE TO BUDGET CUTS
20 OUT OF ITS 37 BRANCHES HAVE NOW ELIMINATED MONDAY HOURS COMPLETELY
THIS FOLLOWS THE ELIMINATION OF SUNDAY HOURS AT ALL BRANCHES AS OF JULY OF THIS YEAR
THESE CHANGES ARE PROMPTING A SIGNIFICANT RESHUFFLING OF STAFF. THE SAN DIEGO LIBRARY FOUNDATION SAYS LIBRARIANS ARE MOVING BETWEEN DIFFERENT BRANCHES TO COVER THE ADJUSTED SCHEDULES
THIS CHANGE COMES AFTER A HARD-FOUGHT BUDGET SEASON THAT COULD HAVE SEEN ALL PUBLIC LIBRARIES CLOSED ON SUNDAYS AND MONDAY
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
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A REPUBLICAN SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER IN NORTH COUNTY IS IN THE SPOTLIGHT AFTER COMING OUT AS TRANSGENDER. EDUCATION REPORTER KATIE ANASTAS SAYS COMMUNITY MEMBERS HAVE PUBLICLY EXPRESSED THEIR OPPOSITION AND SUPPORT.
DURNEY 4:52 SOQ
On Aug. 5, Escondido Union High School District board member Carol Durney introduced herself during roll call.
“I was elected to this board in November 2014 as Bill Durney, and reelected in 2018 and 2022. This year, I have come out as a transgender woman and I've changed my name to Carol Durney.”
The road to this moment began in April 2023. Durney had a stroke. It took out part of her vision on her right side.
“But it also kind of changed my attitude. It's kind of like, woke me up and said, yo, you better start living. This could have killed you.”
It also broke her life-long habit of biting her nails. Durney’s wife invited her to get a manicure and pedicure with her. That’s where Durney first tried nail polish.
“I put on nail polish and lit me up. It was like magic. I couldn't believe it. And yet, I mean, it was like that. Just it was just, like, the best thing ever.”
Durney’s wife died suddenly last year. A month later, while she was cleaning their house, Durney decided to try on a dress.
“And as I put it on, I just completely broke down. There was so much joy and happiness and love that I felt just putting on clothes. It was. It was unbelievable what I was feeling.”
She came out to her kids and her church community. She told the school district’s superintendent and her fellow board members.
At last month’s meeting, eight of the 10 people who spoke during public comment called for Durney to step down.
Dran Reese was one of them.
“You have psychological and mental issues when you want to pretend to be something that you will never be. You are a man, and I'm sure a fine one. But this is an abomination.”
Rosie Higuera leads the North County Republican Assembly.
“The voters voted for you as a man, and now you have become a fraud trying to become something that you are not.”
Durney says she won’t step down. She plans to run for reelection before her term ends next December.
“I've got my signs from the last time I ran. And I'm going to put a little pink Carol over the name Bill on the signs and put them back out there.”
Durney is a registered Republican. She says she led the Escondido Republican Club a decade ago. She’s not happy with the Trump administration, especially its treatment of trans people. But she says she still has mostly conservative beliefs.
“I may look a little different. And, yes, I've got some new experiences that, you know, will help shape my views, but I'm still the same, same person I was, maybe just a little different.”
This month’s school board meeting was standing room only. The majority of speakers were there to support Durney and to denounce the previous month’s comments.
Georgine Tomasi leads the Escondido Democratic Club.
“Carol, we do see you and we support you 100% on your new life journey.”
Some speakers questioned why other school board members didn’t speak up during the August meeting. Heather Smith teaches at Orange Glen High School and leads the gay-straight alliance there.
“As adults, we need to model appropriate behavior and respectful language. We do not allow hate speech to be used on our campuses. We write referrals. If there is hate speech on our campus, why would we allow it in our boardroom?”
At the end of the meeting, board member Christi Knight said “silence does not mean agreement.”
“I have sat through years working for other elected officials that have been attacked. Horrible things have been said about them and their children and it's horrible to sit by and not be able to say anything or defend them. This person I have served with for almost 13 years is my friend.”
During public comment, an attendee asked whether Durney’s beliefs had changed. She responded at the end of the meeting.
“You know, I'm still a Republican. I didn't become a Democrat because of this.”
Durney says she left this month’s meeting feeling much better than she had last month.
“There are people from my church there and other churches, but there were also teachers and educators. There were parents speaking up. There were community members, community leaders. It was more of a representation of what I think Escondido does support.”
She’s ready to bring the focus back to her priorities for the district: increasing trades courses, improving math scores, and giving English language learners the support they need.
“I'm not at the point where I've actually got any kind of ideas about doing anything different. For now. I mean, I'm just looking to get back to the board meetings and not have a whole bunch of people there talking about me. And let's get back to that role of governing.”
By next month’s board meeting, she expects her nameplate in the boardroom to read “Carol.” Katie Anastas, KPBS News.
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THE CITY OF OCEANSIDE IS BEING SUED AFTER REVERSING ITSELF LAST MONTH AND APPROVING A CONTROVERSIAL WAREHOUSE PROJECT.
NORTH COUNTY REPORTER ALEXANDER NGUYEN HAS MORE ON WHY THE SUIT IS BEING FILED NOW.
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EDDIEJONESSUIT 1(an) TRT: 1:09 SOQ
The warehouse project was actually denied back in May … but the city council reversed itself in August.
And that’s why the city is being sued by the nonprofit Advocates for the Environment.
The proposed project is nearly 500-thousand square feet with four separate buildings and a total of 28 semitruck bays. It’s smaller than the original plan, which called for 114 bays.
Aria Soeprono is an attorney with the nonprofit Advocates for the Environment.
NATPOP ZOOM 5:19 → 5:22 “Our aim in filing the lawsuit is to improve the project analysis.”
The group is suing Oceanside … alleging that the city failed to sufficiently address greenhouse gas emissions in its review.
Which is a violation of CEQA or the California Environmental Quality Act.
Some residents are concerned about pollution and the added traffic congestion … but Soeprono says that’s not what the suit is about.
SOT
“Our program is focused on cumulative greenhouse gas impact, which contributes to climate change. So, that's the main focus of what Advocates for the Environment wants to reduce. But there's also many ways of reducing greenhouse gases that also have co-benefits for traffic and air pollution, and that's because they share the same source of impact, which is vehicle trips, vehicle miles traveled.”
The city declined to comment because of the pending litigation. AN/KPBS.
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THE OLD GLOBE OPENS “HUZZAH!” (huh-ZAA) OVER THE WEEKEND. ARTS REPORTER BETH ACCOMANDO WENT BEHIND THE SCENES AT AN EARLY REHEARSAL TO PREVIEW THE WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL WHICH IS SET AT A RENAISSANCE FAIRE AND FEATURES SWORDPLAY.
HUZZAH (ba) 4:19 SOQ
I have to confess, I tend to be a little wary of contemporary musicals but Nell Benjamin, one half of the husband and wife team behind the world premiere musical Huzzah, immediately won me over.
NELL BENJAMIN: We didn't grow up with Golden Age musicals. We grew up with action movies. So we write accordingly. You don't want the story to stop for your musical number. You want it to continue through while this incredible stuff is happening.
I saw some incredible stuff at an early rehearsal of “Huzzah!.” The title is an expression of delight and approval. Audiences may be chanting it after they enter the Ren Faire world of Huzzah, and meet Sir Roland Prowd, says lyricist and composer Laurence O’Keefe.
LAURENCE O’KEEFE: He's arrived at the fair for the battle royale. He's taking on all comers, and cracking some skulls and doing a great job.
Leo Roberts plays Sir Roland, who even has a song named after him.
CLIP What’s my name…Sir Roland Prowd
And here’s where the musical got fun for me and complicated for director Annie Tippe.
CLIP Now shield high…
ANNIE TIPPE: The challenges of this musical are the utter delights of this musical. I think because the piece takes place at a Ren Faire, things seamlessly move between spoken word and dance and fighting, because that is what you would find at a Ren Faire. So I look at the challenges actually as the perfect cohesion of what being at one of those fairs feels like. It's very all-encompassing. It's very intoxicating. And at any point, a swordsman could be thrown at your feet, which is delicious.
Indeed! But it takes a lot of work to make it all look easy on stage.
ANNIE TIPPE: And then it’s a very slow, calculated process of layering in the fight choreography so that, yes, it's impressive. Yes, it's exciting. But at the very end of the day, each move and each sword hit is a storytelling gesture that gets us from A to B.
CLIP Huzzah!
It also has to be safe, although from the audience’s point of view it can look thrilling. But Ren Faires, where you can find knights jousting on horses, are all about blurring lines and creating an amazing space for imagination to thrive. But some outsiders dismiss that playful arena as just silly and Ren Faire patrons as nerdy losers. Those attitudes are challenged by the play, says Tippe.
ANNIE TIPPE: I think with any culture that is viewed as niche, a nerd culture, a comic culture, Ren Faire culture, there's definitely an outside eye that can glance down upon it and say, ‘Oh, you've chosen to live your life in make believe. You've chosen some alternative reality to living in this world.’ And if you spend time in one of these places, I think what you find is people who are really engaged in creating the world they want to live in, a world that is welcoming, that is empathetic, that is wild and free, and welcoming to people.
LIISI LA FONTAINE: It's about coming back together as a family, finding a safe space. It's about protecting those safe spaces.
Liisi La Fontaine plays one of the daughters taking over the Ren Faire when their father steps down as King. La Fontaine enjoys the mix of serious themes and fun.
LIISI LA FONTAINE: We're playing characters on top of characters on top of characters. Our director, Annie, always says that the more you commit to the silliness, the funnier it is, the more you believe in what you're saying.
“Huzzah!” gives audiences an immersive environment, taking its cue from the Ren Faires that inspired it says actress Cailen Fu.
CAILEN FU: A huge part of it is the people who are coming and visiting, who have paid to see these different acts who are going through the different shops and who are really investing themselves in the world of these Ren Faires. And so I think I really am going to be encouraging the audience to lean forward when they see the show rather than sit back and see a movie.
Attendees are encouraged to come in appropriate garb and become “playtrons” – both players and patrons – at the Globe’s Ren Faire. And to that I say Huzzah!
Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
TAG: HUZZAH RUNS THROUGH OCTOBER 19TH AT THE OLD GLOBE.
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That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Lawrence K. Jackson. Thanks for listening and subscribing by doing so you are supporting public media and I thank you for that. Have a great day!
