{"id":375856,"date":"2025-11-13T11:52:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T11:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/375856\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T11:52:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T11:52:15","slug":"morning-report-it-doesnt-matter-who-recycles-toilet-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/375856\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Report: It Doesn\u2019t Matter Who Recycles Toilet Water\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a debate over whether the city of San Diego should or could build a smaller sewage-to-drinking water recycling project<\/a> than originally planned.<\/p>\n

If fully built out, the project costs would top $5 billion. And the City Council is desperate <\/a>to save ratepayers money. But the city probably can\u2019t build a smaller Pure Water project, even though some want it to, because recycling wastewater is something the city promised to do \u2013 or risk being sued by environmentalists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A bloc of East County cities is building their own, similar project. And they\u2019ve told San Diego, hey, why don\u2019t you just build something smaller, save money and count the water we make from our toilet flushes toward your project? San Diego\u2019s Public Utilities Department told City Council President Joe LaCava they\u2019re looking into it during a heated water and wastewater rate hike debate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t clear whether environmentalists had a problem with East County sharing San Diego\u2019s commitment toward wastewater recycling.<\/p>\n

Our MacKenzie Elmer asked them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They told her, yep, we\u2019re good with it. As long as San Diego is able to recycle and produce 83 million gallons of sewage per day \u2013 sewage that right now dumps into the Pacific Ocean via the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant \u2013 we don\u2019t really care how you get there, they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read the full story here.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Mayor Fires Top Deputies<\/p>\n

City Hall sources confirmed Wednesday that San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria fired Alia Khouri, the city\u2019s deputy chief operating officer for operations and Kristina Peralta, the deputy chief operating officer for neighborhood services. They were two of the five deputy chief operating officers who reported to Gloria directly after he fired Eric Dargan, the former chief operating officer. <\/p>\n

The City Council had mandated that he make two cuts like this after they overrode his veto of their budget. But he had initially indicated he would ignore<\/a> their budget decision and find equivalent savings elsewhere. <\/p>\n

The Learning Curve: Grossmont Recall Effort Fading<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"A Grossmont Union High School District board meeting on April 24, 2025, in Grossmont. \/ Ariana Drehsler for Voice of San Diego<\/p>\n

A massive recall effort against one of the board members of Grossmont Union High School District appears as if it is going to fall short.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Grossmont has been in turmoil during the last year. In the face of raucous protests, the board\u2019s conservative majority managed to approve budget cuts which included the layoff of librarians.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than 200 volunteers organized 36 canvassing events to gather signatures for the recall of Scott Eckert, but now they say they will likely come up short, reports our Jakob McWhinney.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The volunteers would need to gather signatures from 15 percent of voters in Eckert\u2019s sub-district. They have until Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read the full story here<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The Harbor Police Department and one of its officers are embroiled in a series of disputes that have now led to the officer\u2019s promotion, reports the Union-Tribune.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Officer Damith Rodrigo was passed over twice for promotion. He then filed a racial discrimination complaint against the department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A sworn declaration by Chief Magda Fernandez says that Rodrigo wasn\u2019t promoted because his behavior as an officer had been so poor. Fernandez said he fell asleep on the job, was accused of sexual harassment and vomitted inside the station after heavy drinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read the full U-T story here<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Other News\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n