Morning Report: The Three Routes to Vacation Rental Rules

Vacation rental opponents hold up banners outside of a City Council meeting. / Photo by Adriana Heldiz

San Diego’s busy summer tourism season arrived this weekend but long-sought rules to regulate the city’s booming vacation-rental market have not.

Lisa Halverstadt checked into the years-long debate over how to police those rentals and found regulatory proposals are unlikely until this fall despite behind-the-scenes talks led by mayoral candidate and City Council President Pro Tem Barbara Bry.

Meanwhile, vacation rental companies who last year funded a referendum campaign, which forced city leaders to repeal approved rules, are again mulling options. And everyone is keeping close tabs on a state Assembly bill that could dial back rentals in the city’s coastal areas.

In other words, uncertainty prevails. Each of the potential paths to long-wanted regulations is fraught with potential challenges.

What’s Next for Controversial Housing Bill

Maya Rosas, the founding president of YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County, joined the VOSD podcast this week to discuss state leaders’ decision to shelve SB 50, the high-profile bill that would allow far more homebuilding near transit.

Rosas had urged Senate leader Toni Atkins to bring the bill to the floor for a vote, overriding a committee chair decision. And she expressed skepticism that punting the bill to next year will make it any easier to pass.

“Do you really think that it’s going to be easier to pass this bill in an election year? In a presidential election year? Everyone’s going to be paying attention. It’s not going to be any easier to pass or to make negotiations or compromise,” Rosas said.

But this weekend, Rosas tweeted an update. She met with Atkins and now, she’s confident Atkins will help eventually get a strong bill across the finish line.

“While I disagree with its fate, she committed to making SB 50 stronger as a 2 year bill. She is gracious & wise & I’m grateful to have her as my Senator,” Rosas tweeted.

Speaking of decisions guiding where more houses should be built, the Union-Tribune reports that a new backcountry development expected to house 4,000 people is in an area that’s experienced wildfires every 18 months for the last century.

Hunter Says He Posed for Photos With Corpses

Rep. Duncan Hunter has been outspoken in his advocacy for military members accused of war crimes, including Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher.

At an event this weekend, Times of San Diego’s Ken Stone reported, Hunter went a step further and said that he too is guilty of some of the same offenses.

“Eddie did one bad thing that I’m guilty of too — taking a picture of the body and saying something stupid,” Hunter said.

Hunter also said he wanted the court-martial against Gallagher to go forward so the public could “see how disgusting the military justice system is when it’s run by lawyers and bureaucrats [who] go after the war-fighter.”

Border Stories Strike a Nerve

Two stories highlighting binational experiences went viral over the weekend.

The first was in the form of a Twitter thread posted by a radio announcer for the Xolos, Tijuana’s soccer team.

In it, he describes being interrogated and harassed by border agents as he crossed into Mexico, and speculates that he was specifically targeted by agents who may have been tracking his movements.

Separately, graduation pics in which an SDSU grad student posed with her parents in the fields where they work spread across social media. The student who took the photos says she was inspired by her parents’ experience – and her own experience as a young mother and survivor of domestic violence – to get a master’s degree.

More Politics News You Might’ve Missed

In the latest Politics Report, Chula Vista City Councilwoman Jill Galvez defended her decision to publicly fire a staffer to make a point about public safety staffing.
With legislative deadlines looming, there are lots of big developments coming out of Sacramento lately, including a major deal on Assemblywoman Shirley Weber’s bill to limit police use of deadly force.