Cup of Chisme: Who Has the Power?

We’ve got a special treat for you next week.

On Wednesday, May 7, we’re recording a live podcast episode at Soda Bar with special guest Keene Simonds, executive officer of the Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO. You can find more details here.

Last year, our Environment Reporter MacKenzie Elmer wrote a profile on the agency and its tremendous power. Think of LAFCO as boundary referees. Here’s how Elmer put it: “LAFCOs operate as agents of the California Legislature. They can do what the legislature itself can do: bring new cities and special districts into (or out of) existence, and control how, when and where public services go. They periodically assess how cities and special districts operate and recommend how to make them more efficient.”

You can read the profile here.

LAFCO decided this week that the effort to separate La Jolla from the city of San Diego can proceed. This decision really upset Mayor Todd Gloria. He said it was “outrageous” the agency validated signatures the Registrar of Voters had already turned down. (The group pushing for separation needed a certain number of signatures to move forward.)

In a letter he sent the next day, he formally objected to LAFCO’s decision and questioned who gave the agency the power to go over the Registrar of Voters. A LAFCO official had previously explained to us why they have different standards.

It’s going to be a good show. I hope to see you there.

Bots vs. Bots

Last week, I told you about how fraudsters are using AI-tools to steal millions of student financial aid dollars from the state and feds. Our Jakob McWhinney had an incredible story about how one school is being impacted. If you missed it, read it here.

Schools have done a lot to try to address the fraud. But, now they have their most high-tech weapon yet: AI. McWhinney reports in a new story that Southwestern College’s Governing Board approved a contract with LightLeap AI. It’s a company that uses AI tools to hunt down fraudsters using AI.

This week, McWhinney spoke to the company’s CEO about how the tech works. You can read the full story here.

More education news: McWhinney dug into vaccination data from EdSource and found that one private homeschool in San Diego is tied for having the third lowest vaccination rate in the state. Read more in the Learning Curve here.

20 Years of Impact: We Shook SANDAG

This year, we’re looking back at the Voice stories that helped shape San Diego.

The latest in our 20 Years of Impact series is a story by former Voice editor Andrew Keatts, aka my bestie. Nine years ago, Keatts discovered that math used for a sales tax measure to fund transportation projects wasn’t mathing.

He also revealed that officials at the San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG, were using that same faulty math for another sales tax measure they were hoping to get voters to approve.

His reporting led to major changes at the agency. Read the story here.

World Press Freedom Day

This weekend we celebrated World Press Freedom Day and we’re reminded of the essential role the free press plays in our community and in democracy in general.

Please join Voice of San Diego’s legacy society through a planned gift to Voice’s endowment. These gifts provide a source of stability and sustainable funding to ensure our community has access to local news in perpetuity.

Click here to support Voice of San Diego’s Endowment.

More Chisme to Start Your Week

• Universities in San Diego are bracing for state cuts that could impact their budgets. Our Sacramento Reporter Deborah Brennan explains in her latest newsletter what this could mean for college students and staff.
• Voice contributor Robert Krier wrote a fun piece on a man who is trying his best to bring back oaks. Take that, palm trees! Read the story here.
• This month’s Progress Report is all about sports, middle school sports to be exact. Our Jakob McWhinney writes that San Diego Unified’s move to offer sports in middle schools is really paying off. Parents, teachers and students are big fans of the program.