By Lisa Mortensen
Well, our juvenile city hall who is beholden to the developers has given us another issue that we must speak out against. This time our city council is looking into taking away historical designations. The city talks a good game that they are concerned about equity and the communities south of highway 8 but this aggressive change to historical designation will do the complete opposite in an area where we have predominately older neighborhoods.
Buyers who purchase a Mills Act designed or potentially eligible home can save thousands on their taxes in return for being stewards to maintain the history and fabric of our communities. But most importantly, with affordability at historic lows in San Diego county (12% of SD County households can afford to buy a home today), why does the city of San Diego want to remove a major opportunity for buyers to have an affordable option to move into a community.
Please be aware, that there is a two-way agreement with those that receive Mills Act accreditation. Once awarded Mills Act, homeowners must maintain their properties or they will be penalized by the city and may lose their designation. So those that think this is simply a tax reduction scheme are listening to the shallow talking points from those who do not own property and do not understand that with the responsibility of homeownership is basically the responsibility of maintenance. With Mills Act this is a primary requirement.
I have sent the letter below to the UT editor (limited to 150 words).
“The San Diego Association of Realtors published in the 3/07/25 UT newspaper that the total assessed evaluation of all housing properties in San Diego County is approaching $1 trillion dollars.
Mills Act designations represent only 2% of the total property assessments. With the increase in development along with the highest property assessed value countywide, the city’s facts and figures of losing money due to Mills Act don’t add up.
In fact, Mills Act allows many more buyers the opportunity of the American dream of home ownership because of the tax savings that make these properties an affordable option.
The city promotes high-end rentals; not home ownership which is the real reason behind these incorrect facts. Sadly, we have a city hall that is primarily made up of renters who will depart our city to pursue their political careers; leaving this city with limited tangible historical link to our past.”
Statistics from the SD Board of Realtors mentions that prices have appreciated 55.6% and rents have increased 39.2% since the start of the pandemic (2020). Along with this appreciation, the County has reported close to a $1trillion home property assessed value. The highest ever! So how is Mills Act cheating the city of tax revenue?
Todd Gloria’s rhetoric about the ‘north/south of 8’ divide is merely to create a wedge between citizens who live south of highway 8 and those living north of highway 8. We must take a stand that whatever community we live in, we are ALL citizens of this city. Don’t feed into this narrative and believe that if you live north of 8, this is not your issue. Because this is really about the issue of affordability that is an issue for all of our neighborhoods and must be a part of all of our ‘well-planned’ communities.
The past five years, we have seen more out-migration due to lack of affordability. So, if you want your kids or grandkids to return home after they finish school to start their careers, don’t we want to keep this affordable option of Mills Act for their benefit?
I hope you are concerned enough about this issue that you will email your thoughts to Todd Gloria and his city hall disciples. We must push back on this because our voices must matter to maintain an affordable option in this high-cost city.
Emails to City Council Members:
“Dist 1 Joe LaCava” <JoeLaCava@sandiego.gov>;
“Dist 2 Jennifer Campbell” <jennifercampbell@sandiego.gov>;
“Dist 3 Stephen Whitburn” <StephenWhitburn@sandiego.gov>;
“Dist 4 Henry Foster” <HenryFoster@sandiego.gov>;
“Dist 5 Marni von Wilpert” <MarnivonWilpert@sandiego.gov>;
“Dist 6 Kent Lee” <KentLee@sandiego.gov>;
“Dist 7 Raul Campillo” <RaulCampillo@sandiego.gov>;
“Dist 8 Vivian Moreno” <vivianmoreno@sandiego.gov>;
“Dist 9 Sean Elo-Rivera” <SeanEloRivera@sandiego.gov>
Phone Numbers for City Council Members:
Joe LaCava – 619-236-6611
Jennifer Campbell – 619-236-6622
Stephen Whitburn – 619-236-6633
Henry Foster – 619-236-6644
Marni von Wilpert – 619-236-6655
Kent Lee – 619-236-6616
Raul Campillo – 619-236-6677
Vivian Moreno – 619-236-6688
Sean Elo-Rivera – 619-236-6699
Another great live. That is why the Mayor and CouncilRr stalling designation for iconic LeRondelet building. It is surely a prime candidate for Histrionic Designation
WHY isn’t Le Rondolet getting historical Statius? Built in 1968. Still qualifies. Why is Council and Mayor holding it up?
The San Diego Historic Site Board most certainly has its directives. Incidentally the gentlemen at San Diego Port Authority are apparently totally and irrevocably GAGA over Miamiesque waterfront hotels. Humm?
The Whole thing is because the Bonus given under Todd Gloria’s Complete Communities places Historic Districts outside the tear down-build new philosophy for the exemptions and bonuses under which some of the ugliest buildings in our city’s history are being built. Somebody wasn’t reading when it happened. This is an attempt to undo the Municipal Code that prevent them from being torn down.
What I find as odd is the fact that from the governor on down to our local city council, all of these mopes campaign as progressive democrats but they are far from that in reality. They’re power hungry central control ideologues.
When are we going to wake up to that fact and vote them out??
A rally is scheduled for March 29 at the corner of Talbot and Rosecrans to protest the monstrosity which is to engulf the southwest corner of Roseville. See protectthepoint.com