Search query: california

California is either about to right decades of inequality between rich and poor defendants by eliminating cash bail, or it’s about to turn over its justice system to robots. The question of what to do about the system that decides whether people should be free while awaiting trial will be determined by Proposition 25. The stakes, as explained by each side, are either ending an unjust system or relinquishing judicial authority to a pretrial assessment tool run on an algorithm. If passed, Prop.

This is an independent opinion. Have one of your own? Email it to hoa@ivn.us California’s 116 community colleges receive a fraction of the per-student spending compared to public universities in California even though they are the largest provider of higher education and workforce training in the nation and serve far greater proportions of low-income students, first-generation students and English learners. Despite being an economic engine playing a critical role in the upward social mobility

Represent San Diego and Independent Voter Project presented a screening of Daniel Falconer’s award-winning anti-corruption documentary, "UnRepresented," to an audience of 120 democracy reform advocates and concerned citizens on Oct. 10. The screening was followed by a lively and in-depth discussion of the challenges raised by the film’s unflinching look at the current state of American democracy. "UnRepresented" is a short film with a big message: legalized political corruption is ruining our d

The San Diego City Council on Tuesday discussed the option of filing a lawsuit that would allow the passage of Measure C — a special tax measure that would increase lodging taxes — despite it failing to receive a two-thirds majority vote in the March primary. Measure C asked that a tax be levied on overnight lodging guests between the range of 1.25% and 3.25% with revenue going toward the expansion of the San Diego Convention Center. Under the California Constitution, special tax measures requ

This is an independent opinion. Have one of your own? Email it to hoa@ivn.us The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing recession have forced Californians and San Diegans to grapple with a new reality. Daily ways of life – sending kids off to school, being able to safely go to work, and seeing and caring for aging family members – all looks very different these days. All this change also brings opportunities to make choices about how we govern our schools, create better access to health, housing, a

When the Iranian Revolution broke out in 1978, Sassan Rahimzadeh’s family made its way to the U.S., escaping the violence that killed thousands of people and toppled the regime of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Just a few years later, his family opened its first dry cleaning business in San Diego County. “It was your typical mom and pop shop,” said Rahimzadeh, owner of Arya Cleaners. “Over the years we opened more locations from Horton Plaza to Del Mar.” Today, his business has shrunk to just f

This is an independent opinion. Have one of your own? Write it! Email it to hoa@ivn.us‍ When I moved to San Diego more than 50 years ago, the mayor and entire City Council were made up of very conservative Republican white men and you could probably have counted all the police officers of color or female on both hands. Yes, the late Rev. George Walker Smith often called San Diego "the Confederacy of the West Coast" as our city was very segregated. Now a half century later, not only is the Gold

First-time voter Fernando Villarreal is looking forward to participating in the upcoming presidential election. “I think it’s a really important election for democracy and I think young people have a lot at stake when it comes to education, healthcare and a lot of other issues,” said the Palomar College freshman. But that doesn’t mean the process is straightforward for Villarreal, who registered to vote just a few months ago while applying for a business license for an apparel company he recen

When Californians approved Proposition 13 in 1978, critics of the landmark ballot measure say voters did not foresee many of the unintended consequences of capping property taxes on both residential and commercial land: lower school funding, cash-strapped cities, major corporate tax benefits. Forty-two years later, Californians are about to vote on Proposition 15, which proponents say will solve many of those problems by raising taxes on commercial properties. But opponents, and even some supp

Sarah Rivas was barely making rent since she’d moved to the city of Sunnyvale, in Silicon Valley, California. When, three months into the pandemic, she woke up to an email from her school announcing a nearly 7% cut in teachers’ pay, she gave up a three-year battle. “I moved into my parent’s house,” said Rivas, who’s been teaching her class of twelfth graders from Sacramento, three hours from their high school. “Not what every 26-year-old wants to do.” Rivas makes above the median household inc