This is an independent opinion. Have one of your own? Write it! Email it to hoa@ivn.us

In a historic year for American politics, Todd Gloria’s election as San Diego mayor this November has brought a message of hope and excitement in a year of turmoil and uncertainty.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher.

Next year's redistricting landscape is, at best, a mixed bag for good-governance advocates. Although the mapmaking process has become fairer and less politicized in a handful of states over the past decade, partisan gerrymandering will still have a profound impact on representation across most of the country.

The 2016 election seems like a distant memory from a lifetime ago. But 2020 isn't really qualitatively different, just more of what 2016 was. We're seeing that wild year's ghosts of partisanship in overdrive this year. And there's likely not one person who doesn't find it all extraordinarily peculiar.

When Dennis O’Connor co-purchased the vacated Fraser's Boiler Service building in 2015 — he had big plans for the historic Barrio Logan space. It began with creating a production space for his brewery, Thorn Brewing Co., and was meant to be completed with eateries and a speakeasy with an emphasis on environmental sustainability.

This is the second in a two-part series. Read the first part here

Providing preschool at the earliest stages of a child’s development can help close the achievement gap in learning for many low-income children because what’s at stake is a lack of solid preparation for kindergarten and beyond.

This is an independent opinion. Have one of your own? Write it! Email it to hoa@ivn.us

And then there was Todd Gloria. San Diego’s first gay man, first person of color, first hip (surely you have heard him called “the Todster”) mayor. In other words, a person who couldn’t have been elected to even the City Council a generation ago, let alone mayor of San Diego.