Museum leaders say ask city to reconsider paid parking at Balboa Park
<<<HEADLINES>>>
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson… it’s THURSDAY, JANUARY 22ND>>>> [MUSEUM LEADERS IN BALBOA PARK SAY THERE’S BEEN A DECLINE IN VISITORS SINCE PAID PARKING BEGAN]More on that next. But first... the headlines…#######
ACCORDING TO THE GUARDIAN, THE CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS ONCE AGAIN ASKED THE U-S SUPREME COURT TO BLOCK THE STATE’S NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAPS
THE NEW MAPS ARE IN RESPONSE TO TEXAS' GERRYMANDERED MAPS AND WERE APPROVED BY A MAJORITY OF CALIFORNIA VOTERS BACK IN NOVEMBER
STATE REPUBLICANS ARE ASKING FOR AN INJUNCTION TO BE
ISSUED BEFORE THE NINTH OF NEXT MONTH ... THE
START DATE OF CALIFORNIA'S FILING PERIOD FOR THE 20-26 PRIMARIES
EARLIER THIS MONTH A FEDERAL COURT REJECTED THE ARGUMENT
THAT CALIFORNIA ILLEGALLY USED RACE WHILE REDRAWING THE
BOUNDARIES OF THEIR DISTRICTS AND REFUSED TO BLOCK THE MAP
#######
CITY COUNCILMAN SEAN ELO-RIVERA IS ON A MISSION TO
TAX VACANT SECOND HOMES AND VACATION RENTALS IN THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO
HE'S BEEN ON A PRESS TOUR THIS WEEK PROMOTING THE TAX
IF APPROVED, IT WOULD ONLY APPLY TO ENTIRE-HOME, SHORT-TERM RENTALS AND SECOND HOMES THAT SIT VACANT...NOT PRIMARY RESIDENCES
ELO-RIVERA WAS JOINED BY EDUCATORS, STUDENTS AND POLICY ADVOCATES AT TORREY PINES ELEMENTARY ON TUESDAY.
HE SAID THAT WHEN HOMES ARE TURNED INTO VACATION RENTALS OR SIT EMPTY AS SECOND HOMES, STUDENTS PAY THE PRICE THROUGH HIGHER RENTS, LONGER COMMUTES AND FEWER
OPTIONS
ACCORDING TO HIS OFFICE, THE MEASURE WOULD IMPACT LESS
THAN ONE PERCENT OF SAN DIEGANS BUT COULD GENERATE UP
TO NINETY MILLION IN REVENUE PER YEAR
########
THE DR SEUSS FOUNDATION AND THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION HAVE A
COMMON GOAL OF BOLSTERING EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY AND OVERALL SCHOOL READINESS FOR KIDS
THEY SAY THAT WHILE DEMAND GROWS, FUNDING REMAINS UNCERTAIN... AND IN RESPONSE TO THIS, THEY'VE LAUNCHED A
JOINT GRANT APPLICATION
LOCAL NONPROFITS CAN NOW APPLY FOR TWO DIFFERENT EARLY CHILDHOOD GRANTS THROUGH ONE APP
2 MILLION DOLLARS IN TOTAL FUNDING IS AVAILABLE
THE APPLICATION IS ON THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION'S ONLINE GRANT PORTAL
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
<<<UNDERWRITING BREAK>>
######
<<<MUSIC BUMP INTO A BLOCK>>
##########
AFTER JUST WEEKS OF PAID PARKING AT BALBOA PARK, MUSEUM LEADERS ARE CALLING FOR A CHANGE.
REPORTER JACOB AERE SAYS THEY'RE SEEING A DECLINE IN VISITORS SINCE THE PROGRAM BEGAN.
____________________________________________________
BALBOAPARKING1 (ja) :55
Leaders of Balboa Park’s cultural institutions gathered at Alcazar Garden.
Their message to the city: (pause) reconsider paid parking. The Balboa Park Cultural Partnership says declines in park visits range from 20% to over 50% depending on the day and attraction, compared to last January.
Judy Gradwohl (GRAD-wall) is President and CEO of the San Diego Natural History Museum.
“If this trend continues many cultural institutions will have no choice but to cut their own programming, exhibits, education and even staff.”
The Cultural Partnership projects a loss of at least 20 million dollars a year in revenue if park attendance continues at these rates.
In a statement a spokesperson for the mayor's office said:
“Rescinding the program now, before meaningful trends can be measured, would put the park’s financial future at risk …” JA KPBS News.
##########
THE DEATH OF A CHILD WHO WAS STRUCK AND KILLED WHILE RIDING A BIKE IN PACIFIC BEACH LAST WEEKEND HAS LEFT MANY IN THE COMMUNITY HEARTBROKEN.
PUBLIC MATTERS REPORTER JAKE GOTTA SAYS NEIGHBORS ARE NOW RENEWING CALLS TO IMPROVE ROAD SAFETY IN THE AREA.
PBSAFETY 1 TRT (1:13) SOQ
SIX YEAR OLD HUDSON O’LOUGHLIN WAS RIDING HIS BIKE WHEN HE WAS HIT BY A CAR. THE DRIVER FLED THE SCENE.
WHILE THE COMMUNITY MOURNS THIS TRAGEDY DAVID CUTHELL WITH THE NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP “BEAUTIFUL PB” IS RENEWING URGENT CALLS TO IMPROVE TRAFFIC SAFETY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
“We've been asking the city for support and funding and helping us install, infrastructure that will help calm the traffic and make more people comfortable.
THAT’S ALSO THE GOAL OF VISION ZERO, A PLAN THE CITY ADOPTED BACK IN 2015 AIMING TO ELIMINATE TRAFFIC DEATHS. BUT CITY STATS SHOW THERE WERE MORE TRAFFIC DEATHS IN 2022 AND 2023 THAN IN 2015
SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT JOE LACAVA – WHO REPRESENTS PACIFIC BEACH – SAYS HE UNDERSTANDS THE NEED FOR SAFER STREETS.
PBSAFETY 2A [0:05]
“I'm still fully committed [TO] that within the resources that we have to make it safer for everyone.”
BUT LACAVA TOLD KPBS THAT DESPITE CITY PLANS TO ELIMINATE TRAFFIC DEATHS – SAFETY MEASURES HAVE FACED PUSH BACK.
PBSAFETY2B [0:10]
“We've seen individual cities build bike lanes in, and then rip them out because it's confusing, to drivers….
AS LEADERS GRAPPLE WITH HOW TO IMPROVE SAFETY WITHOUT ANGERING TOO MANY DRIVERS, LIVES LIKE HUDSONS HANG IN THE BALANCE.
JG, KPBS NEWS
##########
HISTORIC FLOODS TWO YEARS AGO DISPLACED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, MANY OF WHOM ARE STILL WORKING TO REBUILD THEIR LIVES AND LOOK FOR JUSTICE
PEOPLE LIKE JESSICA CALIX [LICKS], WHO LOST HER SOUTHCREST HOME AND MOVED WITH HER SON INTO AN R-V PARK.
SHE SAYS THE CITY STILL ISN’T DOING ENOUGH TO PROTECT THE COMMUNITY..
THE CITY DISTRIBUTED SAND BAGS AHEAD OF THE STORMS THIS MONTH BUT WITHOUT SAND.
FLOODMIDDAY 2A (:06) “SO YEAH, UNFORTUNATELY, FROM OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS, THIS THERE'S BEEN NOTHING … NOT EVEN SAND FOR THE SANDBAGS.”
SHE HOPES TO MOVE BACK TO SOUTHCREST.
FLOODMIDDAY 2B (:12) I MISS THE PEOPLE, THE RELATIONSHIPS, THE COMMUNITY, YOU KNOW, THE MUSIC, I MEAN, EVEN THE FIREWORKS AND ALL THE NOISE IS ON NEW YEAR'S EVE. I MISS THAT, YOU KNOW?
THERE ARE SEVERAL LAWSUITS AGAINST THE CITY STEMMING FROM THE FLOODS. CALIX IS A PLAINTIFF IN ONE OF THEM.
##########
CONTROVERSY IS FLARING IN IMPERIAL COUNTY OVER PLANS FOR A MASSIVE DATA CENTER. THE PROJECT’S DEVELOPERS ARE OPENLY SEEKING TO AVOID CALIFORNIA’S ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESS, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE PROJECT COULD NEED IMMENSE AMOUNTS OF ENERGY AND WATER.
BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT THE ENTREPRENEUR LEADING THE PROJECT HAS FACED CONTROVERSIES OF HIS OWN. IN THE SECOND OF A THREE-PART SERIES, REPORTER KORI SUZUKI FOUND, HIS PREVIOUS BUSINESS VENTURES HAVE FACED STATE AND FEDERAL INVESTIGATIONS.
IVDATACENTER PT 2 (4:31) SOQ
__________________________
When you meet Sebastian Rucci, it’s hard not to notice his confidence. Especially when it comes to his plans to build a massive data center in the Imperial Valley.
20251202_datacenter_sebastian rucci / 01:45
I think Imperial County is a great opportunity because they have a lot of renewable energy down there. They have a lot of potential. Also, economically, it's a place with very, very high unemployment. That's the right location.
Rucci is an entrepreneur and lawyer who lives just outside Palm Desert in the Coachella Valley. As we talked over Zoom last month, I could see golf carts wandering down the manicured green through his window.
When Rucci speaks, it’s with certainty. Even though he’s now facing some fierce opposition to the data center from people who live near the proposed project … as well as state and local elected officials.
20251202_datacenter_sebastian rucci / 12:45
Look, data centers right now as you and I speak, they're a national urgency, right? I mean, that's not me creating it. Our president has filed executive orders says it's for national priority. And we need them because we feel the country that there's a competition with China.
But to some extent, that confident air is at odds with Rucci’s past. Across the country in Ohio, his previous business ventures have left a trail of criminal investigations and legal complaints.
In 2010, local prosecutors charged Rucci and several other people with money laundering, promoting prostitution and perjury. Related to a night club he owned in the city of Youngstown. That’s according to state court records.
20260106_ivdatacenter_rucci no surprises / 34:40
I knew it was all politically motivated.
Rucci has an explanation. He says he was unfairly targeted by local officials for political reasons.
He points out that he was never convicted. The felony charges against him and the others were eventually thrown out. Some because the case took too long to go to trial.
20260106_ivdatacenter_rucci no surprises / 34:10
That retaliation ended up in probably, I don't know, 40, 50 different filings. I won all of them but one.
Afterwards, Rucci started a treatment center for drug addiction. But that business ran into its own problems.
Ohio health officials inspected the facility. In 2021, a report found that staff had provided false information about the facility’s clients and staff, falsified signatures and broken various healthcare protocols.
Rucci disputes that report, which he says was one-sided. He also emphasizes that the treatment center provided a significant amount of free care to its patients — military veterans in particular.
But Rucci acknowledges that the center grew quickly in the beginning.
20260106_ivdatacenter_rucci no surprises / 48:50
We opened in the summer of that that year, the report here to referring to, and it was very messy. We exploded very fast, and the growth was was way more than we could handle.
Also in 2021, the FBI started investigating Rucci and the treatment center… according to federal court records. That October, federal agents raided the center and seized more than six hundred thousand dollars.
Rucci has an explanation for this too.
20260106_ivdatacenter_rucci no surprises / 52:55
These were all working together. That's the problem. They were all working together. They clearly were working together
Federal officials never charged Rucci or the treatment center with any crimes. But state officials DID revoke the treatment center’s certification. Which led to termination of the center’s Medicaid contract. And the facility shut down.
Rucci fought the federal government. He sued them over the raid and the confiscated funds. Eventually, the government returned the money with interest. Rucci is still seeking copies of the warrants they used to justify the raid — and recently won an appeal.
Between the two businesses, Rucci was only ever convicted of one charge: selling beer with an expired license at the nightclub in 2014. He served 30 days in jail.
To hear Rucci tell it, in these cases, he was unfairly singled out. By local officials in Ohio — and by small-town politics.
He says his past business history doesn’t have anything to do with what he’s trying to do here. The giant data center project that he’s working on with the county government.
20260106_ivdatacenter_rucci no surprises / 36:00
There's nothing to do [with] what I'm doing here. I'm the guy who put up the money to try to move this project along in Imperial County. [...] I'm now the guy that takes all the hits for some of this
But some people in Imperial County still have concerns.
Imperial County Data Center Workshop / 01:22:20
What is the vetting process for potential developers for the county?
Christopher Scurries is an Imperial County resident and a critic of the project. At a county meeting last week, he raised particular questions about how county officials screen the developers they work with.
Imperial County Data Center Workshop / contin.
Do you do extensive background checks? Do you ensure they have experience in building data centers? Do you ensure that they have an upstanding legal record?
Rucci claims the same thing that happened in Ohio is happening now in Imperial County. He says there’s a coordinated campaign going on to sabotage the data center.
But Rucci says his experience fighting previous investigations has given him the strength to keep going.
20260106_ivdatacenter_rucci no surprises / 38:35
I'm going nowhere. You can be clear on that.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at how Rucci’s project has sparked a movement against it in Imperial County. And how it’s part of a growing rebellion against data centers across the country.
In El Centro, Kori Suzuki, KPBS News.
##########
THE WORLD’S OLDEST COLLEGIATE A CAPELLA GROUP, THE YALE WHIFFENPOOFS, TOOK THE STAGE IN SAN DIEGO THIS PAST WEEKEND.
ARTS REPORTER AUDY MCAFEE (AW-dee MACK-uh-fee) SAT IN ON THE CONCERT AND SPOKE WITH TWO SAN DIEGO NATIVE MEMBERS.
________________________________________________________
WHIFFENPOOFS 1 (1:16) Nats of Clapping
For the 117th year, the Yale Whiffenpoofs are traveling the world, performing everywhere from China to Mexico.
Last weekend, their winter tour brought them to San Diego — and home for two of its members.
[GIVE IT UP FOR SAN DIEGO MEMBER JOSPEH]
They performed at All Souls Episcopal(UH-PIS-CAH-POLL) Church, welcoming back San Diego natives Benjamin Jimenez and Joseph Aguilar.
[FADE UP JOSEPH]
Aguilar says a capella’s simplicity is what makes it special.
“we can just set up anywhere and sing to anybody. We can set up in a home, in a restaurant, and just and start singing for people and bring smiles and Yeah. wherever you want and it's awesome.”
Each year, Yale University selects 14 undergraduates to take a gap year between their junior and senior years to sing professionally, with the goal of performing on all six inhabited continents.
[FADE UP BEN]
Jimenez says San Diego's arts and theater community played a major role in his path to the Whiffenpoofs.
“I've always really felt always exposed to the arts growing up here in San Diego and I don't think all cities are as welcoming to city arts in San Diego, so I've always felt grateful.”
The Whiffenpoofs continue their winter tour through the end of January.
Audy McAfee, KPBS news.
<<<SHOW CLOSE>>>
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 really want to thank you for that. Have a great day!
