Daily Business Report: Friday, October 17, 2025
El Cajon, Escondido Lead County’s Prop. 36 Arrests Per Capita
By Tessa Balc | Voice of San Diego
Since a new law went into effect last December, law enforcement agencies across San Diego County have differed in how they’ve used it to make arrests.
Last November, California voters approved Proposition 36, which reclassified some drug and theft crimes from misdemeanors to felonies. It also created the classification of a “treatment mandated felony” for those with two or more prior drug offense convictions, allowing those convicted to opt for rehabilitation rather than prison time.
El Cajon and Escondido police officers have made more arrests on Proposition 36 offenses per capita than any other city in the county, a Voice of San Diego analysis found.
From the Cheap Seats: Prop 50 is an Indecent Proposal
By Gavin Walsh | California Globe
In the 1993 film “Indecent Proposal,” a couple accepts a million dollars for a single night that destroys their marriage. California’s Proposition 50 offers a similar bargain: surrender your constitutional right to independent redistricting, and in return, you will “get Trump.” This is not reform but seduction — a cynical invitation to trade principle for passion, to exchange what is permanent and fair for what is fleeting and vengeful. The deal is as indecent as the title suggests: an appeal to anger over integrity, wrapped in the false allure of a nakedly partisan ploy. By elevating disdain for Donald Trump above the rights of political minorities, Proposition 50 asks Californians to forsake the very fairness their constitution was written to protect.
When Californians approved Propositions 11 and 20 in 2008 and 2010, they created a strong defense against gerrymandering. The Citizens Redistricting Commission removed map-drawing from politicians and gave it to ordinary citizens—Democrats, Republicans and independents working together in public.
Proposition 50 would erase that achievement. It would scrap the commission and substitute maps devised in Washington by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The result: lines that splinter communities of interest, carve up rural counties, and tilt the playing field toward one party and its favored incumbents.
Palomar College Board Removes Anti-Racism Policy
By Tigist Layne | Voice of San Diego
The Palomar College board of directors on Tuesday voted to remove an anti-racism board policy despite broad opposition from the public and many of the college’s students and faculty members.
The board adopted the anti-racism policy in 2021 in response to the 2020 murder of George Floyd and subsequent nationwide protests. The policy reinforces the college’s commitment to racial equity and denounces all forms of racism. But on Tuesday, some board members said the policy could expose the college to litigation.
“Having a policy like this sets us up as kind of a red flag… this could cause problems for all of us down the road,” Board President Jacqueline Kaiser said during the meeting. “…We’ve had discussions that, of course, you guys have not been privy to. We’ve talked to individuals and received counsel that we can’t share.”
