Morning Report: The Story Behind the Mega Shelter Pitch

Nearly a month ago, Mayor Todd Gloria unveiled a plan to transform a Middletown warehouse into the city’s largest-ever permanent homeless shelter. The proposal instantly generated an avalanche of questions about how the deal came together, the warehouse’s owner and the proposed lease terms.

It turns out the mega shelter proposal started with an epiphany and a cold email.

Our Lisa Halverstadt got the story on how real estate and hospitality guru Doug Hamm put the property he now owns on the city’s radar in October – and how he’s been caught off guard by the blowback the shelter proposal has received.

Hamm also weighed in on concerns raised by an untold number of local commercial real estate brokers that the base rents he and the city initially agreed on dramatically exceed market rates.

What’s happening now: After a long City Council closed session discussion about the proposal and a postponed committee hearing on the topic, Hamm and the city are negotiating again. It’s unclear when – or if – they will re-emerge with a new proposed deal.

Read the full story here. 

The Learning Curve: Reading Wars, Explained

Maybe you’ve heard of the “reading wars” — which were chronicled in a blockbuster podcast called “Sold a Story.” And maybe you’re still wondering, ‘What the heck are those?’

In that case, education reporter Jakob McWhinney is here for you. McWhinney explained the two warring camps in his latest Learning Curve. 

He writes: “In one corner are practices like the whole language and balanced literacy models that, while they’ve relied on faulty strategies, have been ubiquitous in schools nationwide. In the other corner are practices that have been proven to be effective and more fully incorporate what we’ve learned from the body of research called the science of reading.” 

Read the Learning Curve here. 

County in, for Now, on Infrastructure District for Midway

The five county supervisors voted unanimously to support exploring participation in the Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District, or EIFD, that the city of San Diego and developers of the city’s nearly 50 acres of land in Midway want to create. 

What this means: The San Diego City Council voted several weeks ago to explore the creation of the district. If they enact it, a line would be drawn around the 50 acres. After things, like a new arena, are built, revenue from property taxes will start to flow in to the city and county and school districts. With an EIFD in place, the money that would go to the city would stay in the Midway area and development and be used to pay off debt for infrastructure the development builds. If the county participates, even more money can be kept in the area. School districts will keep receiving their allocations as per normal. 

This was the actual agenda item: “Ensuring traffic alleviation, pedestrian safety, and access to greenspace is priorities at the sports arena redevelopment site by participating in the ongoing discussions regarding a city of san diego Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District or similar alternate funding mechanisms to support the construction of 2,000 affordable housing units.”

In Other News 

• In a new opinion piece for Voice of San Diego an affordable housing advocate argues that placing affordable housing in more affluent communities has massive benefits.
• The County Board of Supervisors voted to spend $9 million to extend a hotel voucher program to survivors of the Jan. 22 floods. The new money will extend the program for six more weeks to nearly 2,000 people, but officials cautioned it would likely not be extended again. (Union-Tribune)
• Students at UC San Diego set up a pro-Palestinian encampment. (NBC 7)
• The US House of Representatives passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act Wednesday — a bill the ACLU has said would “chill free speech” on college campuses. Rep. Sara Jacobs was the only San Diego representative to vote against the bill. Jacobs — who is Jewish — wrote in a statement that anti-Zionism is not inherently the same as antisemitism. 

The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, Will Huntsberry and Scott Lewis. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña. 

The post Morning Report: The Story Behind the Mega Shelter Pitch appeared first on Voice of San Diego.