Morning Report: San Diego’s Empty Second Homes

Ever walk around the more luxurious parts of town and wonder about the homes standing empty? 

At least, 4,996 homes in the city do not have a full-time resident and also aren’t being used as a short-term vacation rental. Many of them frequently sit empty. These are the second, third, fourth, fifth — you get the idea — homes of people, who only use them for vacation purposes. 

Today, Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera will present a ballot measure to the City Council Rules Committee that would tax these homes $8,000 per year. (It would also tax short-term vacation rentals the same.)

We mapped out these vacation homes and the results are interesting. La Jolla’s ZIP code has more second homes than any other in the city. The downtown area, which includes several neighborhoods, has almost as many second homes. 

Read the full story and check your ZIP code here. 

Free Balboa Park(ing) for Residents

Three San Diego councilmembers now want to repeal Balboa parking fees for residents – but keep charging tourists.

Mayor Todd Gloria told us the councilmembers change of heart will create a budget headache. Either the councilmembers will need to come up with new revenue or find cuts if they want to keep the city’s precarious budget balanced. 

“I stand ready to have that discussion with them,” Gloria said. 

Balboa Park parking revenue was projected to bring in $15.5 million, but delays in the rollout and reduced fees shrunk the projection to about $4 million.

Councilmembers Joe LaCava, Sean Elo-Rivera and Kent Lee plan to bring a proposal to repeal fees for residents to the City Council on Feb. 9.

Behind Barrera’s Endorsement

As we reported on Monday, San Diego Unified Trustee Richard Barrera’s bid for state superintendent went from an upstart campaign to a serious contender thanks to the endorsement of California’s biggest teachers union.  

The last time a candidate endorsed by the 310,000-member-strong California Teachers Association lost the state superintendent race was 1982. 

Yes, but: Barrera’s road to victory may not be as much of a cake walk as previous CTA-backed candidates. While union support has generally coalesced around a single candidate, statewide organizations have splintered this election cycle.  

Jakob McWhinney spoke to CTA President David Goldberg about the endorsement and the road ahead. Read more here. 

In Other News 

• Correction: Tuesday’s Morning Report inaccurately stated the date that San Diego Community Power’s CFO submitted his resignation. He resigned on Monday. 
• San Diego City Council considered, then backed off a plan to charge for parking on Sundays in certain neighborhoods. (City News Service) 
• A suspicious package triggered a temporary shelter-in-place at San Diego’s naval base. (CBS 8) 
• San Diego County Supervisors will decide today whether to pull $4.75 million funding from reserves to support a slew of projects aimed at lowering health risks posed by the polluted Tijuana River.
• San Diego’s Democratic delegation to Congress supports shutting down the government over funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Axios)

The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry, Mariana Martínez Barba, Jakob McWhinney, MacKenzie Elmer and Rami Alarian. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.