San Diego City Council votes to establish an affordable housing preservation fund
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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson, it’s TUESDAY, JUNE 30TH>>>> [ SAN DIEGO IS TRYING TO KEEP THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING THAT IT ALREADY HAS ]More on HOW next. But first... let’s do the headlines….########
NAVY OFFICIALS ARE LOOKING FOR THE BODY OF A CAMP PENDLETON MARINE WHO WENT MISSING OFF OUR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST ON THURSDAY.
THE NAVY SAID THE MARINE WAS SERVING ABOARD THE SAN DIEGO-BASED U-S-S ANCHORAGE
CBS-8 SAYS THE MARINE'S FAMILY HAS IDENTIFIED HIM AS LANCE CORPORAL ARMANDO ORTIZ CONSECO AND SAY HE WENT MISSING DURING AN INTEGRATED TRAINING EXERCISE
OFFICIALS SAY THE U-S NAVY, U-S COAST GUARD, U-S AIR FORCE AND THE U-S MARINE CORPS {CORE] UTILIZED THREE SHIPS AND 12 AIRCRAFT IN AN ATTEMPT TO RESCUE THE MISSING MARINE
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FORECASTERS ANTICIPATE A GRADUAL WARMING TREND STARTING THURSDAY AND INTO THE JULY FOURTH WEEKEND
UNTIL THEN, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAYS YOU CAN EXPECT RELATIVELY MILD TEMPERATURES OVERALL...
THE WEATHER SERVICE ALSO SAYS A MARINE LAYER HAS DEEPENED IN OUR NORTH COUNTY COASTAL AREAS AND WILL REMAIN THROUGH FRIDAY
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ONE SAN DIEGO-BASED RESTAURANT AND ONE SAN DIEGO-BASED SOMMELIER EARNED THEIR WAY ONTO MICHELIN'S COVETED CALIFORNIA GUIDE THIS YEAR
THE LA JOLLA BASED ‘LUCIEN’ [LU-C-EN] WAS THE SOLE RESTAURANT IN SAN DIEGO TO EARN A NEW MICHELIN STAR; EARNING A ONE-STAR RATING
ADDITIONALLY THIS YEAR, SAVANNAH REIDLER OF THE CARSLBAD-BASED 'LILO' EARNED THE MICHELIN SOMMELIER AWARD
ALSO WORTH NOTING, OCEANSIDE'S 'VALLE' [VY-YE] WHICH FIRST RECEIVED THEIR MICHELIN STAR BACK IN 20-23 AND MAINTAINED IT FOR THREE YEARS, LOST THEIR SINGLE STAR FOR 20-26
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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THE SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL VOTED YESTERDAY (MONDAY) TO ESTABLISH AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING PRESERVATION FUND.
METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN SAYS IT'S BACKED BY FEES PAID BY DEVELOPERS.
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AFFORDABLE 2 (ab) 0:46 soq
AB: The preservation fund will help pay to rehabilitate aging affordable housing projects and keep the rents affordable for a longer period of time. Thousands of San Diegans who live in affordable housing are at risk of losing their homes as the affordability restrictions on their housing expire. Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said the fund will keep vulnerable people in their homes.
SER: There's a lot of conversations about maintaining community character, as community character being something that needs to be preserved. And community character comes from people, and we protect people by preserving affordable housing.
AB: The council voted to allocate 5.9 million dollars to the preservation fund for the fiscal year that starts on July 1. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.
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IMMIGRATION IS TAKING CENTER STAGE BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT. LAST WEEK, THE COURT ISSUED RULINGS ON ASYLUM AND TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS. THIS WEEK, THE COURT WILL RULE ON A BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP CASE.
REPORTER GUSTAVO SOLIS EXPLAINS THE IMPACT.
SCOTUSCASES 1 (gs) 1:13 SOQ
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The Supreme Court ruled last week that the Trump administration can turn back asylum seekers at ports of entry along the border.
Melissa Crow is the director of litigation at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies. She’s been fighting this practice since it surfaced in San Diego … a decade ago.
“When for the first time ever Customs and Border Protection officers started turning back asylum seekers at Ports of Entry along the U.S. Mexico border.”
The high court also eliminated protections for Haitian and Syrian nationals who have Temporary Protected Status … because of the dangerous conditions in their home countries.
CROW 00:09:06:01“I think both of these decisions – which were 6-3 – and both were authored by Justice Alito show that the court really doesn’t care that much about non-citizens no matter how long they have been there and regardless of their ties to the country. They also don’t particularly care – it appears – about our legal obligations either domestic or internationally.”
Next up is a ruling on Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship. Crow notes that the birthright issue is a constitutional case. Which makes it very different from the other two cases.
Gustavo Solis, KPBS News
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EVERY DAY TWENTY-THREE CALIFORNIANS DIE FROM EXPOSURE TO TOXIC ROAD VEHICLE POLLUTION. THAT’S ACCORDING TO A REPORT OUT THIS WEEK (Monday) BY THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON CLEAN TRANSPORTATION.
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TAMMY MURGA HAS THE LOCAL DATA.
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The study shows every day, one San Diego County resident dies from vehicle pollution. And roughly one new pediatric asthma case emerges.
Josh Miller is with the International Council. He says medium-and heavy-duty vehicles are the top emitters.
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“San Diego County also has the fifth-highest number of warehouses among counties in California. So there is a very clear connection between the freight infrastructure and activity and the health burden that we're seeing.”
Lingzhi Jin is a researcher with the Council. She says vehicle pollution hits hardest in neighborhoods with busy roads.
POLLUTION 1b 00:07
“Which is also why kids living near freeways and freight hubs might end up carrying so much of this asthma burden.”
The study argues deaths linked to vehicle pollution should gradually decline. Miller says greater health benefits will depend on how fast the transition to zero-emission vehicles happens. Tammy Murga, KPBS News
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THE FORMER OFFICIAL WHO OVERSAW THE COUNTY’S ANIMAL SHELTERS HAS FILED A LAWSUIT AGAINST THE COUNTY. KPBS’ SCOTT RODD REPORTS THE LAWSUIT ALLEGES DEFAMATION AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT.
BORRELLI (:49) SOC (WRAP)
Former Animal Services assistant director Rachael Borrelli was put on administrative leave last fall. This happened the day before KPBS reported on a profane voice message Borrelli had sent that disparaged shelter dogs and called for increasing euthanasias.
The county then fired her in January. Now, Borrelli claims that firing was an act of retaliation.
In her lawsuit, Borrelli alleges an employee had spread false rumors about her. Specifically, that she was only hired after having a sexual relationship with a previous department director.
According to her lawsuit, Borrelli complained about the employee’s conduct to human resources…but she was told to drop the matter. She claims the county failed to adequately investigate her complaint and discipline the employee.
The county declined to comment on the litigation.
The Department of Animal Services has faced growing scrutiny in the last year…after a KPBS investigation found the department saw a spike in dog euthanasias and struggled with staffing problems.
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FOR THE FILIPINO DIASPORA, FOOD IS A STRONG TETHER TO THEIR HOMELAND .. AND THEIR IDENTITY. BUT FOR DECADES, TRADITIONAL FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FROM THE PHILIPPINES WERE HARD TO COME BY.
IN PART THREE OF OUR SERIES, REPORTER ELAINE ALFARO SHARES HOW THE FILIPINO COMMUNITY HAS CONTINUED CULINARY AND CULTURAL TRADITIONS IN HOME GARDENS.
MANILAFRUIT (4:37) SOC
**NATS OF GUNNAWA AMILING SINGING
You can often hear Modsta (mow-dest-ah) Gunnawa Amiling in her backyard before you see her.
Gunnawa Amiling SOT
“Instead of talking to my husband because he don't listen, I talk to my to my plants. Like, "Oh, you're so beautiful. Good morning." Yeah. And you sing to them? What do you sing? I sing to them too. Can you give us a sample? Oh, yeah.”
**NATS OF GUNNAWA AMILING SINGING
Either singing to the leafy camote tops or complimenting her calamansi fruits.
Gunnawa Amiling SOT
“That's my therapy. Yeah, because I can talk to my plants. I I love planting.”
Gunnawa Amiling’s garden is part of the collective story of San Diego’s Filipino-American community, which is one of the largest in the U.S.
She grew up in a remote area of Kalinga, Philippines, which had limited access to stores or markets. So her family grew what they ate.
Gunnawa Amiling SOT
“While growing up as a kid, our parents don't have to tell us to plant. We are already, we are still babies, and we know that when we grow up we were going to start doing the soil and plant something for food, for survival…. We are trained to to plant any kind of food like fruits, vegetables… so we don't have to go to the market. We produce everything one way or the other.”
She came to San Diego in 1984 after her husband was stationed at a Naval base in San Diego. She and husband bought their house and started their garden. Her garden is a tie back to that mentality from the homeland – one that many San Diego Filipino-Americans share.
Filipino migration to San Diego was heavily influenced by the Navy. Servicemen who were stationed in San Diego would petition to bring their wives and children to set up their new life in areas like Paradise Hills and National City.
These home gardens speak to a bigger part of Filipino culture that Joanna La Torre grew up with in her grandparent’s house. Then, she made it central to her Phd research at University of Washington.
La Torre SOT
“This is just a very important site of cultural reproduction, where they're not just growing foods, they're also practicing their culture, a culture of generosity, a culture that they have been practicing since before they got here. (It) is how they are raised and they continue to do it.”
These home gardens often have camote, calamansi, lemon, sitaw and ampalaya. All fruits and vegetables from the Philippines that are foundational to the traditional Filipino dishes like sinigang.
Alfonso Villamora also grew up like Gunnawa Amiling, growing crops out of necessity.
Villamora SOT
“My gardening started even overseas, it was in my psyche. When I grow up, that’s what I do. Self sufficiency was what our parents taught us.”
That lesson stayed with him even after he joined the U.S. Navy in 1975. Wherever he was stationed during his service, San Diego, Guam and Japan, he’d plant gardens. In 1992, he and his wife purchased their current home in Spring Valley and planted their permanent garden.
Villamora said access to Filipino fruits and vegetables in San Diego looked a lot different in 1975.
Villamora SOT
“Back here, I started growing many vegetables…” BUTT TO “At that time we had to go downtown just to buy vegetables and meat. There weren’t a whole lot of oriental markets.”
SO he’d bring back seeds from the Philippines for his garden. Over the years, his garden has produced camote, calamansi, and more. And his family has grown too. He has three granddaughters 6 year old Eleanor Rigby, 12 year old Abbey Rhode, 14 year old Penny Layne. Yes, you’re hearing it right… all inspired by Beatles.
Villamora SOT
“They got a lot of memories here…” BUTT TO ‘It reminds me that they were part of this garden, their lives.
He’s set aside their own spaces in the garden. Abbey Rhode and Penny Layne have their own street signs in the front yard and Ellie Rigby has her own hideout and strawberry garden. Here’s how the girls describe the garden. Penny first,
“I feel a sense of comfort knowing the garden is basically where I come from. That’s the garden I’ve lived with my whole life.”
And Abbey…
“I just feel really calm. It’s all quiet and peaceful back there.”
And Ellie…
“It feels like love coming from a long way.”
The girls intend to continue the lessons their lolo taught them in both gardening and cooking. Penny and her sisters dream of the day they’ll have their own spaces to nurture and grow, just like their lolo.
Elaine Alfaro, KPBS News.
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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is 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. Thanks for listening and have a great day/weekend.
