Dear friends of inewsource,
San Diego’s mayor continues to be in the national spotlight, and inewsource and KPBS are advancing the story and covering it responsibly. In the past week, anonymity fell away from the allegations against the mayor when women attached their names and faces to the stories. Through a lawsuit, rising calls for his resignation and recall attempts, Filner is staying put.
Now more than ever, the public needs inewsource’s level-headed brand of journalism. At the end of August, we will launch our first-ever membership campaign. Stay tuned for details! I hope you will participate.
Show your support for finding the truth. Share this email!.
— Lorie Hearn, Executive Director | loriehearn@inewsource.org
And then there were eight
As four more women stepped up to complain of unwanted sexual advances by San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, and two separate recall drives got going, inewsource continued to partner with KPBS in tracking down the news. We also reported our own story of Filner’s apology and his surprise announcement that he’d seek two weeks of treatment for his behavior toward women but wouldn’t resign.
Reporters in San Diego and beyond were all over this story. Joanne Faryon and Brad Racino told it concisely, while still providing plenty of useful context.
Criticism of Filner accelerated, and yesterday an eighth woman stepped up to complain of his unwanted sexual advances when he was a congressman. One comment under the KPBS story online noted that it had become a case of “He said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said.”
Nice catch!
Our interactive map of Mello-Roos fees proved its worth again when the Poway School District admitted there were mistakes in some Mello-Roos tax bills after a Poway resident used the map to discover he was being overcharged. Like the problems found by two Del Sur homeowners, this one stemmed from incorrect square footage listed on building permits filed with the city of San Diego.
Joanne Faryon, who wrote the story with Kelly Paice, said she was surprised that the errors extended beyond one Mello-Roos district. “That raises all sorts of questions about the integrity of the entire system. We are now in the process of trying to track down the scope of the problem.
“Also worth noting: City of San Diego Councilman Mark Kersey is asking the school to district to audit all of its Mello-Roos districts because so many of his constituents pay into these districts. We will be following up with their response.”
For you, a special price…
For online shoppers, the threat “I know where you live” now has this creepy addendum: “and I know how often you’ve shopped here, how long you take to decide and what computer you use. What’s more, I’m going to use that information to decide what price to offer you.”
Our partner ABC 10News reported this week that San Diego Rep. Susan Davis has warned constituents of this and introduced legislation requiring internet companies to disclose the practice.
It’s known as dynamic pricing, allowing companies to charge customers different prices based on information collected about them. KPBS listeners may have heard about it on Marketplace last year. That radio report tracked the price of a Star Wars Blu-Ray DVD box set and found a $64 range, with the lowest during the week before Black Friday and the highest that Saturday.
Truth matters. Help us find it.
