June 2025 Newsletter
More development for Poway - ICE goes after cooks and dishwashers.
Republicans blocked County reserve reform best practice
from Voice of San Diego
In a 2-2 vote, Republican County Supervisors blocked the ability for the County to protect its vulnerable citizens from the massive federal spending cuts that are looming. Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe introduced a reform measure so that funds could be drawn from the County’s reserve to deal with the impending crisis. The budget reconciliation bill passed in the House last week included 22% in cuts to non-defense discretionary federal spending, including:
Housing & Homelessness: A 44% cut to HUD would put up to 12,000 households at risk of losing Section 8 vouchers across the region. The County alone could see 4,500 families pushed to the brink of homelessness.
Affordable Housing Development: Federal funds that helped expand affordable housing production by 500% since 2021 could be gutted, stalling urgently needed construction.
Clean Water: The EPA’s clean water fund faces a 54% cut, threatening projects like the $1B East County Advanced Water Purification Program.
Public Health: Trump’s plan proposes a 44% cut to the CDC and deep reductions to mental health and addiction services that help thousands of San Diegans.
Biomedical Research: San Diego could lose over 3,000 jobs and $1 billion in NIH funding, crippling one of our region’s most vital industries.
What the Reserve Reform Would Have Done
Added strict guardrails—limiting use to moments of economic crisis, such as federal cuts or recessions, and capping drawdown at 25% of available funds annually.
But the city dipped into rainy day fund for $10.1 million to close the gap.
The City of San Diego has to use $10.1 million in reserves to close the shortfall before the fiscal year ends on June 30. The funds will be drawn from the stability reserve fund which currently has $99. million. There is also an emergency reserve of $107.6. This is more than the city had at the beginning of the Great Recession when it only had $71.5 million in 2009.
Council member Moreno noted that they didn’t even have to dip into the fund during COVID. The Mayor has initiated cut backs such as closing the City libraries on Sundays and Mondays. They will vote on using the funds on June 10, the same day they vote on the budget. It’s required they balance the budget.
Scam Stoppers
from Senator Brian Jones
Senator Brian Jones, along with San Diego Oasis, will host a presentation in Rancho Bernardo on how to recognize scams on June 25.
Representatives from the California Department of Insurance, the California State Contractors Licensing Board, and California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation will talk about fraud relating to home repair, insurance, identity theft, finances and more. It will be from 5:30-7:30 pm at San Diego Oasis in Rancho Bernardo. The address is 17170 Bernardo Center Drive, San Diego. RSVP to Marc.Schaefer@sen.ca.gov .
ICE raids South Park restaurants
from Times of San Diego
Armed federal agents raided Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta restaurants in South Park on Friday, May 30 and arrested an unknown number of people.
Buona Forchetta posted on Instagram yesterday that it was working with attorneys to find out what happened to its employees and families. The statement said the raid was traumatic.
“We are devastated and heartbroken. Buona Forchetta has always been, at its core, a family. We stand together, now and always. We are still processing the deep pain and confusion caused by this situation.”
The protests outside of the restaurant were just some of the reactions that reflected that pain. Sisters Pizza in North Park and Hillcrest, for instance, responded on Instagram, “Sending all of our love and support.”
On the Buona Forchetta Facebook page 600-plus comments indicated overwhelming support for the restaurant and its owners.
A supporter, Christopher Dowling, added, “I’m surprised Kristi Noem wasn’t there taking selfies,” referring to the Secretary of Homeland Security. He described the ICE activity as “theatrics and performative right down to the uniforms, tactical kits, time of the raid and place. It was by design to send a message. ICE couldn’t care less about stopping VIOLENT illegals.”
Paul Correa, a regular at the restaurant, said “It was upsetting, very upsetting, to see things play out, as we walked up, like every Friday with our kids at 5 p.m. for dinner and good chats with staff.”
The restaurant’s manager, Renato Ametrano, on Friday described what happened, saying that ICE officers showed “up with no explanation.” He said there were about 20-25 officers who “surrounded the building and then came inside” pushing him against the wall and handcuffing him.
They frightened the workers, many of them students, Ametrano said, describing ICE personnel as “very aggressive” while handcuffing other members of the staff. They eventually took two employees, said Ametrano, because “they didn’t have a physical ID.”
Issa votes to tax EV’s and hybrids
from Autoblog and Washington Post
On May 22 Darrell Issa voted with his colleagues to tax owners of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids as part of the massive spending and tax cut bill House Republicans passed. Most of the attention to the bill has focused on major cuts to Medicaid, Food Stamps and huge increases in immigration enforcement, the Pentagon and tax cuts for the rich.
If the Senate passes the 1,000 page bill, EV and hybrid owners will start paying a registration fee on vehicles of $250 on EVS and $100 on hybrids which state motor vehicle agencies will collect.
States will be charged 25% on top of the amount they were expected to bring into the Highway Trust Fund if they don’t charge the fee. 39 states already charge a fee to EV drivers to recuperate lost gas tax funding.
California drivers already pay $100 a year to license plug in hybrids and $175 for EV’s for models 2020 and later, indexed for inflation.
Assembly District 75 has a candidate challenging DeMaio next year
Gerald Boursiquot thinks he’ll be the one to take down Carl DeMaio next year.
Boursiquot has a Facebook page and business cards. He was at the state Democratic Party convention this weekend looking for support. The picture above shows him with gubernatorial hopeful Toni Adkins. Boursiquot is a veteran and former Systems Administrator. Candidate filing starts late this year.
Another candidate surfaced for Darrell Issa’s seat this weekend.
Congressional candidate Suzanne Till, has joined the field against Darrell Issa. She was elected to the Padre Dam Municipal Water District in 2020 and 2024.
California Democrats held their convention in Anaheim this weekend
It looked like Cory is still running…for President, this time in 2028.
The California Democratic Party Convention, held this year in Anaheim, kicked off in earnest on Friday and will wrap up on Sunday. Convention organizers said an estimated 4,000 people registered to attend events throughout the weekend.
Booker credited people who came before him, including his grandparents who lived in California, for fighting to make things better for the generations that came after them. Booker then called on those in the audience to do the same for future generations.
“Real change does not come from Washington. It comes from communities. It comes from the streets. It comes from the people who’s standing up and have shown over and over again — against the powerful, against the elected, against the rich — that the power of the people is greater than the people in power,” Booker said to applause.
Other elected officials who spoke Saturday morning included U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff; Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach; Rep. Derek Tran, D-Orange; state Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire, D-North Coast; and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Salinas.
Then Tim Walz spoke
from Politico
Former Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz said bluntly, “We’ve got to find some goddamn guts to fight for working people.” Kamala Harris offered a pre-recorded video.
The best line was from Booker:
“I miss Obama, and I miss her husband too,” Booker said.
Before I Sleep
Before I sleep,
Death is always sitting on my windowsill,
whether in Gaza or Cairo.
Even when I lived in a tent, it never failed
to create a window
for itself.
It looks me in the eye
and recounts to me
the many times
it let me live.
When I respond, “But you
took my loved ones away!”
it swallows the light in the tent
and hides in the dark
to visit next day.
from Mosab Abu Toha's collection "Forest of Noise"
Shared by the literary organization Mizna.
He just won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry. See his interview on Democracy Now!
Read former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert in Haaretz “Enough is Enough!” He says, “yes, Israel is committing war crimes”. Haaretz has a paywall but read about it on Mediaite.
Poway City Council majority votes full steam ahead on development
Three of the five Poway City Council members, including Mayor Steve Vaus, voted to ignore a request to table a development until it can be determined it is in compliance with the city’s Sub-area Habitat Conservation Plan.
Jeff Schmidt, President of Preserve Wild Poway, asked that the proposal to subdivide a 43.14-acre vacant parcel at 15095 Misty Meadow Road into two single-family residential parcels because the project compromises habitat and wildlife corridors for the construction of two homes.
“The property falls in the proposed resource protection area which is an area that has been designated as important habitat,” he said. “The city is supposed to buy those properties to build up their habitat reserves.
“If I had known this property was at risk before, I would have pushed for a purchase of the property,” Schmidt said. “The city is supposed to build up habitat reserves by buying property with mitigation funds and they haven’t bought anything for years.”
Blain made a motion to table it which failed. Vaus then moved to approve it and 2 others joined him in passing it.