‘My Frustrating Search for a Simple Answer About Paid Parking in Balboa Park’

By Paul Krueger / Special to the OB Rag

The more we learn about the new parking fees at downtown meters and in and around Balboa Park, the angrier we get.

It’s bad enough that Mayor Todd Gloria is balancing the city budget on the backs of families and working people. But it’s worse that the Mayor deliberately distorts how those new revenues will be spent.

And his exploitation of the public’s love of Balboa Park is especially craven.

In a July 28th news release the Mayor misleadingly states that parking revenue “will go far toward much-needed upgrades to further beautify and preserve the park.” Those words created the false impression that revenue from new parking fees in and around the Park would fund deferred Park improvements over and above what’s already allocated in the general fund.

That’s patently false. But the Mayor’s purposely misleading comments were amplified by local reporters whose coverage of the Mayor is consistently uncritical.
In a story headlined “Parking meters to fund ‘huge backlog’ of Balboa Park maintenance needs,” Andrew Bowen of KPBS News left readers with the false impression that parking revenue will be an additional source of revenue to fund maintenance and upgrades not covered by the park’s general fund budget.

And in a Voice of San Diego story headlined “Balboa Park Parking Could Bring in More Money,”  Mariana Martinez Barba quotes the Mayor’s spokesperson as saying “…the city won’t have to pay for the park’s needs out of its general fund.”

But my research — and public statements by city council members and the city’s Independent Budget Analyst — confirm that revenues from meters and off-street parking lots in and around the park will in fact be used to backfill the city’s budget deficit, and reimburse the general fund for what it spends on routine park maintenance and improvements.

I wanted to confirm these facts, so on August 4 I emailed Council President Joe La Cava and Council Member Steve Whitburn (whose district includes Balboa Park). I cc’d Park and Recreation Department director Andy Field and Leslie Wolf Branscomb in the City’s “Communications” Department.

My question was simple: “Am I correct to say that until now, the city funded Balboa Park operations from the General Fund…But because of the year’s general fund deficit, the city instituted paid parking…and those funds (will be directed to) the general fund (to backfill) the Park budget?”

Ten days passed without a response to my inquiry. I sent a follow-up email asking if I was “mistaken to assume that one of you can answer my questions or direct my email to a city staffer who has the information I’m seeking.”

Eleven more days passed with no substantive response.

On August 25, I sent a third email, noting that “I have not received a reply — or even an acknowledgement of my query — from the City council offices most involved with this issue, nor from the Parks and Recreation Department.”

I also knew it was time to stop the charade. All of us on that email chain knew that any request for information that runs counter to the Mayor’s narrative would only responded to — and crafted by — his staff.

“I am also cc’ing the Mayor’s communications staff, in hopes they will instruct a city employee to answer my questions, if that’s what takes to get a reply,” I wrote.
I of course knew I wouldn’t get a substantial response — or even an acknowledgement from the Mayor’s statt.

That’s because the “Todd Squad” plays ball with reporters and community activists who tow the line, amplify his agenda, and ignore or minimize the mayor’s failures.

And “Team Todd” routinely ignores those of use who document the Mayor’s monumental failures on homelessness, infrastructure collapse, the consequences of his rapacious “Bonus ADU,” program, his neutering of community planning groups, and his self-serving photo ops.

And that’s wrong. We elected our public officials. We pay their salaries. We rightly expect them to represent our interests and spend our tax dollars wisely. And we can’t judge their performance if they withhold basic information about city finances.

Government should be “open”; elected officials should respond quickly and completely to legitimate requests for information. If they don’t have the answer, they should direct us to the city employee who has that information.

When reporters, activists, and taxpayers can’t get basic information from their council member or mayor, they can file a Public Records Act Request. But that’s a frustrating and time consuming chore. And not all questions — especially those that deal with policy — can be answered with a document produced in response to a PRA. When our elected officials and city staff act in good faith, a public records act request should be a last resort, not the default action.

Thankfully, I’ve worked 45 years as a San Diego journalist, so I know how to find answers when those who should provide the information, don’t.

When I hit that brick wall, I quickly found a report from by the city’s Independent Budget Analyst (IBA)  that confirms “The (city’s) Proposed Budget assumes that $11.0 million in parking revenue could be generated through a proposed Balboa Park Parking Program…” I emailed the IBA analyst who wrote that report. He called me back, answered my questions, and confirmed that any funding for Balboa Park over and above what’s budgeted in the general fund will be realized only if parking revenues exceed that general fund amount.

That’s extremely unlikely to happen this year, in part because the city council is likely to reduce the parking fees in light of vocal opposition from Park’s museums and cultural institutions, employees, and volunteers. Hundreds of park lovers — especially seniors and families, have also testified that their enjoyment of our “crown jewel” will be curtailed or even eliminated any because they can’t afford to pay for parking or ride shares, and public transportation doesn’t work for them.

Though the Mayor’s office, city department heads, and the council members who defer to him still haven’t given me any information, I confirmed the facts again at Thursday’s meeting of the city’s Balboa Park Committee.

Facing withering criticism from the audience and skeptical questioning from Committee members, Mayoral representative Emily Piatanesi told them more than once that paid parking in and around Balboa Park is non-negotiable because “This revenue is accounted for (and assumed in) the 2025-26 budget.”

Post Script:

People can protest the proposed parking fees at today’s city council meeting, by calling in or appearing in person, at the 2 pm meeting. They can comment on Item S400, which will change the Zoo’s lease to allow it to charge for parking, and they can also tell the council in non-agenda public comment that they oppose paid parking in and around Balboa Park.

Tomorrow, at the 10 am meeting, people can call in or appear in person to speak out against the installation of parking meters and $2.50 an hour parking in and around the park, and also speak out again in non-agenda public comment.

The big showdown on paid parking in the park, specifically the charges for parking lots in the park, is scheduled for next Tuesday, Sept 16.
This is the link to the city council’s agendas: https://www.sandiego.gov/city-clerk/officialdocs/legisdocs/brown-act