Morning Report: Balboa Park Parking Isn’t the Gold Mine the City Hoped
EM - News Moderator 
Ahead of today’s vote on parking passes for Balboa Park, a staff report says the paid parking plan could result in a budgetary shortfall of $9.6 million.
Excluding zoo parking fees, city staff now believe paid parking could bring in $2.9 million from January, when the city plans to begin charging, to the end of the fiscal year on June 30. That’s a significant decrease from earlier estimates.
Background: This summer we reported Balboa Park and San Diego Zoo parking fees could generate more than $15 million if the city could start charging by Oct. 1. Since then, delayed timelines and reduced parking rates have significantly shrunk the projected revenue. It’s unclear where negotiations with the zoo stand.
Today, the San Diego City Council will consider a proposal for parking passes at Balboa Park. These include annual, quarterly, and monthly passes.
Earlier this month, city staff proposed a $300 annual parking pass for residents, but the backlash was swift. So, city staff slashed the amount to $150.
Other options include $30 a month or $60 quarterly pass for residents. Out-of-towners, however, would be shelling out the most on parking. Non-residents would pay $40 monthly or could pay $120 quarterly. They could also pay $300 for an annual pass.
If approved, people will be able to sign up for passes starting Jan. 5. The Council will also vote on rates for special events parking.
Related: Nonprofit leaders say they could leave the park if the Council approves the passes. (NBC San Diego)
SB 79 Impacts in San Diego Mapped
Lots of people are talking about SB 79, the law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed recently that will make it a lot easier to build homes near transit stops. The city of San Diego already has generous zoning exemptions near transit. But the Center for Housing Policy & Design UC San Diego Design Lab have mapped out the exact areas in San Diego where developers could choose either a city or state’s new SB 79 programs to build more densely.
“SB 79 only applies to major transit stations that see at least 48 trains or buses per day. In San Diego, this means virtually all trolley and Sprinter stations qualify,” reads the report from the Center on Housing Policy and Design.
Border Report: The ‘Domino Effect’ of an ICE Arrest
When Trisha Sleek-Castañeda left the City Heights home she shared with her husband of 12 years on a recent Wednesday, she kissed him goodbye. She hasn’t seen him since.
Hours after she left work, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials broke the window of her husband’s car, forced him out and arrested him. Sleek-Castañeda’s daughter filmed the encounter. Days later, glass from his broken car window still litters the street.
ICE’s arrest of her husband, Misael Curiel-Castañeda’s arrest has upended Sleek-Castañeda’s life. She has a heart condition and relies on her husband for health insurance. She also worries about her husband’s welfare in detention.
What makes the whole ordeal all the more painful is her feeling that her husband was racially profiled. He had been arrested in the early 2000s, but she insists the charges were false. He was never charged in a criminal setting.
“If he would have been a white man moving his car and parking in front of his house, do you think that they would have busted out his window? No,” she added.
We’re Podding Live With SDSU’s Sports Tsar
Our live podcast series – Brews & News – is back tomorrow, and there’s still time to get a ticket! We’ll be at Soda Bar on Wednesday evening, so come meet our team of journalists over a beer and embrace your inner news nerd with San Diego’s most popular public affairs podcast. We’ve also got a special guest for you, SDSU Athletic Director John David Wicker.
The new playing field of college sports: It’s a fascinating time for SDSU and college sports more broadly. While NIL money and transfer opportunities have transformed college athletics, the pervasiveness of gambling has also changed what it’s like to be an athlete. Complaints about football ticket prices made their way into local politics.
Through it all, SDSU has managed to maintain an elite basketball program and begun to rebuild its football team at the swanky new Snapdragon Stadium. Wicker’s joining us to dish on all this and more.
But spots are limited. Grab your ticket now to join CEO and Editor-in-Chief Scott Lewis, Managing Editor Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña, education reporter Jakob McWhinney, and social media star Bella Ross for this special recording at Soda Bar. Please note: this is a public 21+ event w/ valid ID.
Song of the Month
Hauntu, “The Knife”: Local post-punk veterans Hauntu’s latest album, “The Unknown Reigns,” is a delicious bite of throwback gothiness. Single, “The Knife,” is propulsive, alluring and cloaked in just enough darkness to cut.
Like what you hear? Check out Hauntu’s record release show at Vinyl Junkies on Nov. 29.
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
- Ever since the city of San Diego got the OK to clear homeless encampments on state land near freeways, requests for shelter have shot up. But only seven percent of those requests resulted in placement in a shelter. (Union-Tribune)
- Amid dozens of deaths in local jails in recent years, Sheriff Kelly Martinez touted changes she’s made to the county’s notoriously deadly jails to keep detainees safe at a Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board earlier this month. Those changes include more nurses and new health screenings. But on Sunday, yet another inmate was found dead. (Union-Tribune)
- This Jamul house has a really big rock in it. (KPBS)
The Morning Report was written by Mariana Marínez Barba and Jakob McWhinney. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.
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