Morning Report: El Cajon and Escondido Lead County in Per-Capita Prop. 36 Arrests
EM - News Moderator 
San Diego County’s two largest inland cities – El Cajon and Escondido – are making the most vigorous use of a recently adopted state ballot initiative that stiffens penalties for certain drug and theft crimes, according to a Voice of San Diego analysis.
Both cities arrested far more suspects per capita on charges related to Proposition 36, the tough-on-crime ballot initiative approved by voters last year, than any other city in the county.
Since the new law took effect in December, police in El Cajon have arrested 16 suspects on Prop. 36-related charges per 10,000 residents. Escondido arrested 12 suspects per 10,000 residents.
The equivalent figure in San Diego was just two suspects per 10,000 residents.
El Cajon police told Voice contributor Tessa Balc the city’s high arrest rate largely stems from officers routinely checking arrestees’ backgrounds for prior drug or theft offenses.
An Escondido police captain said the city historically has been a hot spot for drug dealers, leading to a higher drug-related arrest rate.
“I think a lot of these cases that are popping up on Prop. 36 are people whose past has caught up with them,” said Escondido police Capt. Erik Witholt. “Now they’re being held to a standard that they weren’t used to before Prop. 36.”
Chula Vista Elementary School District Places HR Director on Leave Amid Multiple Investigations
The Chula Vista Elementary School District on Monday placed Jason Romero, the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources, on administrative leave amid an investigation into alleged financial irregularities in the district’s human resources department, sources close to the district said Tuesday.
A district spokesperson confirmed Romero had been placed on leave but declined to comment further.
The disciplinary action comes amid multiple recent allegations of improper behavior by senior district leaders.
Earlier this year, Superintendent Eduardo Reyes initiated an investigation into allegations that Romero had directed a high-ranking district employee to stage a fundraiser for two school district board members on district time.
Reyes himself also was previously under investigation. In April, the district hired an outside law firm to determine whether Reyes and a district board member pressured district staff to award contracts to companies that had a personal connection to Reyes or had made campaign donations to the board member.
Both Reyes and Romero previously denied the allegations against them. Last month, the law firm reported to the school board that they had concluded their investigation and found “no evidence of malfeasance, wrongdoing or ethical violations.”
District spokesperson Giovanna Castro said Romero’s current administrative leave is not related to the earlier investigation initiated by Reyes. A source close to the district said the leave in fact stems from yet another, more recent investigation into financial irregularities in the human resources department.
Castro did not immediately respond to follow-up questions about the district’s multiple investigations.
The district also is set to release the results of a recently commissioned audit of the human resources department at tonight’s school board meeting.
Romero did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Planning Group Decries City Raiding its Development Fund
A community planning group in the Del Cerro neighborhood says cash-strapped San Diego officials raided a local development account to pay for storm drain repairs.
Leaders of the Navajo Community Planning Group told our City Hall reporter Mariana Martinez-Barba the city ignored the planning group’s list of local infrastructure priorities and used millions from the neighborhood’s development impact account to pay for an emergency storm drain repair.
Developers pay into local impact accounts when they build new housing. Community planning groups recommend how to spend the money on local projects, such as road repair or library upkeep.
City officials said they did nothing wrong because the Navajo planning group did include storm drain repairs on its list of local priorities – just not very high on the list.
City Councilmember Raul Campillo said the city should have been more up front with neighborhood leaders.
“I understand that we are in tough budget times, but the solution is not to raid the very neighborhood funds that residents are counting on for projects like parks, libraries and other critical infrastructure,” Campillo said.
20 Years of Impact: How VOSD Unseated a Corrupt San Diego Unified School Board Member
Ten years ago, Voice of San Diego education reporter Mario Koran began looking into allegations that a prominent San Diego Unified School District board member was using her political position to benefit her own children at district schools.
District officials were indignant. Marne Foster was highly regarded as an outspoken advocate for underrepresented students.
Koran kept asking questions.
He went on to write a series of stories that showed how Foster demanded preferential treatment from teachers, filed a $250,000 claim against the district for not trying hard enough to get her son into college and sought to oust a principal who had barred her son from attending his prom because of behavioral problems.
The district attorney began investigating Foster, too. Ultimately, she pleaded guilty to accepting illegal gifts as a public official and resigned from the board.
Koran’s reporting showed what can happen when a local news organization holds people in power to account – and refuses to take no for an answer.
In Other News
- Results from the 2025 Real College Survey show that two-thirds of San Diego Community College District students are food or housing insecure. The survey received responses from around 3,700 students within the community college district. (NBC 7)
- Voters in Poway will decide whether District 2 Councilmember Tony Blain will keep his position or be removed from office during the Nov. 4 special election. (KPBS)
- San Diego State University received $142.2 million in private donations during the 2024 to 2025 fiscal year. The donations were made amidst federal funding cuts for science and public radio stations (Union-Tribune).
The Morning Report was written by Jim Hinch and Jenna Ramiscal. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.
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