Friend,
Here are five things that caught my attention!
Preventing Homelessness: So many of our efforts over the past four years on shelters, hotel vouchers, and substance abuse and mental health services have been geared towards getting our unhoused population off the streets and back on their feet, but it is just as important to prevent vulnerable populations from sliding into homelessness. That’s why we took steps this week to use data the county already has to proactively reach out to the vulnerable and find ways to keep them housed. This has been proven to be successful in Los Angeles and we’re excited to add this to our toolbox here as we continue to explore and utilize all possible options to reduce homelessness in San Diego County.
Secretary Pete: It was great to see my old friend, and U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg on his visit to San Diego this week. He and I met on a trip to Myanmar years ago and I was glad to be able to catch up with him and thank him and the Biden Administration for making the largest job-creating investment in roads, railways, and other critical transportation infrastructure in American history. I’m excited for him and the investments that will come to the San Diego region thanks to his leadership.
Perfect Day: For Father’s Day, my son Max gave me the greatest gift—a card with a heartfelt handwritten letter! Inside the letter was the second best gift—tickets for the two of us to attend a Raiders game. This last weekend, we flew to Vegas, cheering on a Raider win and had an incredible father/son day. I couldn’t be more proud of him or more grateful for our time together.
Michael Flynn: Disgraced former Trump national security adviser and QAnon conspiracy devotee Michael Flynn is now leveraging his notoriety to exploit and activate election deniers, mask and vaccine opponents, insurrectionists, Proud Boys, and Republican politicians. Flynn launched “ReAwaken America,” a campaign that is charging thousands of people hundreds of dollars to receive misinformation and stoke fears that the nation is in a “spiritual war” with progressives. This Frontline piece details how Flynn has been using Christian nationalism to peddle falsehoods and perpetrating fraud on Trump supporters. He’s really setting himself up to need another pardon.
Fun game: Zach turned me onto this online game—geoguessr. It shows you a photo somewhere in the world and you try and figure out the location by marking a spot on a world map. You get some hints and get more points for how close you come! Last night, I had an easy one—it was clearly Market street in downtown San Diego! Try it out—free and fun!
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Have a great weekend!
Best,