Voice of San Diego Podcast

Just three weeks into 2026 and the VOSD Podcast is firing on all cylinders. Today's episode features many different topics, including a look into something host Scott Lewis could not believe was happening, and may even think it provides some vindication for one San Diego figure. It's the most wonderful time of the year! Ok, maybe not, but with 2026 underway we were all looking ahead to Mayor Todd...

We had 3 of the 4 member of the show in for the first traditional episode of 2026. Scott, Jakob, and Bella discussed the hottest issue to hit San Diego in 2026...BALBOA PARK PARKING FEES. Plus, they get into the crowds that swarmed the tide pools, RV parking at the beach, and a decision on the Midway District height limit. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To start the new year the VOSD Podcast decided to have Scott Lewis sit down with Amy Reichert. Amy is a member of the Republican party and has run for several diffferent offices in San Diego. As a licensed private investigator, she is now reporting on local issues in San Diego.  Scott talked with her about the current state of the Republican party, her feuds with Carl DeMaio over the years, h...

As the year draws to a close, we've revisited some major stories for updates. Bella provided a follow-up on an earlier video she created, and Jakob gave us the latest on what may have been the year's most clicked story: bots scamming colleges. Enjoy the rest of your holiday season! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We were down one member of the show with Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña out for this show but don't worry Scott, Bella, and Jakob held it down. They talked about an unfortunate misprint in the San Diego Union Tribune, but it may be indicative of a bigger problem. San Diego County is collecting signatures to qualify a half-cent countywide sales tax increase for the November 2026 ballot. The crew t...

This week's episode of the VOSD Podcast covers a wide variety of very unique topics. First, the San Dieguito Union High School District is taking heat for a 24 hour live broadcast they allowed in a high school gym. The County of San Diego moved some money around to cover county bonuses. Finally, the San Diego Unified School Distract is at a loss for one of their projects. See omnystudio.com/listen...

On this week's episode of the VOSD Podcast we have a lot of juicy topics to discuss. Is Congressman Darrell Issa going to run....in Texas? Will corporate backing of a trash tax repeal push the repeal forward? And Beef Week was in full swing, and our very own Bella Ross, Jakob McWhinney, and Jim Hinch brought their stories to the podcast.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The VOSD Podcast crew was without their fearless leader Scott Lewis this week, but Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña held it down and led us all through the news of the week. The pod crew talked about chickens as pets, county taxes, and some news stories that are safe to talk about at the dinner table. Have you ever walked past a neighbor's house and heard chickens clucking from their backyard? Well...

On this week's episode of the VOSD Podcast, we had a grand old time at Soda Bar for our latest live podcast Brews and News. The crew were able to get San Diego State Athletic Director John David Wicker to sit down for an hour to discuss a lot about San Diego State Athletics! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the latest VOSD Podcast episode, our hosts get into the Padres exploring a sale, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria makes some changes on his staff, Scott takes a math test, and a deeper look into Prop 36. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the latest VOSD Podcast episode, our hosts get into the rise and fall of a Poway councilmember and how San Diego Unified has been unable to keep kids enrolled in their neighborhood school. Also, will the city of San Diego’s most ambitions development project in Midway rise? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This weeks edition of the Voice of San Diego Podcast has some big decisions being made in the city of San Diego. The San Diego City Council approves a water rate hike for two years instead of four. How does that affect you? The county supervisors are trying to balance the budget behind closed doors. Jakob details the approval of safe parking by San Diego Unified and what it means for the future. P...

The newest fight at City Hall is a doozy. It’s about that new tax announced at Politifest. It could be up to $5,000 per bedroom for a second home or vacation rental and it’s going to be a fascinating political battle. We’ll explain The big development at Sports Arena is once again falling apart because of the city’s inability to not trip over itself. We’ll explain why...

The Registrar of Voters has made a dramatic change to how it evaluates signatures on petitions. A bunch of high-profile signature gathering campaigns have fallen apart in San Diego and it may not have been just because they were incompetent. This is a big change.  One of those campaigns was to raise a tax to fund an expansion of the Convention Center. It failed spectacularly. But then another...

This week we revisit the Politifest 2025 Showdown awards at the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Theater on the beautifual campus of the University of San Diego. We have games, and plenty of solutions for our beleagured and beloved city on this week's podcast.  SHOW NOTES Here are all the videos from last weekend's Politifest 2025     Scott Lewis, CEO and editor in chief at Voic...

SHOW NOTES SEGMENT 1 - POLITIFEST Buy Your Tickets for Politifest 2025 Politifest is back on Oct. 4, and this won’t be our usual public affairs summit.  This year, we’re bringing together community leaders to go head-to-head in our first ever Solutions Showdown. Hear their ideas and cast your vote on which proposals you think could solve the biggest issues facing San Diego. Save o...

Next week the San Diego City council will vote on a series of new water rate increases. But city hall is abuzz that they may not have the votes to pass them. If they don’t, we’re entering uncharted waters.  We have an update on San Diego Unified School District’s decision to close the middle school portions of some K through 8 schools. They’ve already backtracked on on...

This week on the most popular public affairs podcast in San Diego: Nathan Fletcher reappeared. We’ll review his first public comments since he went from the most prominent politician in San Diego to just gone.  San Diego Unified School District is changing some kindergarten through 8th grade schools to just kindergarten through fifth grade. They’ve already backtracked on one.&nbsp...

Violence against outstretched palms – as in hands not the trees. The curious case against Encinitas City Councilmember Luke Shaffer.  San Diego County Water Authority leaders may have thought the chatter about dissolving their agency may be in the past then came LAFCO. The funny agency nobody knew about is making headlines again.  And guests to the Zoo spend a bunch of money in San...

The Voice of San Diego team is embarking on an ambitious pursuit: Developing a public policy for how AI should and shouldn't be used in our newsroom. And we're bringing our listeners along for the ride. Tap in for an unfiltered conversation where co-hosts Scott Lewis, Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña, Jakob McWhinney, Will Huntsberry and Bella Ross grapple with our concerns surrounding this new tec...

It’s dealmaking season at City Hall. The push for a new $25 minimum wage for some workers in the tourism and entertainment industry in San Diego is heading to a City Council vote Sept. 16. Here’s what we know about all the entities trying to get out of having to pay workers that.  Prop 50 mailers are hitting mailboxes and the ads are on TV. We’ve talked about it the last two...

San Diego’s Sunset Cliffs are crumbling. The city’s plan to save them is … a one way street?  The County Board of Supes has officially voted to tap into previously off-limits county reserves, but thanks to a labor agreement nearly half of those funds are already spoken for.  Also, why an aging north county dam has one company saying “Damn!” And finally, Ass...

Were you hallucinating too or do you also remember the city of San Diego saying pizza boxes could now go in the green bin. Also, a lot of people do not understand how to use the green bins, apparently.  We haven’t had a chance yet to talk about it but we should: A judge dismissed the sexual harassment case against Nathan Fletcher that ended his career. But he’s still got one going...

This week, the Padres are getting into politics. The team just took first place in the National League west for the first time this late in the season in 15 years. Success on the field could help them in the field of politics.  We’ve got a special guest host today, former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey is in the studio. He’s now become something of a conservative tiktok pundit weig...

RVs are all over Mission Bay. Why the city now feels OK about cracking down on them.  Mack is Back! Mackenzie Elmer our environment reporter is dropping in to discuss bobcats that have been terrorizing the Wild Animal Park. And why the big news about a big Mexico/USA deal on the border sewage crisis is deja vu.  Finally hospitals used to panic that SB 43 would flood them with patients wi...