Here are five things that caught my attention!
Opioid Crisis: Like many other parts of the U.S., we recently declared Fentanyl a public health crisis, and the County reaffirmed our commitment to making a difference and saving lives. Illicit fentanyl is up to 100 times more potent and more addictive than heroin. It is also cheaper and easier to manufacture which contributed to our communities being flooded with these synthetic opioids that have claimed thousands of lives in our county. This Fall, we’re planning to develop a comprehensive plan to invest approximately $100 million in opioid settlement money in ways that will make our communities safer and prevent loss of life due to opioids. Mark your calendars for our three planning sessions on Aug. 10 and Sept. 6 and 7.
Judicial Reform (deeper dive): I’ll admit that I am not a fan of term limits. If you don’t like your elected officials, then vote them out! But I am intrigued by the idea that it might make sense for the Supreme Court because it would provide predictability for when seats would come open and every president would get to appoint the same number of justices per four-year term. And they might pick older and more experienced justices than the youngest one they think could get confirmed. This Ezra Klein piece expresses the rationale nicely.
The American Dream: When I talk to people who live in other parts of the country, I like to tell them one of my favorite things about San Diego is that because we’re a border community, we serve as a starting point for new immigrants’ pursuit of the American Dream. While JD Vance and national Republicans are building their campaigns and agendas around xenophobia and grievance politics, what San Diegans know is that immigrants add so much to our region and our country, not just culturally, but economically. Check out this piece by Peter Coy that discusses the empirical findings that dispel a lot of the myths and tropes of anti-immigration voices, and shows that access to the American Dream is alive and well.
Summer reads: I go in spurts with books–dense historic reads and then at times an easy-to-read novel! I just finished two books by authors that are new to me–Taylor Moore’s Down Range and C.J. Box’s Open Season. Both were good enough for me to order the second novel in the character set. Taylor Moore’s character Garrett Kohl is a somewhat typical former special forces save the day story but with an interesting plot. C.J. Box’s Joe Pickett is a game warden in Wyoming who brings a humble and at times unsophisticated, but principled approach to a tough job. I liked him a little bit more!
Summer Fun Game: There are no true “days off” in my job, but we do try and get away to the mountains when we can. The days are full of hikes, downhill mountain biking (me trying desperately to keep up with the boys and my wife tending to my inevitable loss of skin and injuries), lake swimming and rock jumping, epic dart tournaments, horseshoes, and a wide range of board and card games. We came upon a new and really fun one that sort of combines horseshoes with a frisbee, but in a team concept: Kan Jam. Check it out!
