By Donna Frye / Op-Ed SD Union-Tribune / Feb. 8, 2026
On Jan. 5, the city of San Diego began charging residents and nonresidents to park at Balboa Park. To say that the rollout went badly is a gross understatement; the only way it could have been worse is if the city made everyone parallel park before paying.
There was extensive news coverage both before and after the paid parking was enacted showing widespread opposition to the parking fees for residents and nonresidents alike.
On Jan. 27, three City Council members who had voted in support of paid parking in Balboa Park held a press conference inside City Hall.
At that press conference, Council President Joe LaCava, Council President Pro Tem Kent Lee and Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera jointly announced their proposal to suspend paid parking fees for residents, but keep the parking fees for nonresidents.
LaCava said he was docketing their proposal for the council meeting that would be held on Monday, Feb. 9. There was no mention of a ballot measure as part of their proposal.
On Jan. 28, the Rules Committee had a meeting. LaCava, Lee and Elo-Rivera are three of the five members who serve on the Rules Committee; LaCava is the chair and Lee is the vice chair.
Item 2 on the Rules Committee’s agenda was a ballot measure proposed by Shane Harris for free public parking at Balboa Park on Sundays for residents and nonresidents. It was the second time his ballot proposal was at the Rules Committee; the first was back in November, but the committee lost a quorum so the item was trailed to a future meeting.
The Balboa Park ballot proposal was not heard in the order in which it was originally shown on the agenda and was instead moved behind Item 4. Harris and those wishing to speak on it had to wait over five hours to provide their testimony.
When the item was finally heard, and public testimony concluded, Councilmember Raul Campillo made a motion to support Harris’ ballot proposal but amended it to make parking free for both nonresidents and residents not just on Sundays but every day and to forward the ballot measure to the City Council. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Vivian Moreno. LaCava and Lee voted no so the motion failed.
And therein lies the problem.
When elected officials make decisions, it is supposed to be done at a public meeting so the public can participate. The open government laws collectively known as the Brown Act require that the City Council conduct the public’s business in public; it does not allow a majority of the members of a legislative body to take action outside of a properly noticed public hearing.
The proposal by the three council members at the press conference was a collective concurrence by a majority of the Rules Committee members in advance of a public hearing. There was no public notice for the press conference and the public got shut out of the decision-making process.
LaCava, Lee and Elo-Rivera knew that paid parking at Balboa Park was on the Rules Committee agenda the very next day, but that did not stop them from holding a press conference to announce their own proposal before the meeting.
So it was no surprise that the ballot measure proposal failed at the Rules Committee meeting. LaCava, Lee and Elo-Rivera had already made up their minds to support a different proposal that would include charging nonresidents to park at Balboa Park and would not include a ballot measure.
It seems pretty clear that the outcome of the vote on Harris’ ballot proposal was a done deal before the public ever had an opportunity to speak at the Rules Committee meeting.
This is wrong, disrespectful and a violation of our open government laws. The fact that on Friday, LaCava cancelled the Monday hearing on paid parking at Balboa Park after striking a deal with Mayor Todd Gloria scaling back the fees changes nothing. There is a legal remedy available to ensure compliance with the Brown Act; there is also a more immediate “public participation” remedy that includes attending the City Council meeting on Monday and speaking in support of a ballot measure that provides free parking every day at Balboa Park for both residents and nonresidents. Even though the Balboa Park parking issue is not on Monday’s agenda now, people can still speak in support of free parking at Balboa Park by attending the meeting at 10 a.m. and speaking during non-agenda public comment.
Don’t be fooled into believing that a partial rollback or a temporary suspension of the resident parking fees is a good solution. Unless there is a permanent solution, we all know it’s only a matter of time before the city’s “free resident” parking becomes the city’s “fee per resident” parking.
Donna is 100% correct. In this environment of zero trust in our elected officials, we can’t allow them to do a future ‘flip of a switch’ resumption of selected fee parking. The parks and beach areas must remain off limits from their most recent money grab. Meters in Kensington & Normal Heights started last week, the money grab will continue until this cabal can be defeated at the ballot box.
Sean Elo-Rivera is San Diego version of Mandani. He wants control of everything. SEAN ELO-RIVERA OUT OF SAN DIEGO
Al (it’s “Mamdani”) — wow! what a comparison. Clearly you’re not on the democratic socialist trend — but neither is Elo-Rivera. I don’t think San Diegans would elect a democratic socialist — although that’s what they said in New York City. And BTW, democratic socialists are NOT the “control of everything.” We’ll leave that to Trump & Co.
If there is a single consistent refrain from Elo-Rivera is that class warfare sells. At the USD Politifest he showed a 10 million dollar house that was listed on Airbnb, which then morphs into Airbnb being the “Playgrounds of the Rich”, which is absolute baloney. That was where he first floated his $5000/bedroom annual fee on Airbnb or Snowbird’s winter home. Then he pushes for parking fees at beaches & parks, and the evil Tourists are taking advantage us. The only real summary for Sean Elo-Rivera is that he is the very personification of a “Tax & Spend” Democrat, masquerading as a social justice warrior when he consistently makes San Diego a more expensive exclusionary experience for all of us who live here. I hope Normal Heights and Kensington in his district remember who gave them parking meters on Adams avenue next time he runs for office.
Most people don’t know Sean Elo-Rivera is the real ring leader.
I believe Elo is termed out.
While Donna Frye’s observations are correct, I.have attended a number of City Council meetings and have yet to see a councilmember change their position based on public testimony, even though the testimony is overwhelming in some cases. Take Mission Beach for example. Since 2500 to 3000 long term residents were pushed out of MB by whole home STRs, and the average occupancy during the winter months is around 50 percent for the STRs, our local businesses in SMB have struggled mightily. You can’t take away 30-40 percent of the long term population and replace them with a ghost town. Whole home year round STRs are in direct conflict with our local businesses, but our town council that purports to support small businessses is only interested in their own small businesses.
There is an undercurrent of renter’s protections which may be an aspect of the appeal of STR’s. But mom and pop’s STR is a small business too. Not taking a side, just several shades of grey.
Yep, they changed all the tenant protection rules at the State and City in 2019-23. We shifted out of regular residential rentals into a furnished finders that isn’t an STR but similar. That or sold & bought in Arizona (did both).
thank you Donna. I thought it looked suspicious when they canceled the city council meeting on the issue when what was proposed by Gloria was only a little step, and did not address the larger issue at all. They should have kept the item on the agenda.. I’m surprised at how much La Cava has changed from being a vigilant representative to align himself with the powers who run city hall. Too bad. Donna, I hope you continue to stay interested in these issues. You have a good sense of what is legal and what is a sham.