Cup of Chisme: About Those Protesters

When City Hall reporter Mariana Martínez Barba made it to Council Chambers this week to cover a proposal to tax empty second homes and vacation rentals, she spotted dozens of people in light blue shirts. Some were holding signs that had some version of this: “Keep San Diego affordable: Say no to the rental tax.”

She started asking questions.

“We arrived from Los Angeles yesterday,” a woman told Martínez Barba in Spanish. The woman said she had received a stipend to attend the meeting and was provided with transportation and hotel accommodations. She didn’t say who paid her.

Martínez Barba reported that the woman was with a group of 45 people who were associated with an LA-based group called Urbano Strategies. There were also people there with another group, Save Our Services LA. We reached out to them but they didn’t respond. The LA Times has reported that the latter group has ties to Airbnb.

Airbnb did not respond to a request for comment.

You can read the full story here.

Grab some cafecito, here’s what you need to know to start your week.

Yapping with Mariana

Martínez Barba has been with Voice of San Diego for half a year. In that time she has been crushing it. She is also a Report for America fellow.

She has followed how the city is dealing with its budget troubles. And she has helped make sense of the city’s efforts to clear homeless encampments near the beaches and freeways. She’s often running from one meeting to the next. But she really is our eyes and ears at City Hall.

We joke on Fridays that we “yap” too much. So, here’s a little convo between us about what she likes about her beat and what she’s excited to cover in 2026.

Last Friday we missed our yapping session because you ran to City Hall to cover a protest inside Mayor Todd Gloria’s office lobby. What’s been the most surprising thing about covering city politics in San Diego?

“I didn’t expect to be in this role at such a consequential time for the city.

Since I started there’s been tension around the city’s budget decisions, the City Council and mayor can’t get on the same page, and it seems like every few weeks the Council is debating about new ways to generate money for the city.

It feels like every decision right now at City Hall has so much weight to it.”

Since you started, you’ve been writing about the city’s budget troubles. Where do you see this story going?

“It’s clear residents are unhappy with all the new fees introduced this fiscal year – some councilmembers are pushing back too. But city officials argue the city needs these revenue sources to tackle its deficit.

If councilmembers manage to pass some fee reductions we could see a big impact on the budget. A lot of them say they want to find new ways to generate revenue, but no one has offered up new ideas.”

What’s one story you are excited to dig into in 2026?

“I got to attend my first point-in-time count, and learned a lot being in the field with some of San Diego’s leading experts on the homelessness crisis.

Much of why we’re seeing people on the streets is because the cost of living is so high. I really want to dig into the city’s soaring costs and what it means for residents’ futures here.”

Shameless plug: If you’d like to support Mariana’s reporting, you can give through the link here and your gift will doubled by Report for America. 

Speaking of Second Homes

Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera’s proposal to tax second homes and vacation rentals died on Wednesday. We wrote about the Rules Committee vote here.

Reporter Will Huntsberry the day before the vote published a map of where all the vacation homes that aren’t short-term rentals are located in the city of San Diego.

Most are located in the La Jolla and downtown ZIP codes. You can see the map here.

Another Map for You

Education reporter Jakob McWhinney has been writing about San Diego Unified’s efforts to build housing for its workforce. He wrote this week that the school district is in its “YIMBY Era.”

He put together a map of all the housing projects the school district plans to move forward with to produce nearly 2,500 units. The map shows you where the projects are located, but if you hover over the proposals, you can also find information about the units and other elements of the proposals.

View the map here and read his story.

Women Leading the Conversation

We’re hosting our annual Women Leading the Conversation discussion on March 26 at the Farmer & Seahorse. We will be joined by some of San Diego’s most interesting leaders. Learn more about the event here.

The post Cup of Chisme: About Those Protesters appeared first on Voice of San Diego.