Governor Newsom signs historic reparations bill
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s MONDAY, OCTOBER 13TH
>>>> [GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM HAS SIGNED A MAJOR HOUSING BILL AND A HISTORIC REPARATIONS BILL INTO LAW…]More on the housing bill next. But first... the headlines….########
CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM ON FRIDAY SIGNED INTO LAW A BILL CREATING A BUREAU FOR DESCENDANTS OF AMERICAN SLAVERY.
THE STATE AGENCY WILL RUN FUTURE REPARATIONS PROGRAMS
IT’S THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN THE COUNTRY
IT FOLLOWS RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE STATE’S REPARATIONS TASKFORCE.
CHERYL GRILLS WAS A MEMBER OF THAT TASK FORCE.
WHEN THE FUTURE OF THE BILL WAS STILL UNCERTAIN, KPBS ASKED GRILLS WHAT IT WOULD MEAN TO HER IF IT BECAME LAW.
REPARATIONS 2A :31
What it would mean for me is that we are making concrete steps toward being reintegrated back into the circle of humanity . . . and that makes me tear up to say that because in truth, you know, that's what happened to Black folk when we were described as less than human, we were dehumanized. And then we were cast out of the circle of humanity. So this is now saying, wait, that was wrong . . . and we are going to correct that.
THE BILL WAS AUTHORED BY STATE SENATOR AKILAH WEBER PIERSON (WEBBER PEERSON) WHO REPRESENTS PORTIONS OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY.
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UC SAN DIEGO IS LAUNCHING A RESEARCH HUB AIMED AT BUILDING TRUST IN U-S ELECTIONS.
THE ELECTION TRUST INITIATIVE RECENTLY GRANTED ROUGHLY 2 AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS TO UCSD TO LAUNCH THE CENTER FOR TRANSPARENT AND TRUSTED ELECTIONS
FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS, UCSD PROFESSORS THAD KOUSSER (COW-SERR) AND LAUREN PRATHER (PRAY-THUR) WILL LEAD A NATIONWIDE EFFORT TO TEST WAYS TO INCREASE TRANSPARENCY AND SHARE WHAT WORKS.
PRATHER (PRAY-THUR) SAID THE OVERALL GOAL IS TO BUILD TRUST THAT LASTS AND HELP TO ENSURE AMERICANS FAITH IN ELECTIONS IS GROUNDED IN FACTS AND TRANSPARENCY, NOT JUST IN WHO WINS OR LOSES
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THERE’S A NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN THE MIDWAY DISTRICT – PACIFIC VILLAGE
IT’S FOR THOSE AT-RISK OR CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING HOMELESS, YOUTH AGING OUT OF PROGRAMS LIKE FOSTER CARE AND VETERANS
FORMERLY A HOTEL, THE PROPERTY HAS BEEN REMODELED INTO 62 STUDIO APARTMENTS
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SUPPORTIVE SERVICES LIKE TRANSPORTATION, REFERRALS, AND CASE MANAGEMENT WILL BE AVAILABLE TO RESIDENTS
THE COUNTY SAYS THAT SINCE 2017 ITS INVESTED MORE THAN 3 HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS TO CREATE NEARLY 3 THOUSAND AFFORDABLE HOMES
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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GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM HAS SIGNED A MAJOR HOUSING BILL THAT ALLOWS APARTMENTS NEAR PUBLIC TRANSIT.
SB 79 REQUIRES CITIES TO ALLOW MID-RISE APARTMENT AND CONDO BUILDINGS WITHIN A HALF MILE OF A LIGHT RAIL STOP.
IN SAN DIEGO, THAT COULD MEAN MORE HOUSING DENSITY COMING TO BAY PARK ALONG THE BLUE LINE TROLLEY. IT COULD ALSO BRING MORE HOMES NEAR SPRINTER STATIONS IN NORTH COUNTY.
NICOLE CAPRETZ (CAP-RITZ) IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NONPROFIT CLIMATE ACTION CAMPAIGN. SHE SAYS THE BILL WAS LONG OVERDUE.
SB79 1A 0:14
NC: It's a little bit late, but it's not too late. And so I think this was finally the moment where people had to really say we have to change things up, and we have to re-imagine what our communities are going to look like and who is going to be benefiting from living in our communities.
THE BILL GOES INTO EFFECT ON JULY 1 NEXT YEAR — UNLESS CITIES ADOPT A LOCAL ALTERNATIVE PLAN. THOSE PLANS HAVE TO BE CERTIFIED BY STATE HOUSING AUTHORITIES.
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THIS WEEK THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO WILL START DELIVERING NEW TRASH BINS TO HOMEOWNERS AND HAULING AWAY THE OLD ONES. THIS COINCIDES WITH A NEW 43 DOLLAR MONTHLY CHARGE FOR WASTE SERVICES, WHICH USED TO BE FREE FOR SINGLE FAMILY HOMES. THE PRICE WILL BE SOMEWHAT LOWER FOR PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE SMALLER TRASH BINS.
JEREMY BAUER IS WITH CITY’S ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT,
TRASH 2A :18 “We are replacing all of the old trash cans and all of the old recycling containers. And what that helps us to do is ensure that we are providing service at the level that the customers have ordered. And we’re able to ensure we’re only providing services to those customers that are paying the fee. Verses any legacy containers that may have accumulated over the years.”
THE NEW TRASH AND RECYCLING BINS WILL LOOK DIFFERENT FROM THE OLD ONES. TRASH BINS WILL BE LIGHT GREY AND RECYCLING CONTAINERS WILL BE A DIFFERENT SHADE OF BLUE.
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THE GROSSMONT UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD REVIEWED TONED-DOWN VERSIONS OF CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSALS AT THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING THURSDAY.
REPORTER ELAINE ALFARO SAYS CONCERNS ABOUT THE OVERALL DIRECTION OF THE BOARD REMAIN.
GROSSMONT 1 (1:11) SOC
**NAT pop of singing
Singing rang out at the beginning of the school board meeting Thursday. Participants emphasized the refrain “let freedom ring.”
The song was to protest a series of proposals before the board. Including public protest zones, religious expression and civil discourse in schools. Jackie Naah is a teacher in the district.
“I attend to almost all of the board meetings because, I have felt like there was a need for public oversight of what this board has been doing.”
Drawing the most criticism was an effort to give district officials broad power to restrict where protesters could stand during board meetings.
In the afternoon before the meeting, the board rewrote what was a vague proposal to significantly limit where protesters could stand. The new version creates a 10-foot buffer zone that opens a clear path in and out of the building.
Board president Gary Woods said in an email to KPBS that they made the changes because community members raised concerns.
The board voted 4-1 to approve the new policy. Board trustee Chris Fite voted against it.
Elaine Alfaro, KPBS News.
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TODAY IS KNOWN AS COLUMBUS DAY AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S DAY.
IT'S ALSO LAUNCH DAY FOR A NEW FEATURE HERE ON KPBS: MUSEUM A MONTH.
REPORTER JOHN CARROLL TAKES US TO A PLACE THAT TELLS THE STORY OF SOME OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO LIVE IN WHAT IS NOW SAN DIEGO COUNTY.
BARONAMUSEUM FEATURE 4:39 SOQ
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If you hear the name Barona… you probably picture the hotel casino on Wildcat Canyon Road in Lakeside.
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The Barona Resort and Casino… on the Barona Reservation… is about 27 miles east of San Diego.
But a little more than a mile down Wildcat Canyon Road, you find the Barona Cultural Center and Museum… and if you want to know what this place represents… what it means to the people here… Chairman of the Barona Band of Mission Indians, Raymond Welch is your man. Welch says it’s the casino and hotel that made this museum possible.
“Because of our successful business, we’ve been able to go back and start recreating our history, learning about our history. A lot of it was lost, it was oral history.
There are the type of museum-quality displays you’d expect to find, but those share space with contributions from a very young class of curators… the children of Barona. Welch shows me a multi-layered map… each layer depicting different times in the history of the people here. As he unfolds each layer, we take a visual trip from the past to the present.
“In 2023, I think it was the 7th and 8th graders that made it.”
But pre-contact, this is where our people were.
This is pelts, I believe it’s a rabbit pelt, so that’s what we traded with - all of us.
That’s contact and everything… contact comes in with the Europeans.
See Mexico, that’s when Mexico was California… and then this is today.”
The stories of Native American people being pushed off their ancestral lands, and onto reservations, are a tragic part of American history… and the Barona people have their own story of being uprooted.
In 1870, President Grant set aside land in the Pala and San Pasqual valleys where the people of today’s Barona tribe lived. That is, until 1891 when they were forced to move to land that is now the El Capital Reservoir. But, in 1932, Congress allowed the City of San Diego to forcibly purchase the land to satisfy the need for water and flood control in the growing city. That year, the Viejas band bought the land they now occupy, as did the Barona band. Barona was originally a Spanish land grant ranch.
“It came up for auction and we were able to buy it at auction for $75,000.”
In the back of the museum, in a lavender-colored room, Welch tells me about the early days on the present Barona land and how a person well-known to fans of San Diego architecture, Irving Gill played a part in helping the tribal members get settled.
You may know, Gill designed many of San Diego’s best known buildings, including the Marston House in Balboa Park, and the Ellen Browning Scripps residence, now the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Welch says when Gill learned of the move to the Barona Ranch, he expressed interest in designing homes for the Barona people, along with a church… the first structure to go up on their new land.
“It was such a focal point for our members at the time. They had the church and it was very important to them for that to be the first building they built.”
It’s not just what they built, but how they built it… in the room dedicated to Gill is an old steel mold tribal members used to make the bricks that went into the church and the houses. Welch says a few of the original houses exist to this day.
But there’s more to the Barona Cultural Center and Museum than just an indoor experience. Out in back behind the building… next to the Barona School, you find a Native American plant garden. These plants here have been important to the Barona people for thousands of years - plants that provided food, tools and medicine.
And just like inside - the primary focus out here is on making sure the history of the Barona people lives on through the generations.
“It’s important because it teaches the kids what was here and what our people used it for. You know, most of this here was used for medicine, and what they would use in their daily lives. You know, it gives you a sense of identity, of who you are, and who your people were and where you came from. It’s very important to know that as you grow older and you learn.”
If you’re thinking about a getaway to Barona, you might want to think about more than the glitz and glam of the casino and hotel… and instead cast your sights just down the road - to a place where you can learn about a people who have been here for thousands of years…
And today Raymond Welch has a word for how the 643 members of this tribe are doing… it’s more than surviving…
“We’re thriving.”
JC, KPBS News.
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BOOK BANS ARE ON THE RISE ACROSS THE COUNTRY – BUT NOT IN CALIFORNIA.
ARTS REPORTER AUDY MCAFEE TAKES A CLOSER LOOK AT A PROGRAM HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE HOLD ONTO THEIR RIGHT TO READ.
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UNBANNED 1 1: 17 SO Q
The Books Unbanned initiative is part of a national effort to keep teens and young adults reading even where some books are restricted.
Misty Jones is the director of the San Diego Public Library. She says the program is a valuable resource for young readers.
“The Unbanned Books project really provides access to ebooks throughout the nation for those challenged and books that are being pulled off the shelves that you know people cannot access anymore and it's providing access for them.”
Many states across the county have growing lists of Banned Books. Florida and Iowa recorded the highest numbers last school year, according to PEN America.
Patrick Stewart is the CEO of the Library Foundation San Diego. He says access to all books matter.
“They give us that opportunity to draw parallels with other experiences and experiences that are both like ours that help us make sense of who we are in our environment, as well as experiences that are unlike ours that help us make sense of the other and how we fit in and how we how we come together as a community.”
And here in California, book bans in public libraries are prohibited under the Freedom to Read Act, also known as Assembly Bill 1825.
To sign up for a Books Unbanned card, visit the San Diego Public Library’s website.
Audy McAfee, KPBS News.
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POD BEHIND PKG
0:00: All right, SDNN listeners, it's time for another edition of the pod behind the package where we talk about standout stories from my colleagues that create or spark impact or inspiration.
0:10: In the newsroom we call our broadcast stories packages and once per week I bring in a reporter, anchor, or video journalist for a behind the scenes deep dive informal chat about a standout package they put together.
0:21: Investigative reporter Gustavo Solis is with me now to discuss the package he reported with the headline El Cajon license plate data used and nationwide immigration searches.
0:31: Gustavo Solis, how you doing?
0:32: Pretty good, man.
0:33: I'm stoked to make my debut here.
0:35: Oh man, that means so much and honestly I feel like that's like a genuine reaction, so that that means the world, you know.
0:41: Gustavo Soli is here with us.
0:42: How you doing?
0:43: Pretty good, pretty good, thank you, dude.
0:45: When diving into a topic as layered as this, how do you go about choosing those voices and sources?
0:51: Do they kind of appear to you as the story gets going, or do you have an idea of like representing both sides and certain voices to verify this story?
0:59: I think It's important to understand that that this doesn't happen in a vacuum, right?
1:04: This story didn't appear out of nowhere.
1:06: It builds on existing reporting that.
1:08: I have done and my colleagues have done.
1:11: So some of these folks I, I've just been in regular contact with, right, with, for example, Attorney General Robonta, he was here last week for a, a separate press conference about actually he's suing the city of El Cajon over this program, over the license plate reader program, so I knew he was I knew he was here obviously.
1:28: I knew I was working on this story.
1:30: So at that press conference, I asked him questions knowing that.
1:33: I was about to publish this this big piece, with the Ecoho police chief Jeremiah Larson.
1:39: We hear him in this package, but that's from a previous interview that we did before, where he was very transparent and open and really great interview about why he believes this program is effective, why he's backing it, why he supports it, and then some of his, the thought process behind the decisions he's making.
1:56: And then you hear from Dave Moss.
1:58: I've worked with him for a while on different stories he's done.
2:01: Not just him, but him and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have been talking about this stuff for a long, long time.
2:08: I think now, because some of these mass surveillance tools are being used in the immigration space, there's a lot more attention to it now.
2:14: , but they've been ringing the alarm bells for, for a long, long time.
2:19: You use the word routinely in your piece.
2:22: Any ability to share just how often or routinely we're talking about, I know you mentioned multiple states outside of California.
2:28: How often are we saying?
2:30: So it was 500.
2:32: 74 immigration related searches that we found and the time period was from January of this year to like July 10th, right?
2:40: So was that like 7 months right, almost 600 times, almost 100 times a month.
2:47: It happens very, very often.
2:49: And if you see, it's one thing to see the data sets in front of you and then the data, and I mean, that's what these systems do, they capture mass amounts of data, right?
2:59: In El Cajon, for example, Elkhon is a small city.
3:02: It's not a huge place.
3:03: They have 100 cameras.
3:04: Those 100 cameras in that small place, they capture more than 700,000 images a month.
3:11: In one month, 700,000 images.
3:14: they capture, and this is why Rob Banta is so protective of of this data, right?
3:20: Automated license plate readers, they automatically take a picture of every license plate they see.
3:25: They track the location, the direction, the time and date.
3:29: Like think about that for a second, right?
3:30: If you have enough information, you and I are creatures of habit.
3:34: I drive to work the same way.
3:36: I drive to the gym the same way, my favorite taco shop, it paints a big picture of your life, right?
3:42: If somebody wants to know where you're going to be at, but I think the the story behind it is really.
3:48: The power and the influence and the ability to.
3:52: Really know exactly what people are up to and kind of violate people's personal rights.
3:57: Is this guy is really kind of look what we're getting at at the crux here a little bit?
4:00: Yeah, I mean, I mean, there, there is a legitimate use for this information, right?
4:05: Chief Jeremiah Larson will tell you, and not just him, most police departments in San Diego County use this technology, and they often call it a force multiplier.
4:14: They have eyes on the street at all times.
4:17: If your car gets stolen in Chula Vista and someone's driving it around El Cajon.
4:21: This technology can help you find it very, very quickly.
4:24: Yes, and it could help solve crime quickly would be the counterclaim.
4:27: Exactly, yeah, that's the, the public benefit of this information.
4:31: But this investigation shows how it can be used in in the wrong hands, right?
4:37: So in this case, we found police departments from Houston, Texas, Richmond, Virginia, Louisville, Kentucky, running dozens of nationwide searches for immigration, immigration, Look up, they'll they'll type, right?
4:54: The system lets you do a search based on any kind of keyword you put.
4:58: So they'll type immigration enforcement, immigration violation.
5:03: Ice look up, ice assist.
5:06: A slew of different search terms all related to immigration and because El Cajon is sharing the data collected in El Cajon with these other police departments, when these other police departments do nationwide searches, Elkhone data is included in that search.
5:20: , Gustavo Solis, any other parts, tidbits, gems, or maybe a a stat.
5:25: That didn't make it into this last piece that you're able to share with us?
5:28: Yeah, I don't, not so much a statistic, but I think in my reporting when I can, I love to go back to the the human impact, right?
5:35: What does this mean for people on the ground?
5:37: What does this mean for people who live in El Cajon, whose data is being collected and used in this way that they may not agree with?
5:44: And I talked to one gentleman, unfortunately, I, I didn't make the cut in the story.
5:48: Oftentimes people give you their time and share their stories with you, and unfortunately you don't have the bandwidth to include them in the story.
5:55: , but Jesus Pacheco.
5:56: Jesus Pacheco is a longtime El Cajon resident, a US citizen, and I asked him like, how has your life changed because of the current immigration situation, especially in El Cajon, right?
6:08: For listeners might know because we've reported on this stuff, but El Cajon, the mayor is a big Trump supporter, they've leaned into supporting the federal administration and that's created a lot of tension in the city.
6:19: And, and this guy, he was here in the newsroom.
6:21: I invited him over.
6:23: Jesus he's he's an older Mexican man, but like I said, US citizen.
6:27: I asked him what has changed.
6:28: He leaned back, reached into his pocket, took out his wallet, and showed me his passport card, and he always carries his passport around him now.
6:39: he started doing that after Trump got elected and tells other people to do the same thing.
6:44: So that to me is just like very telling of the human impact, and I thought it was just a sad reality.
6:51: He's a US citizen.
6:53: Same as me and you and the president and all the ICE officers, they have the same legal status, but he feels the need to carry that to show his papers if and when the need arises.
7:03: Gustavo Solis on SDNN, thank you.
7:05: Thank you.
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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 have a great day.
