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>> >>DWANE: Election day almost here, who's leading in the polls for San Diego Mayor.
New numbers are out tonight. And a judge's ruling may keep trainers at
sea world's Shamu show out of the water. Tonight the emotional debate over taxing cigarettes
lit up on our round table. KPBS Evening Edition starts now.
>> >>DWANE: Five days left till election Tuesday anew poling shows the San Diego Mayor's race
is still a close one. Katie Orr is looking that latest numbers and
joins us from the news center. The poll, Katie, what do the results show?
>> >>KATIE: Republican city councilman Carl DeMaio holding steady in first place.
Democratic congressman and assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, Filner surged seven points to bring
him into a solid second place. District Attorney attorney Bonnie Dumanis
trails the others in fourth place. >> >>DWANE: This new survey looked at support
for the pension reform measure prop B, what did it find?
>> >>KATIE: A majority of likely voters would support that the measure that seeks to change
most new city employees from a pension to a 401k and it would also freeze or attempt
to freeze the base pay of kurpt employees for five years; a meks measure that's been
fiercely opposed by labor unions. >> >>DWANE: Katie Orr.
The San Diego job market and consumer confidence grew sig enough significantly in the first
quarter of the year. It shows a steady improvement in the economy
between November and Marchハ2012. Claims for unemployment benefits were down
five months in a row, and companies posted more help wanted ads.
Building permits remain mostly flat. Local stock prices were up nearly 15% in the
first quarter. The index was delayed two months because of
construction in the economic. Governor Jerry Brown and other state would
elected officials are getting a pay cut, a panel that cuts five% reduction today.
Law makers pay will be reduced to about $90,000 a year, and the governor's salary drops to
160,000 dollars a year beginning in December. It won't make much of a debt in California's
nearly 16ハbillion dollar deficit. Killer whale trainers at sea world may remain
out of o the water for good at Shamu shows. Trainers must be protected after one died
in Orlando two years ago. The judge says there was no intentional disregard of safety disp
reduced the fine against the Marine park. Sea world says they're still reviewing the
ruling. San Diego's taking a long look at one of the
city's on going problems, our water supply. Sherri Lightner is leading a task force to
explore more ways to conserve our limited resource.
Erik Anderson joins us from the news center, he's been following this story.
What kinds of ideas are they looking at? >> >>ERIK: Some strategies that are obvious,
using recycled water, changing those out door landscapes so they use less water.
Some of the ideas the panel is going to look at are controversial, expanding desal nation.
Less water needs to be imported and possibly moving forward with ideas like toilet to tap.
Retrieving used watt expr pumping it back under ground.
Some ideas like rewarding people who conserve with lower water rates.
>> >>DWANE: Who else is on the panel? >> >>ERIK: Dollar are stake holders from a
lot of places. Tourism and legal officials, group also includes
environmental and rate pay advocates and research institute of Scripps.
>> >>DWANE: What's the goal of the task force? >> >>ERIK: The panel needs to come up with
some solid recommendations for the council to roll back imports on water.
Import up to 90% of water during the year, and council woman Sherri Lightner hopes to
roll that back to zero. >> >>DWANE: KPBS reporter Erik Anderson.
The USS Curts leaves San Diego on its final deployment tomorrow morning.
The guided missileハ when it learns in six months in San Diego, the KURTS will be decommissioned.
California voters will decide whether to raise taxes on cigarettes in the June primary Tuesday.
Jo Joanne Faryon is talking about the implications of the measure at the lownd table.
>> >>JOANNE: If you've been confused by the prop 29 television ads you're not alone.
Doctors in white coats tell you prop 29 is bad for California while on the yes side cancer
survivors urging voters to support the initiative. Take a look.
>> >>: I'm against smoking, so I thought prop 29 was a good idea.
Then I read it. It raises $735ハmillion in tobacco taxes.
But not one penny goes to new funding for cancer treatment.
Instead t creates a huge new research bureaucracy with no accountability.
Run by political appointees who can spend our tax dollars in other state.
>> >>: It's this simple, a yes vote on prop 29 will save lives, provide cancer research
money, and keep our kids from smoking. >> >>: Prop 29 will lead to a 13.7 decrease
tin youth smoking. >> >>: Proposition 29 will help save the state
almost 6ハbillion dollars. >> >>: Will fund research for tobacco related
illnesses. >> >>: If it was nt for cancer research I
might not be alive today. >> >>JOANNE: Joining me is Debra Kelley, with
the American lung association and Jennifer Jacobs with Americans for prosperity.
Let's start with you Debra. You of course support from 29.
Tell us why does it do and why is it a good thing for California?
>> >>DEBRA KELLEY: Well, basically, prop 29 will raise the tax on tobacco products f.you
smoke cigarettes you'll pay a dollar more a pack.
Seventy five cents of that will go into research of cancer related disease like cancer.
Twenty cents will go into programs keeping kids from smoking and help people quit smoking,
three cents to law enforcement, and administrative costs at 2%.
>> >>JOANNE: Jennifer, you don't like prop 29, how km?
>> >>JENNIFER JACOBS: We believe this is a flawed initiative and just another tax increase
that creates a whole other bureaucracy that's not accountable to tax payers.
Right now the state of California run by Sacramento politicians has got us in a 16 billion dollar
deficit. 20ハbillion dollars has gone unfunded in
education, even more in healthy family programs and just creating one more government bureaucracy
that is fill would political appointees by those sameハ
>> >>JOANNE: How is this not accountable though if what Debra just told us this is where the
money goes; two% percent to administration, how is this just another government bureaucracy?
>> >>JENNIFER JACOBS: Stlz rr no oversight to this.
There is no one that's going to be able to say how do you know? How dedoo we guarantee?
There's nothing in here, because you don't have any oversight by tax payers, and no oversight
to where there's ever going to be a public hearing where these people can be fired by
the tax payers if they're fought doing their job.
>> >>JOANNE: Does your group not riek loo like that tax or that there's no oversight?
Because I know that the history of your group in terms of the Americans for prosperity has
a history of not supporting any kind of initiative that would ban cigarette smoking in the work
place that would increaseハ >> >>: Let's make this very clear.
What you're talking aboutハ I worked in the whrej slaicher when the cigarette ban went
through. This organization didn't exist back then.
Let's be clear. >> >>JOANNE: It actuallyハ your organization
hasハ >> >>: In California, Americans for prosperity
in California has a hundred thousand members in California.
We don't receive money from our national counter part and the California Americans for prosperity
is opposed to anything that does not hold Sacramento politicians accountable for the
budget deficits they have created and the fact that tax payers have been left holding
the bag for their wasteful spending. What we do not want is anymore taxes that
go to flawed initiatives and band aitd aid approached.
U f kofs course we support cancer research. We want to make sure the money that gosinto
the state is accountable. There is nothing in the state that is accountable
right now and the last thing we ever want to do is have more political appointees by
those same Sacramento politicians thatd have gotten us into this whoal hole.
>> >>JOANNE: I want to give Debra a chance to respond to this.
>> >>DEBRA KELLEY: A lot of these argument vz nothing to do with prop 29 whatsoever.
This doesn't have anything to do with Sacramento politicians, it doesn't have anything to do
with addressing the disef st. It's not intended to.
We have built in a lot of safe guards to protect this money from being stolen away by the legislatures
bebecause we understand the temptation that presents.
As far as accountability, there will be a nine person commission that will over see
all of the expenditures. These are going to be people like chancellors
of university California system that has the NCI fund account centers to patient advocates
and physician. There will be yearly audits by the state of
California and everyone will know exactly where all of the money goes.
Our current prop 29ハ >> >>JOANNE: I want to talk u a little bit
about who's funding this campaign because it has been a contentious issue.
We know the tobacco industry has funded no against frawp 29, 40ハmillion dollars, four
to one. Do you think what the no to prop 29 argument
are painted because this no is being funded by the tobacco industry?
>> >>DEXTER PADILLA: As a representative for Americans for prosperity y do not get paid
to work for that team. I'm a tax payer advocate.
What I'm saying to you is that there is this panel, commission they're talking about, this
whole thing is flawed because it's all appointed by Sacramento politicians.
This isn't u pointed by tax payers, it's by Sacramento politicians the people who have
gotten us into this problem. If there are flaws beyond what we've already
been talking about, we can't do anything about it until 2027.
>> >>JOANNE: We are out of time, but I do want to send peep tool KPBS.org, because there's
a much longer conversation with both of you on the radio.
We will link so people can read about this, they can see for themselves what this is all
about. Thank you for being here.
>> >>DWANE: You can find all of our election coverage including our online voter guide
on our website at KPBS.org/election. >> >>DWANE: Easier for weet women to get birth
control pills, registered nurses, nurse practitioners and mid wives provide the pills.
Nurses don't have the expertise to prescribe the medications, but those care givers are
the only option for many women. A new survey says most California voters say
yes to medical marijuana but half of those polled say no to recreational use of pot.
The UFC poll found 80% support medical marijuana for the terminally illed.
The survey comes on the heels of a mistrial of a San Diego man who up a rit rated a dispensary.
Joanne is talking with him. >> >>JOANNE: The operator of a medical marijuana
dispensary in San Diego got his day in court and won, or at least he didn't lose.
Dexter Padilla was charge would possession and cult vaigz of marijuana last year.
He is president of therapeutic healing corporation which provided medical pot to 3,000 users.
Dexter Padilla joins me along with Eugene Davidovich, San Diego's spokes person for
the Americans for safe access. Thank you for being here.
Dexter, first of all start us off. Give us a little bit of a background.
You had this dispensary, 3,000 patients? >> >>EUGENE DAVIDOVICH:
>> >>: Our dispensary was located in La Jolla, I was arrested in San Marcos with possession
and intent to sell and cult vaigz. >> >>JOANNE: You're a navy vet.
How did you get involved with selling medical marijuana?
>> >>: I was approached by other qualified members y.run a successful real estate brokerage
at the time. I was also qualified patient at the time.
We just kind of came toorgt together, said this is the best way to do it, disoo it legal,
and they went ahead and told me I should be the president based on my business background
and so that's where it started. >> >>JOANNE: Qualified user because you were
in a car accident, right? >> >>DEXTER PADILLA: That is correct.
Back in I believe 95 I got into a bad accident and broke my back.
Luckily I was still able to serve my time in the military and that's how I became a
qualified paition nlt. >> >>JOANNE: Eugene, let's pick up the story
there. What happened in the court?
>> >>EUGENE DAVIDOVICH: The jury came back with a dead lock.
They were not able to reach a verdict. Judge PARSKY ruled it a mistrial and dismissed
the refiling of the charges in the interest of justice.
Even after the trial was dismsed and the charges were cleared, the District Attorney's office
came back expu tempted to refile the charges again and this time the judge stepped in and
said no more waste of our tax payers dollars. The arguments you introduced were bordering
disinjn wn. >> >>JOANNE: I think part of your defense
case was there r are actually a set of rules in the state of California that say if you
want to do this, then you have troo do A, B, and C.
In the end you were proving you were following the rules.
>> >>DEXTER PADILLA: Absolutely. We tried to do above par than what was required
in the CUA rgs thoar medical marijuana program act.
>> >>JOANNE: You're not the first person in San Diego county who's been charged or who's
dispensary was shut down. This is something that's been happening throwlt
throughout the county. >> >>: The San Diego District Attorney's office
is using the procedure as the punishment itself. From the onset of the case, it was clear a
jury would never reach a verdict. The fact that it got this far, the fact they
keep filing charges against patients who are in compliance with state law shows they use
the procedure as a way to punish people. >> >>JOANNE: What will this mean for future
charges or cases? >> >>: What it shows is that any case where
a patient goes out of his way like dexter Padilla did to comply with state law, pay
his taxes and do everything the right way, no jury would ever convict or find that person
guilty of a crime because there isn't a crime. >> >>JOANNE: Swree to point out it was a hung
jury. This isn't sort of the only wringal in this
story. We know that this is against the law, and
you still got federal prosecutors who are shutting down medical marijuana dispensaries.
You give us an update on that? >> >>EUGENE DAVIDOVICH: The ports have ruled
on this issue before. Federal law does not trump state law on medical
marijuana. Even though the feds can come in and do what
they're trying to do and wasting resources punishing folks that are in compliance, theyハ
>> >>JOANNE: I think it might be an undecided question, when the city attorney was here,
he did not necessarily agree with your take on the state laws trump federal law.
I do want to ask you, Dexter, I used past tense to describe the customers that you had.
Has your operation shut down? >> >>DEXTER PADILLA: Absolute.
We also had to do with a simple civil li litigation as well.
We had to shut our doors. Right now we don't have a place of business,
we're kind of running around, we have 3,000 members trying to find safe access, and its
there's not really a place for them to go. >> >>JOANNE: We'll have to leave it there.
We have more about the story on our website KPBS.org.
Thank you, gentlemen, for being here. Is.
>> >>DWANE: The state senate has approved restrictions on red light cameras.
They can only be used for public safety and not to generate revenue for traffic fines.
Local government will have to post warning signs with 200ハfeet from intersections with
cameras to measure. A lot has changed about the San Diego housing
market in the past decade. One thing remains the same, southwestern Riverside
countedy is still an attractive community for San Diego workers.
The appetite for big homes at the price of a long commute may not last.
Tom fudge has the story. >> >>: First to check on trafficハ
>> >>: You head south in the morning, north in the afternoon.
The landscape is I 15 and its exit signs which mark the time it takes you to get from San
Diego or home to temmic yl uh. The one way commute takes a at least an hour.
>> >>: I may lis toon sports talk radio, KOGO, PANDORA, or sometimes I'm making business
phone calls on my blue tooth of course. >> >>: When you work in San Diego, the price
of living in Temecula is the long commute. The pay back is decent schools and houses
like these. Several thousands of square foot homes you
can biet buy for literally hundreds of thousands of dollars less than in San Diego.
>> >>: My wife made the decision. She felt that the neighborhoods up here would
good neighborhoods and it was an opportunity to expand on the size of our home.
>> >>: He now liveswith his family of five in a house that's 3800 square feet for which
he paid little over $500,000. He thinks the same home in San Diego county
would have been at least 300,000 dollars more. >> >>: Let's say you want to whriive in San
Diego, and you wanted to live in north east San Diego countyハ
>> >>: Russ, CEO market point reelty advisers, says the home price that has driven San Diego
workers to live in Riverside county is still a huge motivation.
>> >>: If you looked at that area combined in San Diego county, you're going to pay well
over 500 and some odd thousand dollars for a new homement if you go into west Riverside
county, you can buy the same home for the mid 200,000s.
>> >>: The forces that have made the communeハ change.
, the high cost of gas is substantially reduced the affordability of the comeup commute, and
then there's the effort to actually keep workers in temmic yl uh.
Morris miers runs the economic development group that serves the area.
He says about 68% of the meepal in the region commute elsewhere to works the vast majority
heading south to San Diego. He says it's in the interest of everyone to
reduce the traffic on the I 15 by creating jobs in south Riverside county.
>> >>: We're not trying to take people from San Diego county and bring them to Riverside,
but to have them when they grow, when they need satellite companies, satellite locations
and things like that, to think in terms of moving up here, so their employeeses up here
wouldn't necessarily have to commute. >> >>: The part of the work force that stays
in town working 9 to 5, may work here. Jobs follow roof tops and the longer tem ek
Temecula has a strong resident work force, the more likely it is teut too stawt being
a bedroom community. Some Temecula residents talk about having
homes so large there are rooms they don't use.
Others add up oon the time they spend on the road that they don't with their families.
That's made an im prugz pregz on younger people. >> >>: When you start looking at the echo
boomers, they're the ones whose parents commuted. They saw the sacrifices parents made in terms
och family time, how much wear and tear it was on mom or dad or mom and dad the commute
distances to work. I don't think they're going to be as willing
to do it. >> >>: One family whose stil story illustrates
that is the co burns, they moved to HEMET just east of Temecula, husband's construction
planning job moved him there. When the housing bust arrived, Roger's job
disappeared and he ended up doing something, the longer commute to L.A.
>> >>: We didn't get to see him much, and when we did, he was tired.
It got to be school conferences, I had to do on my own, sports, I had to do all on my
own. And it really got to be *** the family.
>> >>: Roger eventually found a job in San Diego, so the coburns left their 2500 square
foot house and moved back to the 1,000 square foot house they still owned in university
heights. >> >>: Roger had to give up his garage which
was a really big deal. >> >>: But now he has a five minute commute
to work. >> >>: What a difference to be able to come
home at lunch, eat, maybe turn on the news and watch for a few minutes, versus two, two
and a half hours of driving. >> >>: For San Diego works the choice is clear.
A house in San Diego or a house in Temecula, and everything in between.
>> >>DWANE: KPBS reporter tom fudge. We checked at Riverside gas prices.com and
found the average for a gallon of regular is 4.23 in Temecula.
A new commuter plane with Aztec pride was unvailed at Lindbergh field.
It's painted with the red and black of San Diego State university.
It's part of a fleet of college themed planes flown by Alaska airlines.
Tonight in the public square, the final mayoral forum is taking place right now at the University
of San Diego. Joanne Faryon isハ the forum focuses on la
Latino issues. We'll have complete coverage tomorrow on KPBS
radio and on KPBS.org, and tonight Joanne will be back with high lights of the event.
You can weigh in on the conversation by following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook and you
can e mail us. You ex watch and comment on any of the stories
you saw tonight on our website kpbs.org/eveningedition. Thanks for watching.
Have a great night.