Morning Report: Public Money for Plastic Surgery
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Nearly eight months ago, the county terminated its contracts with a nonprofit that distributed life-saving overdose reversal drugs to combat the fentanyl overdose crisis.
Now our Lisa Halverstadt reveals that the ex-COO of the Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego is facing felony charges for allegedly siphoning off more than $130,000 in public funds for plastic surgeries, high-end clothes, a vacation to Hawaii and more.
Amy Knox, who managed the Harm Reduction Coalition’s finances, was arrested last week after being charged with three felony counts of misappropriation of public money and three felony counts of fraudulent appropriation. Her arraignment in San Diego Superior Court is set for this afternoon.
Just as concerning: Knox’s stint with the Harm Reduction Coalition came years after a prison sentence for embezzlement that totaled more than $500,000 at two former jobs. The county says contractors are responsible for conducting background checks but Harm Reduction Coalition CEO Tara Stamos says Knox’s criminal history didn’t come up in her nonprofit’s initial checks.
Chula Vista Elementary: Less Money, More Problems
For years, Chula Vista has been one of the fastest-growing regions in San Diego County. With that growth came more kids and more schools.
But in recent years, officials at the Chula Vista Elementary School District have been forced to grapple with a regional trend they were previously spared — enrollment decline. Over the past decade, enrollment at the district has declined about 6 percent.
Board members point to those declines, as well as to the expiration of Covid-era funds that pumped millions into districts across the state, to explain a $33.6 million budget deficit. That deficit has board members scrambling to make painful cuts.
Judge: Ex-County Bureaucrat’s Email Shouldn’t Be Excluded From Vu Case
A Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that a 2023 email about an alleged quid pro quo pushed by county Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer should be fair game in the county’s court battle against its former No. 2 official.
The county had sought a protective order to keep the email — sent by ex-chief administrative officer Helen Robbins-Meyer to the county’s top lawyer — out of its battle with former county official Michael Vu. Vu alleges that Lawson-Remer and former supervisor Nora Vargas blocked him from becoming Chief Administrative Officer.
Judge Evan P. Kirvin ruled that Robbins-Meyer had the authority to decide her email to ex-county counsel Claudia Silva wasn’t protected by attorney-client privilege, after saying as much in a court declaration late last month. Kirvin was also critical of arguments by attorneys for the county that a Board of Supervisors’ vote would be necessary to waive that privilege.
Kirvin wrote that “the CAO and other representatives of the county, after being duly appointed, must necessarily have the authority to carry out their duties without a Board vote on each action they take.”
The case is for now set to go to trial in September.
The Taxpayers Are Back
The San Diego County Taxpayers Association named Mark Kersey, the former San Diego City Councilmember turned whiskey blender, its new CEO and president Tuesday. Kersey will begin immediately.
The Association, once a powerful force in local politics, had been led mostly by volunteers and one paid staff member since the abrupt resignation last year of former CEO Haney Hong.
Now they promise to get loud.
“We really do want to work with everyone, but sometimes you have to challenge the status quo, including individuals and organizations that are not acting on behalf of the taxpayers that they are here to serve. Mark knows this,” said Patty Ducey-Brooks, the Association’s communication’s director in a written statement.
The City Hall GOP is back, sort of: With Kersey’s appointment, the last Republicans to serve in high-level positions in San Diego city government are now leading institutions trying to influence it. Kersey left the Republican Party before his time in office ended. Former Mayor Kevin Faulconer is now leading the Lincoln Club. Former City Councilmember Chris Cate leads the Chamber of Commerce and Faulconer’s former chief of staff, Aimee Faucett now runs the Building Industry Association.
NY Times Highlights Local Political Influencer
Local influencer Amy Reichert got herself a lot of ink in the New York Times recently.
Reichert was the main character in a story about video creators across the country, who are claiming to do journalism — and influencing conservative lawmakers in the process.
The Times writes: “They create videos that are light on evidence and traditional journalistic techniques but are filled with sinister-sounding claims that neatly align with the Trump administration’s priorities.”
We recently wrote about what Reichert has found — and what she hasn’t — here in San Diego.
In Other News
- San Diego City Councilmembers will on Wednesday debate a proposal by Raul Campillo to require cost analyses to be performed on any ballot measures that would impose new fees on taxpayers. The proposal is part of the broader fallout over the higher-than-advertised price tag for trash collection for some residents. (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego’s short $7.8 billion, a new record, to complete all of its infrastructure needs over the next five years. That price tag doesn’t include the cost of protecting property from more intense storms and flooding caused by climate change accelerating sea-level rise. That funding gap was $5.7 billion back in 2021, as we reported. (Union-Tribune and Voice of San Diego)
- Prompted by allegations of fraud at Minnesota child care centers, San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond formally requested that county staff report back on efforts to detect fraud in county programs. Our reporters wrote an explainer to help readers understand how fraud is or isn’t proven in such cases. (Times of San Diego and Voice of San Diego)
- Lightning from recent storms ignited a grove of palm trees in San Pasqual Valley. (Union-Tribune)
- Time to hit the pow. San Diego’s mountains have their first snowfall of the season following the recent series of storms. (CBS 8)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, Scott Lewis, MacKenzie Elmer, Jakob McWhinney and Will Huntsberry. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.
The post Morning Report: Public Money for Plastic Surgery appeared first on Voice of San Diego.
