Former San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher has been using campaign money to fund his defense against sexual assault allegations, raising questions about the legality of such use of funds. Additionally, a state audit reveals issues with California's homelessness spending.
S1: This week on Kpbs roundtable. Former San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher has been using campaign money to fund his defense against sexual assault allegations , and the move is raising eyebrows.
S3: Fletcher pretty much shocked everyone here in our political world in San Diego when he said that he was dropping out of the state Senate race , and that is a race that he was widely expected to win handily. He said that he was dropping out because he needed treatment for PTSD and alcohol abuse.
S3: And basically he's saying that Figueroa was well aware that what happened between them was consensual. And he actually says that she was the one who initiated contact and went after him.
S3: So I know that we live in an entirely different political world these days when someone contributes to a campaign. Scott. Is the expectation now that , hey , some of this money might ultimately be used by the candidate or the one time candidate to defend himself or herself in a lawsuit ? Yeah. S1: Well , we'll be keeping an eye out for all of your reporting on this topic. Amita Sharma is an investigative reporter with Kpbs. Amita. Thanks for being here.S1: When we come back , a newly released state audit looks into what's working and what isn't when it comes to California's spending on homelessness.
S1: Hearing that there just wasn't even enough information to go on is sort of baffling , just given how much money is going towards this , these efforts and how much it's talked about by state lawmakers , state leaders , and down at the local level. You know , two of those projects did show value , though , project Homekey and the other focused on on homelessness prevention. Tell us about those programs and what the audit found.
S1: All right , let's talk about what the audit found in San Diego. Because because it did focus in particular again on two cities , San Diego and San Jose. The mayor and the city council here are constantly talking about their efforts to address and prevent homelessness. S1: You know , I recall that big cities , you know , mayors from big cities were were pushing have been pushing for more money to address this problem. But I guess in this situation , more money , more problems , I guess when it comes to at least tracking where that money goes. How has the City of San Diego responded to the audit ? Yes.
S4: And it's really just an estimate of how many people there are. It's it's really hard to count people. Um , and when I gather data from various nonprofits serving the homeless community , especially when they talk about exit data , you know , tracking where people went when they exited a homeless shelter or some type of housing program. I often see a quote unquote unknown destination.
S4: But I walked down my street and conditions don't look any better. There's still giant encampments that I pass every day on my way to school or on my way to work. And , you know , our leaders are failing us. I think for those people , this audit really just proves their point. You know , it really vindicated what they were saying. Um , and just sort of proved that the current the current process is not working.S4: I mean , it is a tricky budget year. You know , we have such a deficit.
S4: Uh , Senator Brian Jones , uh , proposed , uh , Senate Bill 1011 , which is which would essentially create a camping ban statewide that's really modeled closely off of San Diego's ban. So it would prohibit , uh , camping near schools and places like that , and it would prohibit even camping along sidewalks if there is shelter available.
S7: Well , I'm sorry , I just didn't. Maybe if I was in the the totality zone , I will say my wife really wanted to go to the the zone of totality. Um , but she injured her leg. We weren't able to travel. We couldn't put it together. So , you know , I was just working and went outside and took a look for a couple minutes , but I hate to say it. Yeah. I didn't know what to expect. I just , uh , it didn't change my life. Wow.
S7: Well , one thing was , there was a change in the San Diego County Republican Party. Paula Witzel was the chair up until earlier this week , when she was replaced by Corey Gustafson. And it's a kind of result of a little drama with the party's endorsement of a candidate in the primary election last month , they had endorsed Andrew Hayes for the 75th Assembly District over fellow Republican Carl DeMaio. And then Witzel had made an effort to change that endorsement to DeMaio.
S1: Yeah. You know , these things percolate for years in advance. It is interesting to see that. But for sure , the big hurdle of the 2024 election for all of us to get through for our sanity , that's that's first before we can start thinking about 2026. All right.
San Diego Nathan Fletcher Campaign Funds Sexual Assault Allegations Legal Defense State Audit Homelessness Spending
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Things to do this weekend in San Diego: ShamROCK San Diego, King James and moreThere’s always something fun to do in America’s Finest City. Our Weekend events guide is here to help. Get up. Get out. Play!
Read more »
San Diego Police: Burglaries in North San Diego neighborhoods nearly doubleLaura Acevedo joined the 10News team in April 2017 as a reporter and multimedia journalist.
Read more »
KEN KRAMER’S ABOUT SAN DIEGO: Whatever happened to the Ferryboat San Diego?Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV / Stream now with the PBS App + Encores Sunday, April 7 at 4 p.m. on KPBS TV and Monday, April 8 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2. Whatever happened to the Ferryboat San Diego? And we remember a barn that was so much more than just a barn to people living in one North County community. Guess The Year! and much more.
Read more »
Spelling BeeCongratulations to all participating students on making it to the 2024 San Diego County Scripps Regional Spelling Bee, presented by ABC 10News, and our sponsor supporters: San Diego County Office of Education, San Diego County Credit Union, Fusion Academy, and the YMCA of San Diego County.
Read more »
San Diego County Supervisors OK sleeping cabins, RV parking site to help unhousedThe San Diego County Board of Supervisors Wednesday approved in a 4-0 vote the construction of sleeping cabins in the Spring Valley community, and to develop a…
Read more »
San Diego County spelling bee champ attempts 3rd straight winMihir Konkapaka, an 8th grader at Mesa Verde Middle School, has won the 2024 San Diego County Regional Spelling Bee twice.
Read more »