By Megan Burks
Filner Hires City Planning Rock Star to Head Planning Department
Mayor Bob Filner announced this week he’s hired former Ventura mayor and prominent sustainable development expert Bill Fulton to head the city’s planning department.
U-T San Diego described his orders: “To take in livability, pedestrian-friendly community development, economic development, affordable housing and public transportation and prepare San Diego for a future in which suburban growth is replaced by infill redevelopment and neighborhood revitalization.”
Fulton is a senior fellow at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and authored what Voice of San Diego reporter Andrew Keatts called the “pre-eminent textbook on planning in California.”
Local smart-growth and mobility leaders were swooning on Twitter, even likening him to the planning world’s Madonna.
Keatts offered this coverage of the hire over at Voice of San Diego:
Four Things to Know About San Diego’s New Planning Director
Q&A: Why Bill Fulton Came to San Diego
Find Bill Fulton on Twitter @MayorFulton.
Bill Would Deliver $80M for School Safety Upgrades
KPBS reports State Senator Joel Anderson (R-San Diego) has introduced a bill that would direct money to school districts for safety upgrades. The money would come from an unexpected increase in revenues this year.
San Diego Unified Board of Education Vice President Kevin Beiser told KPBS the bill could bring $80 million to San Diego.
Since the school shooting in Newtown six months ago, several studies, as well as a youth-led campaign, have shown Californians want funding for counseling and mental health providers in schools, too.
Follow Senator Joel Anderson @JoelAndersonCA.
A ‘Fresh Fund’ for Grocery Stores
NPR food blog The Salt reports programs that double food stamp dollars at farmers markets throughout the nation could soon move to grocery stores. Three independent grocery stores in Detroit are piloting a $10 match for food stamp purchases. Program leaders say the farmers market was a good testing ground, but they’ll have a bigger impact in grocery stores.
Follow The Salt @NPRFood.