About that Fake Public Commenter at City Council
EM - News Moderator 
He lives in Colorado, but has six homes in San Diego. He hates renters, loves Prop. 13 and is very opposed to taxing empty second homes.
Could you imagine a more perfect villain for tax-hungry lefties?
This person is not real, but a character conjured up by Ocean Beach Planning Board Vice Chair Kevin Hastings, who put on his best get-off-my-lawn voice to call into last week’s City Council Rules Committee hearing on the tax.
“Hey, I had to call all the way in from Colorado for this one,” Hastings began. “I’ve got six homes in San Diego County and I just don’t appreciate you guys stepping on my property rights. I worked hard for those to achieve the American dream. With the help of Prop. 13 and the annual appreciation, I was able to finally retire from my job. I tried renting these out. The renters, you know, they’re dirty, they’ve got kids, they’re always destroying the place. They need to go get their own place. They need to stop being poor, is really what it comes down to. Stop looking for handouts.”
The comment sparked much outcry and speculation last week across the internet, including from the hosts of the VOSD podcast.
It was, as many of us suspected, a bit.
Earnestness doesn’t get as much attention as parody, Hastings learned.
“You go up there and you speak from the heart, and you do all this research, and you just get blown off,” Hastings told me. “So, at this point, anything to draw attention is a good thing.”
Hastings, a longtime critic of short-term vacation rentals, said he called in after being disappointed by his representative, Councilmember Jennifer Campbell, one too many times.
“I was thinking about calling in next time I have something that I want Jen Campbell to vote against. I’ll support it. Say, ‘This is a great idea.’ And that’ll trick her into voting against it.”
Given the vitriol of public meetings in recent years, perhaps we could afford to crack a few more jokes.
The post About that Fake Public Commenter at City Council appeared first on Voice of San Diego.
