Morning Report: Where Chula Vista’s Campaign Contributions Are Coming From

One of the most compelling local elections happening this year is the race for mayor in Chula Vista — and the importance of it shows in the interest it’s drawn from donors.

According to the latest filings, two thirds of contributions supporting the candidates in 2021 came from outside the city, reports Megan Wood and Scott Lewis.

Republican John McCann, who serves on the Chula Vista City Council, reported that 22 out of 110 contributions he received came from Chula Vista residents. Similarly, Ammar Campa-Najjar, who raised about $109,000 last year, reported that less than a quarter of his itemized contributions came from Chula Vista.

Candidates often tout their popularity and dismiss their rivals’ success with claims about how many donors they’ve gotten and how many are local. Read more about how the candidates stacked up, and what other cities had significant contributions here.

End in Sight for SD Rental Rules?

The state Coastal Commission late Wednesday voted to back the city’s plan to dramatically curtail vacation rentals. The Union-Tribune reported on Wednesday’s vote and commissioners’ regulatory addition requiring the city to review the regulations in seven years to gauge their impact.

The Coastal Commission’s approval likely means the city can proceed with implementing long-wanted rules that include a cap on whole-home rentals across the city but it’s not yet clear exactly when the city will implement the new rules. 

Before they move forward, the City Council and Mayor Todd Gloria will first need to formally approve adding the Coastal Commission’s tweak to the city regulations. Then the regulations will need to go back to the commission for a final certification.

For that reason, city spokesperson Arian Collins told Voice of San Diego it’s difficult to pinpoint when those long-elusive vacation rental rules might finally go into effect. 

“City staff is working to bring the California Coastal Commission’s recommended ordinance changes to the City Council for review as soon as possible,” Collins wrote in an email. “Implementation timeline will depend on City Council and mayoral approval of the ordinance changes and subsequent full certification by the Coastal Commission.”

After that second Coastal Commission vote, Collins said the city will pick a date “not more than nine months from Coastal Commission certification” when the new rules will go into effect.

“This will allow the city to onboard and train staff, accept applications and issue licenses, and provide adequate notice to hosts in the industry who are currently accepting advance bookings for their properties,” Collins wrote.

Regulatory Refresher: The regulations cap whole-home vacation rentals at 1 percent of the city’s housing stock, and create a licensing process and a bolstered enforcement system allowing the city to issue fines and revoke licenses. The regulations include a carveout for Mission Beach allowing whole-home rental licenses for the equivalent of 30 percent of the longtime tourist hub’s housing stock.

In Other News

• San Diego’s new ambulance provider, which only took over such services less than six months ago, faces fines after an early review of Falck’s contract found the company regularly understaffed its ambulances. (KPBS)
• On Wednesday, a City Council committee approved the plan from a development team led by the Padres to redevelop Tailgate Park, the large surface parking lot next to Petco Park, into 1,800 homes. The city would sell the property to the group for $35.1 million. (Union-Tribune)
• Coronado’s former director of recreation and golf services, Roger Miller, resigned after allegedly making racist statements toward Asian people captured in a TikTok video. (KPBS)
• A refugee Ukrainian mother and her three children seeking asylum in the U.S. crossed the border from Tijuana to San Diego on Thursday, a sharp reversal from a day earlier when the mother was denied entry under Biden’s restrictions for humanitarian protection. (NBC 7 and Union-Tribune)
• Trouble is brewing over contract negotiations between the union representing southern California grocery store workers and big supermarkets like Ralphs, Vons, Pavilions and Albertsons. (Fox 5)
• The San Diego Padres will hold their first spring training game March 18 and open the season April 7 against the Diamondbacks in Phoenix after Major League Baseball and its players came to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement. Yee! (Union-Tribune)
• Santa Ana winds — those hot, easterly winds that originate in the desert — will pick up through Friday afternoon. (National Weather Service)

This Morning Report was written by Megan Wood, Lisa Halverstadt and MacKenzie Elmer.