‘We Want to Hear from Constituents (Except When We Hate What They Say)’

By Kate Callen

Where else but San Diego would you see a Councilmember disrespect a community leader just minutes after the Council passed a measure to strengthen community engagement?

Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera’s flippant response to a public speaker during a June 29 Council meeting exposed the root rot that plagues constituent relations at City Hall. No amount of tinkering with meeting logistics will fix that problem.

For months, the Council has worked to comply with Senate Bill 707’s overhaul of the Brown Act to embrace modern meeting technologies. The result was outlined in a report from City Clerk Diana Fuentes titled “Information Guide on Group Participation Updates and Council Determination of Community Engagement Efforts.” Her recommendations were adopted in a unanimous vote.

Changes regarding public input to Council go into effect July 6. Citizens will face a steep learning curve on organizing group presentations and offering virtual testimony. Once they get the hang of it, they will discover that their second-tier status will be, to quote the great David Byrne, “the same as it ever was.”

That’s because two characteristics of Council meetings will remain unchanged. Public commenters will still face speaking time constraints that do not apply to any other participants. And the disdain some elected officials feel toward their constituents will still permeate the chambers.

Which brings us to the ever-belligerent Elo-Rivera.

In a discussion of the city’s Affordable Housing Preservation Fund on Monday, Paul Krueger of Neighborhoods for a Better San Diego appropriately reminded the Council that San Diego has a sorry history of ruinous housing initiatives like the “Bonus ADU” program.

“There have been untold consequences of these programs that the Council refused to modify after years of concern,” Krueger said. “Please take the time to review those consequences when they are pointed out to you.”

(Full disclosure: Krueger is a Rag colleague and a friend. He is one of the most effective public speakers at Council – and one of the most courteous. He delivers harsh truths, but he never speaks harshly.)

A peevish Elo-Rivera responded with this: “There are some folks who will always find an opportunity to criticize everything that happens here and relitigate completely separate issues.”

That incivility was challenged by a subsequent speaker whose righteous fury carried the day. Here is what Joyce Sonyata had to say:

“Councilmember Elo-Rivera and Councilmember [Vivian] Moreno, I can’t believe the two of you are sitting there chatting while people are talking and telling you how they feel and what they care about. Why can’t I understand the movement of these funds, what you’re doing with these funds? Please listen to us.”

In all fairness, the Council was well-intended in looking at new ways for constituents to participate. And Fuentes worked hard on a package that would tie them all together.

But after months of workshops, portals, multilingual materials, and other outreach efforts, when the new procedures are in place, the public might feel like a motorist whose mechanic washed his car instead of fixing the carburetor. Yes, the car looks great. But the engine still knocks.

What steps could the Council take to treat community members as stakeholders instead of subordinates? Here are suggestions that would show greater respect to constituents and, in the process, make Council meetings shorter and more productive:

Thanks, But No Thanks: Councilmembers’ cloying habit of thanking everyone in creation – their staff, the Mayor’s staff, the City Clerk, Development Services, and on and on – is a cringeworthy waste of precious time. Stop fawning over salaried employees and get down to business.

Puzzling Proclamations: Attendees at Council meetings must sit through effusive proclamations honoring unknown people for vague reasons. Someone has run a successful business or chaired a Rotary Club chapter or organized a recycling effort. Do such endeavors warrant public tributes in meetings that always run too long? Move these performative accolades and their accompanying photo ops to off-hour events in Council offices.

Lead By Example: Public commenters are strictly held to time limits of one to two minutes. Presentations by staff and project applicants can stretch 15 minutes or longer. Council President La Cava often asks them, “How much time do you need?” Really? They get to choose? And councilmembers regularly burn up time with meandering speeches. Here’s an idea: Impose time limits on all speakers, enforce those limits uniformly, and display the same timer for everyone.