Rag Staff Report
The San Diego Community Coalition’s inaugural “Town Hall with a Newsmaker” forum on October 25 was a frank and productive conversation between District 7 City Councilmember Raul Campillo and community leaders from across San Diego.
The Coalition held the event because San Diegans rarely get a chance to engage their representatives in direct face-to-face talks. The unwritten rule at City Hall forums is that elected officials speak at length and on script while their constituents listen and are given scant time to ask questions.
For 90 minutes at the Linda Vista Library, a relaxed Campillo broke that rule and clearly enjoyed the spirited give-and-take.
Here are excerpts.
Scott Case, Middletown: We’re trying to understand where all the proposed and approved Complete Communities projects are. Development Services Department (DSD) told me the City does not make that information public. Perhaps the City Council could direct DSD to do that.
Campillo: If the Mayor wanted to release that information, there would be no problem. It sounds like what you’re looking for is a searchable and understandable database to learn what projects are going into what spots.
Chris Poblete, Linda Vista: A lot of us have given up. On the trash fees, large ADU projects, paid parking in Balboa Park, we’ve made our voices heard, but we have no power. Once we vote politicians into office, they do what they want, because there’s no accountability
Campillo: You can move good ideas through a ballot initiative. But collecting signatures is hugely expensive. Should we create a lower threshold or a wider period of time (to gather signatures)? As for accountability, the real problem isn’t that elected officials aren’t listening, it’s that the electorate isn’t paying attention. That’s why I support the public financing of elections concept. There are mechanisms that can empower the people. You should not lose hope.
Danna Givot, College Area: More than 60% of building permits granted over the past 4 years are not accounted for in our Community Plan Updates. They came through the ADU program, Complete Communities, and the Affordable Housing Bonus. These are in addition to what the City was already planning for. All this density is incremental; there is no infrastructure to support it, and communities know nothing about it.
Campillo: And now we’re going to see the overlay implementation of SB79. If you want to lose hope, follow the state government. And if the state is going to set a goal, they have to provide funding.
Janet O’Dea, Mission Hills: The Mayor’s Preservation and Progress program wants to change the way historic properties go through the system. Why does he want to change a simple process for appeals based on facts and expert findings? Under his program, appeals can go through for any sort of findings, which politicizes the process. We’ve been told the Council wants it.
Campillo: When I hear the Mayor’s office or City staff say, “The Council wants this,” it means they heard one Councilmember ask about it at a meeting. Here’s an example of how the historical process plays out: the Macy’s building in Mission Valley. The developer is doing everything to protect that. Is everything built after 1984 historical? This can be very confusing, and it takes a lot of expertise.
Bruce Coons, Save Our Historical Organisation: There haven’t been any projects in San Diego that have been stopped because of historical review.
David Moty, Talmadge: You oppose the ballot measure that would tax short-term vacation rentals, and you have good reasons. But if we do kill off whole house rentals, we free up 4,500 units of housing.
Campillo: Right now, four out of five of those units are owned by San Diegans. Maybe we focus the tax on units owned by non-San Diegans. If coastal zone homes worth $2 million come on the market, people with deep cash reserves will buy them, and they won’t be San Diegans. Those homes will rent for $6,000 a month, and the income will go to someone in another state.
David Swarens, Golden Hill: A lot of incentives for development include transit which has not and may never be built. A judge recently called that “speculative at best.” I would encourage the City not to rely on amenities that do not exist.
Campillo: Two big problems with SB79 are designating a mile as the crow flies and planned transit. It’s deceptive. It’s like relying on the overlay instead of the base zoning.
Eric Becerra, Encanto: We’ve heard the City is planning to use the Developer Impact Fees (DIF) to get out of the red. Do you understand what’s going on?
Campillo: The way I understand it, the City is using DIF funds to close the budget gap. They are $8 million short this fiscal year, and they need to take DIF funds to balance out the year. The thinking is that [DIF] money for Capital Improvement Projects is fluid money. That’s the only way that makes sense to me.
Marry Young, Chollas Valley: I’m a second-generation homebuyer. It’s my home, not an investment. When we go to the Council to have a conversation about someone building an apartment next to us that blocks our light, we shouldn’t be slapped down; we should be able to say, “There’s a problem here.”
Campillo: I love doing town halls. I don’t know why other elected officials don’t want to show up with their neighbors to hear what’s going on and answer questions.
Lorri Freitas, Linda Vista: Is there a way that we can prevent these larger projects from coming to single-family neighborhoods and have them built in areas that were designed for them?
Campillo: You have to get your hands on the checklist and say to DSD, “This project is going up, here’s the list, they haven’t got all their permits, they don’t have sidewalks, they don’t have the setbacks right.”
Paul Krueger, Talmadge: Nothing is going to change until we elect new representatives who share our values. We’re facing four elections in four districts. Can you give people a sense of hope that walking precincts is worth their time?
Campillo: In a city where most elected officials are Democrats, the logical thing is to try and influence the Democratic Party endorsement. If you can’t do that, you’ve got to get an email list to tell people, “This is what we’re doing, we need you to show up.” Showing up is what gives the random person running for office the strength to keep going.
Campillo: Right now, four out of five of those units are owned by San Diegans. Maybe we focus the tax on units owned by non-San Diegans. If coastal zone homes worth $2 million come on the market, people with deep cash reserves will buy them, and they won’t be San Diegans. Those homes will rent for $6,000 a month, and the income will go to someone in another state.
But…isn’t that like…. the entire argument behind the current response to the “housing crisis”? So, is Raul Campillo saying supply-side economics doesn’t move the needle on housing affordability? That is VERY controversial right now in the Democratic Party here locally and at the State level. I would love to hear him go more in-depth on this statement, unless he is just in the pocket of large corporate interests behind vacation rentals.
Thanks to Frank, Kate and Paul for arranging the meeting, and for C.M. Campillo for engaging so affably with the public. Wish all council members had Raul Campillo’s willingness to work with and listen to the public. No one expects us to agree on all things at all times, but having these conversations goes a long way toward shared understanding and perspectives. Again, many thanks to the organizers and the featured speaker! I hope all of the candidates for the upcoming council election will make themselves available for this town hall format.
Stunningly out of touch, Mr. Campillo!
Paul, could you be a little more specific? What or where is Campillo out of touch?
Frank, seemingly oblivious to the questions and concerns spoken by members of the public present and spouting talking points in response to questions- like telling us to take up our concerns with DSD when DSD is just doing what the council directs.
Kate Callen, the author, only posted segments of the discussion; she had taped the entire 2-houir Q&A and tried to give a sense of the talk. I was there, and it certainly didn’t feel like Campillo was giving us a canned speech or “talking points”. If anything he was genuine, spontaneous, thoughtful in his answers and not guarded in any way. I’ve never heard a politician be so down to earth.
Paul, look at the City’s org chart. DSD reports to the mayor. You are stunningly out of touch when you say “DSD is just doing what the council directs.”
Here is a quote from Campillo that didn’t make it into the story: “Someone I know asked DSD, ‘There’s a Bonus ADU being built with no sidewalks from the trolley to the house.’ The response from DSD was, ‘We don’t have enough time to answer all your email.’ I can fire people who mistreat the public, but only if they work for me.”
Nowhere in this story, or in the meeting itself (were you even there?), did Campillo tell people to “take up our concerns with DSD.” If you read this story carefully, you’ll see that Campillo offered practical advice on making City Hall more accountable: a searchable DSD database, confronting DSD with its own checklists.
When someone levels harsh criticism that is full of misinformation, you have to wonder: What is the real reason for this animus?
Kate, you know I really appreciate your activism and your writing in the Rag. I generally agree with you and I am grateful for your articulation of issues and solutions.
I honestly don’t know where I got the impression that he said to take it up with DSD, but somehow I did. I was out of the country at the time I read the article and wrote the comment, and I guess I got it wrong. I had only very erratic connectivity and was getting very frustrated with trying to get any kind of news or information. Not an excuse, just an explanation.
Please allow me to withdraw my comment.
Paul, thank you, my reply should have been more temperate. Two things surprise me. First, Campillo was more unscripted and unfiltered than any politician I’ve seen. Second, people who rightly complain about inaccessibility at City Hall won’t give him credit for that.
I wrote a post Friday about Roosevelt’s “man in the arena” quote. Campillo is in the arena. I don’t agree with all his votes. But I know why he casts them, because he has been open and straightforward. No spin. No pandering. No word salad.
Again, thank you for writing, it means a lot. I’ve become disheartened by the way activists keep turning on one another. (Frank says the left always does that.) You’ve lifted my spirits.
Unused and Hoarded Cash Fund Balances including Development Impact Fees (DIF) are shown on Pages 172-173 of the City of San Diego FY-2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR).
https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/acfr-2024.pdf
As of 06/30/2024 the Fund Balance in Development Impact Fees (DIF) for FY-2024 is $219.8 million Cash. Back on 06/20/2021 the DIF Cash Fund Balance for FY-2021 was $186.1 million. An increase of +$33.7 million in 3 Years.
Even larger Cash Fund Balances is in the unused Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund (LMIHAF) that can be used for housing the poor and homeless.
For FY-2021 the LMIHAF Fund Balance was $360.3 million Cash. For FY-2024 the LMIHAF Fund Balance is $430.0 Million. An increase of +$69.7 million in 3 years while many homeless due to a lack of identified funding for low income housing.
If the City wanted to they could use their General Fund Emergency Reserves Fund Balance which in FY-2024 is $107.6 million Cash, and was $106.1 million in FY-2021.
The City’s Total Cash Fund Balance for FY-2024 is $2.3 BILLION, and in FY-2021 was $2.1 Billion. An increase of +$262 million in unused Cash Revenue in 3 years.
Hi Frank, Kate & Paul,
Thank you for putting on the meeting with Raul Campillo. I have always enjoyed the “Coffee with Campillo” meetings he sets up with the general public.
Wouldn’t that be something if our other City Council members would do that!!!
If the ones running for districts 2,4,6,and 8 refuse to show up I still think you should have an Empty Chair Town Hall meeting for them. A video might also help with the public asking questions with no answers
Something other candidates for 2,4,6 & 8 could juxtapose with their campaigns.
Just a thought to show the difference.