Morning Report: A Gas Station that Was Never Built Has Derailed National City Politics
EM - News Moderator 
Sexual harassment allegations. Shouting matches at City Council meetings. Human remains. Donated turkeys and hams.
For nearly a year, a motley crew of mortuary operators, political insiders, local developers – and even the mayor of National City and his assistant – have spun up a feud that has mired the working-class city in legal action and animosity.
It all started late last year, when a pair of brothers proposed to build a gas station, car wash, liquor store, drive-through restaurant and five-unit apartment complex on a tiny plot of land in the city. That proposal, which was derided by community members, was ultimately rejected by the city’s Planning Commission.
Still, the married owners of a nearby mortuary claim the proposal’s path to the National City Planning Commission was paved with shady backroom dealing on the part of their one-time best friend, Mayor Ron Morrison, and his top aide. Morrison’s top aide has allegations of her own, chiefly that the mortuary owners mishandled the remains of her deceased nephew.
In the months since the firefight broke out, it’s spawned myriad other legal complaints and consumed much of National City politics. It seems like everyone has taken a side, and for those few left without a direct stake, the public spectacle has become an embarrassing stain on a city they love.
The Water Wasn’t Made. San Diegans Owe a Private Company $35 Million Anyway
San Diego has a tortured relationship with water.
After years of drought in the 1990s, the region decided it had had enough and would actively work to diversify and fortify its water supply. That desire for water-resilience is partly why the San Diego County Water Authority has long made a habit of entering pricey, long-term contracts. That’s one big reason why we now have so much more water than we need.
Now, one of those contracts is biting the region in the backside.
The Water Authority’s board on Thursday announced that taxpayers owe Channelside, a private company that owns a desalination plant in Carlsbad, $35 million. There’s just one problem: thanks to closures for renovations and power outages, Channelside didn’t actually make the water the agency now has to pay up for.
Border Report: Report Says U.S. Immigration Laws Have Always Been Racist
An ambitious report recently published by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles uncovered a startling statistic: 96 percent of those orders were issued to people from nonwhite-majority countries.
“That number is far too high to be random,” said Mariah Tso, one of the researchers on the project. “And it’s not random. The numbers are a reflection of policies and racism.”
The report, called Mapping Deportations, sought to catalogue all deportation orders issued from 1895 to 2022. Researchers say they found that for more than two hundred years, U.S. immigration laws have been tilted against non-white immigrants. That history of racism, they write, has been baked into our modern system.
Song of the Week
Substitute Gym Teacher, “Harder”: As summer begins to limp into fall, it seems like everyone is coming down with something. Luckily for you, I have just the cure – some good, old-fashioned punk. On “Harder,” Substitute Gym Teacher cranks out some aggressive, manic and tasty guitar chugging. The band even throws in some Biafra-esque vocal whimsy for good measure. Slather it on your ailments. It’ll do you some good.
Like what you hear? Check out Substitute Gym Teacher at Tower Bar on Oct. 4.
Do you have a “Song of the Week” suggestion? Shoot us an email and a sentence or two about why you’ve been bumping this song lately. Friendly reminder: all songs should be by local artists!
In Other News
- Voters overwhelmingly approved Prop. 36, a statewide ballot measure that stiffened the penalty for certain theft and drug crimes. Now, local jails are having to foot the bill for the increase in arrests. (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego Unified’s priority enrollment period for families who want to choice their child out of their neighborhood school during the 2026-27 school year has opened. The priority enrollment period will end Nov. 3. If you need help navigating the process, you can download our guide for free.
- A local Navy doctor who included pronouns and the job title “Deputy Medical Director for Transgender Healthcare,” in her LinkedIn bio has been caught in the anti-woke social media dragnet. Far-right influencer Libs of TikTok posted about the doctor on X, asking U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to investigate.The doctor has since been placed on leave, and an investigation has been launched into her. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.
The post Morning Report: A Gas Station that Was Never Built Has Derailed National City Politics appeared first on Voice of San Diego.
