Last year, San Diego leaders passed a law that mandated transparency on renters’ utility bills. It turns out, some landlords may not be following it.
The ordinance requires landlords to produce copies of utility bills, along with the calculations behind the dollar figures, to any tenant who asks for it or is disputing their utility charges.
The law is designed to help renters who don’t receive a utility bill based on their individual usage. Instead, their landlord or a third-party company divide up the building’s single utility bill across units — and the way the bills are divided up isn’t always clear.
In multiple complaints obtained by Voice, landlords allegedly never produced those records, produced incomplete records or, in one case, threatened to have the requesting tenant evicted for asking too many questions.
The new rule: It’s called the Residential Utility Fee Ordinance, and its goal is to make utility charges more transparent and fair. It’s supposed to give tenants a way to make sure they’re being charged fairly.
Naomi Granata and MacKenzie Elmer reviewed public records from the City Attorney’s Office and discovered several complaints filed by tenants over the past nine months.
Prop 45 Would Change CEQA in a Big Way
If voters approve Prop 45 this November, it could bring big changes to how projects get developed in California.
At the center of the measure is the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA — a law that requires governments to ensure development projects meet certain environmental standards. Obviously, environmental standards are great — but there’s a big but.
CEQA has been known to stall or completely kill housing projects, including much needed affordable and clean-energy developments. Prop. 45 would set strict deadlines for environmental reviews and limit court delays. It would also allow developers to start building during the environmental review phase.
Supporters say it cuts red tape to build homes faster. Opponents say it would strip CEQA’s ability to protect the environment.
Both sides will be debating at Voice of San Diego’s Politifest this Saturday in a discussion moderated by our environment reporter MacKenzie Elmer.
Read more about the debate in the Environment Report here.
Politifest Is This Weekend!
The annual who’s who and what’s what of San Diego politics is right around the corner — and, if you haven’t already, it’s time to get your tickets!
Every year, it’s a mad rush to get this event planned and we’ve added several new discussions and debates in the last few days.
- The Future of the Democratic Party: Should the party head toward the left with policies like Medicare for All and taxing billionaires? Or would it be better served by more moderate policies? We’ll get into it with three people at the center of the debate: Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, chair of the county Democratic Party, Connor Bennett, a co-chair of the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and Ryan Clumpner, a political consultant and strategist.
- A Discussion on Prop. 40, the Billionaire Tax: Our Bella Ross will moderate a discussion with Carol Kim, business manager of the Building and Trades Council, and Mark Cafferty, CEO of the Regional Economic Development Corporation.
- El Cajon City Council Debate: Three El Cajon City Council candidates will debate each other on the future of the city and how they plan to shape it.
Kind of Blue
How does San Diego end up sandwiched between New York City and Albuquerque, you ask? That would be in the How-Democratic-Is-Your-City rankings of course.
Of the 30 most Democratic metro areas, San Diego ranks 20th — just behind a city which famously, or infamously depending on your perspective, just elected a democratic socialist as mayor.
Number one might not shock you: San Francisco. Number three was a little more of a wild card: that would be Madison, WI.
A data analyst with VoteHub posted the rankings on X.
In Other News
- The former deputy chief operating officer of San Diego, Alia Khouri, claims that her being fired last year was in retaliation for her role in disciplining another city employee, who Khouri claims was in a romantic relationship with Mayor Todd Gloria’s chief of staff, Paola Avila. Avila has denied the allegations and said she was “at no relevant time” romantically involved with the employee. (inewsource)
- The aircraft carrier USS Theordore Roosevelt was deployed to the Middle East on Sunday to support U.S. efforts in its war against Iran. Officials said it will likely be a longer deployment than normal because the Navy doesn’t have enough ships. The last carrier deployed has been gone for 10 months and will have been on one of the longest deployments in naval history when it comes back next month. Eight sailors on that ship have attempted to take their own lives. (Union-Tribune)
- Voter information pamphlets for the Nov. 3 election are being sent out starting this week, according to county officials. Pamphlets include voting options, election deadlines, candidate information and more. (KPBS)
- The county announced Monday that Dr. Elizabeth Hernandez, its interim top Health and Human Services official, is set to become that agency’s permanent leader after a national search. Hernandez is the latest in a series of internal hires at the county following national searches.
The Morning Report was written by Tigist Layne, Will Huntsberry and Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.
