Daily Business Report: Thursday, October 9, 2025
Mayor Gloria Is Inspired by Chula Vista Police’s Investments in AI, Drones. Is San Diego Next?
By Bella Ross | Voice of San Diego
How can San Diegans get the city we want?
Mayor Todd Gloria believes doubling down on new police technologies, such as AI and drones, is at least part of the answer.
“I believe that technology will continue to play a key role in making sure that we can hit the marks that we need to have the response times we need to with the limitation of the officers that we have,” Gloria said during a Politifest panel Saturday.
Refinery fire spotlights California’s gas supply crunch and high prices at the pump
By Dan Walters| CalMatters
Thankfully, last week’s explosion and fire at California’s second largest refinery, Chevron’s El Segundo plant, was not an environmental catastrophe. But it could have serious economic and political impact.
It occurred as Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic figures were in the midst of a 180-degree political pirouette: a shift from denouncing makers of gasoline as price gouging polluters, to beseeching them to continue production.
California once had dozens of refineries, but today nine are still producing gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel for airlines and military warplanes. Two have announced plans to shut down within a few months.
Mayor Gloria Says Absorbing Harbor Police Could Ease San Diego’s Officer Shortage
By Bella Ross | Voice of San Diego
After years of struggling to hire and retain police officers, Mayor Todd Gloria says it may be time to consider a new approach to closing the shortage: a merger with the Harbor Police.
“We have a Harbor Police department that consists of about 140 police officers that basically has overlapping jurisdiction,” Gloria said at a Politifest panel Saturday. The panel also featured Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera and Aimee Faucett, president of Agenda Setting and previously the chief of staff for Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
The San Diego Police Department has a staffing shortfall of about 200 officers. Gloria said the city currently has about 1,822 officers, and aims to get to 2,000. He also suggested the city use drones and AI technology to save officers time.
