Last weekend, visitors to one of San Diego’s most popular beaches were treated to a special sight – a makeshift Amazon distribution center in the parking lot of Crown Point Shores. Former Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez posted video of the scene which showed delivery drivers ferrying packages from a large Amazon-operated Ryder truck.
It turns out this was part of Amazon’s “Walker” program, wherein a delivery truck parks somewhere and workers deliver packages by hand. Three delivery drivers previously sued Amazon alleging the company essentially forced them to pee in bottles on the job. Amazon leaders must not have heard about the Mission Bay bathroom closures.
Company representatives told SanDiegoVille that the truck’s choice of Crown Point Shores was actually a big oopsie.
“Due to a miscommunication, Crown Point Shores was used as a package transfer site,” Amazon spokesperson Austin Stowe told the outlet. “We’ve since corrected this error and added safeguards to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
Possible mayoral candidate and current councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera will hold a press conference today at 10 a.m. with union workers at Mission Bay to say the practice needs to stop for good.
“San Diego families have to get a permit and pay a fee to reserve a picnic table at Crown Point. Yoga instructors and DJs have to jump through hoops to bring community together. Meanwhile, a trillion-dollar corporation apparently decided it could run a delivery hub in our parks for free,” he wrote in a press release.
ICE Comes for Padres Coach
The San Diego Padres’ minor league catching coordinator, Oswaldo Pirela, was detained by ICE on Sunday when coming back from a work trip. Pirela, originally from Venezuela, had been living in the U.S. since 2014 and has an ongoing asylum case. His family said he has an active work permit.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Pirela “was granted permission by the Obama administration” to be in the country until 2018, and had “overstayed his welcome.” But in an interview with CBS, Pirela’s sister said he sought asylum in 2014 and his case has been in limbo since.
County Supes Ban ICE from Using Firearm Training Facilities
For years, federal agencies like ICE have paid the county to use firearm training facilities in Miramar and Otay Mesa. On Tuesday, county officials voted to terminate these contracts, effectively banning the agencies from using the facilities.
The agreements between the county and federal agencies for the use of the training centers will end ten days after the federal government receives notice from the county, according to Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer’s office.
Supervisors voted 3-2 on the decision, with Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond, the two Republicans, voting no.
“If the Trump Administration wants to spend billions on this flawed deportation agenda, they can use their own federal resources to carry it out,” said Lawson-Remer in a statement on social media.
What the Flock
Surveillance cameras and automated license plate readers have been around for years, but one company has taken the nation by storm – Flock.
The company manufactures and sells surveillance cameras to both municipalities and private companies and pitches them as invaluable crime-fighting tools. So far, there are about 120,000 cameras in 49 states and many cities, including San Diego.
But despite some municipalities’ enthusiasm for the tech, opposition has exploded, as Axios reported this week. A nationwide organization called DeFlock has sprung up that advocates against the cameras and tracks their placement. Vigilantes have begun vandalizing the cameras or removing them altogether.
In some cases, officers relying on Flock cameras have arrested the wrong people. A local man actually spent a month in prison earlier this year after police arrested him for a crime he didn’t commit using information from Flock cameras.
Zucchet to Bailey: Your Argument Doesn’t Hold Up
For the past few months, former Coronado Mayor and current San Diego City Council candidate Richard Bailey has been all over town touting his plan to erase the city’s budget deficit – just return to 2015-era staffing levels. The move, Bailey has claimed, would transform a $100 million deficit and turn it into a $300 million surplus all with “no need to cut any services.”
There’s just one problem: it’s part of a “budget fantasyland,” according to former councilmember, and current head of the Municipal Employees Association, Michael Zucchet. He’s out with a new opinion piece skewering the proposal, which he says would lead to the firing of more than a thousand city workers, including nearly 350 cops and firefighters.
“He can’t have it both ways – either Bailey wants to cut these services or his plan to ‘fix’ the city’s budget is a fiction and a scam,” Zucchet writes.
Newly Homeless Again Outnumber Newly Housed
The number of people becoming homeless in San Diego County outpaced the number moving into homes in July. The Regional Task Force on Homelessness reported that 1,238 people became homeless for the first time and 1,087 exited homelessness.
PSA: For most of the last few years, local efforts to house homeless residents haven’t kept up with the flood of people losing their homes. Without changing that equation, homelessness won’t be reduced.
Correction: It’s Not a CEQA Bypass; You Just Can’t Sue Midway Rising’s CEQA Work
In yesterday’s Morning Report, we incorrectly wrote that a new bill would give Midway Rising a wholesale exemption from CEQA.
One lawmaker and Midway Rising’s representatives pointed out to us that the project would still have to follow CEQA, get an environmental impact report and officially establish what would have to happen to mitigate that impact.
But then, if the bill passes, the state would essentially validate all that work. Nobody would be able to file a lawsuit saying it was inadequate. When people don’t like a project, they usually sue under CEQA and allege that it wasn’t studied thoroughly or the proposed mitigation efforts weren’t good enough.
The carve-out for Midway Rising means no one can sue on those grounds.
So, yes, it’s not a CEQA exemption. It’s a shield from the worst part of CEQA for developers: the lawyers.
In Other News
San Diego braces for a super El Niño. City officials plan to double the miles of storm channel maintenance ahead of what could be one of the rainiest winters in years. (Union-Tribune)
The Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego, or ICA, has laid off nearly half of its personnel due to financial pressures. The layoffs affected all departments across the museum, including workers in operations, curatorial, facilities and education teams. (Union-Tribune)
Waymos are officially hitting San Diego streets. Despite pushback from the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, the self-driving car company succeeded in getting a final permit from the California Public Utilities Commission to start picking up San Diego passengers. (Union-Tribune)
Amtrak’s Pacific surfliner route is getting a $150 million boost. The federal grant money aims to improve railroad performance and expand passenger rail service. (CBS 8)
City leaders in El Cajon want to acquire and revive the Parkway Plaza Mall. Officials want to acquire the 80-acre property and turn it into a bustling mix of housing, transit and more. (CBS 8)
There’s a reason San Diegans are seeing more mosquitos this summer. The hot and humid weather led to a mosquito boom and the county is vulnerable to a pesky, invasive type of fly. (Axios San Diego)
The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney, Mariana Martínez Barba, Lisa Halverstadt, Will Huntsberry and Fiona Bork. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.
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