Morning Report: Voters Judged the Judges, and Rejected Kreep

Matt Brower became the first challenger to knock off a sitting San Diego Superior Court judge since 2002.

In an in-depth piece, VOSD contributor Lyle Moran details all the factors that led to Judge Gary Kreep’s ouster.

For one, Brower got the support of six sitting judges and the San Diego County Bar Association.

There’s also the fact that Kreep received a severe public censure from the state’s judicial watchdog last year for making inappropriate comments in his courtroom. He also promoted a conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States.

Kreep suggested his conservative views on abortion were to blame for the overwhelming opposition to his re-election, but the bar association said it doesn’t consider religion or political affiliation when judging the judges.

Disruption at the Border

Customs officials closed some northbound lanes at the San Ysidro Port of Entry early Monday morning because of reports “of groups of persons from the caravan gathering in the city of Tijuana for a possible attempt or attempts to rush illegally through the port of entry,” Customs and Border Patrol said in a statement, according to the Union-Tribune.

As Maya Srikrishnan has noted, slowdowns in cross-border traffic can have major economic implications.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is set to start bringing troops deployed to the border home, and they should be gone by Christmas, Politico reported.

California Could Become a Bigger Power Player

If SDG&E has its way, the state will take on a much bigger role in California’s energy market.

In this week’s Environment Report, Ry Rivard follows up on his scoop detailing SDG&E’s proposal to exit the electricity-buying business.

If the plan finds success in the Legislature, “a constellation of state and local agencies may soon control much of the power bought and sold in California, a major shift away from private companies,” Rivard notes.

Also in the Environment Report: an update on the city’s recyclables, which ran into trouble when China began rejecting recycled material from the United States. Our recyclables are still, however, getting recycled — some are now being sent to Indonesia and Korea.

Maienschein Race Will Come Down to the Wire

Assemblyman Brian Maienschein’s race against political newcomer Sunday Gover tightened by another 728 votes in the latest vote tally Monday. Now just 2,563 votes separate them. 

Gover chipped away at Maienschein’s lead throughout last week, and if the momentum continues, the race could be decided by a few hundred votes or even fewer.

Sherman Raises Alarm About SDSU Mission Valley Plans

San Diego City Councilman Scott Sherman, who was one of the only politicians to support Measure E (which lost) and oppose Measure G (which won) has a new commentary in the Union-Tribune. He’s encouraging the city and SDSU to make good on promises of Measure G.

“Unfortunately, rumors are already swirling around City Hall of plans to sell the property at less than market value and possibly give it away for free,” he wrote. The initiative does say, with some major nuances, that the university must pay fair market value for the land.

After the vote, we rounded up four of the big promises SDSU and supporters of Measure G made to voters.

In Other News

The Morning Report was written by Sara Libby, and edited by Scott Lewis.