Morning Report: The Inexperienced Principal
EM - News Moderator 
Parents say that after Lizcett Porras took over Greg Rogers Elementary School as principal violence and severe bullying spiked.
Porras, it turns out, “was an unusual hire,” writes our Jim Hinch. “She had never led a school before, either as principal or vice principal. She hadn’t even taught full-time.”
Now, the person that hired her has been placed on leave from the district — and Porras has been forced from the job. The man that hired her was placed on leave for, among other things, altering job requirements to help favored candidates get district jobs, according to one source.
Hinch asked officials at Chula Vista Elementary School District for documents related to Porra’s hiring as principal. “The documents show that Porras indeed was underqualified for the job. Not only had she never previously led an elementary school, she did not meet the minimum qualifications the district itself required for the job,” Hinch writes.
Staff at Prestigious Charter, Preuss, Go on Strike
Teachers, counselors and librarians at Preuss, one of San Diego County’s most renowned charter schools, went on strike this week.
Preuss uses many different strategies — including a school year that’s nearly a month longer than that of San Diego Unified — to achieve its impressive results. But even so, teachers are paid significantly less than San Diego Unified teachers, said David Weber, the charter union’s lead negotiator.
“For a school that has such good results, it doesn’t seem fair that we’re asked to take less when we’re able to produce more,” Weber said.
The union’s contract negotiations have dragged on for nearly two years.
The final straw for the strike came because of claims of unfair labor practices. According to Weber, UCSD negotiators breached mediation confidentiality agreements and leaked information from negotiations to sow distrust in the union.
“UC is committed to bargaining in good faith and making fair proposals reflecting the critical services provided by Preuss faculty. We hope to reach a resolution soon,” wrote UC San Diego officials.
RIP Dan McAllister
Former San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister died Wednesday. McAllister was once an indefatigable presence in local public affairs – a regular speaker at any community group imaginable. He served as treasurer-tax collector for 23 years and had been involved in the city of San Diego’s leadership and private finance before that. In that role he oversaw the county’s investment pool, tax collections and had a permanent seat on the board overseeing the county pension system.
He loved all of politics and public affairs, though, and loved helping people understand them more than anything. “It was under Dan’s leadership that the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office has gotten triple-a ratings and collected an impressive 99% of taxes for consecutive years,” said Larry Cohen, the current treasurer-tax collector, in a county news release.
But in recent years had receded from the many dinners, events and meetings at which he had been a constant presence. In August he abruptly retired.
Shortly after he left, the Union-Tribune revealed he had settled allegations of sexual harassment. “Thirteen years apart, two women who worked in the tax collector’s office said they had to rebuff constant, unwanted romantic advances from him,” the paper reported.
North County Report: Your 2025 Wrapped
Want to know the year that was in North County? Check out our Tigist Layne’s version of Spotify Wrapped for the stories that shook North County in 2025.
This year, Layne wrote about a program to get homeless people into housing that’s actually working, a Poway councilmember’s downfall, an Encinitas councilmember whose felony charges went nowhere and more.
Read the full North County Report here.
Dispatch from Sin City: Feds Refuse to Be the Bad Guy on the Colorado River
If the U.S. states that share the dwindling Colorado River are feuding siblings, then Trump Administration officials are their pushover parents.
Warnings about the river’s drying conditions shaped the second day of negotiations between the river’s users who are supposed to be agreeing to use less of it. But despite a deeply-divided basin, the feds keep refusing to lay the hammer down.
States currently have a deadline of Feb. 14 to come up with an agreement. But other than California (which offered to reduce its usage by 10 percent per year) nobody else is publicly offering to cut much.
If states don’t come up with new agreements, users of the river will probably start suing each other.
In Other News
- DA Summer Stephan testified before Congress on Wednesday. She testified about the difficulties of dealing with organized retail theft and how local jurisdictions need the federal government to coordinate efforts to stop it. (CBS 8)
- San Diego lawmakers are pushing state officials for answers about recent, prolonged freeway closures. “What we’re asking for is to understand the processes, to work better together, to call attention to the fact that it is a problem,” said State Sen. Catherine Blakespear. (Union-Tribune)
- Councilmember Raul Campillo says he has been kicked off the Council’s Land Use and Housing Committee for refusing to be a “yes” man. (Union-Tribune)
- The City Council approved new zoning plans for Clairemont and College Area earlier this week. The new plans nearly double the amount of housing allowed in the neighborhoods combined. (KPBS)
The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry, Jakob McWhinney and MacKenzie Elmer. It was edited by Scott Lewis.
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