New reporting reveals Balboa Park needs nearly $1 billion for repairs
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Headline: New reporting reveals Balboa Park needs nearly $1 billion for repairs
Description: First, an interview with the investigative journalist who unveiled that Balboa Park needs roughly $1 billion in repairs. Also, San Diego Unified has some safety rules in place to help keep kids cool and safe. Then, SDG&E is getting input on a new transmission line. And, the federal government announced cuts for California and others that rely on water coming from the Colorado River.
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s THURSDAY, AUGUST 27TH>>>> [ SAN DIEGO’S CROWN JEWEL; BALBOA PARK NEEDS ROUGHLY 1 BILLION DOLLARS IN REPAIRS]More on that next. But first... the headlines….#######
THE SAN DIEGO COMMISSION ON POLICE PRACTICES IS PROPOSING NEW RESTRICTIONS IN AN EFFORT TO PROMOTE BIAS-FREE POLICING IN TRAFFIC STOPS
FIRSTLY, THE COMMISSION IS ASKING TO END STOPS SOLELY BASED ON MINOR EQUIPMENT OR ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATIONS
THIS INCLUDES THINGS LIKE TINTS OR REGISTRATION THAT’S BEEN EXPIRED LESS THAN A YEAR, AMONG OTHERS …
THE COMMISSION WOULD ALSO LIKE TO SEE AN END TO STOPS BASED ON STATUS OR GENERALIZED FACTORS
THIS INCLUDES NOT EXTENDING A STOP DUE TO SOMETHING LIKE PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY
THE FULL LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS WAS SENT TO THE SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPARTMENT ON MONDAY
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A PROPOSAL LOOKING TO ENSURE THAT CITY-OWNED BEACH AND BAY PARKING LOTS REMAIN FREE FOR CITY RESIDENTS IS ONE STEP CLOSER TO BECOMING A REALITY
IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED BY THE CITY’S RULES COMMITTEE
COUNCIL MEMBER KENT LEE IS ON THE COMMITTEE
Kent Lee / San Diego City Council, District 6
"I mean I do know our neighbors north of us certainly charge for beach parking and the state certainly does for all of its state laws. I just point that out because again I also respect the value of access for county residents - but it's a little ironic to me when our county neighbors in other cities are charging our residents to park at our beaches but we would never be allowed to do the same thing."
THE PROPOSAL NOW GOES TO THE FULL CITY COUNCIL WHO WILL WEIGH IN ON IT AT A LATER DATE
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THE SAN DIEGO PADRES OWNERSHIP GROUP CONTINUES TO GROW!
BUSS SPORTS CAPITAL HAS JOINED THE GROUP. IT’S; AN INVESTMENT GROUP FOUNDED BY FORMER LOS ANGELES LAKERS EXECS JOEY AND JESSE BUSS
THE BROTHERS TOLD ESPN YESTERDAY THAT THEY WILL JOIN THE PADRES’ ADVISORY BOARD
ESPN REPORTS THEIR OWNERSHIP STAKE IS SOMEWHERE AROUND FIVE PERCENT
THIS COMES SHORTLY AFTER FIVE OF THE BUSS SIBLINGS VOTED TO SELL THEIR REMAINING STAKE IN THE L-A LAKERS AND RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PADRES’ CURRENT POSTSEASON PUSH
A PLAYOFF BERTH THIS YEAR WOULD MARK THE FIRST TIME IN PADRES HISTORY THAT THEY’VE MADE THE POSTSEASON THREE SEASONS IN A ROW
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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BALBOA PARK IS KNOWN AS THE CROWN JEWEL OF SAN DIEGO. BUT AFTER YEARS OF DEFERRED MAINTENANCE ISSUES, CITY OFFICIALS ESTIMATE THE PARK NEEDS NEARLY 1-BILLION-DOLLARS IN REPAIRS. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER GREG MORAN (more-rann) FIRST COVERED THE STORY FOR OUR NEWSROOM PARTNER I-NEWSOURCE. I SPOKE WITH HIM EARLIER THIS WEEK.
BALBOA (inews) TRT 4:35 last words “Balboa Park”
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What are some of the ways we're seeing Balboa Park's infrastructure start to slip a little bit? I think in two two ways. One is uh in the buildings uh in the park. You see uh just a lot of sort of basic maintenance, paint, uh window repair, things like that.
And some bigger issues with foundations and roofs and so forth. Uh and then there is kind of things you don't see, but the sort of the systems in the building, HVAC, plumbing, water, things like that. All those uh add up. The other way I think is just in in the grounds itself, you know, there are the trails uh through the park uh need some work. They need, you know, some clearing, some cleaning, some better marking.
the gardens in the park, some of them look a little uh worse for wear than others, even though there's a lot of effort in to maintaining them. And then uh you know, just kind of walking around the park, the sidewalks uh are crumbling in places, the curbs are kind of tricky to negotiate, uh things like that. Absolutely. how did we get here?
How did the park's maintenance issue become so dire? Well, it's a it's a story that really built up over years, I mean decades really. There has been uh a consistent uh neglect of the needs of the park. Uh not out of any malice, but out of some policy decisions and some constraints that the city has had over the years. But it's something that's built up over many years. It's not one administration or one person or things like that.
It is a collective um kick the can down the road kind of thing for at least 20 years, 30 years, maybe more. Wow. Uh in your reporting, you mentioned how paid parking, the impact that it has as far as going back to towards the park. Uh what's going to happen without that extra revenue stream? What's going to happen without that extra money? Well, it'll go back to or it'll return to what it was before is that the park, the maintenance of the park and the running of the park, which uh is that the city owns the park, uh will come out of the general fund.
And as we all know from the recent budget uh cycle, the uh general fund is very challenged and very constrained.It'll go back to what it has been for years, which is the general fund supporting the park. And you have to remember the general fund can feed competes with all other departments in the city, police, fire, uh you know, every everything else. So um you know, if if you can say we got to this point over years of not enough money being put into the park, that's kind of the position we're going back to. Absolutely. As I worked my way through your piece, you mentioned another park that gets uh it almost has an exact revenue stream coming from it.
Can you talk to me about that a little bit? It's a great question because the other park is Mission Bay Park, the the beautiful water water park uh on the coast. You know, Mission Bay Park has a has its own revenue stream.
It's a different kind of park because the things in there are really commercially oriented, hotels, businesses, restaurants, all like that. They throw off a lot of cash, 30 to 40 million a year in lease payments and other things that they get to the city. The city takes a a chunk of that money, uh but a good a a percentage of it, I think about a third, stays in the park. It goes into a fund. That fund grows over time and when it is time to do things in Mission Bay Park, they can tap that fund and do what they want.
There've been some great improvements in Mission Bay Park over the last 10 years, all coming from that money. Balboa Park is not that kind of a park. I mean, you have uh museums, you have uh cultural places, you have clubs, you have organizations, you have a few commercial entities, but not much.
In addition, a city policy says that nonprofit cultural institutions across the city, but but that are on city property, like they're in Balboa Park, don't have to pay rent or a lease payment. They do some maintenance, the city does the rest.
So it's really uh the challenge is finding a way to kind of monetize Balboa Park without, you know, without destroying what makes Balboa Park Balboa Park. What are some of the other options on the table to help Balboa build its own revenue stream? Well, uh after paid parking, I think people are a little bit bruised about that. So there's nothing kind of going on right now.
But there are things people have talked about. Uh for instance, the botanical building, which was just remodeled, beautiful job, $28 million. That's now a real central uh attractive part of the park. You could do events or things there uh uh you know, uh meetings or or whatever it will be, charge for those to an extent, and that money can theoretically, I would think, I'm not a policy guy, but could stay in the park.
So if you think of things like that, uh that that could be done, again, without really destroying the character of the park, that that's that's one way to do it. But I don't see at this point anybody really kind of scheming out another way to kind of charge money in Balboa Park. I think everybody's kind of, you know, touched the oven on that one and they don't want to they don't want to do it again. I think it's interesting because if we went out on the street and we said to to a man on the street, woman on the street, we said, do you like Balboa Park? They would say, I love it. I'm obsessed. And you say, do you want to pay to keep it that way?
Then the conversation kind of takes a turn. Well, but that's exactly true. And and we in our reporting, we had our documentary reporters go out and and they heard that a lot, you know, that people um love it. And you saw that in the debate over paid parking. People love Balboa Park, but they don't want to pay to go to Balboa Park.
TAG: THAT WAS INEWSOURCE REPORTER GREG MORAN
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A HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK.
EDUCATION REPORTER KATIE ANASTAS SAYS SAN DIEGO UNIFIED HAS SAFETY PLANS IN PLACE TO HELP STUDENTS STAY COOL.
HOTSCHOOL1 0:56 SOQ
During heat waves like this one…district leaders say schools might limit or reschedule recess and other physical activity.
ALFONSO
All activities depending on the weather can be modified, rescheduled, relocated or even shortened.
Jennifer Alfonso manages nursing and wellness in the district. She says staff are providing water and encouraging kids to stay hydrated.
Alfonso says teachers, staff and coaches are trained to recognize signs of heat illness in students.
ALFONSO
We want to encourage students and staff to be honest and to tell someone when they're not feeling well so we can get them the care that they need.
The district says all classrooms have air conditioning. Gyms, kitchens, restrooms and locker rooms don’t. Classes in non-air-conditioned portables might move to auditoriums or other spaces with air conditioning.
The National Weather Service expects high temperatures to drop down to 80 on Monday. Katie Anastas, KPBS News.
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SDG&E IS GATHERING PUBLIC FEEDBACK ON ITS PROPOSED HIGH-VOLTAGE TRANSMISSION LINE.
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA SAYS THE GOLDEN PACIFIC POWERLINK IS RAISING CONCERNS ABOUT WILDFIRE RISKS.
POWERLINK 1 TRT 00:52
Residents huddled over poster boards at an open house at the Fallbrook Community Center.
They map the 500-kilovolt line SDG&E wants to build. Fallbrook falls in its proposed route. That’s where Carol Gibson lives.
POWERLINK 1a 00:08
“It's difficult to get representation for the whole community. Residents really need to find out and see if it affects them.”
Gibson says a 200-foot-tall transmission line puts communities at risk of wildfires.
The project has a long way to go before being considered by state regulators. The utility’s Alex Welling says regulators will also examine wildfire and other environmental risks.
POWERLINK 1c 00:07
“They're going to be looking at every single aspect of this project, and they're going to weigh it against the feedback from the communities as well.”
SDG&E is hosting two more open houses in Imperial Valley and Anza Borrego in October. Tammy Murga, KPBS News
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THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED SHARP CUTS FOR CALIFORNIA AND TWO OTHER STATES THAT RELY ON COLORADO RIVER WATER.
PUBLIC MATTERS REPORTER KEVIN TREVELLYAN [TREV-UH-LYN] SAYS OUR REGION APPEARS WELL-POSITIONED TO WEATHER THE IMPACTS.
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SDWATER 2 (0:55) SOQ
The Interior Department says California, Arizona, and Nevada each need to use less water next year through 2028… That’s while drought and rising temperatures continue to drain the Colorado River.
“In a practical context for California, it means giving up a big chunk of water.”
Felicia Marcus is a visiting fellow at Stanford University and used to chair the California State Water Resources Control Board. She says local leaders have proactively supplemented the water supply here… to minimize the impact of upstream cuts.
“The folks in San Diego have recognized their vulnerability and invested. Which, frankly, as much as people complain about the cost – the cost is a pittance compared to the cost of inaction when the taps run dry.”
A seawater desalination plant in Carlsbad supplies roughly a tenth of the region’s drinking water. And the city of San Diego and other municipalities have pursued large-scale water recycling projects in recent years.
The San Diego County Water Authority is actually oversupplied with water, which it sells to other agencies.
KT, KPBS News.
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That’s it for the podcast today which was edited by Brooke Ruth and hosted and produced by me, Lawrence K. Jackson. 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.
