The city of San Diego dumped another nonprofit that boosts businesses. This time it’s in City Heights.
Let’s rewind. In San Diego there are 18 business districts. The city collects annual fees from businesses within designated boundaries. Then, it contracts with nonprofits to provide resources to the business owners. These districts typically try to improve neighborhoods so residents and visitors want to spend time and money there.
Last week, I reported on the Diamond Business Association, a nonprofit that ran a business district in southeastern San Diego. It lost its contract with the city of San Diego.
Chisme: After my story published, a reader pointed out that the City Heights Business Association lost its contract in April. The city has already selected a different group to run the district.
The city’s Economic Development Department is now in the final stage of entering into a contract with the City Heights Community Development Corporation to manage the district.
What they had to say: Leaders with the City Heights Business Association were not happy. They ran the district for 20 years, one leader said.
“We were taken completely by surprise given that over the last several months, we communicated regularly with EDD staff providing all the requested documentation for the contract,” said Adriana Enloe, president of the association, at an April City Council meeting. “And no concerns were raised regarding our contract.”
Enloe said the city did not provide a reason for the decision.
Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, who represents the neighborhood, responded to this point during the meeting. He said businesses in districts pay fees for services and, “it’s incumbent … to ensure that their assessment dollars are utilized effectively and to meet the needs of the community.”
Chisme to Start Your Week
- Our Lisa Halverstadt explained how San Diego is rolling out CARE Court. She writes that it’s “a herculean task, and one with many obstacles.” Grab some cafecito and dig in here.
- Jakob McWhinney worked hard to get some data from San Diego Unified. He pulled together enrollment, staffing and funding data over the last five years. Here’s what he found and some of the trends he’s watching.
- Scott Lewis wrote about a fight brewing over Instagram messages between former County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and Grecia Figueroa, a former MTS employee who accused Feltcher of sexual harassment and assault. This is the latest.
How We Found Comfort in the Storm
Tropical storm Hilary hit San Diego, and it wasn’t as bad as we expected. Yes, the usual areas flooded, trees fell down and we got more rain than usual. But it wasn’t terrible, and Voice contributor Robert Kreir explained why here.
While I was at home eating the albóndiga soup my novio made for us, I thought about the meals that bring us comfort.
I was nervous about the storm. But that soup brought me comfort. Not only was it delicious and had extra corn and potatoes because my novio knows I love them, it reminded me of my mom. That made me feel safe. Soup is the best on rainy days, but when I was growing up it was more common to have hot soup on hot days. I don’t know what it is about Latina moms (let me know if others do this too) but they love to cook hot soups on hot days. There are enough memes on Instagram to back me here.
I asked around to see how others found comfort in their meals during the storm.
Meals others shared: tinga, curry soup, ramen, malawach and bone broth. Yum!