The City of San Diego is entering the new year with a budget deficit

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Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson … it’s MONDAY, DECEMBER 22ND

>>>>  [THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO HAS SOME TOUGH BUDGET CHOICES TO MAKE IN THE NEW YEAR …]More on that next. But first... the headlines…########

A HOUSING DEVELOPER IS LOOKING TO TURN A RECENTLY PURCHASED OFFICE TOWER IN DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO INTO AFFORDABLE RESIDENTIAL UNITS.

THE UNION-TRIBUNE IS REPORTING THAT VINTAGE HOUSING WILL SUBMIT PLANS THIS WEEK TO THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO TO TURN THE TOWER INTO 200 RESIDENTIAL UNITS FOR LOW AND VERY-LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS

THE NEWSPAPER ALSO REPORTS THAT THE TOWER AT 707 BROADWAY IS VINTAGE HOUSING’S FIRST PROJECT IN SAN DIEGO AND ALSO THE FIRST TIME IT’S CONVERTING OFFICE SPACE INTO RESIDENTIAL UNITS.  

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IF YOU'RE SOMEONE WHO LOVES DINING OUTDOORS THEN SOLANA BEACH MIGHT BE YOUR SPOT 

THE COAST NEWS GROUP SAYS THE CITY HAS BEEN USING 'TEMPORARY USE PERMITS' FOR OUTDOOR DINING SINCE 20-20 ... 

JUST THIS MONTH, THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVED THE FIRST READING OF SOLANA BEACH'S NEW PERMANENT OUTDOOR DINING ORDINANCE

IT LISTS RULES LIKE MAINTAINING FOUR-FEET OF SIDEWALK SPACE

AND OTHERS LIKE REQUIRING BUSINESSES TO SUBMIT THEIR CLEANING PLANS AND SCHEDULES FOR THE OUTDOOR AREAS 

THE NEW RULES WOULD GO INTO EFFECT IN THE NEW YEAR IF THE COUNCIL APPROVES A SECOND READING OF THE ORDINANCE

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COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS ARE URGING RESIDENTS TO NOT FORAGE FOR OR EAT ANY WILD MUSHROOMS 

THEY SAY DOING SO COULD POSSIBLY EXPOSE YOU TO A DANGEROUS TOXIN CALLED AMATOXIN [AMMUH]

WITH ANTICIPATED RAINFALL OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS ... DAMP WEATHER MAKES FOR THE IDEAL CONDITIONS FOR MUSHROOM GROWTH ... 

LATE LAST WEEK , COUNTY HEALTH OFFICIALS RECOMMENDED  REMOVING ANY WILD MUSHROOMS FROM YOUR YARD OR GARDENS 

SO KIDS DON’T  TOUCH OR PLAY WITH THEM AND PETS DON’T EAT THEM THEM

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 CITY OF SAN DIEGO IS ENTERING THE NEW YEAR WITH A BUDGET DEFICIT. 

METRO REPORTER ANDREW BOWEN SAYS WEAK REVENUE AND OVERSPENDING COULD FORCE SOME TOUGH DECISIONS IN 2026.

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DEFICIT 1 (ab) 0:49 soq

AB: San Diego's police and fire-rescue departments are on track to exceed their overtime budgets. A drop in international tourism is contributing to less revenue from hotel taxes. And the City Council has delayed the start of parking fees in Balboa Park. Those factors, and more, are leading city officials to project a deficit of nearly 23 million dollars. Independent Budget Analyst Charles Modica recently told the council budget cuts in the new year will be unavoidable.

CM: As it is today, the city's existing resources are insufficient to allow it to provide the services that it currently does, and we believe that that should be acknowledged.

AB: The deficit projections are based on financial data from July through September, leaving room for the budget picture to get better… or worse. Andrew Bowen, KPBS news.

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A KPBS ANALYSIS FOUND A BIG SWING AT THE BALLOT BOX IN IMPERIAL COUNTY BETWEEN THE LAST TWO ELECTIONS. 

PUBLIC MATTERS REPORTER JAKE GOTTA SAYS DEMOCRATS MADE UP SIGNIFICANT GROUND IN NOVEMBER COMPARED TO LAST YEAR’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

ICVOTE 1 (jg) (1:08) SOC (SS)

imperial county voters in 2024 chose donald trump over kamala harris. it was the first time the county voted for a republican for president since 1988.

but just one year later the county voted overwhelmingly in favor of prop 50…which was seen as a referendum on the trump administration.

trump won imperial county by one percentage point; but “yes” on prop 50 won by 19 points. that swing was the largest difference of any county in the state.

adam ekins is a political science professor at imperial valley college.

“people seemed to believe trump when he said that, you know, he could fix the economy, that biden had let in millions of, immigrants and screwed everything up and that it was going to be easy to fix.”

he said those promises trump made are now falling flat.

but bryan vega, the new chair of the imperial county democratic party, said his organization's outreach made a big difference as well.

“we have left, like, the party identity up for interpretation. so what we have to do now is kind of go out there and, and mend a lot of like, the relationships and like, we are the working party, we are the people's party.”

the california gop and republican party of imperial county did not respond to a request for comment.

jake gotta, kpbs news.

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SAN DIEGO IS ONE OF THE FINAL THREE CITIES BIDDING TO HOST THE 2029 INVICTUS GAMES. THE INTERNATIONAL ADAPTIVE SPORTS EVENT FEATURES DISABLED VETERANS FROM TWO DOZEN COUNTRIES.

MILITARY AND VETERANS REPORTER ANDREW DYER SPOKE WITH LOCAL ORGANIZERS.

INVICTUSFOLO 1 (ad) :55 SOQ

THE INVICTUS GAMES FOUNDATION THIS MONTH CUT SIX FINALISTS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE TO THREE: SAN DIEGO, AALBORG IN DENMARK AND DAEJEON IN SOUTH KOREA.

NOW, THE COMPETITION REALLY HEATS UP.

JIESYLRAMACLEANAUDIO.MP4:03;49;12 - 03;51;22

JIESYL RAMA, TEAM USA ATHLETE

“ IT’S A WAITING GAME BUT WE’RE ALL REALLY REALLY EXCITED.”

SAN DIEGO NAVY VETERAN JIESYL RAMA COMPETED WITH TEAM USA AT THIS YEAR’S GAMES IN VANCOUVER.

SHE SAYS HOSTING THE GAMES HERE WOULD BE HUGE FOR VETERANS LIKE HER.

JIESYLRAMACLEANAUDIO.MP4: 1;59;07 - 02;10;24

JIESYL RAMA, TEAM USA ATHLETE

“OUR COMMUNITIES NEED INVICTUS. LIKE THEY NEED THIS POWER AND THIS SECRET SAUCE. AND WHAT WHAT THESE GAMES BRING, AND IT BRINGS A LOT OF HEALING TO PEOPLE HERE, TOO.”

ANDY SOLER IS THE CO-CHAIR OF SAN DIEGO’S BID COMMITTEE. HE SAYS HE LIKES SAN DIEGO’S CHANCES.

ANDYSOLER.MP4: 4;37;24- 4;44;04

ANDY SOLER, INVICTUS GAMES SAN DIEGO 2029 BID COMMITTEE

I THINK IF YOU LIVE IN SAN DIEGO, YOU CAN'T HELP BUT BE CONNECTED IN SOME WAY WITH THE MILITARY…

THE SELECTION COMMITTEE WILL VISIT SAN DIEGO THIS SPRING, AND IN JULY, THEY’LL ANNOUNCE WHICH CITY WILL HOST THE 2029 GAMES.

ANDREW DYER, KPBS NEWS ##########

All right, SDNN listeners, today is yet another episode of the pod Behind the Package.

Once per week, I'll bring in a reporter, anchor, or a video journalist for a behind the scenes deep dive and informal chat.

Joining me this week on his story on our site under the headline, San Diego Botanic Garden Lights up the night with Lightscape is reporter and anchor John Carroll.

How you doing, John?

Hey, Lawrence, good.

How are you?

Good, good.

I'm excited to talk to you.

I wanna thank you so much for making time for this.

I really do appreciate it.

Yeah.

Of course.

good to have you with us on SDNN.

In this series, I'd like to get to know our reporters just a bit better.

I'm wondering, did your passion for news reporting first begin during your internship at Channel 5 in Chicago? Did it happen before then? Take us back to when you first, you know, fell in love with journalism and, and storytelling.

Well, thanks for reminding me that I told you about that internship at Channel 5 in Chicago back in the 1970s.yeah, I would say that's pretty much when it began.

I developed a love for television news and then later radio, news and otherwise.

so yeah, and then it just progressed over the many decades since.

Yeah, and in those many decades, amongst your time and travels in the media industry, how have you seen storytelling change, John, and I guess in some ways, how have you seen it also stay very much the same?

Well, I think the essence of a good story doesn't really change. usually you're talking about a beginning, a middle, and an end, and what I mean more specifically by that is a story arc. the modus operandi and how we gather them, and put them together has changed hugely. When I started, in television, we were on what was called 3/4 inch tape, which was a big deal back then, and then it, anyway, we moved beyond that to beta. and back then, the field cameras, the poor photographers, they were just like, you know, trucks on their shoulders, huge, and they'd have a deck on another shoulder.

, transitioning now to your piece, which is part of the larger museum a Month series. Another thing that makes, San Diego so lovable are its museums. did you launch this series, John, so you could visit the mall?

, I would have to cop to that being at least a little part of it. the way this was hatched was I had been doing for the last several years a story every February, because the San Diego Museum Council, sponsors, 50% off a month during February. You get these little cards and you go wherever you want. And Bob Lehman, who was the executive director of the museum council, he's now the, I think he's executive director. He's the chief of San Diego Art Matters. he and I were talking one day about, the upcoming story for February about the, you know, and, you know, I thought, God, that's so many museums around this region. I think. I think there's like in the eighty-ish range around all of San Diego County, so that's museums, cultural institutions, aquariums, stuff like that. And I thought, you know, especially with KPBS and our audience and knowing, you know, generally speaking, what they like, and I'm right there with them. I thought, God, we've gotta do more. We have to, there's so many museums and so I rec I recommended, suggested to him one night, I said, hey, how about if we do like something every month. And so that's how it started. the first one happened in October with the Verona Cultural Center and Museum, and then we had the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. But yes, the most recent one that it aired was the Botanic Garden.

Absolutely, and that's the one we're here to embody and break down just a little bit more. John, your storytelling does a great job of incorporating actual history and statistics into it. One person might simply say San Diego is beautiful, but the statistic as learned in your story, is that San Diego is the most plant biodiverse county in the United States. Can you talk to me about some of the things maybe you learned? While walking away from, covering the piece with the botanic Gardens, any facts that you didn't even know as someone who's been native to the area that you learned by going?

I didn't know anything. Most of it, right, exactly. I mean, it's up in Encinitas, so I live down in the metro and it's, so it's a drive, but I can tell you after being there, it's a drive definitely worth making, especially through, I think it's January 4th that Lightscape goes through. It's a really, really amazing presentation. Part of the reason I love living in Southern California is it's plant biodiversity. I love having green around me and everything, and, and that's 37 acres of that on steroids. And, that's part of the great thing about my job is I get to walk away with this extra knowledge I would have never had and I get to share it with people.

Yeah, and I love that.

I feel like that could be a tagline, a garden on steroids.

I love that, 5000 different species. In that botanic garden, over 29 themed gardens.

it's also a great place to get those steps in. How are your steps for that day?

It seems, it seems like, it's a, it's a great place to get some exercise in. For sure, and it's on sort of rolling hills, so you got a little of that too. Now, to be completely honest, their media person, a very wonderful, woman by the name. Of Venice Henson drove us around in a golf cart for a lot of it because my photographer had, you know, all the gear and everything, so that would have been unfair to ask her to truck that around. but I mean, there were moments when we were out of the cart and walking quite a bit. So yeah, you can, I forgot I read it when I was preparing for the story.

I think it's like 4-ish miles of trails that weave through the 37 acres. So steps for sure, and steps up to a certain level in one part of the garden where you have a commanding, breathtaking view of the Pacific.

, John, 2 years ago I took my mother to visit the lightscape, and as we walked through, we saw beautiful Seasonal lights along with an abundance of greenery.

This is the 4th annual lightscape. Anything new? Anything new, different that he mentioned? I don't remember seeing that of lights, triangle, the triangle of.

Maybe I missed that 2 years ago.

you would know better than I because this was my first time there.

Ari, Ari Novi did mention to me that, the designers take a fresh look at it every year.

So, yes, I think it's fair to say that there's something new to be seen every year.

It's interesting, I didn't have time to really get into it in the story, but, Lightscape's genesis is from across the pond, in Europe.

And, so they did it there and then it made the jump to the Chicago Botanic Garden, which I did talk about.

, they got wind of it somehow, and Ari and a couple of other people flew back to Chicago, looked at it and said, oh my God, it's so freaking cold here, and oh, this is beautiful.

And, so here it's been, as you say, for the 4th year now.

Gotcha. All right, John Carroll on his story under the headline San Diego Botanic Gardens, lights up the night with Lifescape anchor and reporter here with us on Pod Behind the Package, John Carroll.

Thank you, John.

Thank you, Lawrence K. Jackson.

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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!