Morning Report: Councilmember Running for Re-Election Once Got Fired from City
EM - News Moderator 
San Diego City Councilmember Henry Foster had one of the hardest jobs in the city: He had to oversee cuts and fee increases as chair of the Budget Committee. The job has featured a bruising battle with the mayor’s staff.
But it wasn’t his first run in with a mayor and his staff.
City personnel records show city managers fired Foster, who once managed the city’s Equal Opportunity Contracting Program, in 2016 and recommended he not be rehired. The records don’t clarify why.
Foster’s take: Foster, who just launched his re-election campaign, did not respond to a request for comment. But at a public forum during his 2024 campaign, Foster spoke about the firing and said he believed he had a duty not to sign off on contracts he felt didn’t meet anti-discrimination standards. He also noted he didn’t have union protection.
The other side: A spokesperson for Mayor Todd Gloria declined to comment but a former top city official who oversaw the Equal Opportunity Contracting Program said Foster often held up projects and struggled to work with others. He couldn’t recall a specific incident that led to Foster’s firing.
South County Report: Imperial Beach Council Appoints Republican to Council Seat
The Imperial Beach City Council is officially purple.
In his latest South County Report, Jim Hinch reports on the City Council’s move this week to appoint Republican Mariko Nakawatase to fill a seat left open after the political dominoes fell following Paloma Aguirre’s election to the County Board of Supervisors.
Nakawatase has a county connection too. She works as a district director for Republican County Supervisor Joel Anderson.
Nakawatase said she aims to emulate her boss’s bipartisan style. “Compromise and work with others. That’s my plan,” she said.
ICYMI: The I.B. City Council also recently appointed registered independent Mitch McKay, who leans right, as mayor. Councilmembers said the two appointments saved money the city otherwise might have poured into special elections.
Read the full South County Report here.
Trump Sends Email Firing Constance Carroll from National Board
On Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump fired all but four members on the board of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The 26-member board advises NEH leadership on decisions ranging from public policy to how to award grants the agency distributes to museums, universities and even individuals. Over its 60-year history, the NEH has awarded over $6 billion in grants.
The news came in an email signed by Mary Sprowls of the Presidential Personnel Office.
“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the National Council on the Humanities is terminated, effective immediately,” it read. “Thank you for your service.”
One of the members who received that email was Constance Carroll, the chancellor emerita of the San Diego Community College District. She was originally appointed to a 6-year term by President Barack Obama 14 years ago.
Carroll said she was saddened by the move, but not surprised. Trump has made no secret of his goal to remake America’s cultural institutions. As President, that’s his prerogative, Carroll said. Still, she hopes the drastic realignment won’t lead to a glossing over of the many upsetting portions of American history.
“It’s a matter of concern not to have fully open and unvarnished descriptions and depictions of the history of America,” Carroll said. “There are areas in American history that are very disappointing and it’s important for people to learn about them so they will never happen again.”
She’s grateful she was able to serve as long as she was and is proud of the grants she helped approve – from ones supporting the work of documentarian Ken Burns to those publishing and digitizing the collected works of Mark Twain.
Politifest Spotlight: How Do We Make Education Excellent for All Students?
Education has long been hailed as the great equalizer. A way to ensure that, no matter a child’s background, they’re given the knowledge and tools to succeed in the world outside of the classroom.
The disappointing truth, though, is that education itself is far from equal. Wide achievement gaps across a variety of metrics, from test scores to graduation rates, still plague schools. And far too often, a student’s socioeconomic background, or the neighborhood in which they grew up, dictates how well they perform.
So, how do we fix that? How do we ensure that when each child leaves high school, they’re prepared for whatever comes next?
It’s a tricky topic, but Education Reporter Jakob McWhinney has assembled three panelists who think they have a solution. They range from following Indiana’s lead in creating a new diploma pathway system to more robustly funding schools to taking power away from teachers unions.
On Saturday, each one of those panelists – Cajon Valley Union School District Superintendent David Miyashiro, San Diego Unified Trustee Richard Barrera and Parent Association Director Scott Davison – will duke it out (rhetorically) on stage at this year’s Politifest.
Here’s the best part: This debate has stakes. Our audience will get to vote on whose solution they think will be the most effective at solving this generations old problem.
We’ve even got trophies.
Be sure to buy tickets to Politifest here to catch this showdown, and many others.
In Other News
- CalMatters reveals that California counties including San Diego aren’t conducting inspections at federal immigration facilities despite a state law allowing them.
- KPBS reported that a plan to narrow Campo Road in East County and add a median, bike lanes and a roundabout recently lost federal grant funding because the Trump administration decided it was “hostile to motor vehicles.”
- County supervisors on Wednesday approved a controversial 111-acre housing development plagued by concerns about wildfire safety risks after calling for steps to try to minimize them, NBC 7 reports.
- NBC 7 San Diego reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests are spiking more rapidly in San Diego than other parts of the country.
- The Union-Tribune reports that San Diego Community Power will offer customers $55 million in incentives and rebates to urge them to install solar and battery storage systems.
- Times of San Diego reports that the state has awarded $8.6 million to Chula Vista to convert a former hotel into permanent housing for homeless and housing insecure residents.
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