(LIVE COVERAGE @ 6 p.m.)
What state is the city of San Diego in? One answer of course is obvious. California.
But another answer comes tonight as San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer delivers his annual State of the City address.
A year ago, the state of the city was much different than it is today.
The Chargers are now in L-A. Their former home, Qualcomm Stadium , is now SDCCU Stadium and Qualcomm itself, San Diego’s signature tech firm known worldwide and which employs thousands of workers locally is facing an uncertain future with a hostile takeover attempt underway.
There are two competing plans headed to voters this fall about what to do with the stadium site: the Soccer City plan, which the Mayor publicly supports and the expansion of San Diego State, the university from which the Mayor graduated and has always supported.
And then there is the homeless issue, which the mayor a year ago was trying to solve by combining it with other problems to solve through a hotel tax increase: a too small convention center and roads that need repair. His proposed ballot measure was rejected by the city council and now replaced a year later with a citizens petition drive to get it on the ballot this fall.
A year ago, the Hepatitis A outbreak was getting little attention. Since then it’s gotten nationwide attention and fortunately looks to be subsiding.
And a year ago, Donald Trump, who the mayor did not support, hadn’t even moved into the White House yet, but now the mayor, as leader of the city, is having to address issues like the border wall, sanctuary cities and DACA.
So what the mayor says tonight could tell us a lot about the state of San Diego in 20-18.