lyft.com

On August 10, controversial ride-share proprietor Lyft, Inc. of San Francisco kicked in $150,000 to Toni Atkins’ ballot measure committee.

SDSU bars student fee vote

A hefty hike of a “student success” fee by San Diego State University at its Imperial Valley campus has drawn scrutiny from California State University auditors, who say the school improperly denied students there the right to vote on imposing the levy, which is part of an even bigger package of fee boosts, also imposed without a vote. “The proposed phased increase would raise [Imperial Valley campus] fees over five years from $117 per semester in fall 2021 to $819 per semester in fall 2025,” says an August 1 audit report. The money is intended to pay for “improved physical and mental health services, enhanced library resources, and increased faculty to support additional courses.”

But SDSU denied students a required vote on a key aspect of the increase: the school’s so-called student success fee. “[Imperial Valley campus] students were assessed a $22 per semester student success fee beginning in fall 2021, and the campus collected $34,175 in academic year 2021/22,” says the audit, noting that those numbers are slated to rise sharply in the future. “The fee is scheduled to increase to $72 per semester in fall 2022.”

The report says going without a success fee vote was a big mistake and violation of policy. “Any student success fee proposed for [SDSU Imperial Valley] in 2021 should have met the requirement to conduct a student referendum on the fee.” According to the findings, “Proper vetting and authorization of changes to student fees provide greater assurance that increases are necessary and justified and reduce the possibility of litigation and the accompanying reputation risk.”

SDSU officials claimed that they had “complied with [California State University] policy in implementing the student success fee at [SDSU-Imperial Valley],” says the report. “Nonetheless, the campus will hold a student fee referendum in 2022/23 to avoid any doubt that the campus has properly followed the CSU Student Fee Policy.” The deadline for compliance is targeted for May 31 of next year.

Lyft’s pro-abortion gambit

After multiple rounds of six-figure fundraising blow-outs, state Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins of San Diego continues to bring in corporate cash for her ballot measure committee, formerly known as California Works! and currently called Yes on Proposition 1, Protect Constitutional Abortion Rights, supported by health care organizations, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and Senator Toni Atkins Ballot Measure Committee.

Toni Atkins’s spirits were surely Lyfted by big donation.

On August 10, controversial ride-share proprietor Lyft, Inc. of San Francisco kicked in $150,000. Two years ago, the San Francisco-based outfit joined with competitor Uber as primary funders of a $200 million-plus ballot drive that successfully threw out AB5, a law authored by then-Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez subjecting the gig worker employers to state labor laws. Late this month, the Lyft-funded measure was overturned as unconstitutional by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch after a legal challenge to the law brought by the Service Employees International Union, setting off what is expected to be a lengthy appeals process.

Boozy end to Union-Tribune’s lease

As the San Diego Union-Tribune’s print version hangs in the balance, Los Angeles officials have given the green light to a studio plan that will close the only plant that prints the U-T and its big sister, the L.A. Times, both owned by billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong. Back on May 21, 2021, the Los Angeles Times reported that, though the plant’s current lease will lapse at the end of next year, the tenancy might be extended “for at least a decade.” That now sounds like wishful thinking, as the so-called 8th & Alameda Studio project glides through L.A.’s city hall, reinforcing word of the presses’ coming end. “The project will renovate the existing 558,918 square-foot printing plant and a 23,005 square-foot vehicular maintenance building, resulting in a combined 582,400 square-foot floor area,” says a report to the L.A. Planning Commission issued before the body granted a permit to proceed May 26.

Will Patrick Soon-Shiong’s papers stop printing sooner than later?

“Each of the [three] dining facilities are located within the existing 558,918 square-foot printing plant,” adds the document. “The project Commissary, Topiary Garden, and Mezzanine Café are designated as seating for the dining areas. The Commissary and Mezzanine Café will provide full kitchen service for authorized visitors, staff, and studio personnel. The Commissary features a private dining room set aside from the main dining area and large ground floor patio.” In addition, “The project also requests a Main Conditional Use Permit to allow the sale and dispensing of a full line of alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption in conjunction with three dining spaces (two kitchens) with hours of operation from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. daily.”

— Matt Potter (@sdmattpotter)

The Reader offers $25 for news tips published in this column. Call our voice mail at 619-235-3000, ext. 440, or sandiegoreader.com/staff/matt-potter/contact/.