The Morning Report
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Barbara Bry is ready to put some of her campaign promises into policy.
The councilwoman-elect will officially represent San Diego City Council District 1 after she’s inaugurated in December. She joined hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts this week to talk about what she plans to do.
Bry said right out of the gate she’ll be focusing on public safety, small business support and the short-term vacation rental war that continues to rage in her district, which includes communities like La Jolla, University City and Carmel Valley. She said she’s been consistent throughout her campaign about where she stands when it comes to residents who want to rent out their homes via sites like Airbnb.
“I’m fine if you rent out a room in your house as much as you want as long as you’re on site to supervise,” she said. “I’m also fine if you rent out your house when you’re on vacation or during Comic-Con as long as it’s your primary residence where you live most of the year. What I’m against is when houses essentially become mini hotels in residential neighborhoods.”
She also said she’s still solidly against providing public funds to build a new stadium for the Chargers and shared other thoughts on long-running city controversies. And yes, the never-ending Children’s Pool saga gets brought up.
Also on this week’s podcast, Lewis and Keatts discuss the city’s forward momentum on the revamp of Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama and some of the hurdles still standing in its way. They also parse the city’s long-awaited approval of the Uptown community plan and question why it doesn’t allow for more housing and development.
The two also review Ashly McGlone’s stunning four-part series this week on a Canadian company that installed defective turf fields at schools across the county and used the crisis as an opportunity to persuade schools pay more money for a sturdier replacement. And they skip back to a recent finding by VOSD education reporter Mario Koran, who dug in to San Diego Unified School District’s unusually high graduation rate.
Also, FWIW, Lewis is tired of people talking about the coastal elites – ’cause some people who happen to live near the ocean are hardworking and not as well-off as people think.