Politics & Media Mashup: A look at this week’s local political coverage
San Diego’s broken school system has been a campaign issue in the mayor’s race since Day 1, but the feedback I’ve seen lately from voters suggests some people are hardly impressed with what they’re hearing.
Two letter writers, including a teacher, rip the candidates in today’s U-T San Diego. Earlier in the week, the paper led with a letter that said:
“I’d like to know how she (Bonnie Dumanis) thinks she would “fix the schools” when she showed how poorly informed she is about the issues they face. She did not know “last in, first out” is the rule in teacher layoffs, where the newest teachers are the first to be given pink slips.”
Speaking of Dumanis, Voice of San Diego reported this week that she was asked on CW6 “if the rumors are true that she’s going to drop out of the mayor’s race? No, she said.”
Nathan Fletcher would benefit the most from a Dumanis exit but I don’t see it happening. Way back when there were no official candidates neither she nor Fletcher had any luck getting the other to bow out. I heard Dumanis offered Fletcher a deal back then: Serve as her chief of staff and she would step down after one term and support him for mayor.
If you haven’t read Craig Gustafson’s piece on Carl DeMaio’s troubled youth you’re missing out. Instead of trying to do A to Z profiles of the mayoral candidates Gustafson is writing about the turning point in each of their lives. For DeMaio, it was the loss of his mother and abusive father and watching his mother fight cancer for years. The four-part series led with DeMaio.
Gustafson tweeted Friday: “The Turning Point series on the SD mayor’s race continues Sunday. How the intensely private Bonnie Dumanis became a very public figure.”
The U-T’s Jen Kuhney wrote an interesting story this week about a conversation she had with City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, who is running for reelection. From Kuhney’s story:
“Though the pension reform measure has been in the local political spotlight for six months, Lightner had yet to publicly state her position on it until talking to a reporter on Tuesday.
“The announcement led to criticism on both sides of the local political spectrum.
Ray Ellis, who is running against Lightner, “and labor leader Lorena Gonzalez dismissed her support as a political tactic to gain support in a district that will be one of the more hotly contested races in the June primary.”
Lightner told Kuhney she supports it “but the devil is in the details.” I’m not sure what that means.
Ellis said in a statement: “Sherri Lightner has opposed pension reform every step of the way. I led the way for reform on the Pension Board and worked with my colleagues to bring transparency and accountability to city government. One of the reasons I am running for Council is Sherri’s failure to support reform efforts, and today is no different. District 1 voters want, and deserve, someone who will tackle our fiscal issues, not talk about them in an election year.”
Lastly, have you seen Gene Cubbison’s “Politically Speaking” show on NBC San Diego? As expected, Cubbison has done a nice job mixing in commentary, news and dueling opinions from guests.
The show airs at 9 a.m. on Sundays. It won’t air on the 15th and 22nd of this month and on a Sunday in May due to commitments the network has with the NHL. By the time the June primary rolls around I expect “Politically Speaking” will be must see TV for a lot of folks.
DISCLOSURE: I am doing some video production work for the Ray Ellis campaign.
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