Politics Report: Nuclear Option 

The suggestion, or the threat, has now come up a couple times in the most subtle way to make a suggestion, or threat, in politics: Asking about it in a poll. 

It’s happened at least twice – a group with money, upset about something San Diego City Hall is doing or thinking about, runs a poll to show it could really hurt the city by repealing the trash fee that finally showed up on property tax bills this fall. 

Such a move would blow a hole so big in the budget, the people who used to talk about bankruptcy as a solution may start doing interviews again.

Now, the suggestion has graduated to the next level of political threat: It’s being openly advocated. 

Richard Bailey is gathering signatures. He’s the former mayor of Coronado who is widely rumored to be planning a run for City Council along the coast (a rumor fueled by the fact that he sent a mailer to residents just talking about some of his thoughts on politics with some nice pictures of himself.)

In a text message campaign to voters he asked for signatures on his new website repealthefees.com. “If 21K registered San Diego voters volunteer to sign a future petition, we will have the confidence we need to move forward with the repeal efforts,” the site reads. Though not an actual legal petition, the names would help them “gauge support” and if they get enough of those residents signed up, they will launch an actual repeal campaign.

Conveniently for a political candidate, those contacts would also be handy to have. 

But this doesn’t seem like a Carl DeMaio vapor petition. Something seems to really be going on. The Lincoln Club supposedly has funding lined up to do it. I asked Kevin Faulconer, the former mayor and leader of the Lincoln Club what was up and he gave me a very Faulconerian answer. 

“We are continuing to research the best way to reduce fees and taxes to make San Diego more affordable,” he said. I asked if that included repealing the trash fee and he repeated the statement. 

Reminder: Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera was pretty upset by the threats. 

“Anyone who suggests this should be completely ashamed of themselves should be a pariah in any serous San Diego circle and not be considered a member of the problem-solving community,” he said.

The Other Rumor: AirBnB’s Ready to Fight or Help

AirBnB was one of those companies that has tested the nuclear option of repealing the trash fee. City Hall insiders tell me that the company has openly been offering politicians a choice: AirBnB can be a friend or a foe. It can help support some taxes like a new sales tax increase, or it can fight. 

I asked them about their position this week. I got a written statement from Justin Wesson, policy manager, Airbnb:

“Airbnb supports meaningful solutions that help generate and protect local revenue across the state, but a hefty tax that significantly raises costs for residents who occasionally share their home to make extra money is not the right approach. We remain committed to working with local leaders on solutions that would actually help bolster affordability in the city.” 

Q&A with Raul Campillo: How to Restore Trust

I wanted to talk with San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo. He has become the lead opponent of many of the unpopular fees the Council has passed. He took a big stand against the trash fee, holding that the city had essentially deceived residents when it estimated the monthly fee residents would have to pay only to pass one much higher. 

On the other hand, he was very proud of the successes he had in saving some services from being cut in the budget – cuts that would have surely happened had the trash fee not been imposed. As he prepares to run for mayor, I wanted to ask him about the city’s structural deficit and a new policy he is proposing. 

Politics Report: I just wanted to chat about the budget and the transparency ordinances you’re talking about so tell me about that first. What are you proposing and why? 

Raul Campillo: “Well, when I voted no on the trash fee back in June, I mentioned a couple policy proposals that would help alleviate some of the mistrust that was created at the time, around the notice, around what it meant to respond to the protest. People were confused about the cost of service study after Measure B was voted on in 2022 and the $23-$29 per month estimate that the IBA put on the ballot materials that turned out to be wrong. 

“What these policy proposals aim to do is create more transparency around when the city puts fees in front of voters. So the first thing is with any new Prop. 218 fee increase, the mailer is going to say, right on the front, that the public notice is about a fee increase.

“Right now it just says ‘notice of public hearing.’ People don’t know what that necessarily means. They could interpret that as anything from a Townhall at a library to water fee increase. It should say that right up front so that people won’t just throw it in the trash and ignore it. It will say this is about a fee and that you have a right to protest and make sure people understand that.

“The second component is making it a City Council policy that we have to consider doing the 218 cost-of-service study before we throw up an estimate of the cost in the ballot materials. That way the City Council can say this is the program we’re putting in front of you. this is how much it’s gonna cost and it’s very transparent with the voters. Part of the reason why the IBA estimate from 2022 was so far off is because to become Prop. 218 compliant, the trash program needed a whole bunch of different features to make sure that we were charging people what the service actually cost. Once we actually did that, it ended up being over $43 instead of $29. It seems at this point like we did the process backwards and we should’ve done the cost of service study before we put the ballot measure on in 2022.”

PR: OK about the trash fee now. I made the point and I think some of your colleagues have bristled about your ongoing opposition and criticism of the trash fee because the trash fee was so central to the budget that you supported – a lot of the services you wanted to see restored. It was such a big part of the budget. How do you square that dissonance?

RC: “Well, I voted yes on the budget because it had a lot of things my constituents wanted and deserve and not every component of the budget – whether it’s an expenditure or a revenue source – is something I necessarily agree with. When the mayor asked everybody for the recommendations, I suggested some, they were not integrated, but that didn’t lead me to decide to vote no on the budget as a whole. 

“Given the circumstances we are facing with our revenue streams and the expenditures we’re putting out, I don’t think it’s fair to suggest that I should be voting ‘yes’ on every revenue measure because I voted yes on the budget. I put forward ideas I wanted, and they were not integrated. I think that I am standing up for what my constituents want, and my votes are done in good faith.”

PR: And that’s the same idea with the with the parking fees at Balboa Park and other places that you know you they seem like they’re kind of crucial the budget now but it’s still worth opposing?

RC: “Everything is a projection right? Our sales tax revenue projection is based on what we’ve seen in the past. Now, if we are imposing new fees to enter Balboa Park, I predicted, and I stated in my comments this week, that we’re going to see such a drop in sales tax that it’s actually going to be negative.

“I do not agree with the arithmetic of figuring out how many parking spaces we have, times how many people we think are coming, times a certain dollar figure to make a budget projection. It’s unrealistic. The spending behavior is not linear. There will be a downturn in people coming to Balboa Park to spend their money. I think we’d be better off not charging and we get more revenue than actually what we collect to charge.”

PR: Fascinating I just confirmed that there is a movement underway to repeal the trash fee. The Lincoln club says they’re studying it. What would be your take on that? Do you think it should be repealed? 

RC: “I haven’t heard anything about the Lincoln Club doing this so I’m curious to know what the details of their measure are. They haven’t called me.”

PR: They were pretty cagey, but they’re working on it. If it was just a straight repeal, is that something you could get behind? 

RC: “I really got to see what they’re talking about because I’m going to discern between what anybody puts forward on any ballot initiative at this point, comparatively. I’m not going to take a guess on what they might be putting in front of me – whether it’s a straight appeal or not or it’s bringing it down to $29 or not. They haven’t called me about it, to figure out what my position might be on it.”

PR: Do you have a take in general whether it’s theirs or not about what should happen to it? 

RC: “I’m sorry. I didn’t get that?”

PR: On the trash fee, do you think it, in general, should be reduced or repealed? 

RC: “I think the next time we put something in front of the voters that’s going to cost them money, with my new policies, that I proposed, they’re gonna know exactly what they’re paying for and exactly what they’re getting. That’s the bottom line of what I’m trying to say is good-faith governance.” 

PR: Got it. We’ve already heard from you on the vacation rental. I assume that your position is still the same on that. What about the sales tax idea that some of the labor groups have put together?

RC: “I know the laborers and the carpenters and other groups are looking to put something on. I’m waiting to see what they roll out. You know, as the person who proposed the one-cent sales tax in 2024, with the mayor, I know that revenue really needs to be focused on infrastructure and baseline things the city needs. 

“My understanding is that they are looking at some major infrastructure components to whatever they’re proposing. That is something I think the voters really do want because they want better streets, better sidewalks, better water pipes, better storm pipes. It is good for everybody. I’m interested to see where it’s going to go, but I haven’t seen any legislation or what they might actually put in front of voters.”

PR: Is there anything else you think the city should be doing, sort of large scale, on the budget or its financial future? 

RC: “We need to really hone in on which managerial positions are truly necessary and which are not. If we have another major budget deficit next summer, and all projections are pointing in that direction, we must really look and see just how top-heavy we can be as an organization. 

“Forward public-facing roles, like people working at parks and rec centers, librarians, police officers, fire and lifeguards, those are things that we can’t really afford to cut because we are providing services directly. But I really think that some of the statistics have shown we grew really top heavy over the last four to five years from where we were. That’s the first place I’m gonna look before I ever go back out and ask any person in San Diego to pay more to show up to Balboa Park or pay more to park downtown.”

More

They’re going for it: A coalition has decided to go forward with its own independent effort to raise the sales tax countywide. Lisa Halverstadt has the scoop.

SDSU athletic director dishes: We had a great conversation with John David Wicker, the SDSU athletic director, Wednesday at our live recording of the podcast. He not subtly called out Supervisor Jim Desmond, who had sent an open letter calling for the university to lower football ticket prices. Desmond has never been to a game, Wicker said, and he should consider doing that.

On the arena: Wicker did not take our bait and offer any controversial opinions on what should happen now that a court has ruled that the city did not follow the law when it asked voters to get rid of the height limit in Midway. The Midway Rising boosters insist their plan to build an arena there has not been hurt by the ruling.

Still, there was a not insignificant discussion about putting an arena at SDSU’s Mission Valley site fueled in part by suggestions that Midway Rising’s new arena would never happen. It’s fairly clear that had SDSU embraced the idea, there’d be a new arena already built or close to it in Mission Valley right now.

Football: SDSU’s Daily Aztec had a good writeup about some of Wicker’s comments on the disappointing football ticket sales.

I am thankful for all of you especially the ones who send great ideas. I will be out next week spreading gratitude with my family. I’ll be back in your inboxes in December. If you have any feedback or ideas for the Politics Report, send them to scott.lewis@voiceofsandiego.org.

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