(This article originally appeared HERE on Voice of San Diego.)

The politics of community planning groups can often look pretty undemocratic.

(This post originally appeared HERE in Voice of San Diego.)

The contentious debate over the best way to remove cars from Balboa Park's Plaza de Panama has divided community members for years.

That makes the reaction to Mayor Bob Filner's plan to change the route many San Diegans use to visit the park on weekends so remarkable: It's been mostly positive.

(This post originally appeared HERE in Voice of San Diego).

Statement: "The mayor's budget skips a year in terms of our street infrastructure repair that the council was planning on doing, delaying that bond for an entire year until 2014," City Councilman Kevin Faulconer said in an April 16 interview on KPBS's "Evening Edition."

(This story was originally published HERE in Voice of San Diego.)

A North Park religious school will receive more than $500,000 from taxpayers because a jury found late last year that the city unfairly rejected its expansion project.