This morning San Diego’s newest local radio talk show host Mike Slater covered not only the latest developments in the ongoing San Diego redistricting commission scandal, but also a more in-depth background on how the commission came to be, and how what was supposed to be a non-partisan affair has turned into a circus.
Click here for the 7 am podcast from earlier this morning, Thursday April 28th. Mr. Slater is one of very few media outlets that has dared to tackle this embarrassment. KUSI broke the story a few weeks ago, followed by Rostra posts and more in depth articles by David King and Michael Rosen. Not unexpected, the “traditional” media have been stunningly silent. U-T where are you?
This morning’s segment included a shocking display of arrogance from last night’s hearing by the commission’s embattled Chief of Staff Midori Wong as she refused a citizen’s request to get the commissioners on record if they were political operatives or not. In addition to the radio segment above, a video of this incident was posted on YouTube here.
The commission’s work has just started and but the controversy around several of the commissioners and the selection of a 24 year old, partisan, inexperienced Chief of Staff who is a 2010 Fellow of a “progressive” political training program headed up by one of the very commissioners she is supposedly working for has ruined any chance of an untainted work product.
A process which was designed to give residents the confidence that their council districts will be drawn without political pressure or bias has been hijacked and run aground, resulting in San Diego once again being a laughing stock.
The situation is screaming out for civic leaders from across the spectrum to step in and provide leadership to get us out of this mess. Nothing less than the future of San Diego is at stake.