The San Diego City Council is set to vote on a proposed trash fee settlement today that would lower the fee and end the push to repeal it altogether.
That’s big news, because if voters repealed the trash fee it would nuke the city’s budget, as we previously reported.
The Council has a tough decision on its hands.
Here are the broad strokes of the deal, according to multiple sources.
– For two years, the fee would be rolled back to $29 per month, which is what city leaders first estimated to voters the fee would be, before increasing it to as much as $43 per month.
– The Lincoln Club Business League and associated campaign committee would stop their effort to repeal the fee completely.
– The city would take over billing for trash, instead of through property tax bills. (This would be a large expense for the city, to bring collection in house.)
– Former City Attorney Mike Aguirre and Maria Severson, who are representing the plaintiffs, would be able to collect their legal fees from the city. The campaign committee working to repeal the trash fee would also be reimbursed by the city for the money it has spent.
The big decision: Councilmembers could lower the fee and prevent a full repeal, but in the process they would create a much larger gap between the money the city is spending and how much it is set to bring in. They’re already trying to close a deficit with major cuts to the arts, library and rec center hours and more.
Or they can risk the full repeal and let voters decide. If they lose, they’ll face an existential budget deficit.
If councilmembers don’t take the deal, proponents of the repeal will almost certainly use that against them in the coming battle.
But the fee’s backers will also be ready to fight over a repeal if it makes the ballot.
George Duardo, president of the local firefighters union, said any deal that rolls back the fee would be terrible for vital services. It could lead to what he called brown outs, in which the fire department would not be able to fully staff water-carrying fire engines at each station.
That means it would take longer for water to get to some fires. “Not only would that jeopardize our citizens, but our firefighters,” he said.
One Republican Mayor Wants to Fight State on Immigration; One Does Not
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells made headlines last week when his city sued the state of California to try to overturn the California Values Act, which limits how state and local resources can be used in immigration enforcement. He said it forces his city to choose whether to break state or federal laws when deciding how to cooperate with immigration enforcement agents.
Our Jim Hinch asked Chula Vista Mayor John McCann if he agreed with that lawsuit.
He does not.
“Public safety is always the most important issue for me, and the Chula Vista Police Department does an excellent job at keeping our city safe…within the guidelines of state law,” McCann said.
U-T Editorial Board, Cooked
The Editorial Boards of big-city newspapers were once a mighty force.
They told people who to vote for and sometimes people listened. The Union-Tribune still has an Editorial Board and it is still making local endorsements. But did you know… it’s just two people?
In recent years, as many as seven people sat on the U-T’s Editorial Board. As our Will Huntsberry writes, that seems like about the minimum number needed to represent a city of 1.4 million people.
The Editorial Board came under fire last week from County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe.
Montgomery Steppe had several criticisms. Not least of which: The Editorial Board asked her only four questions. In previous years, the Board did far more rigorous interviewing before making decisions about endorsements.
Read the full Politics Report here. FYI, it’s our only piece of content that requires you to be a paid Voice of San Diego member. Take this as your cue to join ; )
Sacramento Report: Labor Groups Jockey for Interests In Midway Rising Bill
Our Sacramento Reporter tracked how labor groups are jockeying behind the scenes at the capitol over legislation to help the Midway Rising project.
San Diego State Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, who represents the Midway District, recently stripped the bill of a full exemption of the project from the California Environmental Quality Act. She replaced it will language that would help any project avoid complaints that its builders did not study the impact of the height of their buildings adequately.
But likely there is a big negotiation going on between labor groups and others about exactly what support the state should give the project.
Popular County Crisis Teams in Peril Amid State Budget Crunch
For years, county-contracted Mobile Crisis Response Teams have responded to thousands of behavioral health crisis calls that previously would have triggered responses from police. Now funding issues could force significant cuts.
CalMatters broke the news last week that extra federal funding that had been available crisis response programs is now winding down and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal doesn’t currently address the shortfall.
San Diego County leaders say this could force them to dial back the program — which now boasts 44 teams of clinicians, case managers and peer support workers with lived experience of behavioral health challenges.
Late last month, county behavioral health director Nadia Privara Brahms told a state Senate budget committee that the county’s $24 million annual cost is now mostly covered by Medi-Cal insurance and that the state covers the rest. She predicted that the county would lose $15 million if Newsom’s budget proposal is approved as is – and said this would force the county to “significantly scale back” crisis teams.
Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer is also pushing back against the proposed cut.
“We built these teams because too many families were watching mental health crises escalate into ER visits, jail bookings, or tragedy,” Lawson-Remer wrote in a statement.
San Ysidro School District Finances Improve
The San Ysidro School District on Friday announced its battered finances are improving and it no longer requires county supervision to get its financial house in order.
Earlier this year, Voice reported that the small district at the U.S.-Mexico border faced mounting deficits and was on track to be $2.2 million in the red next year. County education officials called the district “fiscally distressed” and appointed a fiscal advisor to help district leaders repair the budget.
On Friday, a district business official said cost-cutting measures and other fiscal changes have improved the district’s financial outlook and it is now on track to meet its financial obligations for at least the next three years.
Officials said they expect to adopt what they called a fiscally stable budget this year with reserves that meet statutory requirements.
“The San Ysidro School District remains committed to safeguarding educational programs and student services while ensuring long-term fiscal health and stability,” said Marilyn Adrianzen, the district’s chief business officer in a statement.
Podcast: Scott Lewis’ 2036 Tijuana River Sewage Dunk
Mark your calendars.
Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis promised to paddle out where the historically polluted Tijuana River meets the Pacific Ocean in 2036 on the podcast this week.
That’s because a proposed county half-cent sales tax would generate $80 million per year and backers promise to fully fix the border sewage problem that has plagued the region for decades. Except they have no plan for how that money should be spent.
“No matter what I’m getting in,” Lewis said. “What are the chances it’s better by then let alone, fixed?”
That may or may not be motivation for the local bureaucracy to spend its Tijuana River sales tax money in the right places, should voters agree.
Check out the rest of the podcast with the latest on political mailers and more.
In Other News
- An East County mother gave birth to triplets who shared the same placenta, a rare type of pregnancy. (Fox 5)
- Palomar Health won’t be building a 120-bed mental health facility it got $50 million from the state to build. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry, MacKenzie Elmer and Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Scott Lewis.