Five candidates vying for San Diego City Council debated vacation rentals, climate change and coastal development rules at a lively public forum this week in Point Loma.
The candidates also sparred over the police budget, secondary suites and the responsiveness of outgoing councilor Dr. Jennifer Campbell to ward concerns over the past four years.
Campbell, a Democrat, is being challenged for re-election by Republican dentist Linda Lukacs and three Democrats: former state assemblyman Lori Saldana, former city administrator Joel Day and ward leader Mandy Havlik
The top two finishers from the June 7 primary will advance to the November runoff to represent the council’s District 2, which includes Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Old Town and Clairemont.
Campbell’s opponents have attacked the compromise vacation rental legislation that she touted as a major success during her first term. Campbell maintains that she helped solve a 15-year-old problem that no one else had really dared to solve.
“This law brings back quality of life with enforcement,” Campbell said of the new law, which is expected to come into effect this fall. “It will also put a cap on them so that the San Diegans who live and work here will have places to buy and live.”
Havlik criticized the cap, which essentially limits the number of units citywide to 1% that can legally become vacation rentals.
“I would like the 1% to be evenly split between the nine (city council) districts,” Havlik said, saying rental noise and disruption shouldn’t just be in beach communities and other popular areas.
Day would go even further, imposing a 1% cap in each of the city’s four dozen planning zones, which are generally equivalent to individual city districts. He also criticized Campbell for working with lobbyists.
“I wouldn’t have done what AirBnB wanted me to do,” he said.
Saldana essentially wants vacation rentals to be completely illegal in residential areas.
“These mini-hotels don’t belong in our neighborhoods, they belong in commercial areas,” she said.
Lukacs said the solution is less about city laws and more about proper enforcement.
“I don’t have a problem with short-term vacation rentals per se,” Lukacs said. “But what bothers me is the lack of any enforcement when you call for action against those who violate ordinances and disrespect the neighborhood.”
On climate change, each of the candidates acknowledged that the problem is important. But they offered a wide variety of solutions.
Havlik, who drives an electric car, said she would prioritize planting trees and significantly expanding the use of solar panels. She said San Diego’s location puts the city at the forefront of concerns about sea level rise.
“We have to plan for the effects of the environmental crisis,” she said.
Campbell and Saldana touted their records while in office.
Campbell helped lead the city’s effort to switch from San Diego Gas & Electric to government-run energy. She also took credit for the city plans for keeping most of Fiesta Island’s open spaces open.
Saldana co-authored crucial state legislation focused on reducing greenhouse gases. Saldana said she uses an e-bike, is a vegetarian, and has used the cart frequently since expanding to La Jolla in November.
Lukacs said she composts and has solar panels, but drives a gas-powered car and never uses the cart.
“I haven’t taken public transport here because I can’t get to where I want to go with it,” Lukacs said.
Day said he would tackle climate change by lobbying Mayor Todd Gloria to hire a “resilience officer.” Day said he drove a gasoline-powered car, saying there was too much emphasis on reducing people’s carbon footprints.
He said changing individual behavior “may actually distract us from systemic changes that need to be made”, saying “it probably doesn’t matter what kind of cars we drive”.
On coastal development, Campbell touted plans to redevelop the area around the sports arena with dense housing, while other candidates expressed concerns about the infrastructure needed to support such housing.
“It will provide a new and beautiful neighborhood,” Campbell said, adding that she supports lifting the 30-foot height limit in the Midway area near the sports arena. “We all know how devastated this area is.”
Lukacs and Havlik said they oppose lifting the 30ft height limit and the plan for dense housing near the sports arena, saying it was wrong to approve housing before a comprehensive plan for better infrastructure is in place.
“It’s premature to talk about this development until we have a sustainable and fiscally responsible long-term plan for infrastructure,” Lukacs said.
Day said he supported lifting the height limit and the housing plan, but stressed there needed to be a transit connection from the Old Town and improvements to freeway interchanges.
“You need someone (in this council seat) who is going to be a bulldog fighting for traffic mitigation at the 8/5 interchange,” he said.
Saldana said her concerns run deeper.
“We have bigger problems than just watching Midway,” she said. “We have a systemic issue with development and the developers running the show. There is too much corruption in the development agreements at the town hall.
Regarding the police budget, Day said he supported housing subsidies to encourage police officers to live in the city. Saldana said she would require veteran officers to serve on the most dangerous beats, instead of the current practice of giving them the least dangerous.
Campbell said officers need to be more accountable, Lukacs wants better officer training and Havlik wants to shift some calls from police to mental health teams.
Regarding secondary suites, sometimes referred to as “grandmother’s apartments,” Saldana said she’s worried the city will significantly relax the rules so they don’t push more people into already dense areas.
Havlik and Lukacs said the city went too far too quickly on ADUs, noting there is no requirement to provide parking spaces for new ADUs. Campbell said she supports ADUs as part of the city’s solution to the lack of housing supply.
Day wants to restrict who can live in an ADU to family members of people living in a property’s main house. It also supports a vacancy tax, which would encourage landlords to develop housing projects more quickly.
Campbell, who has been harshly criticized by community leaders for ignoring voter requests for information, has again come under attack.
Havlik said Campbell “blatantly ignores” the community.
Campbell said his staff has a policy of responding to all questions within 24 hours.
“We are doing our best,” she said.
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