and
will
get one.
>> All right.
Good morning, everyone.
>> We're going to get started.
I will now call the city
council meeting of Tuesday,
JUNE 30th, 2026 to order Clerk
please call the roll.
>> Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT Council
member Campbell.
Council Member Campbell I do
thank you.
Council Member Whipper here
Council Member Foster Council
Zimmerman Labor Council
PRESIDENT Pro Tem Lee Council
Member Campos here Council
Member Moreno Council member
Ella Rivera and Council
PRESIDENT LaCava present Also
attending the meeting our city
Attorney Heather Ferber,
Independent budget analyst
Charles Mollica Council Affairs
Advisor in the Mayor's office
Curtis Eisner myself for City
Clerk Diana Fuentes thank you.
Council PRESIDENT All right.
Thank you, City Clerk a quorum
is now present.
We will begin this morning with
the land acknowledgment and
the pledge of Allegiance let by
council member camp.
>> You We respectfully
acknowledge that
the communication are
the original inhabitants of
the Unceded land now known as
San Diego.
Despite the horrors of genocide
and colonization, the community
spirit remains unbroken.
We honor the resilience of
their ancestors who fought to
protect their culture and land
and today they carry their
legacy forward ensuring that
their traditions continue to
thrive and gratitude and
strength We stand with
the culmination connected to
our past and committed to a
thriving future.
Please space to flag and of
your heart.
Ready Begin.
I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which
it stands One nation under GOD
indivisible with liberty and
justice for all.
With that with that thought,
please go over how the public
can offer their testimony.
Thank you.
I'd like to highlight the slide
on the screen that reveals how
the public can offer their
public testimony during today's
meeting.
Please note the time
allocations for proclamations
and consent items for meeting
management purposes of one
minute per item three minutes
max for three or more items
the order can be found on
the agenda Summary found online
or at the table in the back of
the room.
If you are in person please
complete the speaker stipulated
at the entrance of chambers and
bring it to the front of
the room in the clear box.
Council ambassadors are
available near the entrance of
chambers and can assist with
questions and speaker slips.
No further in-person testimony
will be taken once the council
begins Virtual testimony Thank
you Council PRESIDENT All
right.
Thank you for that To the clerk
With that we will now dispense
with the approval of
the proclamation items.
Clerk Please proceed with
public comment.
Thank you.
The public library for
the proclamations item is now
open each speaker will have one
minute per item per person.
If you would like to speak on
three or more items you'll have
a maximum of three minutes.
Proclamation items being
approved are items 3332 at 500
5a1 and five before we did
receive comments on item 31 in
favor of your comment for which
I've been distributed to
the Council.
We do have quite a number of
speakers here for proclamations
.
If we can start with Jacob
Lewis Edwards You're speaking
on items 3032 and s5o1 If I can
have the following individuals
please come up to the yellow
reserved seats at the front of
the room.
Mahalo Lenny Ariel Arriola if
you can please come forward.
Ron Lewis allegedly Audra
Cushing, Lynn Elliot and
Claudia Huang if you can please
all come forward to the yellow
reserved seats and please
proceed.
Good morning, COUNCILMAN And
women Everybody in chambers.
So I'm going to go over item 30
and 32.
Item five final one.
Item 30 is a recognition a
month of recognition for San
Diego lgbtq Pride Month.
>> That is great.
That's awesome.
Proclaiming JUNE 7th to be as
three coffee bar 10th
anniversary day.
That's also that's really good
and a city attorney recognition
day now we go over a lot of
recognition days and that is
wonderful What's going on in
our city folks as genocide This
is well known If you look at a
YouTube clip I spoke right here
at this microphone Jacob
Edwards speaks since that
YouTube clip where you'll see
my speech and I stood right
here speaking to you all city
council which transpired was a
deal by the Federal Reserve
families to cut with
the Chinese to wipe out their
debt of trillions and included
a deal of genocide to occur to
wipe out the best Our country
has recruited from
the Department of Homeland
Security's database.
>> We've lost a lot of lives in
this country right here is
the epicenter of it having a
hard time dealing with this.
But I ask why aren't we
confronting this?
Why isn't this discussed?
People are given jobs
assignments.
People are given carrots.
People are afraid.
I have not once heard anybody
in this community standing up
like I do speaking loudly
against it.
It's well known I mentioned to
somebody about the genocide
yesterday and the guy started
going into details of
the operations thinking My GOD,
this is more well known than I
thought.
Why isn't this discussed Folks,
you are elected officials.
You stand up for us as our
elected officials for
the people, by the people And
that's what this country is
about, folks not genocide, not
Chinese taking over our country
for a debt The Federal Reserve
families owe them for trouble
We were going through in our
country They were going to
appear to swoop in as our
saviors but cut a deal of
genocide.
Folks, we need to start
discussing this.
I say we need to start standing
up for ourselves.
We need to start standing up
for each other and start
standing up for our country and
the future of our country.
>> Let's start discussing this
Your time has concluded and
standing up for ourselves and
our country That's a good
example of actually not talking
to the proclamation items not
agenda Public comment I do.
Yeah we can talk about anything
within the city's purview.
Let's be respectful to members
of the public.
You don't have to be respectful
possibly be respectful of those
who come to the chambers this
morning.
>> Thank you.
Mahalo.
>> You're speaking on item 30.
You'll have one minute on
behalf of the center.
Thank you.
Council members for recognizing
Pride Month visibility This
visibility is vital to
confronting discrimination and
ensuring everyone feels
accepted to live authentically
despite the federal
government's Despite
the federal government's
attempts at taking away our
progress especially from our
trans and non-binary community.
It is beautiful to see my local
government fight against those
attempts.
The city support makes San
Diego feel safe, welcoming and
a place to be proud of.
Your leadership is deeply
appreciated.
I look forward to seeing
the city advance towards true
equity for the lgbtq community
.
>> Thank you Ron Luis you have
demonstrated by Jeanette Amato
did raise your hand.
>> Thank you.
You'll have two minutes.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT McCarver and
Councilmember Campbell for
proclaiming JUNE 2026 to be
Alzheimer's and bring awareness
about in the city of San Diego
.
As you heard my name is Ron
Lewis.
I currently serve as the board
chair for the Alzheimer's
Association of San Diego in
Imperial County And on behalf
of our chapter we are very
honored and grateful to accept
this proclamation from the city
of San Diego Recognizing this
month JUNE as the Alzheimer's
and Brain Awareness Month this
recognition so impactful and
important because of the nearly
7 million Americans age 65 and
older living with Alzheimer's
disease Data has shown also
that more than 75,000 of those
Americans and those living in
San Diego so that's caregivers
Alzheimer's brain awareness
Month was created to bring
awareness to and honor those
individuals as well as many
more millions of friends and
family members who are caring
for someone living with
the disease The Alzheimer's
Association leads the way to
end Alzheimer's and all other
forms of dementia by
accelerating global research
driving risk reduction and
early detection Here at home we
support our community by
conducting educational programs
for caregivers and people who
recently received an
Alzheimer's diagnosis over
the past 12 months our chapter
has been able to provide free
resources and support through
our educational programs and
support groups to $65 to 6500
individuals in our local
community.
We're proud to offer these
educational programs throughout
San Diego in both English and
in Spanish And we do host our
annual walk to end Alzheimer's
.
>> And once again we'd like to
thank you so much City of San
Diego for recognizing JUNE as
Alzheimer's Brain Awareness
Health Month and we hope
hopeful and confident that
through our efforts one day
will bring an end to
Alzheimer's.
>> Thank you.
Allegedly all is beginning his
3500.
>> As for everyone and as I go
forward you'll have three
minutes.
Please proceed.
>> You guys, we're all in this
together like hostages, right?
That's good.
Yes.
And I know what I'm going to
say is going to be twisted and
I'll be gaslit for it but
that's okay because I come from
a perspective where the truth
matters and there's things that
aren't addressed in these
proclamations that should be
like with Alzheimer's.
My mother died of dementia with
dementia and we don't really
talk about the actual causes of
these things and the detriment
to heavy metals and things like
fluoride too in our brain and
our ability to function And
when you know it's coming from
the air, the water, the food
and injections and so you know
you guys promote those types of
things and yet you say that you
want to have awareness with
that.
So I think we should be aware
that these things cause that
and then anything to do with
attorneys it's like they have a
global allegiance through
the British registry here.
So it's like I mean obviously
that is a problem and we're
paying a city attorney to be up
here and protect the city while
they go after the people you
know, like people who lost
everything in a storm.
So and then with this pride and
the lgbtq plus my problem is as
a victim of a pedophile, this
is honoring maps which is minor
attracted persons and it is on
the pride progress flag And as
a victim that's terrifying to
me because you know that's
talking about the rape of
children And it's concerning
that we are glorifying that as
a sexual preference and
especially people who have
children.
i don't understand the Russian
roulette that's played with
children like people think that
their child is untouchable.
But this is why it continues
because the man that was
abusing me for nine years was a
victim himself.
So he was a victim that became
a predator because you don't
when you're ten years old
sexually assault babies unless
you learned that behavior
because you were yourself a
victim And then you become
the victimizer because nobody
wants to talk about this stuff
And and that is what is so
nefarious because you shouldn't
make victims feel like they are
unwanted by promoting somebody
who has sex with them, which
that's what they say.
But it again is rape.
You can't have sex with
the child.
We have Scott Wiener who people
support and he's the one who
puts in bills who say if you're
ten years apart that you can
consent And that would mean
that I could consent as a five
year old for this man to groom
me.
>> And as I'm wearing a skirt
he's putting on a garter How
special is that official?
>> And Eliot, you're speaking
on item 32.
Please proceed.
Good morning.
Council PRESIDENT, council
members and members at the San
Diego community.
My name is Caitlin Elliott.
She her her pronouns and I'm an
executive director for San
Diego Pride on behalf of San
Diego Pride thank you so much
for this proclamation.
Recognizing Pride Month and
the Resilience Contributions
and Humanity of lgbtq People
across our city.
In just two weeks more than
250,000 people will gather for
San Diego Pride Parade and
Festival to celebrate
the beauty and diversity of our
community.
I invite everyone that can hear
my voice to come and sign on
with us and gobble up our Canon
Hillcrest.
Together we will honor those
who came before us celebrate
who we are today and inspire
the future that we are building
together.
The call to protect equality
defend human dignity and ensure
every lgbtq person can live
openly and safely belongs to
all of us every day of
the year.
So thank you for standing with
our community and we look
forward to celebrating with
you.
Claudia Call you one if I can
come to the microphone then
David Smith please come up to
the other reserved seats.
Claudia you have people filling
your time.
Shall we call them to come?
Please raise your hand, Shall
we?
>> Well, I'm sorry if I'm
misstating your name.
Please raise your hand and then
Hector Davis.
Thank you.
You'll have three minutes to
talk on item 32.
Good morning, Council members.
First of all, thank you so much
for having us here.
My name is Claudia and I'm here
to represent my family and
everybody from s3 Coffee Bar.
We are so honored for this
proclamation And ten years ago
me and my sisters opened this
coffee shop for my mom and
Grabell San Diego.
We were trying to create a
welcoming space for people to
kind of just talk and hang out
with our own neighbors because
we didn't see that then ten
years ago.
But every now ten years from
now we never imagine
the incredible community that
we have built in that area.
And we are incredibly lucky to
have such good neighbors first
responders, local schools,
local organizations that have
supported us throughout this
whole entire time.
I don't think that's what's
going to be possible.
You know and everybody that had
walked in through the doors to
support us, we are incredibly
lucky.
Thank you so much for this
proclamation.
Thank you.
David Smith David Smith, you
have Daniel Smith asking your
time.
Please raise your hand and you
please raise your hand.
Thank you.
And Daniel Smith, please raise
your hand.
>> You'll have three minutes.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
Good morning, Council members.
My name is David Smith and
the ceo of Eldorado Properties
in the Great Lakes community.
On behalf of my family that are
here this morning, I'd like to
thank the Council for
the proclamation celebrating
today JUNE 30th as Eldorado
Properties Day in the city of
San Diego as we celebrate our
40th anniversary.
Celebrating anniversaries are
no short milestone and we
believe that the 40th year of
operations serving San Diego
and the mission Valley area
helping families find homes and
businesses find places to to
work and to thrive.
It's been a great honor.
We would like to furthermore
think elsewhere Capital for his
tireless work and incredible
community and just the general
betterment of District seven.
He's a true champion of
the City Council as many of you
are for our great city.
So we thank you for
the proclamation and look
forward to many more years of
our families Business thriving
to come.
>> Thank you.
Thank you.
That does conclude public
comment on proclamations here
in council chambers I'm sorry
the five minute timer going to
those participating remotely
starting with Blair Beekman If
you can please email and let me
know which item or items you
wish to speak to.
>> I'm Blair Beekman Happy
student Your last day of
the month to everyone I wanted
to speak to the items let me
get my board here.
Item 30.
Item 32 An item as final for
about three minutes.
>> Please proceed.
Thank you.
I guess it's a speak to lgbtq
Pride month.
Congratulations that it's here.
I've been living in here one of
the past few years and they
have a great pride parade at
the end of JUNE.
They just had it this past
Saturday.
There it was easily over You
know, 1500 people in the parade
in the MARCH big all around
the downtown area And it's a
big festival.
It's really nice here.
And so I've been learning just
that it's a good event and I've
been enjoying it here And so I
just wanted to mention that
good luck and how we can think
of our good value systems in
Gay Pride Month.
I wanted to comment on also as
I'm 32 the coffee bar
Congratulations to the coffee
bar.
I wanted to note that I've been
living in Tijuana off and on
for the past few years now.
I've been very much enjoying it
.
The cafes here and the coffee
is mostly usually always
organic coffee usually from
corpus area and a note to our
American coffee and cafe bars
that are using organic coffee.
It's a lot healthier and it
just makes your body feel much
more comfortable and better
good looking in American cafes
using organic coffee more
often.
>> And finally I'm sure as it's
free coffee, does our organic
choices sound like a good bar?
I hope we can help.
And with items Bible for
Alzheimer's Brain Awareness
Month I wanted to comment on I
guess you know to say it I grew
up actually in my 20s.
i'm in my late 50s now in my
20s I was labeled as
schizophrenic and I fought hard
to get out of that label And to
me Alzheimer's is kind of
the other end of the scale of
that in some ways and sometimes
there's a lot of chemical
reactions that are happening in
one's brain.
There is also just a mind frame
in how we share our social
space and communication
together that tends to promote
such things as Alzheimer's and
schizophrenia.
We have to be I mean that's why
a part of the reason I sit up
here every week trying to speak
so clearly on good
communication If we have good
clear communication with each
other, that's what ends
Alzheimer's.
That's what end schizophrenia.
But we purposely put up walls,
boundaries and guardrail walls
that we don't talk to ourselves
more often good about how we
just communicate better with
each other.
It's really important and I'm
really sorry about the recent
lgbtq events that happened up
in Hillcrest.
Surveillance video caught
the people who were causing
problems.
>> I want to talk to public
comment time more about
the subject.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Next is Jennifer Watson.
If you can please let me know
which item or items you wish to
speak to.
Academy for you You will have
to unmute.
>> There you go.
Hello.
Yes I am I'm on item I believe
it's 30 the lgb choose yes
he'll have one minute Please
proceed I'm I just think that
of course everyone is free to
live their own way but what I
do not think is appropriate is
how they parade themselves
through the streets in doing
just disgusting sexual things
Like I can't say oh well you
can't be this but I if I can
get arrested for doing improper
sexual things out there like
pulling down my pants are going
to the bathroom on the street I
don't believe that these people
should be out there parading
these what they do their their
sexual orientation and it's
disgusting.
It's okay to be gay but it's
disgusting And I don't think
that we should have a whole
month to to advertise that kind
of garbage to our children.
I mean you guys need to get
your head straight and realize
you gay is gay but that that
kind of parading and disgusting
this throughout our streets
that's on it's that your time
has concluded 8700 if you can
please unmute the five minute
timer has also concluded there
are two speakers in the queue
No additional speakers will be
taken 8700 Please let me know
which item or items you wish to
speak to.
Yes 3501 and 504 please.
>> Yes I think you'll have two
minutes please Pressing Oh I'm
sorry.
>> Did you say three?
Please proceed.
Thank you.
30 San Diego lgbtq Plus Pride
Month There is a rainbow right
there in that acronym.
I just discovered that last
night.
It always thrills me that when
I look at the natural world I
see an infinite abundant
rainbow of variety everywhere.
Let's join together and
celebrate the beautiful
tapestry of San Diego woven
into all of life.
Love to all as 501 Senior
Deputy City Attorney John
Taylor Gay I haven't Met You
Senior Deputy City Attorney
Taylor yet I am wowed by these
numbers in litigation 85.2
million recovery help the city
collect over $250 million in t
or t revenue for the people of
San Diego.
I wish we could give you back a
percentage on all the mass.
Thank you and also a big thank
you to the work of the entire
office of the city attorney You
are always in the background
forefront supporting the rule
of law which is the foundation
of our democracy.
We appreciate it and value all
of you at the office of
the City Attorney.
We love you all.
Thank you.
You know I'm going to go for
I'm going to tell you a story a
beautiful story For many years
12 or more I had a massage
client and she was well already
into her 80s when I started
with her and she developed
Alzheimer's early on And so I,
I saw her every week
practically And so I
established quite a
relationship with her and saw
her process And toward the end
she didn't know me anymore And
her daughter.
So we talked about and her
daughter said I want you to
keep coming.
And she felt Mary felt
comfortable with me coming And
you know what I discovered
There was a spirit in us.
It never ages it I discovered
it in Mary.
She didn't know me but she knew
her life.
She did.
And I just wanted to share that
with you that it's a difficult
journey.
I know that for parents and
children and everything but
never give up on the spirit of
life.
It's always there.
It's unchanging.
Thank you so much.
I celebrate all the voices
speaking today.
Let's stick together.
Okay.
Love to all time has concluded
Judy Strong If you can please
unmute after that our last
speaker is Amanda.
>> Good morning City Council I
would like to speak to item
five for I'm glad for this
opportunity to have a map
focused on Alzheimer's and
brain awareness.
I sometimes feel that they
should be very much separated
because brain and Alzheimer's
and other types of debilitating
diseases that affect the brain
and to a certain extent
traumatic brain injury sort of
seem like they have their own
awareness and then those issues
associated with the development
of the brain and how important
it is to be sensitive about
this development of young
people growing into a young
adult and to do the best to
protect their brain.
And I was reminded of the old
adage a mind is a terrible
thing to waste.
This is very much a part of
the 1970s and it's still in
play now And I would remind us
all that we know that at ages
12 to 25 this is specifically a
risky time for young people to
smoke, vape or consume
marijuana because the brain is
developed over time has
concluded.
Amanda if you can please unmute
please let me know which item
or items you wish to speak to.
Yeah I am speaking that item 31
and 32 two minutes.
>> Please proceed.
I just wanted to say I love
when we celebrate the heroes of
our community and we give voice
to underrepresented groups with
these proclamations.
I love it and warms my heart
Sense of community Love it,
love it.
However I am 31 and 32 or
celebrating a real estate
agency and a coffee bar.
I would just like to say that
when I was a small business
owner I like many other small
businesses, paid thousands of
dollars and invested many hours
into marketing in the hope of
getting just a few leads and
drumming up just a bit of
business.
I wish they would have known
that all I had to do was cozy
up to Raul Campo so I could get
city wide marketing on
the taxpayer's dime.
Raul I don't think this helps
you beat the charges that you
have allowed developers to
ravage your district for
instance the two thing the two
single family lots next door to
my stepdad that were replaced
by a 26 unit development with
no parking required as much as
I support small businesses and
I think our city council should
do the same I don't think this
is an appropriate use of our
tax dollars and hope you guys
can find a better way to
support small business.
>> Thanks.
That does conclude public
comment on the proclamation.
I guess all right.
Thank you, City Clerk.
And with that we'll turn it
over to council members for
comments and entertain a motion
and we'll start with Council
Member Campo Thank you Council
PRESIDENT And thank you to
the members of the public for
your participation today I'll
move approval of
the proclamations start briefly
Absolute Lee thrilled to
support San Diego lgbtq plus
Pride Month Proclamation Thank
my colleagues for bringing that
forward.
I cannot wait to join everyone
on this dais at the annual
Pride Parade in a couple of
weeks.
I've said it before and I'll
say it again Pride in San Diego
is so much more special since
we have the entire summer to
celebrate it both in JUNE and
JULY so that we can acknowledge
the contributions of the lgbtq
Plus community to San Diego
whether it was serving in
the military, serving in
government, in education, law
enforcement, the arts sciences
and medicine small and big
business hospitality and
tourism, civil rights and civic
advocacy.
And while many in power MAY be
trying to set the lgbtq plus
community back, nothing can
hold us back in that pursuit
for justice and equality.
So happy pride San Diego and
I'm proud to support that.
I will also be speaking to two
items that I'm bringing
forward.
I'm honored to celebrate two
amazing businesses that are
reaching a very nice milestone
sions from the Grant
neighborhood both of which were
in chamber here today.
First congratulations to El
Dorado Properties on
celebrating their 40 years of
serving San Diego since its
founding four decades ago In
JUNE of 1986 this family owned
business has built a legacy of
integrity and professionalism
and long term investment in our
neighborhoods helping
generations of families and
putting down roots for
businesses.
Eldorado Properties has been a
cornerstone of the Navajo and
Granville communities not only
through property management and
real estate services but
helping shape the area in many
years passed their leadership
in the long term Granville
rezoning effort and their
commitment to thoughtful
redevelopment have helped
position these neighborhoods
for continued growth and
opportunity.
There are working class and low
income San Diego who have a
home they can afford in our
city because the Smith family
saw a better future for
Granville years before people
started talking about it.
So I want to thank them Daniel,
Danielle and David and
the entire Eldorado Properties
team for your commitment to
revitalizing our community
projects like
the transformation of the long
vacant property on Fairmont
Avenue into thriving homes and
local small businesses
demonstrate that positive
impact that community minded
leadership can serve.
So for those decades of service
and investment and partnership
I thank them.
But I also want to point out
this the Smith family has also
put so much time and effort
into representing the Navajo
community as board members of
the Navajo Planning Group and
to the cpc as well.
There are few families that
have put so much time into
volunteering and balancing
the needs of diverse
communities of businesses and
residents like they have.
They truly know every road in
the community, every sidewalk
and park every canyon and
the history that comes from
that.
So I congratulate them on this
historic milestone and wish
them continued success And one
day soon we'll get the Alvarado
Creek realignment done.
And next I'm honored to
celebrate s-3 Coffee Bar on
their 10th anniversary, Claudio
conquered said it better than I
ever could she and her family
and the entire s-3 coffee bar
team are celebrating ten years
of exceptional service and one
of District Seven's most
welcoming gathering places
regularly packed with college
students sitting next to
seniors who are sitting next to
families who are sitting next
to folks who own their own home
sitting next to folks who live
in permanent supportive housing
.
They serve everyone who's their
neighbor no matter what.
So what began as a neighborhood
coffee shop in Granville is now
a true community institution.
You don't just grab a coffee
there, you meet your neighbors
and friendships are formed
there And it's one of my
favorite places to hold a
coffee with Campo Town Hall.
So they've helped redefine
the character of Granville by
creating this warm and inviting
space and I congratulate them
on their 10th year in service
And I know there's just many
more decades to come.
That concludes my motion.
Council PRESIDENT All right.
Thank you, sir.
So we have a motion by council
member Camp Hill to move.
The proclamations will go next
to Council member Kimball Thank
you Council PRESIDENT And I
would first like to
congratulate everyone who's
receiving a plaque and every
group receiving a project and I
would like to second
the motion.
I would like to speak on item
30 and item s5o4 And I want to
thank Mayor Mayor Todd Gloria
and all council members
Whitburn and Von Wilpert for
joining me in bringing forward
this proclamation for Pride
declares JULY 2026 is San Diego
lgbtq Pride Month in the City
of San Diego and we will be
celebrating all month.
This is truly there is nothing
as wonderful as joy and the joy
of pride in San Diego is
fabulous 250,000 San Diegans
gay and straight of all creeds,
all colors show up to enjoy
the celebration of pride And
this is celebrated because for
so long as Audra mentioned
things like this were not even
mentioned And it's very
important that we not have
these kinds of things as
secrets.
We need to know what really
exists in the world and that
it's okay As a gay person I can
tell you how I struggled with
this because I'm 81 years old
so I can tell you that it took
me a long time to accept myself
but I was born this way and
Lady Gaga said it and she was
right.
We are being our authentic
selves and we want everyone to
be their authentic self no
matter what kind of self they
are.
We are accepting in this
community especially in San
Diego has provided safety,
acceptance and refuge for
countless people seeking
the freedom to live as their
authentic selves.
The progress we celebrate today
was fought for by generations
of advocates and leaders who
paved the way for us as we
gather this year we recognize
that many of the rights and
freedoms we fought for are now
being challenged.
Yet our community continues to
do what it has always done.
We will show up with
resilience, courage and joy
because even joy is an act of
resistance.
We must never allow anyone to
take away our ability to love,
to be happy or to be exactly
who we are.
I also would like to speak on
Item s5 Over for Alzheimer's
and Brain Awareness Month.
It is so important to continue
to acknowledge the suffering
that Alzheimer's disease can
cause not only among our older
population who suffer from it
but from the families and
the caregivers who help those
who have this terrible disease
.
We praise the scientific
medical research that can
continue to find causes and
treatment for this.
And as of 2025 there were
75,000 San Diego and as Ron
said, who are living with
Alzheimer's disease.
Many family members of
the people with Alzheimer's are
so affected they often have to
leave their jobs to give full
time unpaid care to the loved
one with Alzheimer's by
recognizing and Alzheimer's and
brain Awareness Month, we're
reaffirming San Diego's
commitment to supporting people
affected by Alzheimer's and
other dementias and
the importance of continued
research so that we can improve
the means of diagnosis and
hopefully find a cure.
>> Thank you, Council
PRESIDENT.
All right.
Thank you.
So we have a motion by
Councilmember Campo and a
second by council member
Campbell.
We'll go next to our city
attorney.
Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT.
I'd like to speak on item s5o1
today.
It is my honor to recognize
the remarkable career and
service of John Taylor.
For more than 19 years John
Taylor has served the city of
San Diego as a deputy city
attorney with great dedication.
John is retiring after more
than 34 years in the legal
profession building a legacy
defined by professionalism,
diligence and integrity.
He is a lifelong San Diegan.
He grew up in University City
in La Hoya attending Marie
Curie Elementary, La Hoya
Country de Maryland's Junior
High and La Hoya High School.
Throughout his tenure with
the city attorney's office,
John represented the city with
great skill and tenacity for
the majority of the cases he
handled.
John represented the city as a
plaintiff in contract disputes
and complex construction
litigation frequently going up
against well-funded companies
and their big law attorneys
through negotiations and
litigation with online travel
companies and short term rental
platforms.
John also helped the city
collect millions in transient
occupancy tax revenue.
But beyond the numbers, what
stands out most is the way John
showed up in the office And for
his colleagues who mentioned
his mentorship, his
collaborative spirit and his
commitment to public service.
His presence has helped shape a
positive positive culture and
the city attorney's office that
will continue long after his
retirement.
And of course John is not
walking this path alone.
He deeply appreciate
the support of his colleagues
and his family and friends.
Here with John are his wife
Tammy and his parents.
John at home his two children
couldn't be here but I know
they're cheering him on in
spirit.
I'm happy to celebrate senior
Deputy City Attorney John
Taylor Day and the city of San
Diego.
Congratulations, John and thank
you for your service.
Now John, I know you're kind of
shy and it's hard for you to
take all this at elation, but
give us a couple of words.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for the warm
words.
City Attorney Ferber and
Council member Von Wilpert for
also sponsoring the commission.
First I'd like to congratulate
everyone else who got
proclamation today.
That's a big deal.
I want to thank Tammy and my
parents for being here because
Tammy went on this journey with
me.
>> We got married after my
first year in law school and
she's been there for the whole
ride throughout it.
And my book club guys, I am
surprised that they're all
here.
These are guys who I went to
junior high and high school
with and so we're together and
it's fun.
And lastly I want to thank you
know, I couldn't have done all
this without the team And that
team is the city attorney's
office.
And so a special thanks to my
current secretary Sue Benson
who's been with me for probably
10 or 11 years Danielle Posset
who's my paralegal.
She'd been with me for about 15
years and currently Eric and
Grandy.
And actually Sean Brown is here
who was my investigator for 11
years.
He retired in 2019.
So this is a special day.
>> It is the coolest thing
ever.
And thank you so much.
>> All right.
Thank you for that.
And we'll go next to council
member weapon.
Thank you very much.
Council PRESIDENT.
I want to thank our council
PRESIDENT And Councilmember
Campbell for bringing forward
the proclamation recognizing
Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness
Month.
Alzheimer's disease affects
thousands of San Diego families
and I want to thank all
the organizations like
the Alzheimer's Association and
others that support these
families who are often
caregiving for a loved one at
home.
There has been a lot of
impressive breakthroughs in
treatment recently, but there
is so much more to do in terms
of research and I appreciate
everybody who is working so
hard to support that.
Thank you to the mayor and my
colleagues for bringing forward
the proclamation congratulating
Council General R.D. De Castro
for his outstanding work as
honorary Consul General of
the Philippines.
Now more than ever, diplomacy
is necessary to not only
establish strong bilateral
relations but also to
understand and support the many
nationalities that call our
city home.
We're lucky to have a great
example of this Consul General
de Castro.
I do appreciate the city
attorney and Councilmember Vogt
Wilpert for bringing forward
the recognition for a deputy
city attorney John Taylor Day.
I would like to congratulate
MR. Taylor on 19 years at
the city.
Thank you for your service and
enjoy your retirement.
Now let me thank everybody who
is here for the proclamation
recognizing San Diego lgbt
Pride Month.
Over the years the lgbtq
community has made great
progress in our journey toward
equality and that is especially
true here in San Diego.
I am proud that we have a mayor
and three council members who
are members of the lgbtq
community.
In fact the district that I
represent has been represented
by a member the lgbtq community
since 1993.
Chris Kehoe was elected to
represent this district 33
years ago followed by Toni
Atkins.
Todd Gloria and Chris Ward
before me.
Maybe the district that has
been most extensively
represented by a member of
the lgbtq community in our
country.
Just as importantly, I am proud
that every single one of my
colleagues on this council who
do not have the good fortune of
being members of the lgbtq
community are staunch allies of
our community.
They are vocal supporters of
the lgbtq community.
They attend community events
and they are part of the reason
why San Diego is one of
the most lgbtq friendly cities
in the nation.
I am grateful to them.
I'm also grateful to all of
you.
You are also a big part of
the reason why this is such an
lgbt friendly city.
Thank you to all of you who
represent organizations that
serve the lgbtq community.
The Center say Diego Pride
The Imperial Court, all of our
city employees who are members
of the lgbtq community and so
many more to collaborate.
Ramirez, who is one of our
community's trailblazers, is
here to call, was a co-founder
of San Diego Pride more than a
half century ago.
I think 1974 if I'm not
mistaken.
He's here with this year's
Pride titleholders.
We had a ceremony honoring them
a short time ago.
It's particularly important
that all of you are so visible
and I'm grateful that my
colleagues are vocal during
these times.
I mentioned the progress
the community has made but we
have a long way to go around
the world.
Same sex relationships remain
illegal in more than 60
countries and in nearly a dozen
of them.
Being gay is punishable by
death.
It's hard to wrap your head
around that this day and age.
But in nearly a dozen countries
being gay is punishable by
death.
And here at home we continue to
see efforts to dehumanize and
discriminate against our
transgender siblings.
We continue to see things like
the eggs thrown at members of
the lgbtq community in
Hillcrest.
A couple of weekends ago we had
somebody a year or two ago come
by and shoot pellet guns at
people standing outside
the bars there.
I'm just sick and tired of that
folks.
These were teenagers a couple
of weekends ago who should know
better.
From what I know they are
generally bright kids who went
to really good schools.
And here they are throwing eggs
at members of the lgbtq
community.
I'm glad they were caught and I
hope that somebody talk some
sense into them.
And of course at the national
level the lgbtq community is
seeing its rights chipped away
by this federal administration,
by the Supreme Court and a
ruling that was announced
today.
So as we celebrate say Diego
Pride, we can be grateful at
the progress that we have made
and grateful that we live in
such an lgbt friendly city as
San Diego.
But also be motivated to fight
for the rights of our community
,the rights of our community
and every community.
Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT Wright Thank
you Council member Whitburn.
We'll go next to Council member
Isla Rivera.
>> All right.
Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT Um thank you
to everyone who came out here
who's been recognized and is
supporting those who are being
recognized this morning.
I'll start with item 30.
Appreciate councilmembers
Campbell Whitburn and Van
Wilpert bringing forward
the San Diego lgbtq pride Month
Proclamation in partnership
with Mayor Gloria.
I appreciate your comments.
COUNCILMAN Whitburn I always
appreciate the acknowledgment
of allyship and your
recognition of it and I think
I've been really proud to be
part of a council where we've
been united in demonstrating
our support for the community
and it it's striking to me that
you we say things like
the advance of civil rights
can't be taken for granted.
We talk about arc of history
bending toward justice but that
not necessarily being linear
and this definitely feels like
one of those moments And even
the conversation this morning I
think I heard more rhetoric
that was not just ignorant but
hateful toward the lgbt
community than I've heard in
previous years And that
certainly is a is a warning
signal of why it's so important
for us to stand in solidarity,
in support of people being who
they are.
COUNCILMAN Campbell, thank you
for sharing your your story And
I couldn't be more proud to
serve with you all.
I couldn't be more proud of
the way that San Diego
celebrates pride for anyone
who's actually been out there
with the exception of those who
are being hateful.
It is one of the most family
friendly, celebratory just
positive events that I've ever
been a part of anywhere.
It feels like love and I think
it's the exact sort of thing we
should want more of in this
city, not less of.
And so I'm glad we're where
we're doing what we're doing
today and we'll be doing what
we'll be doing over the next
month And I'm not going to
apologize for that and I don't
think anyone should.
Last but not least thank you to
MR. Taylor for your service to
the city.
I very much appreciate
everything you've done for us.
I appreciate fan section you
brought with you today and
the enthusiasm they've shown.
That was a lot of fun.
Thank you for everything you've
done.
Oh, sorry.
One one last thing I wanted to
say thank you to council member
council PRESIDENT Club and
Councilor Campbell for I
continue to recognize
Alzheimer's and brought Brand
Awareness Month.
i think this is something
you've done for multiple years
now and the special calling out
of the caregivers who are such
an important part of that I've
shared before I've watched my
mom take care of family who's
who's been who's struggled with
dementia and Alzheimer's And it
is it is such an enormous task.
It requires incredible amount
of care and love.
And anyone who's watched a
loved one battle these ailments
knows how hard that is for
everyone who who's for everyone
who's around those people And
continuing to make efforts to
prevent and potentially cure
those ailments is something
that we should continuously
strive for and I appreciate you
all continuing to bring
awareness to it And with that
council PRESIDENT Concludes my
comments.
Thank you.
>> All right.
Thank you, Council member Ella
Rivera.
We'll go next to Council
PRESIDENT Pro Tem Lee Council
PRESIDENT I'll speak to items
30 is 500 and 5a1 on item 31 to
thank Mayor Gloria
Councilmembers Campbell
Whitburn and Van Wilpert for
bringing forward this
proclamation.
I'm honored to support
Santiago's lgbtq Plus community
and to celebrate their
countless contributions to
the vibrancy of our city
whether it's through historic
advocacy service to our greater
community and in fighting for
representation at every level
of government as Council member
would bring to chair.
While Pride Month is certainly
a meaningful time for
celebration, it also serves as
a reminder that the fight for
equality, dignity and inclusion
continues and especially given
the growing and brazen efforts
of our federal administration
to roll back protections and
rights.
I think it's more important
than ever that we stand with
our lgbtq plus neighbors in
fighting against hatred and
discrimination.
Santiago is proud to be a city
that values inclusion and
belonging where every person
should be able to live openly,
safely and as their true
authentic self.
My team and I always look
forward to participating in
several standing upright events
each year particularly light up
the Cathedral, the Spirit of
Stonewall Rally and of course
the Pride parade.
>> So I want to thank all
the advocates, kumu
organizations, community
leaders and more who continue
to make San Diego a welcoming
place for all and look forward
to celebrating pride with many
of you in the months ahead.
Next moving to item s500.
I'm honored to bring forward a
proclamation and to be joined
by some of my colleagues in
recognizing Audie DeCastro for
his outstanding service and
leadership as the Honorary
Consul for the Philippines in
San Diego since 2014.
And I would note that as a
volunteer role that he's played
for more than a decade, we're
ought to strengthen
the relationship between San
Diego and the Philippines
fostering cultural
understanding, economic
partnerships and meaningful
connections between our
communities.
He's been a dedicated advocate
for the Filipino and Filipino
American community of more than
200,000 residents throughout
our region where he provides
support and resources to
countless residents while also
creating opportunities for
civic engagement and community
empowerment through initiatives
such as the state of
the Filipino community.
He's served in many volunteer
roles throughout San Diego.
He's been the former PRESIDENT
Of the Asian Business
Association, PRESIDENT Of
Filipino-American Lawyers of
San Diego, former chair of
the Filipino American Chamber
of Commerce and he served as a
member of the Board of
Governors on the San Diego
Foundation.
And that's just to name a few.
But as part of and in addition
to running his own law firm, he
also fought for justice whether
through voting rights or to
ensure that those who are
the most vulnerable are not
forgotten.
He helped to found Pagosa Law
Clinic which provides free or
low cost legal services for
members of the Filipino
community particularly
immigrants and vulnerable
populations facing immigration,
housing, domestic violence and
other legal issues.
San Diego is certainly stronger
because of his service and
the Filipino community is
richer because of his
volunteerism and his
commitment.
And so as his distinguished
tenure comes to a close, we
thank you for his enduring
legacy of diplomacy, advocacy
and public service and
congratulate him on
the profound impact he has made
on Senegal and the Filipino
community.
>> And finally on se 5a1I did
want to take a quick minute
just to acknowledge and think,
John, for his service to our
community and to the city.
You have often come to these
chambers and let us know that
there's a subpoena coming for
us to appear at a at a great
event that your wife Tammy has
helped to put on every single
year.
And certainly we didn't need to
send you a subpoena to get you
to appear today clearly.
But Tammy has helped to bring a
group of second graders out
every year and John helps to
organize with multiple offices.
And it is to me always a
special opportunity each time
to get young people who are
here in council chambers who
want to learn about how
government works, whether it's
the fact that we can and can't
fix potholes enough of them
ever streets ever to how all
the different branches even our
local level of government work
so so thank you John for your
service to the city and to
the great community and we hope
also get to see Tammy and your
.
>> And with that that concludes
my comments.
Thank you Council PRESIDENT All
right.
Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT Pro Tem Lee
All my colleagues have spoken
so I'll have a few comments to
close it up.
Thank you to my colleagues for
bringing these proclamations
forward.
Congratulations everyone and
everything is being recognized.
My colleagues were so eloquent
as well as the public.
I'll offer a few spot comments
on item 30 I kind of wasn't
mentioned so I thought it was
worth mentioning.
My daughter is in Budapest
right now and I'm sure you're
well aware that Budapest had
the first Pride parade in 16
years because of the change of
the government administration.
As Councilmember Eli Rivera
said, the arc of equality can
bend very slowly but it can be
And so never give up hope
Despite what we hear sometimes
these days I am 31.
I met Diane Smith from ten
years ago and he had one simple
request Just get that channel
fixed.
Here we are ten years later and
it's still not fixed But I know
Council Member Capital is doing
everything in his power to get
that done.
It is such a critical part of
the redevelopment of Granville
having grown up just up
the hill in Allan Gardens I'm
well aware of that challenge
and as well as the roads that
are necessary to really ensure
that that gravel really becomes
everything that it can be and
such an important part of our
city.
Another important neighborhood
added Castro item that's 500
thank you council PRESIDENT
Particularly for bringing that
you did such an eloquent job
I'll just say thank you for
bringing that forward and thank
you for his service And then as
501 John Taylor You know what
Joy?
Tonight I made that comment got
a little bit of laugh.
You know, I think it's actually
a moment of seriousness that we
often forget about those who
choose public service in
the city attorney's office.
You know, I don't know how
calculations go but if you were
in private practice and you
generated 2085 million in
settlement, what 25 a third of
that could go to attorneys fees
and yet you chose public
service.
And so we're really grateful to
you and everybody who serves in
the office of the city attorney
.
It is such an important
function that we often take a
little bit too lightly.
So congratulations on your
retirement And then on 504 in
partnership with Councilmember
Campbell proclaiming JUNE 2026
to be Alzheimer's and Brand
Awareness Month and City of San
Diego for a disease that
touches so many lives, It's
important to me that we
highlight not only
the challenge that Alzheimer's
brings but also the strength
and resilience of individuals,
friends and family, health care
providers and advocates who
face those challenges every day
In the state of California
there are 720,000 individuals
currently living with
Alzheimer's and it's become
the leading cause of death in
adults older than 85 years old.
My father was 85 when he passed
away 16 years ago from
complications associated with
Alzheimer's While research was
continue to make advances in
the fight against Alzheimer's,
there's still so much more work
to be done.
Thank you to the medical
professionals, researchers,
health organizations and family
friends who continue to provide
support to those facing
the challenges of Alzheimer's
their compassion, dedication
and unwavering commitment to
caring for those you love make
a profound difference in
the lives of those affected.
And as I said, every time we
bring this proclamation to
family and friends who have no
one individual who's either at
risk of Alzheimer's or having
those early signs, you will
never know what was that last
conversation you have with them
before they don't recognize you
anymore.
So love them, hug them,
appreciate them every day
because that will be that one
moment where they're suddenly
not there and not recognize
you.
So I think about that often
with my father that I don't
know what the last time I had a
conversation where he actually
recognized who I was or he
recognized his wife or my
sister going forward.
What a tragic, tragic disease.
I'm grateful for
the organizations that continue
to promote awareness and
research.
So with that we have a motion
by Council member Camp you in a
second by Council member
Campbell I'm sorry the voting
system Please cast your vote
that passes initially 6 to 0
with Councilmember Moreno,
Councilmember von Wilber and
council member Foster Absent
Thank you Council PRESIDENT All
right.
Thank you.
With that we will now pause for
photos and we'll start with
item 41 Eldorado Properties.
So if you come up to the pit
and
you
have everyone out there,
somebody All right, let's get
back to the business of
the morning.
We will now proceed with
the approval of the consent
items.
Are there any request to pull
an item off consent Not see any
request by my colleagues?
>> clerk Please proceed with
public comment.
Please note each speaker will
have one minute per item per
person.
If you would like to speak on
three or more items you will
have a maximum of three
minutes.
The consent agenda includes
items 1052 54 103 1 or 2 as 502
and as 503 We did receive
comments on items 53 and three
oppose an item 1 or 2 one
opposed we are e comment form
which have been distributed to
the Council.
We do have speakers here in
council chambers started with
starting with Jacob Lewis
Edwards speaking on I was 42
s5o2 and s503 Please come
forward to the mic You'll have
three minutes And then we have
allegedly Audra with 1 or 2 1
to 1 5051 5253 and 100.
Please proceed again.
Good morning COUNCILMAN.
I'm women and I am going to
stay on subject matter that are
so item 52 amendment to
the salary ordinance the 27th
fiscal year now amending the 27
fiscal budget is going to be
very important.
It is going to be necessary
Also item s5o2 ordinance
amending Chapter two relating
to post-employment health
benefits for eligible employees
and then item 5a3 First
Amendment to the Employment
Assistance Program erp Now all
of these items deal with folks
livelihoods, folks, livelihoods
and that's a subject matter
here.
I consider So I'm going to talk
about our livelihoods, our
livelihoods are under attack.
>> Our country is under attack
that if we don't stand up we're
in some trouble folks, what I
spoke about earlier some very
real stuff and council
PRESIDENT It's we're going to
need to stand up against this
stuff.
It was years ago My mom's mom's
brother's position on
Department of Homeland Security
was hijacked by the mob.
They were put on me by my
family.
I consider it now not the mob's
fall.
They were able to take the keys
to our country.
Why wouldn't they?
I blame those in Washington dc
but Chinese espionage was on
the thing the entire time.
What it's led to is genocide.
>> Look up the YouTube clip
Jacob Edwards speaks and heard
briefly explains what's going
on The Chinese espionage Take a
look at this entire time to
take our country over Federal
Reserve families who owe China
a lot of money cut a deal of
disgust.
How dare they That yeah, you
can take our country over pork
clear in that debt trillions We
owe you most disturbing so deal
a genocide that went along with
it Recruited to the Department
of Homeland Security's database
for the best the best of our
country and competition
The Chinese taking our country
over Folks recruited in mass
numbers to convention centers
right here in San Diego is
the epicenter of it.
I don't know how many other
cities are involved.
>> The genocides occurred their
best the best comment allegedly
Andre we'll stand up for
ourselves.
>> Folks must stand up against
this.
>> I need to do some
housekeeping really quick
because Sean you're twisting
what I'm saying.
I'm not asking you to stand
against the gay or trans
community.
I'm asking why you're condoning
pedophilia and the rape of
children and why you don't
stand against that and the fact
that you say that you won't
stand against that is very
concerning because I guess as
long as pedophiles are living
their authentic life and
they're upset, then to myself
you can be inclusive and
equitable all while admonishing
and hating on victims for
sharing assaults that are
taking place.
So that's extremely
interesting.
Okay.
So you know with 50 I mean any
time you guys are always
updating and you know changing
your codes and stuff and it's
like a revolving door of
changes I don't know how
anybody can keep up with it
with this pure water.
You know, I'm wondering what
kind of testing you guys have
done when you are putting
things like lye and chlorine
and very toxic like toxic
chemicals into this water as
well as you know, there's
sewage and different things
that are still going to be left
over.
How do you know what the health
effects are on the people or
have you done testing that
would prove that it is
absolutely pure water, that
it's healthy, that there are no
health effects or is this
something that's going to come
down the pike and we're going
to just revisit it when it
comes and then you'll have some
kind of mitigating plan price
some vaccine or something like
that And the salary ordinances
let's quit giving people raises
until we can really make sure
we're providing stuff and we
have the money to do it.
You guys keep coming.
Did the people who don't have
any money to give other people
raises It's ridiculous.
And with these sole source
contracts with Adam I you know
I just saw Waymo driving
around.
I think that we need to bring
in an ordinance that bans
Waymo's Is that you're saying
they're not going to come in
here?
Are we banning them?
Is there something that you're
going to do to make sure
they're not going to be here or
is that just you're not going
to contract with them but
they'll be able to be in
the city and we need to be
worrying about these data
centers in ai and even goes
into the power the San Diego
equity campus and you know your
clean energy fraud that you
know you want to sit here and
act like this is green energy
when in fact it's totally toxic
to the environment as well as
human life.
I mean like these busses and
different things that come in
and you know, the data centers
taking up our fresh water.
Oh well we're given the pure
water right?
But we don't need to test that
as long as the data centers get
the fresh stuff.
I mean who cares what people
get Just the scraps, you know,
And eventually we're going to
be given Soylent Green.
That should be exciting.
I mean we already are I guess
in the water because there's
babies and stuff that are, you
know, flushed down the toilet
in those And then how can you
be trusted with this disaster
recovery infrastructure funding
?
Why don't you just keep up with
the infrastructure?
But wait, you guys need $5
billion for it?
>> Dang it.
But at least you have this in
case something happens right?
>> Your time has concluded.
We're going to those
participating remotely starting
the five minute timer starting
with Blair Beckman If you can
please unmute please let me
know which item or items you
wish to speak to.
>> I will be quiet again going
first and not quite ready but I
am kind of ready here.
I wanted to speak to basically
this day all the consent items
except uh let me see.
I got to get in here except
item 54.
Blair you do need to be ready.
>> I'm very sorry about that.
I'm ready now all I want to
speak to all items not 254.
>> Okay?
Please continue.
Sorry about that.
Thank you.
Okay.
Blair Beckman.
Yeah.
Okay.
So start with item 50 Coastal
Commission Modifications Land
Development Code Update Again,
one of my regular talking
points these days are it's
important that we understand
the concepts of sea level rise
issue and how we talk about
that with Midway Rising because
if we do that makes it easier
to talk about sea level rise
issues for a number of issues
in San Diego that I think we're
having a bit of trouble with
because at Midway Rising I know
Captain Rhodes she's described
there can be ways to architect
and build midway rising with
sea level rise issues but she
also questions it and I think
we should be doing the same It
should be an open process to
consider good work in those
efforts.
What we can be doing with Pure
Water 51 on kpbs They just
reported that uh, Mexico
Tijuana is working on pure
water issues.
>> They've had council persons
visit ocean side, you know, and
I just thought that was amazing
.
So they're interested in
the future of pure water quite
possibly present year one
valley If we think of pure
water in those terms of how it
can help our environment, how
it can possibly help with air
issues that's one thing We have
to be very cautious how we talk
about it as drinking water
though I think and good luck
We're learning to do that
better keep up those good
efforts and continuing good
communication with Tijuana.
I mean it's just proving what
good communication is about.
>> So good luck on that effort
Sally Ordinance salary
ordinance issues I've mentioned
for the first time about a week
ago I hope you can if not this
year, the next year you can
really be working on
the concept that our city
workers take a $50 cut in pay
each month That's 600 bucks a
year.
That's a savings of over two to
almost $2 million a year If we
have like 3000 plus staff
workers that's a lot in budget
savings really Consider that
Learned to take one for
the team and that it's okay
there can be times we can't do
that We MAY be at a time we can
next year MAY not but let's
hope we can to go on Item 100
is well when we see 1 to 1 is
construction of Beach Street
pedestrian corridor project.
This is an item that is dealing
with you know my usual issues
of working on better check
accountability and how
important that is And when you
dress better check
accountability You're actually
addressing our best practices
and asking to end genocide
basically.
And that's why I do the work I
do so we can end genocide and
war and with the ability park
issues I'll talk about later.
>> Thank you.
Next is Cynthia if I can have a
Gary please come forward to
the microphone.
He is our translator here will
be translating Cynthia from
French to English.
Cynthia is speaking on item 50
If you can please let her know
that she'll have one minute for
her comments and then one
minute for your translation.
Thank you, Gary, for being
here.
You're welcome.
Good morning, COUNCILWOMAN And
Council.
Uh, both Cynthia and Uncle
Wasabi Enigma Illuminator
Duncan come on to say that if I
recall there was a crack was
the interplay Okay, I want to
share about this in church
Wonder she said Did you group
ducks into the pool Is
immigrant refugee d'afrique
been blessed with their money
They completely want to manage
it or not As in we grant
refugee Originaire d'afrique to
Rosemary via San Diego News
It's not opposition I like to
second l'approbation de
modification proposal I don't
really read up on they don't
want to fix it I do me trust
and Catherine Wendler Suman and
Obstet and Suman w
marginalizing poor please your
mom did not come they said
sample present They plead their
model royal pleasure so men do
so did not comment on Suva
control t additive she
\conomique linguistic
administrative led and positive
I was here a little bit some
excluded participation Citoyen
Solari welcome onset politique
et de screaming I thought it
was his if he would rather
contest indecision go global
talent no division I made
the bonjela positive enunciated
an individual it him on speech
is more concerned when you see
do play mama reduce and if I am
on GOD is not excessive I
choose a guarantee good truly
is You don't do San Diego and
up on the Monday letter when
you did not audition Please
escape plan your time has come
to translate her Good morning
My name is sincere and I
represent the students from
the refugees from the refugees
in San Diego So I don't know So
why it is so difficult I like
for the council like us to
understand how difficult it is
of immigrants who come here and
the amount of that that they
require like to pay.
It's exorbitant So it's really
expensive and it's more like a
matter of mental lack of us.
So I don't know why Immigrant I
showed it to the council like
could reduce days of fee so for
fun for something more
affordable for us and that will
be that will be better and we
should and have like to to be
to be a by not a by we
shouldn't have like to to fight
like a for to to to let our
white nose So in this situation
so thank you thank you extra
time was a lot for
the translation.
>> Thank you so much Gary for
coming down.
Thank you Cynthia for your
comments 8700 If you can please
unmute and let me know which
item or items you wish to speak
to.
>> Thank you Only 51 please.
Please proceed Yes to the First
Amendment for North City Pure
Water Facility and
demonstration Pure water
Facility with Truffle
Technologies.
I celebrate this statement in c
p w f will be the first full
scale facility in the world in
the world using five advanced
water treatment processes in
sequence.
Isn't that an amazing statement
to be first in the world with
this amazing project of pure
water So 20 years with Trizol.
That's five stars.
Trussell Thank you so much For
20 years and we appreciate you
And just keep us going till we
get to all the phases.
Thank you and your time helpful
Quickly within the five minute
timer also concluded there were
five speakers in the queue with
joy.
There are four speakers now No
additional speakers will be
taken or asco.
Please let us know which item
or items you wish to speak to.
Yes shop items all the items
and retaliation for speaking on
all the items especially 3030
as part of the proclamation.
>> So you cannot speak to 30
You can speak on the items
within the within the consent
agenda.
>> Okay, Ernie Casco I'm in all
the items trying to speak I
received experienced
retaliation myself serious
injuries, assaults and poisoned
with by hazard two more times
by Big Pharma poison It is
the health care system.
This is genocide in America
shamefully over
the commercialized portion of a
public park and land Torrey
Pines glider part I'm dying
with stage four cancer that's
now in remission.
But you haven't killed my voice
in concern of Torrey Pines
Blight Report Ongoing dispute
The Dear Ernie letter I
received from the cpp is
completely unacceptable.
All it fails to accept to
address serious allegations
made to the city Council Joe
LaCava San Diego Police
Department itself it it
completely ignores the victim
and witnesses and the ongoing
criminal activity and public
safety concerns at Torrey Pines
Flight Report.
My first question is where are
the police reports?
Residents should never be
forced to sign an access pass
and waiver under threat of
violence.
I receive unanimous letters of
support from La Hoya Town
Council, the Hawaii Shores
Association, the University Kim
Black Community Planning Group
to stop this yet core issues
remain ignored while problems
continue.
You haven't killed my voice.
I'm asking three things from
the City council to restore
the park to the people and
protect us from future abuse
First thing Where are the first
Where are the police reports of
the victim and witnesses?
Let's see them.
Second stop the illegal
collection of public fundings
into private accounts with a
full city audit of Torrey Pines
Slide report.
Third restore lawful public
access to ensure no one is
forced into signing waivers.
It's time to enforce American
law not administrative law and
stand up for our constitutional
recreational rights and
freedoms and implement the San
Diego recreational waiver that
ends this dispute over our
freedom at public parks.
Thank you, Ernie Casco.
>> Next is Hector.
If you can please unmute and
let me know which item or items
you wish to speak to.
>> I'd like to speak to 5051
and 52.
>> Thank you.
You'll have three minutes.
Please proceed.
So on item 50 the Coastal
Commission the Coastal
Commission has done us a lot of
harm.
It takes a lot of time to get
and to improve to approve
things And they're just like
brought a lot of hurt on city
build skyscrapers by the beach.
We should just ignore
the Coastal Commission as much
We can just tell them we're
going to do it.
We can do our own coastal
decisions.
We the coast we love our coast.
We know our coast.
We don't let them talk And it's
just another bureaucracy with
the Democratic scam going on in
our city And then on the 51 on
the pier water I think it's
good that Mexico is looking for
pure water.
I say we just dam up the border
crossing and let them deal with
the sewage water.
It'll it'll put a fire under
there.
They can smell some of that
Mexican They're giving us
the pure water.
I think we should do audits
every month and publish them at
the city council because you
know this is going to be a huge
overrun.
This is like we can't even
handle parking at the zoo let
alone the billions of dollars
it's going to cost us.
We need to keep an eye on this
And the lady that runs it,
she's not tough enough.
She's she's like looking for
her partner.
We know we need somebody who's
just we ain't going to buy no
extras.
Take it.
She could get tough to speak of
.
She has a 15 year old daughter
and the guy is looking for my
looking to take her out on a
date.
He's 28 Italian guy with a
heavy hairy chest and gold
chains.
She'd be saying no.
You taking her out?
That's what she's got to say.
With the cost overruns
the contractors are going to
She's an easy mark for
the contractors.
It's not it's not a committee
saying no, she needs to say no
and no more overruns.
We're going to make up a lot of
stuff And then the pay thing 52
is like Hey, times are tough
man and we're given a 10%
raise.
We need to weed out
the employees Anybody that
celebrated Charlie Kirk's death
needs to leave.
We cannot pay them nothing we
never research The employees is
celebrated his death and we're
taken.
We'll have a bounty If you turn
in one of your employees who
celebrated and say we'll give
you $1,000 and that person
needs to go There's a bunch of
them on the city payroll.
Those guys need to go whatever
color their hair is.
But whatever their deal is it's
probably something to do with
the alphabet crew celebrating
the death of Charlie Kirk.
So the alphabet is
the hopefully it's going to
it's heading downhill man.
>> Hopefully they'll learn how
to spell me.
Thank you.
If you raise your hand after
the five minute timer you will
not be taken But you can
definitely submit comments at
City Clerk at San diego.Gov.
Judy Strang If you can please
unmute and let me know which
item or items you wish to speak
to.
>> Yes.
Good morning.
I'd like to speak to s503
regarding the First Amendment
to the Employee assistance
program here at the city that's
being provided to us by
Evernorth Care Solutions.
I think it would have been
extraordinarily useful to have
a staff report on the city's
APRIL Cobra.
This is a program provided to
employees generally speaking in
my experience with eap programs
it's for behavioral health
issues and we are grateful that
the city recognizes how
important it is to their
employees.
That was not the case 40 years
ago so it's about time We have
recognized over the last
several decades how valuable it
is to help our employees with
their alcohol and drug
problems.
Those problems affect
the bottom line of the city.
They affect job performance and
productivity and nothing more.
So that impaired cognitive
function because it creates bad
decision making You MISS
Deadlines, you have sloppy work
and decreased efficiency and
nothing so much as someone who
is under the influence of
marijuana.
So thank you to this group.
>> Thank you.
That does conclude your time.
Our next speaker is Jennifer
Bennett And please begin.
>> Hi, I'm John Hogan here
speaking from Jennifer Bennett
who had to leave just now.
Quickly on behalf of
the community of Redwood
Village and the Eastern Area
Community Planning Group, we
asked for the approval of funds
for the Stream view drive green
infrastructure improvements for
the health and safety of our
communities.
This is item 100.
We'd like to thank the Council
District nine Rep Sean De la
Rivera and all the city staff
for their consideration and
work on this project.
We appreciate it very much.
Been many years that we've been
advocating for this.
>> Thank you very much.
Thank you.
That does conclude public
comment on the consent agenda.
>> All right.
Thank you.
City Clerk and deputy clerk for
wrapping up.
With that we'll turn it over to
the council members for any
questions or comments and
entertain a motion.
We'll start with council member
Isla Rivera.
All right.
Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT.
I will move approval of
the outcome of the consent
agenda.
I just wanted to speak briefly
to item 100 authorizes
stormwater department to accept
and appropriate funding from
the California Department of
Housing and Community
Development 2020 for disaster
recovery infrastructure.
Mitt R.I.P. Fund.
So that very long unwieldy
title is really beneath that
long unwieldy title is a
project that's going to
directly improve the quality of
life for Redwood Village
resident residents in my
district and beyond.
Stream View Drive has been in
the works for many years and I
want to thank the Stormwater
Engineering and Capital Project
team for this.
I also want to thank some of
our community leaders Lyn,
Bettina and Jennifer for
community organizing work on
this and never allowing
the city and my office to
forget that this is important
and needs to get done.
Stream View Drive has been a
long overdue project just like
this one that combines blue
green infrastructure and
supports our efforts to be
climate resilient.
It's situated just upstream and
tributary to Choice Creek which
is an urban waterway that was
impacted during the severe
rainstorms in 2024.
And this project will improve
the capture and conveyance of
urban runoff along the Stream
stream View Drive and install
new stormwater treatment
systems within the 258 acre
watershed.
There are some really great
components of this including an
underground trash capture belt
underground stormwater
detention vault and multi-use
treatment area vault.
Together they will help reduce
pollutant levels such as trash,
sediment, zinc and other
contaminants entering Choi's
Creek.
Additionally, the detention
belt will help manage
stormwater by reducing peak
flows into the creek.
So these are smart investments
the type of things that
the city should keep pursuing
as we move forward.
I want to say thank you again
to our community leaders for
their advocacy on this and
the city workers who helped
make this happen.
Council PRESIDENT I assume you
probably understood everything
that I said better than I did.
>> But that concludes my
motion.
All right.
Yeah, I think you nailed it.
I think the community
understands it and appreciate
it.
So we have a motion by council
member Ella Rivera and we'll go
next to council member
Whitburn.
Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT I'm happy to
second the motion to approve
the consent agenda.
Just note how pleased I am with
item 101 which is that
agreement with Civic said
the year ago for construction
of the b Street pedestrian
corridor project downtown.
This is a project that has been
decades in the making.
It's going to provide much
needed pedestrian improvements
that will make it easier for
people to access public
transportation.
It will increase safety around
the set of a depot for downtown
residents and visitors alike.
This action advances our goals
of improving mobility,
accessibility and productivity
downtown.
And I want to thank city staff
and civic San Diego for all
their work in moving this
project towards construction.
Thank you, Council PRESIDENT.
All right.
Thank you, sir.
So we have a motion by council
member Eli Rivera and second by
COUNCILMAN Whitburn to move
the consent item.
I don't see anybody else on
the lights so.
Clerk Deputy Clerk Please call
the roll.
I have set up the voting
system.
>> Please cast your vote.
Councilmember Yellow era didn't
record If you did.
There you go.
Thank you.
>> The consent agenda passes
unanimously six nothing with
council districts four, five,
seven and eight.
Absent.
>> All right.
Thank you.
So with that oh, do we have any
comments from the mayor's
office?
City council member city
attorney, independent
independent budget analyst or a
city clerk not seeing any
requests.
We will now take up the non
agenda Public comment.
Council members respect and
appreciate the public input and
are fully committed to
protecting every participant's
free speech rights at council
and committee meetings.
Clerk Please proceed with
public comment per rule 2.7
Known Agenda Public Comment as
an opportunity for members of
the public to comment on items
that are not on the agenda but
within the subject matter
jurisdiction of the City
Council.
Each speaker will have two
minutes.
Please note if there are eight
or more speakers on a single
topic the maximum time for
the topic will be 60 Minutes.
If you are in chambers please
submit your speaker slip.
If you are joining us virtually
please raise your hand to speak
by tapping the raise your hand
icon or if you are a call in
participant start nine.
We will begin with in-person
comment Jacob Lewis Edwards
again good morning Council men
and women.
So it was years ago my family
put the mafia on me to squash
any trace of anything I was
calling out in my family had
nothing to do with the mafia
That was my family did that to
me.
They hijacked my mom's younger
brother's position in
Department of Homeland Security
over our country Cyber security
networks over time that enabled
them hijacking our federal
government agencies.
I say now not their fault of
course they have taken the keys
to our country If they were
able to.
I blame those in Washington dc
who allowed it.
I was terrorized all along
the way.
My civil rights and liberties
violated in the grossest ways
you could imagine My human
rights grossly violated with
our government agencies used
against us Chinese espionage on
the thing the entire time.
Watch the clip Jacob Edward
speaks on YouTube where I spoke
right here at this microphone
is where the genocide Federal
Reserve families cutting a deal
to wipe out the debt of
trillions of the Chinese.
How dare they hand our country
over?
But the deal of genocide to
wipe out the best of the best
of our country so to the best
of their best you come in
the recruiting them from
the Department of Homeland
Security's database at the best
this country has and
slaughtering them in mass
numbers to the best of
the Chinese can come in.
How dare they?
Our country.
Our country, our local leaders,
our community needs to stand up
that this is our country.
This is our livelihoods.
Our country's future is at
stake.
Our lives are at stake.
That I urge you every one of
you and folk in the community
this time to quit going along
with this acting like it's not
going on running from it for
everybody to fight together
Stand up for our country, for
the people, by the people that
don't include your time.
>> Our next speaker is
allegedly Audra.
>> It's interesting people get
offended when I talk about
pedophiles.
Makes me wonder if you guys are
pedophiles because like to be
offended to talk I should be
that you're offended that that
happens that you shouldn't want
children to be raped or
sexually assaulted.
I'm not promoting it and
glorifying it as a sexual
preference and that as long as
a pedophile is living it's
authentic life and being their
authentic selves then those
children don't matter all while
we say you care about all
people I would make it suffice
to say that you don't care
about victims that you
perpetuate creating them and
you consider me talking about
pedophiles hate speech or anti
Semitic or homophobe big or you
know I'm a bigot or racist or
whatever you know what I mean?
All the gaslighting names So
you're willing to gaslight me
for talking about it and hating
it being a victim of it And
then it's like you want to
twist what I'm saying while
right there right in front of
us Minor attractive persons are
being honored and glorified
while I'm being gaslit as if
I'm asking you to not accept a
certain community.
But I guess why are we
accepting pedophilia as okay
when you do have children That
that is a question I do have I
don't that doesn't make sense
to me And I would say that
competency is in question When
you can have children and
promote that your child could
potentially be abused that that
doesn't make that make does
conclude your time.
>> Our next speaker is Liam mad
that FEBRUARY?
Please come forward.
Good morning City Council.
I hope I can have your
attention for at least the next
minute.
My name is Liam Adventures.
I'm a 14 year old from District
seven.
This council I believe should
terminate its contract with Fox
safety because it has been
proven time and time again in
San Diego and across
the country that we cannot
govern and effectively Consider
this Within the first three
weeks of operation we had
12,914 unauthorized searches in
2024 alone as deputy transfer
data to a federal agency 62
times that of fear in violation
of California state law and
the city's own privacy advisory
Board recommended shutting this
program down.
This council overrode that 5 to
3.
Moreover, these data also shows
that 100 of the 140 aggregated
database searches run in 2024
only point 2% actually assisted
investigations.
So this is a federal reflection
of the fatal shortcomings
within Floc technology.
El Cajon is being sued by
the Attorney General for
showing data illegally.
Ventura County logged over
364,000 illegal data searches.
One misconfigured camera in
Mountain View exposed it to
over 250 agencies and in San
Francisco not so far from us it
has been searched 1.6 million
times by people without
the legal authority to do so.
And so then we have the same
failure repeated across
multiple jurisdictions.
We have to ask is that a
failure of implementation?
I'd say no, it's a failure of
the architecture.
If we look at Floc it's built
to make sure and very easy and
accountability very difficult.
And I personally believe that
no policy this council passes
can possibly change with
systems built to do.
And so this is why reform is
not the answer because we
cannot regulate or regulate our
way around system or structural
flaw.
And so that's the only response
that is proportional to this
many that has failed many times
in many places.
And San Diego does not have to
choose between public safety
and governance because of a
government that sacrifices one
to protect the other actually
protects the other.
>> Thank you for listening.
>> Good job.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Anthony
Ralphs.
>> Where's Waldo and Wilbur?
One more time.
She's not here.
And it gets really frustrating
to know that we're paying
council members that aren't
present when we're wishing to
address them.
I don't know if she's on
official business.
It hasn't been spoken.
If she is and again it is
really frustrating to see empty
seats when they're getting paid
very well to not be listening
to us.
I brought these three flowers I
want to give them to the three
members of city council that
voted for Flock.
I know that I'm obviously
against Flock but the reason
why I got you these flowers is
because six months ago seven
months ago when you initially
voted for Flock, if you hadn't
done that I wouldn't have
started paying attention Seven
months ago I didn't know a
single one of your names.
I didn't know a single one of
your positions on a plethora of
issues.
In that time I've gotten to
know not only the issues I've
got to know where you stand on
many of these issues and I've
gotten to learn a ton in that
process.
So it inadvertently woke a
sleeping giant in me and it
inadvertently woke a sleeping
giant in this city And our
civic participation is now at
full throttle or at least
minus.
And I'm one of the privileged
few who can come here on a
regular basis who can afford to
park, who can afford to take
time off work.
Not everyone can do that.
And that's why I'm here
routinely to represent this
position.
And even though I fundamentally
disagree with you all I still
got love for you all.
I agree with what Joyce Sonata
said when she says love to all.
And so again, even though I
disagree, I actually came
yesterday with the intention of
issuing you an apology because
seven months ago when I called
you out for not being present,
I didn't know that you were on
paternity leave.
Like if I.
I wish that more One Wilbert
had some kind of an excuse or
at least would give us a reason
as to why she's not here right
now so that we could at least
know why she isn't present in
helping us make the decisions
that we need.
I also wanted to mention
the Supreme Court's decision
yesterday.
I wanted to read it to you and
read it to those who were
present but they ruled
yesterday that law enforcement
officials use the Geofence
warrant.
>> Think about that.
Conclude your time.
Basically they ruled that up.
That does conclude your time.
Thank you.
Tomorrow I've started the five
minute timer in council
chambers and we'll now turn to
virtual content.
We will begin with Blair
Beekman.
Blair please begin.
>> Hi.
Blair Beekman.
Thanks for the meeting today.
Thanks a lot for the words of
Tony.
In the past year our council
presidents have really learned
the art form of getting out of
meetings and especially with
council PRESIDENT.
But we'll begin to campaign all
respect for her campaign that I
hope he can win.
I think he would be better
served by staying at council
meetings instead of always
leaving now and per committee
meetings.
I think he would have a better
campaign if he was at her
regular meetings.
We would respect her a lot
more.
I'm starting to disrespect what
she's doing.
It's becoming aggravating.
It was an important day.
She was supposed to be there So
I'm upset.
We've got to start returning to
meetings more regularly And
same with our other council.
I also and thanks as always for
the words of Anthony by the way
.
I wanted to comment on
the comment.
The idea is you know stormwater
issues we had worries you know
the past few years so we
couldn't talk more openly and
clearly we could have It's been
a few years now.
Can we please stop using
the euphemisms sports utility
lighting to talk about
the depth of what our
surveillance technology and our
parks and rec center that's
actually doing?
Can we be more specific in that
instead of it's a euphemism you
guys are using?
Let's really move past
the euphemism please.
It's safe It please trust it.
Don't be fearful.
Quick conversation is good.
There's also concepts you know
City of Oakland has a love life
philosophy that I hope we can
help that they don't want to do
harm in their decision making.
I think you can help a lot And
the comment on your use in real
time Police are confused.
They don't quite know the rules
of the road in when they can
and can't talk about their data
tech and we have to learn to
have that open conversation so
we can That's what I keep
trying to say at this time.
>> We have to have an open
conversation not a closed thank
you.
That does conclude your time.
Your next speaker is that
could.
Please begin.
>> Good morning.
My name is Becky Brock and I'm
here today to ask for greater
transfer and accountability in
San Diego's marijuana
permitting program.
Seven years ago, Rancho
Bernardo residents spent a
significant amount of time
participating in public
processes But our neighborhood
pot shop was approved.
We attended hearings, submitted
comments and carefully
evaluated the applicant.
But today if you visit
the city's website, the permit
still identifies the original
permit holder not the business
that is now actually holding
the permit.
We stumbled across industry
publications that reported that
the House has acquired 12
existing pot shop permits in
San Diego yet they're not
updated on the city's website.
That raises a simple question
Why is it easier to learn who
controls the city issued
marijuana permit from an
industry publication than from
the city's own website?
If owner ownership changes, if
a permit is transferred or if a
new company takes control of a
pot show, the public shouldn't
have to search through
corporate records, state
databases or trade publications
to find that information.
The community's interest
doesn't end when the permit is
approved.
In many ways that's when
transparency becomes even more
important.
So I urge the city to maintain
an up to date publicly
accessible database that
identifies current permit
holders and current operators.
Ownership changes and permit
transfers for every shop in
the region.
Residents deserve to know who
is operating these businesses
throughout the life of
the permit not just on the day
it was approved.
Public participation should be
matched by public transparency
.
>> Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is a caller
with the last four digits
737234.
Please begin.
>> >> Good afternoon, City
Council.
My name is Kevin Skilling.
I'm a parent public educator
and I am a planning group
member as well.
When reviewing air quality in
the city of San Diego and
the role of tobacco related
disease and death, it is very
important to address
disparities.
The overall conclusion that
tobacco takes a higher toll on
less advantaged people is not
new but needs to be carefully
regarded when policies
regarding smoking and vaping
are considered.
Here in California stained
glass Faculty member at
the University of California
San Francisco uc ucsf School of
Medicine and the Division of
Cardiology stated and I quote
It's important to recognize
the growing role of cannabis in
undermining tobacco control and
contributing to health
disparities especially given
the prevalence of tobacco and
cannabis use in youth and young
adults and the socio economic
and health disparities
associated with chronic or
daily use of marijuana or
tobacco.
Tobacco use which is of grave
concern for public health
educators who work on behalf of
18 to 30 year olds and those of
us who are parent group of that
specific age group.
Protecting all city residents
from exposure to secondhand
tobacco and cannabis smoke in
all indoor and outdoor settings
should be a priority.
Reducing the availability and
advertising related to tobacco
and marijuana should be a
priority of our county and
summer 2026 would be the best
time for our city county to
consider an emergency ban of
marijuana and tobacco smoking
and vaping in public spaces.
Thank you for hearing my
concerns This afternoon.
>> Thank you.
Please note the five minute
timer did go off.
We have seven speakers
remaining in the queue.
No further speakers will be
taken.
Kathleen Lippert please begin
your comments.
Thank you for letting me speak.
I'd like to address the housing
issue.
The need for affordable housing
is great but housing quickly
becomes unaffordable when a
city continues to add fee after
fee d focus is only on one
side The tenant landlord
equation protections solely
focused on tenants.
MS. The expense that landlords
are expenses are created for
landlords.
The city's failure to analyze
both benefits and risks has led
to higher cost of housing and a
failure to protect those who
deserve protection.
Landlords cost for maintenance,
upkeep, habitability standards,
inflation can lead to landlords
failing to properly maintain
their property and the cost of
remediating units where smoking
or vaping has taken place adds
an additional layer of costs as
well as the health impacts that
are caused by that.
Anthony Infection rules do not
allow for rent or landlords to
evict problematic nuisance
tenants.
The eviction process is lengthy
and costly and rent caps do not
allow landlords to adjust rents
in response to market changes.
Screening restrictions that do
not allow proper vetting of
potential tenants can lead to
tenants with a history of
failing to pay their rent or
previously damaged property and
tenants who MAY exploit
friendly tenant regulations.
The cost of forcing landlords
to accept tenants who cannot
afford the rent or forcing
landlords to accept government
housing vouchers can lead to
costs that are passed on to
other tenants.
A healthy rental market
recognizes there are two
entities involved in the rental
market.
Renters and landlords can
adjust Include your time.
Our next speaker is Madison.
Please begin.
>> I thank you City Council
members.
As a mother of three children I
often think about how much care
goes into protecting a baby
before that child is even born
.
Pregnant women are told to
watch what they eat, what
medications they take and what
substances they avoid because
those early months matter So
much for a child's development.
That's why I think it's
important to pay attention to
what the medical community is
saying about cannabis use
during pregnancy.
The American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists
recently updated its clinical
guidance and stated that
cannabis use during pregnancy
has been associated with
serious risks and spontaneous
preterm birth, low birth weight
and developmental delay.
As marijuana becomes more
socially accepted and easier to
access, many women MAY assume
it is harmless because it is
often described as natural or
even promoted as a way to help
with stress or nausea.
But doctors are very clear that
there are no medical
indications for cannabis use
during pregnancy or during
the postpartum period or in
fact at all.
Thc crosses the placenta
meaning a developing baby is
exposed during critical stages
of growth when the brain and
body are especially vulnerable.
Mothers deserve honest
information to make these
decisions for their baby that's
growing inside them.
And if we are serious about
protecting maternal and child
health then public policy
should reflect the medical
evidence showing prenatal
cannabis use is dangerous and
not go along with the marketing
narrative that says it's not.
Thank you.
>> Thank you.
Our next speaker is Hector.
Please begin.
>> All right.
The immigration front has
stepped forward on the Supreme
Court just ruled temporary
legal status has been revoked
for a million people.
So anybody that works for this
city who has temporary legal
status you just got fired.
Your history.
You don't want the city aiding
and abetting them with paydays.
So talk to city Attorney that's
aiding and abetting the guys
with temporary legal service as
status has been revoked.
You're here $1,000 a day fine
to be here illegally.
So if you have any money in
the bank you might want to take
it out before Trump just brings
on ice with the big teeth and
then you can to play that game
No more.
Even though Somali guys have
temporary legal status, there
has to be then get back on
the boat.
They don't hold man for you
Suffer too much.
Save your suffering for Somalia
and the homelands like Haiti
and all other great countries.
Please go back to your great
country because The Iceman
cometh.
We got to change the song
the theme song in San Diego to
Ice Ice Baby.
And I love those cameras.
They just put a bunch more down
by Fashion Valley.
The brand new ones they
installed about 20 of them so
far.
If you're in fashion Valley you
might want to go somewhere else
But there's a lot of cameras
just brand new ones on
the falls.
They look state of the art So I
don't know who's watching those
cameras but you do and watch
just the way it is.
The mass rapid deportations are
going to get better.
There's other things that's
going to happen.
Trump's got to get the all
the computerized programs and
it's going to be pretty easy Do
that does conclude your time.
Our next speaker is caller with
the last four digits 8700
please begin.
>> >> Joy of senator all city
needs a new vision that fosters
all components of our budget.
Dear public all of you each of
you are at the very top of
the city organization chart.
There has been a lot of
passionate fighting in
the chambers lately Fight for a
budget, fight for a trash free
fight for a parking fee fight
against hate crimes and lots
lots more.
Yet in my opinion something is
missing.
We need a new vision for
the city of San Diego.
A noble vision for the great
city We want to become.
This would be the kickstart we
need for the boldness we need
to unravel.
And so what is not working at
our city structure will core
your public.
All of you are at the very top
of our city's organization
chart.
Let's work together as one to
create a new more noble Excuse
me.
Let's work together as one to
create a new noble vision for
our beautiful city.
Now I love you all and I want
to finish with wishing all of
you a really wonderful 4th of
JULY legislative recess.
See you when you get back.
Thank you.
And I will speak to fast
spreading love to all.
Thank you.
Our next speaker in Casco
please begin.
Ernie Casco once again.
What is the main issue at
Torrey Pines Glider Port?
We the people are being forced
to buy insurance now required
by law and an access pass
waiver to use public park.
This is insurance fraud and
misappropriation of public
funds and going into private
accounts.
A racketeering operation which
demands full transparency city
audit that would end
the corruption within Torrey
Pines Great Port Management.
City Council has a proven
solution The San Diego
recreational waiver secures
city liabilities, isolates
safety concerns and stops
the illegal collection of
public funding and the private
accounts By separating
the business from normal free
public access by allowing
the business to stay and pay
their own bills are failing
like every other business in
public parks and lands.
There are laws to protect us.
Who is liable?
The City Council is responsible
to provide police reports that
normally provide justice for
the victims and witnesses who
have been damaged by your
leaseholder.
There are common business laws
to protect the public on how
businesses should be run in
public parks and lands.
You need to apply those rules
to your leaseholder.
The San Diego recreational
waiver is a win for City
council liabilities.
Using common contract laws that
legally restores
the recreational rights and
freedoms for years to come.
Thank you, Ernie Casco.
It's time for you to stop
the crime in your own office or
step out of office.
>> Representing San Diego Hoya
residents.
>> >> Our next speaker is John
Stump.
>> Please begin.
>> Thank you.
Happy Philippines Independence
Weekend and United States
independence Weekend.
I want to speak I want to
request that the council read
Docket Ordinance 0261 one nine
on the fees to register an
appeal The Council made
the determination that work was
based not on reasonable or
rational basis costs The city
appeal costs are now if c Dixit
and the staff report that
the fees were based on
contained obvious mathematical
errors.
I you know I'm protesting these
fees because it now excludes
the common man.
I can't believe that Democrats
would set fees so high to
exclude the participation of
the common working man.
Fees are now so high that it's
the same as rent.
Additionally, I've asked MISS
Fuentes to contact me
concerning the appeal notice
that is being sent out for
appeals before the City Council
for quasi judicial hearings.
There's one set for the seventh
and the way it's set up is
the defendant.
The executive branch gets
notice and participation while
the appellant gets no
recognition.
That whole notice has to be re
sent out or revised or
something.
It's seriously flawed and
doesn't meet legal standards.
So I asked City Clerk Fuentes
to call me.
>> Thank you.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
Our next and last speaker is
Judy Strang.
Please begin.
>> Good afternoon.
Excuse me.
Good afternoon, City Council.
Thank you for the all
the behind the scenes
operations that allow those of
us who are on the worksite
today to call in and share some
thoughts and observations
because of the experiences that
we have that are applicable we
think to the decisions you are
making.
I wanted to continue my
thoughts when I spoke to s54
regarding Alzheimer's and brain
awareness Month.
And I mentioned I think that
there's two sort of issues
going on.
One both of which I'm familiar
with a family member who has a
traumatic brain injury choice
he didn't make And it's been
horrific for him and
caregivers.
And then on the other hand,
another family member who's
unfortunately wasted his
beautiful brain because he
began his marijuana use at 17.
And we all know I think it's
been pretty clear from
the research that adolescent
brains continue to be formed up
until they're 25.
That's partially why marijuana
addiction is considered a
pediatric onset disease.
And so preventing young people
from initiating marijuana and
other drug use is really their
best chance for fulfilling
their potential.
A research that I think we MAY
have mentioned before but I
think comes as no new news to
you all that what children and
young adults see in their city
affects how they feel about
choices They make a particular
or this research suggests that
the commercial marijuana
enterprises that are in their
community, in their
neighborhoods mutes their
perception of risk and
increases the use of
the substances.
Which also compounded here in
the city of San Diego because
we have billboards and you
don't see billboards for Fenton
all that you sure do for
marijuana.
And so again, we're headed into
summer time.
We have young people out there
recreating and it's important
for us to look around our city
and see what influences our
choices.
>> Thank you.
Thank you.
That does conclude knowledge
and the public on it.
All right.
Thank you, Deputy Clerk We are
now adjourned for the noon
recess and reconvene open
session at 2 P.M. Or shortly
thereafter.
>> And
the already thank you for your
patience.
>> Good afternoon.
I will now reconvene the City
Council meeting of Tuesday,
JUNE 30th, 2026.
Clerk Please call the roll.
>> >> Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT Councilmember
Campbell Councilmember Whitburn
Councilmember Foster here.
Councilmember Von Wilpert
Council PRESIDENT Pro Tem Lee
Councilmember Ocampo.
Councilmember Moreno
Councilmember Ella Rivera and
Council PRESIDENT LaCava
present also attending
the meeting are Assistant City
Attorney Michelle Garland,
independent budget analyst
Charles Monica, Council Affairs
advisor in the Mayor's office,
Code advisor and myself here
Deputy City Clerk Kevin Smith
All right, thank you Deputy
Clerk And with that
Councilmember Foster, can you
read your statement?
Yes, Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT I am
notifying the city council and
the public that I am attending
the meeting today remotely due
to just cause related to travel
while on official business
pursuant to the Brown Act I am
disclosing that there are no
individuals 18 years of age or
older present in the room with
me I will update this
disclosure if it changes during
the course of the meeting.
>> All right.
Thank you sir.
A quorum is now present for our
first order of business This
afternoon we have a request
from staff to return item 331.
I would like to make a
statement.
Michael, but there you go.
Okay.
Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT Michael
Prinz, Assistant deputy
director in the Development
Services Department staff is
requesting that the item be
returned to staff to allow
further review of
the appellant's letter received
on Thursday, JUNE 25th and then
to bring that back at a later
date.
>> All right.
Thank you, sir.
I take notice of public
hearings pretty seriously And
so in addition to the staff's
request, I also ask them to
give us evidence that
the appellant in fact is
comfortable with this being
delayed to take into
consideration the additional
information.
So without objection that my
colleagues will return this
item to staff and look for it
to be in docketed probably
after the summer recess.
Thank you sir.
With that clerk Deputy Clerk
please introduce item 330.
>> Item 330 is residential
rental price gouging, fee
exploitation and cost
transparency Ordinance Um
Council member Yellow Do we
want to make some opening
comments before turning it over
to your team?
>> Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT All right.
Last year the council had a
select committee to address
the cost of living and a lot of
good work happened there
including the residential
tenant utility ordinance.
And when that item came to
council there was a message we
heard from many renters across
San Diego that while that
ordinance would be helpful
there were there was still a
sea of fees that they were
drowning in and having a real
impact on their ability to
afford to live in San Diego.
So today you will have an
opportunity to discuss and
workshop a draft ordinance
meant to protect renters
throughout San Diego During
public comment we will hear
stories from San Diegans that
have experienced and continue
to face junk fees every day.
We also hear opposition to
the ordinance as we do every
time we take and take steps to
protect renters in this city we
will hear that it will be
impossible to be a landlord.
But there are examples
throughout the country of
similar ordinances that provide
the same protections that are
being presented here today.
What I think we need to make
clear is who the city is
actually working for and it
should be every day San Diegans
that make up the heart of our
city not corporate interests.
And with that I'll hand it over
to Jeffrey to begin
the presentation.
Thank you.
Hello, Council PRESIDENT.
Like other members of the City
council, my name is Jeffrey
Nguyen.
I'm presenting on behalf of
Councilmember Isla Rivera and
presenting item 330 residential
rental price gouging for
exploitation and cost
transparency ordinance.
>> I need about ten minutes.
>> Item 330 is an informational
item I'll be going over
the draft ordinance and we are
seeking input from the public
and council members.
>> First our fight background
and additional context and one
we are bringing forward this
proposed ordinance.
The purpose of this ordinance
is to make housing more
affordable.
Respond to concerns or requests
we have heard from San Diegans
and to promote fairness, equity
and transparency regarding how
landlords charge fees to
residential tenants and
applicants.
>> This item was originally
brought forward at the Select
Committee on Addressing Cost of
Living on OCTOBER 30th, 2025.
The item in committee presented
a proposed aspects to be
drafted into the draft
ordinance as part of the Action
Council District four and nine
were directed to work with
the City Attorney's Office to
draft an ordinance to be later
presented for discussion which
we are doing here today.
At the same time this item was
heard at committee the county
was simultaneously working on a
similar ordinance.
Our office partnered with
the offices of Supervisor
Montgomery Staab and Supervisor
Gary to develop similar
ordinances for the city and
the county.
Since last year we have worked
together to draft all our
ordinances and they mirror each
other as much as possible.
This is a brief overview of
the rental market per Redfin in
quarter three of 2024 in
the San Diego metro area 48% of
San Diegans were renters And as
of MAY 2026 the average rent in
San Diego was approximate
Approximately $3,027.
Of the renters in San Diego
about 110,000 are cost burdened
or pay more than 30% of their
income to rent.
This chart shows the proportion
of recent renters by the number
of applications they submitted.
A 2024 report by the White
House Council of Economic
Advisors reports the burden of
application fees totaled 176
million each year.
A 2025 Zillow Consumer Housing
Trends report noted fees MAY
not apply equally throughout
the rental market.
Recent renters of color
reported paying higher total
amounts in application fees.
They are also more likely to
report paying at least one
recurring fee and renters
between the ages of 18 and 29
are most likely to pay at least
one recurring fee.
San Diego are cost burdened.
Cost of living expenses are
going up but working families
incomes are not keeping pace.
Jeung fees are a growing
problem burdening San Diegans.
On the following slide our real
example shared to our Office of
Fees.
Tenants have been charged
renting in San Diego.
This slide shows an additional
fee to tenants for choosing a
month to month lease option.
>> This is a quote from a San
Diego n whose landlord removed
their garage from their rent
agreement unless they paid an
additional $600 fee per month.
>> The next two slides are from
another San Diego and who
struggle to find a new home on
short notice.
Their landlord gave them 60 day
notice to move out with a
household of eight three adults
and five children.
They had a pay application and
screening fees for three adults
for every unit they applied to.
They spent over $400 to apply
not to get housing just to
apply.
They shared with our office
that every denied application
was met with the same response
that someone else has chosen or
they had too many application.
>> In all of these instances
the landlord kept that money.
>> Rental fees Are any payment
or charged imposed by a
landlord to a tenant.
A rental fee does not include
rent late fees security
deposits and utility charges.
Here are some examples of
rental fees that tenants MAY
need to pay to find a home or
to continue living in their
home.
>> Other jurisdictions have
begun taking actions against
unnecessary or excessive fee
practices.
Bellingham, Washington Captain
Late fees do 2% of outstanding
monthly rent past due cap
security deposits and
prohibitive fee for the use of
in unit appliances.
Access to common areas and more
.
>> The State of Virginia
requires fee transparency
capped late fees and provided a
grace period for the late
payment of rent.
>> The state of Colorado
prohibits persons from
misrepresenting the pricing of
goods and services and
prohibited landlords from
requiring tenants to pay a fee
for the processing of rents and
for the services necessary to
comply with
the responsibilities or
obligation of the landlord.
The state of Colorado also
restricted pet deposits, pet
rents and pet related rental
fees.
This graph shows the housing
market in Colorado in response
to the bill.
The blue vertical line shows
the implementation date and
the graph shows the proportion
of rentals that were pet
friendly.
As you can see the proportion
of pet friendly units did not
decrease.
There are a number of state
laws that regulate and provide
certain protections on rental
fees.
Our proposal builds on current
state law to provide additional
needed protections.
With this background this leads
into our policy proposal Since
MAY 19th when the item was
originally scheduled to be
heard, there has been one
addition to the draft.
I would like to note under
exemptions we have added
the exemption of affordable
housing excluding Section eight
.
The proposed ordinance is
divided into two main portions
charges to applicants and
charges to tenants under
charges to applicants.
A landlord shall accept an
applicant screening report and
not charge the applicant for
the landlord to separately
obtain any information
including included in
the applicant screening report
.
A landlord MAY charge an
applicant a holding deposit in
an amount not to exceed 5% of
monthly rent for
the residential rental property
being held.
If the landlord and applicant
applicant fail to finalize a
lease the landlord shall refund
the holding deposit to
the applicant or apply
the holding deposit to rent or
the security deposit.
If they fail to finalize a
lease at no fault of
the applicant the landlord
shall refund the holding
deposit within five business
days from the date the hold on
the property expires and
charges to tenants.
A landlord tenant charge a
tenant recurring fees and a
cumulative amount and greater
than 5% of monthly rent If a
fee is recurring at intervals
other than monthly.
The landlord shall prorate
the fee to a monthly rate for
the purposes of this section.
A landlord shall not charge a
tenant a late fee in an amount
greater than 2% of monthly
rent.
A Landlords are not charged a
tenant a late fee unless rent
is overdue by seven days or
greater.
A landlord shall apply any
payments by or on behalf of
the tenant first to rent and do
and then to any unpaid late
fees a landlord charge that
charge a tenant an amount
greater than the processing fee
imposed on the landlord.
A Landlords are not charged a
tenant a fee for services
solicited by a landlord to
maintain the residential rental
property in a habitable
condition.
>> For example pest control a
landlord shall not charge a
tenant a fee for a tenant to
own or maintain a common
household pet at their
residential rental property.
The American Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals The aspca provided our
office data and insight into
pet fees in San Diego.
Pet related charges are shown
here.
They are broken down by pet
fees, pet deposits and pet rent
.
Many of these fees were charged
per pet.
>> Finally a landlord shall not
charge a tenant if he does not
specified in the lease.
A tenant MAY agree in writing
to a proposed fee not specify
it in the lease.
After the landlord provides a
written notice to the tenant
not less than 30 days before
the fee is intended to go into
effect the written notice shall
include the following purpose
for the fee total amount of
the fee in the amount of each
charge of the fee if charged in
intervals the duration the fee
will be charged if charged in
intervals The commencement
date.
The fee will be charged an
itemized billing for the fee.
In other words, a tenant can
reject a proposed new fee Their
landlord is trying to impose
that has not already been
specified in the lease.
>> a landlord shall disclose in
a clear conspicuous manner
the following information on
any website or advertisement
that list an available rental.
The total amount of charges for
submission and consideration of
an application to lease a
residential rental property an
itemized as to each charge
the total monthly rent
the total amount of fees
whether the fees are optional
or required, the nature and
purpose of the fees and
the timing and frequency
the fees will be charged.
>> a landlord's itemized all
fees distinct from rent in
the lease and on any bill or
invoice to the tenant Each fee
must be intelligible and
distinct from other fees.
On this slide is a current
example pulled from various
Zillow listings.
A fee transparency and fee
disclosure in an online
advertisement.
>> This concludes
the presentation.
For the sake of time I provided
a high level overview of
the ordinance and I'm happy to
go over any portion in detail.
>> Thank you.
Thank you Jeffrey.
Counselors I'll just conclude
by saying again this is a
conversation that started last
year.
I want to thank Councilmember
Foster for his partnership
since committee and the work of
his office in addition to
the partnership of our
colleagues at the county
supervisor Montgomery Step in
Supervisor Gary they've all
been very helpful in getting us
to this point.
>> Thank you, Council
PRESIDENT.
All right then Councilmember
Ella Rivera and your officers
work And to Jeremy and Maya for
the presentation.
With that deputy clerk please
proceed with public comment.
>> Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT.
This item received five
comments in favor and 27
comments in opposition via our
e comment form which has been
distributed to the Council.
Each speaker will have one
minute.
We will begin with in-person
comment.
Diandra kron please come.
Please come forward.
And after diandra we will have
William Snell.
Stephanie Benvenuto and Susan
Ornelas.
Please come sit in the front
row and be ready to speak.
>> Please begin.
Good afternoon.
Council members.
My name is Deandra Cryan.
I'm a vice PRESIDENT And
Assistant general counsel for
Valley Living for Compliance
and Environmental Health.
I'm also a local California
resident.
I'm here today regarding
the proposed fee restrictions
on housing providers
specifically as they relate to
valet trash.
Valet living has set
the standard for amenity
multifamily waste management
management for over 30 years.
We service more than 2 million
apartment homes every night
across the United States and in
San Diego County alone.
We employ 128 w2 Associates
with an annual payroll of 1.6
million.
Many of those part time workers
local to the city who rely on
their income to support their
families.
I want to be direct.
Valley trash is not a baseline
habitability service.
It's an operational add on
amenity designed to enhance and
optimize waste management,
improve being resident
satisfaction, waste diversion
and safety.
We support strong disclosure
however.
>> Thank you.
That concludes your time.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is William
Snell.
>> William, you have a Amanda
MacDonald seating you time
Amanda can you raise your hand?
>> Thank you.
And you also have a
presentation which our staff
will um.
Oh good.
Yeah.
Okay.
>> Uh, first of all, good
afternoon to everyone.
Next slide please.
Circa 1980, my parents built a
small apartment building within
a moderate walking distance
from where we are now located.
We currently have tenants that
have been there 12 years 18
years on the state over 20
years.
We try to provide a quality
environment at a very
reasonable price.
Next slide please.
I have never charged for
screening fee.
I've never charged anyone at
any time for screening for a
period.
Next slide please.
I do not use holding deposits.
I believe the handshake between
honorable individuals should be
entirely adequate.
Next slide please.
I do not charge for water.
Pest control or trash?
I can remember a time when
the city of San Diego picked up
the trash for free.
Next slide please.
I have not charged a late fee
in over a decade and that
individual had more problems
than just a late fee.
Next slide please.
I do not charge for parking.
Neighbors have come to my
property.
And by the way I do not claim
ownership.
I am only a steward of
the small family business.
Neighbors have come to my
property and requested to rent
parking spaces.
Next slide please.
I've always turned them down
because I believe the parking
spaces should be deemed to
the residents who have first
priority.
But the neighborhood does
desperately need more parking.
Next slide, please.
There was a widespread
discussion of disclosure of all
manner of fees timing, purpose
.
>> That does conclude your
time.
Thank you.
Fast forward to the last slide
.
I'm sorry, sir.
That does conclude your time.
We want to move on.
>> I want to go after that.
Our next speaker is Stephanie
Benvenuto.
Stephanie, you have four people
sitting your time.
When I call your name, please
raise your hand.
Matt Aubrey.
I didn't make it in time.
Okay.
James Lawson.
Ilya Ramirez.
No.
And Crystal Valentine.
Crystal.
Okay.
You will have two minutes.
>> Okay.
Cool.
Thank you.
My name's Stephanie Benvenuto.
I'm here on behalf of the San
Diego Building Industry
Association and I want to
respectfully oppose this
proposal.
I'll start by recommitting to
the goal that we share with you
all which is adding more homes
to our stock, thereby lowering
the costs.
We have significant concerns
with this policy one because we
believe it will be difficult to
enact but secondarily because
we think it jeopardizes
investment that is necessary to
build homes.
We are very interested in
the transparency item we do
believe that that is a
component that we can support
and that is best practice.
Many of our members already do
that.
Fundamentally the problem with
the capital investment is that
these homes don't get built by
one wealthy individual.
We have to go to a market that
markets that the rate of return
that rate of return is only met
when people can recoup their
cost of housing.
This policy jeopardizes that
with a more blanket approach.
We think that there is far more
room to continue to working
with the authors office to
identify something that's more
functional, that avoids
unintended consequences and
that creates enough supply so
that people have the options of
where they live thereby
limiting predatory behavior
like what we're seeing and
hearing so much of today.
So again we ask for additional
time to work with the author.
We hope that our considerations
are an unintended consequences
are heard.
We did submit a letter to you
all highlighting some of those
and we will be available for
further discussion with you in
your offices.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Susan Ellis
.
>> One minute please begin.
Hi.
Good afternoon, Council
members.
My name is Susan Ornelas and
I'm a junior studying political
science at Phenix State
University.
I grew up in an apartment with
my siblings where my mom who
was a single parent and
the head of our household
worked hard to keep a roof over
our head.
As a child I remember the worry
on my mom's face every time our
rent increased.
So whether it was $50 or $100
and at the time I didn't
understand the numbers.
I just knew our whole family
carried that stress.
Families deserve stability, not
uncertainty requiring
transparency and protecting
renters from unnecessary
charges help families plan
budget and stay housed.
Please support this ordinance
and help make renting more fair
and transparent.
>> Thank you so much for your
time.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Sheila
Barefoot and followed by
Michelle of Finland, Joni
Halpern, Caitlin McQuade and
Annette Cabinet.
>> Please come forward to
the front row to be ready to
speak.
Sheila as she's coming up I
can't figure out there's a lot
of people probably in an hour
in chambers for the very first
time so we have a certain
decorum rather than doing
clapping.
Whether you agree or disagree
comes up if you agree with
the speaker you want to
indicate that to the council.
Thumbs down if you disagree.
And that allows us to keep
the meeting going.
So thank you very much for
the courtesy.
>> Good afternoon, Council
members.
My name is Sheila Barefoot.
I'm a San Diego resident, a
renter and a member of Human
Right.
I'm here today asking you to
support the junk fee ordinance.
As someone who experienced
homelessness myself I can
attest the difficulties of
finding shelter.
Not only is it the relentless
rising costs of rent but
the unpredictability factor of
junk food that makes it a
burden on San Diego Renters
like myself.
It was a hard climb back to
being housed and the pressure
of junk fees makes it
unpredictable as I do have
trash and sewer fees added to
my rent.
Many in our community who are
seeking housing after
homelessness not only find
affordability a blockade but
additional junk fees make it
even more burdensome.
Those who live on fixed or
strict budgets need
predictability.
This ordinance will stop
the exploitation and bring
transparency.
Again, I urge you to support
the junk fee ordinance.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Michelle
Fenlon.
Michelle, you have time to buy
Juliet to Juliet Take advice.
Okay, great.
You'll have two minutes.
Please begin.
Good afternoon, council
members.
My name is Michelle Finland and
I'm an advocate with the Heat
network.
I'm here to urge your full and
urgent support of the junk fee
ordinance.
I became homeless in 2022 after
fleeing a domestic violence
situation and I remained that
way for three years.
I went from owning a thriving
business and living in a
beautiful apartment to working
multiple service industry jobs
while living out of my car.
When you're homeless or
exhausted, you're absolutely
hungry and you're depressed and
you're saving every last penny
just to be able to rebuild your
stability.
Saving for a deposit became one
of my last worries when I
finally started applying for
permits I hit a brick wall of
predatory and hidden fees.
I was really devastated to find
out exactly how misleading
advertisements were.
Landlords are tacking on
additional application fees.
There's hidden administrative
charges and every single time I
thought I was going to get
housed a rock would get pulled
out from underneath me.
When you are homeless or out of
cash poor in general which a
lot of us are now 50 to $100 in
unexpected fees is not an
inconvenience.
It's a barrier to safety.
>> This ordinance directly
solves the exact barriers that
I was facing when trying to
find housing.
This allows transparency and
advertisements and allows for
applicants to be used Their
screening processes so that
they don't have to keep paying.
I never overcame these hurdles.
I just find ways around them.
I lived off grid in a tiny home
and now I'm renting from a
religious cult so not ideal.
This ordinance provides
predictability that people need
to survive.
I really hope that you take
this into consideration and I
really hope that you push this
forward to help protect
thousands of families and it'll
help find housing or keep a
place to call home.
Thank you so much.
>> Thank you.
Our next speaker is Joni
Halpern.
Joni, you have time ceded to
you by the following people If
you could raise your hand when
I call your name.
Layla.
Layla Thank you.
And hinder to hero.
Okay.
And Patrice.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
Go ahead.
You will have four minutes.
Good afternoon.
My name is Joni Halper and I
work as a lawyer at
the Partnership for
the Advancement of New
Americans.
We serve immigrants who are
some of the hardest working
people earning at the bottom of
the wage scale.
And their work is very
important.
They're the ones who care for
the sick, the elderly,
the kids.
They clean hotels and
hospitals, office buildings,
houses.
They take every job that
requires strong hands and
strong back and they don't
complain.
They're all struggling to keep
a roof over their heads.
But it's not just the high
rents that are making it
impossible.
All over the city there are
investors small and large who
capture properties jack up
rents and institute institute
fees for everything from
failure to clean a garbage can
to fines for children playing
in common areas of a complex.
Some of these fees are in
the lease buried in legalese in
30 pages in the back parts of
the lease.
And they're imposed.
The problem is they're imposed
without merit and tenants can't
fight back because they fear
retaliation.
There are fees for trashcan
breakage or replacement smoke
alarm tampering, wrecking walk
replacement repairs vacancy
recovery lease buyout
dishonored payments, late rent
using a common area parking on
the premises storage and more.
If someone pays their rent on
time but it's processed beyond
the due date the tenant is
charged a late fee.
If a lock zinc toilet appliance
that never worked right finally
breaks the tenant is charged.
And there are administrative
fees that keep going up for
racial utility billing when
people move out or evicted
because they can't afford
the rent and the fees.
Many property owners charge
tenants for repairs and
replacement costs so extensive
they amount to nearly a
renovation of the entire unit.
An example is a family that
came to me with a debt
collection letter for charges
imposed by the property owner.
After they moved they moved
into the unit with sluggish
sink drains a stove in an oven
that didn't work Cabinet doors
falling off moldy bathroom
floors and vertical blinds that
you couldn't open because
the panels fell out.
But when they moved out they
were charged for replacement of
all flooring countertops,
appliances, paint, window
coverings totaling more than
$20,000.
This allowed the landlords to
keep the security deposit and
then build a tenant for extra
repairs and replacement costs.
And when the tenant couldn't
pay the landlord sold the debt
to the collection agency and
this was reported on his
credit.
Something has to be done to
stop these practices.
My clients can't easily find
another place to live.
They end up subletting with
whole families crammed into one
room renting porches and sheds.
They sleep in cars and some
sleep on the floors of
neighbors and friends and they
have to move every two weeks.
Try being old or sick or
disabled and living like that
or dragging your kids through
this.
The annual homeless street
count does not even begin to
show the scope of people who
have no adequate housing due to
fees that have shifted to
the tenants.
The investor's risk of loss and
the burden of ensuring their
profit.
This ordinance is a good start
at reining in these fees.
>> Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Caitlin
McQuade.
Good afternoon council members.
My name is Caitlin McQuade.
I'm a lifelong San Diego and
I'm a renter and I'm a single
mother.
I know how quickly housing can
become unstable.
I've experienced homelessness
and today the only reason my
family is housed is because a
relative brings us our home for
an incredibly reduced rent.
Even with that support we are
still one unexpected expense
away from losing everything.
That's why junk fees matter
when families are already
choosing between groceries,
child care and keeping
the lights on a surprising
house b can be the expense that
pushes them over the edge.
Renters deserve to know
the true cost of housing before
they sign a lease, not after
price.
Transparency and limits on
unnecessary fees will help
families budget stay housed and
to avoid homelessness.
I urge you to support this
ordinance.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Annette
Cardenas.
Well approach the microphone
could help.
Del Mastro am I right?
Exactly.
Lucky Aiden and Leo Rossman
please come forward to
the front room and you'll have
one minute.
Please begin.
Good afternoon, Council
members.
My name is Annette Cabinets and
I'm here today with the Hill
Network in support of the junk
fee Ordinance Check Ordinance v
excuse me San Diego is the most
expensive city in the country
for many renters When expected
Bill can mean the difference
between staying housed and
facing homelessness.
I do do do know this because I
have been chronically homeless
in San Diego for some time
Recently my son just rented an
apartment and he had to pay out
about $160 just in screening
fees and he just applied to one
place before he had found
something.
But that's $160 That makes a
lot of difference in someone
who's on a restricted budget.
And not only are we seeing
the fees higher I'm sorry we
are also notice.
>> Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is our Dale
Mastro And now you have time
standing by Owen, Drew and
Nikki.
Okay, please.
Beginning of two minutes.
Hi.
My name's Eldon Mastro.
I'm a senior.
I'm an ex blue collar worker.
I'm a disabled veteran and yes,
I'm a small mom and pop
landlord.
This is another bias law that's
put in front of us the small
mom and pop landlords.
I mean you can hear how our
policies are personal.
We are with our tenants but
this bias opinion is when
you're driving it to be more
and more like corporate
landlords.
These actions dragged corporate
landlords so that we can't do
this right now.
Me and my wife are victim 2 to
1 of the professional tenants
because we took an application
that we believed to be true.
So right now we are we have to
turn this property over to a
property manager who has
attorneys that are doing this.
They're trying to help us
salvage what we have.
We my wife we decided to buy a
property 20 years ago and never
buy a home.
We bought a five plex that we
lived in in Claremont And
the deal is is that I do most
of the work is a blue collar
worker.
I work weekends, holidays, all
that.
They have a retirement of some
kind And for you guys to take
that away from me if I didn't
know that when I did this we
did just put the money in
the stock market Somebody other
You guys are rental properties
to the land.
The mom and pops are not
the bad ones in this.
I don't want to charge
the tenants water fees.
I don't want to charge them pet
fees.
You just take it away from me.
You say Hey you know you know
what units that we have because
we pay a rental fee then you
just say that apartment there
doesn't pay trash fees and we
will charge the tenants.
You take responsibility for
these decisions.
Same thing with the water.
We don't need to charge
the tenant water, make the city
pay for their water.
I don't have any problem with
that I'm sure No Mom and Pop
has any problem with that
either.
>> The thing is is that my
insurance has been canceled
four times in the last Thank
you.
That does conclude your time in
there and it bites and then
the lawsuit.
>> Our next speaker is humira
you Sophie One minute.
Good afternoon my name is
Humira Sophie with pana.
We all know that low income
families are struggling with
rent here in San Diego.
They're stretching their
pockets to afford the basic
necessity of shelter.
Community members come to pana
seeking assistance when they
thought they were paying one
thing for rent and all of a
sudden there's all of these
fees that they weren't aware of
and now they can't afford to
rent.
They can't afford rent and are
facing being evicted from their
homes.
My colleague Johnny Halpern
talked about many of these
cases.
She's inundated with these
types of cases that come to us
every single day and the city
must do more to protect tenants
.
This ordinance is necessary to
protect low income workers and
families.
Housing should be clear fair,
predictable, not filled with
hidden costs and fine print.
The proposed ordinance would
cap extra rental fee that no
more than 5% of monthly rent
This is needed so that San
Diego is going to have more
transparency.
Thank you.
Ed?
>> Good afternoon.
My name is Lucky with Pana.
I'm here in support of this
ordinance because everyone
deserves to know the true cost
of housing before making one of
the biggest financial decisions
of their lives.
Videos are really really
expensive and for many renters
a challenge isn't just
the monthly rent it's
the unexpected Fees appear
through the application process
or even after when they're
signing the lease that is
caused to make it harder for
individuals and families to
budget plan and secure stable
housing.
This mortgage is about fairness
and transparency.
It creates clear expectations
so that renters can make
informed decisions and help
ensure that advertised cost of
housing reflects what people
are actually paying.
A more transparent rental
market benefit not only
the renters but also those
responsible landlords who are
already operating fairly.
Everyone deserves access to
housing without worrying about
hidden costs or unexpected
financial burdens.
So I respectfully ask you to
support this ordinance.
Thank you.
So Leo, this man Leo comes to
the microphone.
>> Can I please have a good
afternoon?
Welcome to the.
I'm here today in support of
this ordinance because every
San Diego I'm sorry, sir.
You do have time ceded to you
by another individual.
I need to confirm they're here.
Jabbar Kasim, could you please
raise your hand?
Okay, great.
You'll have two minutes.
Please begin.
Hey, my name is Sali Osman.
I'm here.
I work until tonight.
I live in San Diego for
the last 18 years Ben Knight
The Arab League.
The cost of living plus
inflation.
Life is sort of it.
So I'm here today in support of
this ordinance because every
Sunday against this sort of
access to housing that is fair,
transparent, affordable
families should not have to
worry about a surprise charge
hidden fees or unclean rental
costs when they are simply
trying to find a stable place
to live.
San Diego must take a clear
stand for renters by making
sure housing costs are honest,
predictable and not inflated by
unfair junk fees.
San Diego is already one of
the most expensive place to
live in this country.
Many renters have been charged
extra fees on top of high
rents.
>> These fee cut include
processing fee convenience
fees, late fees, duplicate
application fees and surprise
charges after a lease is signed
.
Some renters listed listing
will not clearly show the full
cost of housing upfront.
Hidden fees can add hundreds of
dollars each month for working
families.
Renters deserve to know
the true cost of a home before
apply or sign a lease.
>> Housing should be clear,
fair and into predictable not
feeling with hidden costs in
the fine.
The proposed ordinance would
cap extra rent fee at no more
than 5%.
Similarly rents.
>> I actually support this
ordinance.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Remo Abdi.
Well Remo walks in
the microphone and I also ask
Angel Pippins Lopez, Victoria
Rizzo, Maria Cortez, Alberto
Rivera and Briana Young to
please come forward to
the front row.
I know you have one person
sitting at your time Aria
Patel.
Could you please raise your
hand?
>> Okay, great.
You'll have two minutes.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, Council
members.
My name is Rama Abdi and
the director of Organizing and
campaign with Pana and also a
resident of District nine And
I'm here to support this
ordinance.
I want to speak from my own
experience So when I was
looking for a place to rent I
paid hundreds of of dollars and
application fee.
I applied to many apartments
but did not get approved.
I lost all that money.
It was very hard for me because
I was only trying to get to
find a safe place for my
family.
I also work with immigrant and
refugee communities.
I see how hard it is for them.
They came here hoping for a
better life but they face high
rent and many fees just to
apply.
For many families this is too
much.
Home should not be this hard to
get it.
It should bring safety and
hopes for them.
Please make this renting more
fair and protect families from
these unsafe fees.
Thank you for your time and
support this ordinance.
>> Thank you.
Next speakers.
Angel Pippins Lopez.
>> Hi everyone.
My name is Angel Pippins Lopez
and I'm the transportation and
planning program manager with
the cdc.
I'm also a renter and a long
time resident of the city of
San Diego And in the process of
securing my lease I paid over
$500 in screening fees that I
did not get back as many of
the people here have
experienced.
At the same time I received
monthly bills for ranging
between 50 and $250 for various
jump fees that I rarely see
the benefit of.
It is very serious when San
Diegans come to you and say
this is a real problem that
renters are facing every day
displacement becomes a more
serious issue for the city of
San Diego and it's essential
that we do what we can to avoid
displace rent and educate
renters on how they can ensure
that they are being protected.
Often the most disadvantaged
and disinvested communities are
the ones who receive the least
information about how these
programs are supposed to be
enforced.
And I ask that you not only
approve this ordinance but also
educate the community.
>> Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Victoria
Ella Brazeau.
Victoria, you have time ceded
to you by Nicholas Lubbers.
Okay.
Do you raise your hand?
Thank you Nicholas and Angela.
Mel.
All right, Angela.
Okay.
There she is.
Go ahead.
>> You'll have three minutes.
Okay.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
PRESIDENT LaCava and council
members.
Today I'm coming to you as an
ordinary citizen of San Diego
and an everyday citizen.
My name's Victoria La Brousseau
for nearly 30 years I've been a
housing provider off and on
here in San Diego.
>> My husband served in
the military and every time his
orders took us away we rented
out our family home so that one
day we could return to the city
we love.
One thing that stood out to me
when I read through the staff
report in one of the nation's
largest military communities
there is no discussion of
the military families who
temporarily rent out their
homes while serving elsewhere.
Did anyone study how many
military families this
ordinance could affect?
One statement by this in
the staff report particularly
concern me.
It says landlord fees quote
should not be another avenue
for landlords to extract
excessive profits from renters.
I believe that's a shortsighted
characterization.
For my family this wasn't an
investment property.
This was our home.
The rent barely covered our
mortgage Property taxes,
insurance repairs and other
expenses.
We weren't extracting profits.
We were trying to break even
while preserving our home that
we hoped to return to.
Over the years we had multiple
tenants.
Some were wonderful.
Others called significant
financial losses that came
right out of our pocket.
I ask you to consider
the cumulative impacts of
the policies like this.
>> I understand the desire to
help renters.
In fact my 22 year old son is
here with me and he's looking
in the market right now as we
speak.
>> He wants to build his future
in San Diego and he'll soon be
looking for the housing himself
.
I want affordable housing and
protection for him just as much
as you do.
But I don't believe this
ordinance is representative of
the people it regulates.
It assumes one type of housing
provider when San Diego is home
to military families, retirees,
families renting out a single
home and many others whose
experiences are very different.
Before adopting another
regulation that affects every
housing provider in this city,
I ask that you first ensure
that you consider all of them.
For those reasons I
respectfully ask you to oppose
this item.
Thank you very much for your
time.
>> Thank you.
Next speaker is Maria Cortez.
>> Hello.
My name is Maria Cortez.
I'm a resident of City Heights
for 5454 years.
I'm also with the City Heights
City with transportation and
planning.
I am here in support of this
ordinance because I have I'm
out there in the community.
I see what's going on in
the community.
My community we have so many
people that are having problems
with with the hidden fees.
>> They are as we say they are
living.
We're living with them ten to
maybe 15 people in one one
apartment in just one unit.
And to see the kids go through
the things that they have to go
through I understand what some
of tenants and the owners here
are saying.
I understand that.
But for the other ones this is
something else.
I also have a friend right now
who is going through a
situation where hidden fees
were were proposed to her.
And I am trying to help her but
she has to be out of the house
by tomorrow.
>> So I want to say thank you.
That does conclude your time.
>> Gilberto Olvera.
>> Good afternoon, Council
members.
My name is Gil Vieira.
I'm the director of the Housing
Justice Collaborative and Legal
Aid Society San Diego Legal
Aid.
Our mission is to prevent
homelessness with holistic
wraparound services and
enforcing laws to protect our
most vulnerable from
exploitation.
We are seeing landlords charge
fees to cover things Landlords
are legally responsible for
such as monthly pest control
fees, fees to stay month to
month maintenance fees and
the many other tenants pay for
monthly insurance premium that
protects the landlords property
and limit their own liability.
This is exploitation.
We see firsthand how hidden
fees push families to the brink
and are designed to leech off
tenants.
The rent ledgers we see today
have more than five monthly
charges a month that result in
long complex ledgers that
confuse tenants who shouldn't
need an mba or accounting
degree to decipher your own
ledger by closing loopholes In
the many transparencies we're
helping to build a more fair
and stable housing market for
everyone in San Diego.
Something that I would think
ethical housing providers would
be supportive of.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
Next speaker is Brianna Young
or Brianna comes to
the microphone.
I would ask Alex Vazquez
Melanie Woods, David Baker,
Claire Snider and Carmen Panelo
Loza Valdez to please come
forward to the front row.
>> So Brianna, please begin.
Have one minute.
Good afternoon, members of
the council.
>> My name is Brianna Young and
while I'm currently an intern
at the San Diego and Imperial
County Labor Council, I am here
today representing myself.
I doubt you need to hear more
about the affordability issues
here in San Diego, but that is
one of the reasons you sit here
on this council.
I am a recent graduate from uc
San Diego and I learned the lay
of the land in La Hoya so it
didn't take me long to realize
I was out of my tax bracket.
My roommates and I were all
full working students.
Full time working students have
been looking to relocate.
No fancy coastal places just
somewhere simple to start our
lives and careers and finish
our degrees.
>> But it hasn't been that
simple.
Even finding a home in our
price range we're still hit
with these junk fees that are
on the agenda today in
the month of JUNE alone we
spent roughly $250 on
application fees and
screenings, background
screenings.
We were still rejected from
every place.
This isn't getting into
the fact that we're struggling
to find a place that's livable,
safe and accessible.
There are already hidden fees
everywhere.
They're hidden in our grocery
stores going to the gas pump,
getting insured and now just
trying to find a place to live.
I can't afford it.
We can't afford it.
So I support this ordinance and
I hope you will too.
>> Thank you.
Alex Vasquez.
>> Hi.
>> My name is Alex Vasquez.
I'm an organizer with
Partnership for a Better San
Diego, the affiliate
organization of San Diego and
Imperial County Labor Council
that represents over 100 unions
and more than 200,000 workers.
I am here to support the junk
food ordinance that was
proposed by Councilmember Shani
Le Rivera because looking for
housing should come with
transparency.
I have personally struggled to
find housing in San Diego.
As someone who has been through
that with roommates meaning
several incomes it was still
expensive and ridiculous to be
paying 30 to $60 per
application.
What is worse is that wasn't
even guaranteed to get housing
and the competition is insane.
You go to an open house and you
feel like a sardine because
there are so many other people
who are looking for and paid
and application fee just to see
this apartment or house.
Too many San Diego residents
are paying unexpected fees and
other costs that are already
expensive housing.
It makes it even harder.
I appreciate the city taking a
closer look at this issue and I
encourage you to continue
advancing policies that
increase transparency.
>> Thank you.
Thank you.
>> Melanie Woods Melanie, you
have several people sitting
your time so if you could just
raise your hand when I read
your name verifier here.
New Muncie.
Denise Dennis.
Venetia Hamilton.
Okay.
Adrianne Medina.
Okay.
Angela MAY.
Heather King.
Stephanie Grimm.
Shawn Ford.
Thank you.
Thursday Flores.
Matthew Gonzalez.
Heather Shepherd.
Tracy Brunetti.
Kayla Castaneda.
Kelly McKenna.
Okay, great.
Melanie, you'll have 15
minutes.
>> Please begin.
Excellent.
Sorry I wasn't planning a
filibuster.
All right.
Good afternoon, Chair.
Members of the council.
I'm Melanie Bird and I serve as
the vice PRESIDENT For of local
public affairs for
the California Apartment
Association.
I'm also ad5 resident.
Caa is the largest statewide
trade association representing
owners, operators and managers
of multifamily housing.
Our membership ranges from
large multifamily operators to
small mom and pop housing
providers who own 1 or 2 rental
properties.
Education and compliance are at
the heart of our mission at caa
.
I'm here representing ethical
housing providers many of whom
you see behind me but many,
many more who couldn't be here
today.
We're strongly opposed to
the ordinance before you today.
It regulates legitimate revenue
streams that are fundamental to
the economics of rental housing
and in so doing so risks
undermining the city's own
housing production goals.
Further, there's no evidence
that the proposed policy
solutions will achieve any
specific goals or solve any
identify wide or quantified
problems.
One of our biggest concerns on
this proposal is a cap on
the cap on fees.
These aren't hidden fees.
They're a commonly used revenue
stream baked into the financing
and revenue assumptions of
housing projects.
These fees are driven by
the cost of labor insurance,
maintenance contracts,
utilities and vendor expenses.
The 5% cap is arbitrary and
it's too low to account for
the market rate of providing
these amenities and too low for
housing providers to cover
their own costs.
Capping the amount that MAY be
charged for these services will
either require housing
providers to shift those costs
into base rent or reduce
the availability of optional
services altogether.
As currently drafted, this
ordinance also includes
operational services optional
services under the 5% cap.
Think reserved Parking storage
units technology packages and
pediment entries.
These are all optional expenses
that residents voluntarily
choose based on their own
needs.
But these services have real
operating costs.
Pet friendly housing have has
to provide pet relief areas,
trash bags and pay staff to
clean up when less diligent pet
pet owners do not.
If these costs cannot be
recuperated through a pet fee,
housing providers MAY choose to
stop allowing pets altogether
or if they still allow pets.
These costs will be wrapped
into base rents and shoulder by
tenants regardless of whether
they own a pet.
Additionally, this arbitrary
cap has no relationship to
actual costs.
Picture a scenario one person
paying $3,000 in rent and
another paying 2500 their or
they are each paying a cap to
5% in fees.
Should the resident paying 2500
pay less in those fees despite
receiving the same services?
Ironically this creates a
situation where allowable fee
increases increase as rent
increase.
Even though the cost of
providing these services
remains the same, none of those
outcomes improve affordability
.
We're also deeply concerned
about the reusable screening
report requirement.
Reducing application costs is a
worthwhile goal but we have to
balance affordability with
accuracy and risk.
Housing providers rely on
trusted third party screening
systems that integrate directly
into their leasing platforms
and apply consistent screening
standards to every applicant.
This proposal requires housing
providers accept reusable
screening reports, creating
uncertainty about how those
reports will be verified and
how they will fit into existing
leasing systems.
These concerns aren't
theoretical.
A recent Wall Street Journal
investigation documented a
dramatic increase in rental
application fraud including
falsifying pay stubs, fake
employment records, manipulated
credit profiles and ai
generated financial documents
being sold online.
The ordinance allows housing
providers to obtain new reports
at their own expense but this
language creates uncertainty
regarding what constitutes an
acceptable report.
What verification obligations
does the landlord assume and
how landlords should reconcile
the applicant provided report
with their own screening
standards?
These inconsistencies between
the tenant provider report and
the third party report could
result in more applications
actually being rejected.
Let's say for a second maybe
you truly believe that housing
providers should shoulder that
screening cost.
The reality is that those costs
don't go away.
They get redistributed out.
Housing providers shouldering
that burden are more likely to
adopt higher screening
criteria, close listings
quickly and close opportunities
for tenants wanting to be
rescreened.
These outcomes do not increase
housing opportunity and
affordability.
In fact they MAY harm it.
Moving on to late rent
the ordinance also
fundamentally changes how late
payments are handled.
A mandatory seven day grace
period doesn't simply delay a
late fee.
It effectively changes
the practical due date of rent
for every residential lease in
the city of San Diego.
Yet we've seen no evidence
demonstrating that a mandatory
seven day grace period reduces
eviction laws or improves
housing stability.
If the city's goal is to help
households experiencing genuine
hardship, then targeted
assistance and early
intervention are more effective
than rewriting the payment
expectations for every lease.
Similarly, California law
already regulates late fees.
These must represent a
reasonable estimate of actual
damages.
Replacing that long established
legal standard with an
arbitrary 2% cap ignores
the real administrative costs
and cashflow disruption
disruptions associated with
delinquent payments.
>> Finally, transparency We
fundamentally agree with
the idea of transparency.
Tenants should know and
understand the full cost of
their housing before signing a
lease.
Tenants being in homes that
they can afford benefits both
the tenant and the housing
provider.
Our issue is with
the restrictive advertising
requirements.
These requirements could extend
to internet listing services
social media posts, printed
advertisements, broker
materials and third party
marketing platforms that often
lack the technical capacity to
display the required
information.
For an admittedly extreme
example, does a garbage
disposal replacement fee need
to be outlined in your social
media post about your home for
rent?
>> I'd like to encourage
the Council to think about
the cumulative impact of these
policies.
No single regulation creates a
housing crisis but every new
mandate, every new disclosure
requirement and every new
compliance obligation adds
friction to an already heavily
regulated market.
Viewed collectively this they
significantly increase
regulatory complexity
compliance costs and
operational uncertainty.
Those burdens fall especially
hard on small housing providers
who don't have the in-house
attorney or compliance
departments.
Many simply decide that
continuing to provide rental
housing is no longer worth
the growing legal and financial
risk and this conversation
comes at a particularly
important moment.
Economic data already shows a
significant slowdown in
multifamily housing production
beginning around 2028 and now
the end of today's development
pipeline is completed and fewer
financially viable projects
move forward.
This should concern everyone
who believes we need more
housing.
Housing projects aren't
financed on base rent alone
They're financed based on
expected operating income And
those all those revenue sources
are included in the financial
models that lenders and
investors use to determine
whether today's projects
qualify for financing.
Against that backdrop, reducing
revenue certainty while
increasing regulatory complexes
sends the wrong signal at
exactly the wrong time.
If we want more housing in 2030
we have to care about project
feasibility.
In 2026 a project that can't be
financed is no different than a
project that's never been
approved.
Both result in fewer homes.
So I ask you to think about
does this ordinance actually
achieve the affordability that
we are all working toward?
And I'll close with this.
I know everyone here shares
the same goal.
We want more housing, greater
affordability and more
opportunity for San Diegans.
Housing providers are not
obstacles to solving San
Diego's housing crisis.
We are indispensable partners
in the building preserving and
operating of the homes that our
communities rely on every day.
The California Apartment
Association respectfully urges
you to reject this ordinance
and instead pursue policies
that increase transparency
without reducing housing
opportunity.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is David Baker
.
Hello, Council.
>> My name is David Baker.
I work with an organization
that helps young people exit
homelessness and secure stable
housing.
I'm here to support
the ordinance not only for
the transparency that it
encourages but also we have a
very valuable tool that we use
when helping people secure
housing And these are vouchers.
When we go to make a deal a
young person can do everything
correct.
They can pass the application,
they can have their deposit
ready, all the things.
However, if the rent is even $1
over what we anticipate,
the entire deal is off
the table.
And so often we see that young
people are almost across
the finish line ready to sign
the lease.
And then we see $1 that takes
us back to instable city and
experiencing homelessness.
So I'm here to ask for your
support and I think this
ordinance is certainly worth
more in conversation.
Thank you.
Claire Snyder.
>> Good afternoon.
My name is Claire Snyder and
I'm a renter in District three.
Hidden rental fees make housing
more expensive and less
predictable for renters like
myself.
I recently moved eight days ago
because I had an ongoing mice
infestation that my previous
landlord refused to do anything
about honestly.
And during my search for
housing I encountered
application fees, screening
fees and more.
I applied for multiple
different apartments which
required me to pay over $300
application fees And also in my
search I encountered pet
screening fees which was an
additional fee I had to pay to
screen my dog.
And many of these property
owners or managers wouldn't
tell me what the restrictions
were, what they were looking
for with this pet screening fee
.
And so I just didn't apply to
them because why would I pay an
additional $30 to have my dog
which is going to be really
scary to a lot of these housing
providers in here a 40 pound
pit bull was going to be
rejected anyways.
So rent is expensive enough.
>> I urge you to vote yes and
that's what I did.
Thank you for your time.
Our next speaker is Carmen
Venezuela Valdez While she
comes to the microphone I could
I also call up Tristin Berry,
Liliana Soriano, Erin Hahn,
Lupe Rojas and Nicole Lilly.
Please come sit in the front
row.
Please begin.
Hi, my name is Carmen.
I'm a d9 resident and I'm here
with you all to urge you to
support this item Through much
of our work as a youth serving
organization, a consistent area
of concern for our communities
is housing and a big issue Are
these fees, Are there are fees
everywhere And the rent that we
are originally getting hooked
on with or that is advertised
to us is never actually
the real rent that we have to
pay.
Hidden fees make living in San
Diego even less possible.
In my personal experience I'm
already having to struggle with
many issues that myself and
other youth are experiencing
like food is incredibly
expensive Gas and
transportation schooling is
expensive Trying to find stable
working opportunities with good
pay to actually sustain
ourselves with a roof over our
head is nearly impossible.
So yeah too many times have
myself and my siblings who
often live together have to
choose between basic needs and
random fees that we get
notified about But we deal with
it.
We deal with broken things and
bad bathroom conditions because
we don't want to get feed
because then we'll end up
homeless So I'm thinking that
does conclude your time trust
and very Hello Council My name
is Tristan Berry and I am with
Youth Will and the San Diego
Youth Homelessness Consortium
where I work with you
throughout our city.
As someone who was homeless six
times before he was 18, I'm
here to strongly urge you to
vote yes on item 330 And rental
fees make housing more
expensive and less predictable
for renters.
As someone who gets
the opportunity to talk with
youth on a nearly daily basis,
I'm hearing constantly about
their struggles with cost of
living and particularly housing
costs.
We need to do everything we can
to ensure that these youth know
exactly what they're getting
into and what they're going to
be paying when they get start
renting a new apartment So they
aren't there aren't any
surprises In addition to
supporting the ordinance being
reviewed today, I also want to
uplift our time to act
recommendation that the city
Council should explore
the addition of language that
would prohibit landlords from
charging a higher rent for
additional tenancy living in
the same unit.
As I mentioned, many of our
youth are navigating
unpredictable job market and
the rising cost of living As a
result of struggling through
these they're finding
themselves unhoused and relying
on others like friends and
family more than ever.
I was one of those kids that
had to rely on the kindness of
others to keep a roof over my
head.
So I can't imagine a situation
where we can justify helping
you do your time.
Thank you.
Liliana Soriano Hello Council
members My name is Liliana.
>> I'm the director of policy
at Youth.
Well we are a youth serving
advocacy organization and
amongst young people we have
surveyed since 2022.
Now housing has always been a
concern from cause the stories
of what it's like to not have a
shelter.
Our reasons Young people
highlight way by housing as an
issue in the region.
Housing is not a commodity.
It's a human right with that I
support this ordinance before
you because housing should come
with transparency.
That is the bare minimum we can
do not hidden fees like
unexpected application fees and
as if charging for rent and
gender wasn't enough, today's
ordinance is also a step
towards equity and transparency
for people to know what
the real cost of their housing
will be before signing a
contract.
Lastly, we urge you to add
additional language to prohibit
landlords from charging higher
rent for additional tenants
living in the same unit Because
why would you charge for more
when you're already getting
enough?
It's a very expensive city to
live in support to this
ordinance.
>> The rest of
the councilmembers that didn't
offer this Thank you.
>> Thank you Aaron Hariharan
Good afternoon Counsel.
My name is Auto Hariharan.
I am a recent graduate of uc
San Diego and a housing justice
director at our time to act.
Two years ago when I first
started looking for apartments
moving off campus from uc San
Diego, I spent over $600 before
I ever even paid my first rent
amount.
It was spent on application
fees and nonrefundable
withholding deposit.
This is not just my experience
but the experience of a lot of
my friends and former
classmates.
So I would like to support this
ordinance in addition to my
strong support for
the ordinance, I would also
like to urge the City Council
to explore additional language,
additional language that would
prohibit landlords from
charging a higher rent for
additional tenants living in
the same unit.
I see this a lot with students
especially because they want to
stay close to their
universities So they all had a
job in a small apartment and
then end up paying extra for
it.
>> Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Lupe Rojas
.
Lupe.
Do you have a presentation?
Yes, it is a joint presentation
with Nicole Lilly.
>> We both got it in time To
us.
All right, great.
Let me let me just verify all
the time seeders okay, Mohamed
Mohamed El.
Yes.
Okay.
Thank you.
How a batch habit too.
Okay.
Jessie Schmidt.
Okay.
Nicole Lilly.
Hey, Alex Castillo.
>> Okay.
Patricia Mondragon.
Sparky Mitra.
Rose Dang.
Okay.
Mary Cruz.
Mendiola Okay.
Ashley Mendiola.
Okay, great.
You will have 11 minutes total.
Okay.
Thank you.
>> Thank you.
Hello, council members.
My name is whether I'm a policy
advocate with Metro Community
Advocacy Network and I am
speaking for the Coalition for
Equitable Development which is
comprised of 20 organizations
across the region.
We.
>> Hello, my name is Nicole
Lilly.
I'm a 23 year old renter and
District three and
the executive director of our
Time to Act.
>> I'm also a member of
the Coalition for Equitable
Development and the First Lady.
>> Oh yes.
So as we heard, housing in San
Diego is already expensive And
then when you have all of these
hidden fees it becomes even
more unaffordable for a lot of
the population that we have out
here, especially younger folks
who are still making a living
and finding stability in their
lives.
Unfortunately more than half of
the housing costs burden San
Diego and spend more than 30%
of their income on housing.
>> Next slide please.
As you already learn young fees
are any additional fees that
are not reflected on the that
on the sorry on the price that
is being advertised here you
see it being advertised at
$2,200 and everything else
listed is considered a junk fee
for not being disclosed on
the lease that is signed by
the tenant.
>> Next slide please.
Thank you.
So we see it as a something
that is unfair and necessary.
The practices are so predatory
that they'd be laughable
elsewhere It would be like
having to pay some kind of back
handling fee at the airport or
paying for car maintenance When
you do groceries And obviously
that's something that should
already be covered by
the businesses because their
job is to provide good customer
service and these are all fees
that obviously should be paid
by them And a lot of the a lot
of the renters are being asked
to pay for them.
>> And next slide here we have
some stories that we've heard
from our community members and
these do not pertain to any
district.
They're just stories that have
been gathered all across
the region.
>> Next slide.
>> Unfortunately some landlords
ignored the basic facts by
arguing that there's no clear
data driven justification for
this ordinance Yet more than
25% of residents spend half of
their income on housing even
And we know that even
the smallest fee add on to that
burden and obviously leads to a
lot of financial instability.
>> Here you can see the power
imbalance On one side we have
the landlord who set lease for
setting the leases control fees
and who happen to be gaining
power.
And on the other side we have
the renters who need housing
have limited alternatives and
do not hold people very little
bargaining power and some
versus reality.
>> Before I pass it on onto my
colleague there's a
misconception that this
ordinance hurts landlords and
that it MAY impact future
development but in reality
responsible landlords budget
This closed plan and price
honestly and mandatory
transparency and fairness does
not magically reduce the need
and the demand for housing in
San Diego.
Thank you Ben.
I want to begin by my part of
the presentation by debunking
the myth of the cost burden
Landlord.
Next slide please.
This assertion again it's out
of touch with reality.
It is not the job of city
council or renters to subsidize
landlords who don't effectively
budget for rising costs or seek
to eke out every last penny
from a public already drowning
in cost of living.
Landlords should know
the business they're in well
enough to anticipate account
for and disclose the regular
cost and application lease
agreement and monthly
statements.
As business owners landlords
can and should set aside
reserves to cover unanticipated
costs that arise between
signing and renewing leases.
If landlords can't maintain
business they have the option
to sell to generate income.
Renters often have nowhere else
to go and constantly rising
prices outside of housing to
contend with.
I want to reiterate
the comments of my colleague.
Mandating basic transparency
and fairness does not magically
reduce the need and demand of
housing in San Diego.
In reality implementing
protections in this order that
this ordinance has has
the potential to take
significant cost burden and
pressure off of San Diego
renters and increase their
purchasing power and in fact
increase demand for housing.
Next slide please.
So let's talk about what this
ordinance does.
The residential rental price
gouging for exploitation and
cost transparency ordinance
will require rental
advertisements clearly disclose
all costs and fees.
That includes transparency
around the purpose, frequency
and requirements surrounding
these costs.
It allows valid screening
reports from consumer agencies
to be used for up to 30 days.
And this element is vital as
you've heard today And no one
should have to pay hundreds of
dollars just to apply for
housing.
>> This ordinance also caps
holding deposits at 5% of
monthly rent and prevents
predatory behavior by requiring
that deposits be returned
whether as a refund or applying
it to subsequent rent and or
security deposits.
It caps all recurring fees at
5% of monthly rent.
It accounts for non monthly
recurring fees through prorated
rates.
And this closes loopholes left
by state laws which as one
community member shared with me
allowed their landlord to
increase their parking fee from
$30 a month to 300 to get
around the 10% annual rental
increase cap.
It caps late fees a 2% of
monthly rent and mandates that
this change can't come unless
rent is seven or more days
delayed.
Preventing As our partners at
panna shared from residents
being charged for an on time
payment that takes longer to
process.
It also prioritizes that
payments go towards rent before
fees.
And this I want to emphasize.
Nearly every young person lease
I reviewed mandates 6%, 10% or
higher late fees and includes
predatory language demanding
payments apply first to fees
pushing tenants further behind
on rent as they try to catch
up.
This ordinance prohibits fees
for ownership and maintenance
of common household pets or
charges for basic habitability
Because as you MAY have seen in
the stories shared earlier this
presentation people are already
living paycheck to paycheck and
should not have to worry about
if they're able to keep their
pet or pay out of pocket for
pest control.
>> These postcards will be
shared with you in the weeks to
come.
And there's even more to come.
These are filled with stories
of renters and residents all
over San Diego who are
struggling with rental junk
fees and hidden fees and a lack
of transparency from landlords.
>> This ordinance ordinance
mandates as its name states
transparency.
It prohibits charging for
processing fees and requires
proper 30 day notice and
written agreement from tenants
for fees not previously agreed
upon in the lease.
That is basic contractual
contractual respect.
Next slide please.
I want to emphasize as a young
renter, as an organizer who
works with San Diego is
experiencing the brunt of our
housing crisis every day.
Housing is not a luxury.
It is a basic necessity.
Housing has been time and time
again proven to be
the foundation for our health,
education, employment,
financial stability and access
to resources and opportunity.
It determines our life outcomes
.
Unpredictable housing costs and
hidden junk fees are not simply
inconvenient.
They cause untold harm to San
Diego families and communities.
Next slide please.
And real protection requires
accountability.
This ordinance provides that
accountability.
It provides that accountability
through enforcement where it
does allow claims to be proven
in court where a tenant or
applicant claiming a violation
MAY file an action against
the landlord in court.
And remedies where a tenant or
applicant MAY seek injunctive
relief, equitable relief and
money damages including
punitive damages in a civil
action against a landlord for a
violation.
And as another community member
shared everyone deserves
the right to a roof over their
head.
>> This ordinance would make
the process of applying to
housing more equitable.
Next slide please.
Next, Renters are simply asking
for fairness and transparency
to be a two way street.
>> City officials have a long
history of propping up
homeowner and landlord
investments and treating
renters as second class
citizens.
I have heard dehumanizing
language about renters from
this dais as well as previous
drivers.
79,000 sorry 79,125.
An investor owned rental homes
in San Diego also clarify that
this is a lucrative business
and landlords want fairness and
transparency from their
tenants.
But renters deserve that same
courtesy from their landlords.
And I want to also say that any
ethical truly ethical landlord
would not be worried about any
of the provisions in this
ordinance.
And if you have to call
yourself an ethical landlord
rather than actually have your
tenants up here speaking on
your behalf, then I don't think
you are one.
Next slide please.
This ordinance will make Sandy
make calling San Diego home a
more attainable dream for
the very people working hard to
make the city the desirable
place we love to live in.
The Coalition for Equitable
Development is respectfully
urging Council to support
the residential rental price
gouging for exploitation and
cost transparency ordinance
Today on behalf of all San
Diego San Diego.
This benefits all of us not
just renters.
I strongly urge your support as
this item moves forward.
Thank you so much for your time
.
>> Thank you.
Kimberly Miller.
Q Please come forward while
Kimberly comes forward Could
Mark Schmitt Juliana Tetlow,
Andrew Malik and Paul Kruger
please come to the front row?
>> Kimberly you have two people
seeking you time Amber Earnest
and Amber here.
Amber Earnest thinks you know
she left okay and carlson Okay
,I see.
And so you'll have two minutes.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
Council member Kimberly Miller
on behalf of the Southern
California Rental Housing
Association, a theory j has
been engaged in working groups
on this topic since last
OCTOBER and is committed to
collaboration.
However, as I stand here before
you today we have critical
questions that remain
unanswered throughout their
engagement on screening fraud
at the growing crisis,
application fraud jumped 40%
last year nationally.
How will this ordinance protect
providers when regulated Third
party screening already exists
for exactly that purpose?
On the 5% holding deposit cap,
5% does not cover two days of
lost rent.
Will this requirement
discourage a practice that
helps prospective renters
reserve a unit as they apply
for the property on the 5% fee
cap?
What analysis Establish
the percentage of 5% does
the cap consider different
property types and locations
throughout the city.
Will the city look to help
providers if the cap forces
them to deny a service a tenant
wants on late fees?
a crt believes that state law
should just simply be
the standard here.
More importantly, requiring a
week or more of no payment of
rent before late fees can be
imposed MAY disproportionately
impact small to midsize
property owners.
I'm happy with security deposit
deposits capped at one month's
rent Pet for pet.
These offset real damage costs.
What recourse will rental
providers have for pet damage
to communal areas?
On advertising does this apply
to yard signs as well?
Renter providers be liable for
third party listings like they
do not control?
This impacts impact largely
seniors and mom and pop owners
that don't use websites on
transparency a support
transparency for all and they
believe that data could help
inform and provide much needed
insight into this discussion.
Since similar bills at
the State sb 61 and 8012 were
created honestly thank you so
much.
>> Thank you Mark Schmidt.
Hi.
Thank you City Council
Appreciate it so I honestly
believe there should be
transparency for all both sides
both ways As far as that there
will be tremendous fraud.
I believe in these credit
checks If you don't allow
the landlord to do credit
checks, we get to the point of
things Developers are not
coming to San Diego to build
housing.
There's too much cost here.
There's too much bureaucracy
and the politics of it they're
going to other states and it's
going to get worse and worse
and worse.
When I was a kid you could work
a couple of years, buy a house.
These these days it's
impossible.
I feel sorry for the immigrants
,the low blue collar workers
and so on.
We need more housing.
The more regulation you put
there that stifles housing.
I believe in fairness to all
And there's also be a few bad
apples are going get as he said
she said that's what small
claims court is.
But please, I must tell you I
grew up here.
I've been building here.
>> We've stopped building.
Thank you.
That does conclude your time.
Julianna Tetlow.
Good afternoon.
Council members Julianna Tetlow
here on behalf of San Diego
Humane Society at its core.
This ordinance is aimed at
transparency and it's fair and
it's balanced.
There's a lot of misinformation
about what this does as it
relates particularly to pets.
So I want to highlight actually
what it doesn't do.
It does not prohibit pet
deposits.
It does not mandate that
landlords accept pets in their
property.
It does not prohibit size
restrictions although maybe
that's something we can work
on.
And it does not prohibit a
landlord or owner from
protecting their assets.
Animal services is expensive
and it costs every taxpayer.
We must continue to work on
removing barriers to keep
people with their pets which is
what is on behalf of San Diego
Humane Society.
We urge every councilmember to
support this ordinance.
Thank you.
>> Thank you.
Andrew Malik.
Good afternoon.
Honorable Council members.
My name is Andrew Malik.
I represent the Council of
Infill Builders While others
have spoken to the operational
frictions of this policy, we
urge you to look at the macro
economic reality.
Economics is a science and
price controls are historically
a failed experiment.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St
Louis published an extensive
report warning that artificial
price controls distort market
signals, stifles supply and
create massive unintended
consequences.
Specifically, they note that
when governments impose a price
cap on a service, providers are
faced with forced to alter or
eliminate those options
entirely for infill and transit
oriented projects.
Flexibility is everything to
make housing performance work.
Developers must be able to
unbundled costs allowing
tenants to opt in and pay for
parking, pet storage or other
premium amenities.
>> Capping these fees at an
arbitrary five percent strips
away the flexibility that does
continue to infill housing.
Next up Paul Kruger.
While Paul comes to
the microphone good man
Rodriguez Just dangle that
digitally Audra.
We drawn Nicole a and Susan
Ragan.
>> Please come to the front
room.
Thank you, counsel.
My first concern is that
the title of the proposed
ordinance Price Gouging Fee
Exploitation is a very divisive
and polarizing title.
Please just stick with
the words cost transparency.
We have two groups here
the Apartment Owners
Association and the cia that
have expressed their
willingness to work with you.
Why would you alienate them
with the use of such polarizing
language?
Number two trash water late
fees Paid fees are not junk
fees.
Number three the time and
energy put into this ordinance
would be much better spent on
educating those who are looking
to rent on the legalities of
contracts and funding legal aid
groups that can challenge these
these illegal contracts that
the courts can handle.
>> It's simply a better use of
your time.
Thank you.
Manny Rodriguez.
Good afternoon, council
members.
I'm here on behalf of
the Democrats of San Diego
County.
Last week we had a hearing with
our members in which we had
both sides present their
arguments.
Then we had a debate and after
all that our members voted 3 to
1 to endorse this policy.
The cap on fees and
transparency on rental prices
was really important to our
members.
The most favorite part that our
members liked about this
proposal after talking to them
was being able to reuse
the same applications greening
fee.
We've had members who have paid
hundreds of dollars just to
find a place to live just to
apply for places to live.
So with all that being said on
behalf of our members, please
support this policy and thank
you Council Member for your
letter for being a legislator.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Justin go.
>> Good afternoon everyone.
My name is Judge Stengel.
Over the last 50 years I have
been a renter, owner and
landlord in the city of San
Diego.
In 2019 I rented a house in
the city, had a detached garage
for my laundry appliances,
parking which is tough to get
in that neighborhood.
This was all under one rental
agreement even though
the garage was separate and
adjoining garage to me was rat
infested non code compliant
plumbing and electrical and it
was being used illegally as a
dwelling.
I reported this to the city and
my landlord retaliated against
me.
She hired a legal firm who sent
me a demand letter with a 30
day notice to vacate the garage
only stating that the garage
was no longer part of
the rental agreement because
according to the law it was
quote detached.
I lost that place.
The letter from the attorney
also stated that my rent then
65% of my fixed income would
remain the same amount and I
would be have to pay $600 more
per month.
The city should be aware of
this.
>> That is the garage that does
conclude your time allegedly
order.
>> Thank you so much for
honoring victims and removing
the predatory flag Brown Act
violation You can't remove that
last item without hearing
public comment anyhow.
You guys are conflating the you
know, corporate landlords and
small family owned businesses
and junk fees and getting full
cost recovery for the things
that you guys implement like
the trash fees that you put on
somebody's property tax that's
not a that comes in.
That's something that you guys
implemented that then goes down
to the landlord that they have
to put on to the tenant And so
it's like there's a lot of
confusion going on here and you
guys love to pit people against
each other when you're engaged
in the things that are costing
people more money to just live
and then you're you're making
the landlords the enemy.
What you need to make sure that
you are separating the two We
don't have BlackRock and
Vanguard in here talking about
not wanting this but you have
family owned businesses where
they're like we need to make
sure that we can get full cost
recovery.
You guys want it?
>> You should be equitable and
this isn't.
Thank you.
We tried.
>> Hello, my name is We try
pronouncing him his It's like a
director Executive director
Before I did Lifetime I used to
be a property manager.
What did you see The house And
I can tell you that every
single renter application come
in.
We have a choice.
We're not.
We want to run credit report
knowing that it can oppose
impose quite a number of fee on
people struggling trying to buy
housing.
I often advocate with my boss
to not run like charging people
fees like that because at
the end of day even if we
rejected our application
the money coming out of
people's pockets I also
advocate would you guys deal
with like ongoing
the experiences and knowing
that discounted extremely
difficult to find housing and
people are barely making a
living if people already what
to do three job to pay rent we
cannot adding more fees on like
this if you want to keep people
house is how you want to do it
pass that ordinance Thank you.
>> Thank you Nicole.
>> Hello my name is Nicole.
I'm a resident of Now community
in District nine.
I'm a renter.
I have two roommates.
I have also have two part time
jobs.
Half of my income goes to my
rent And I know that I'm not
alone in this boat.
Most renters I know or talk to
have at least half or more than
half of their paycheck go to
their rent.
A lot of people are living
paycheck to paycheck on top of
rent which is already a lot.
There are fees, pet fees,
application fees, convenience
fees it at it adds up on
Zillow.
The last time I checked
the application fee was $35.
Whenever I pay my rent on a
website I get charged
convenience fees.
It adds up.
The reality is that most people
are closer to homelessness than
they are to people like Elon
Musk, Donald Trump and Jeff
Bezos.
If you're already not homeless
I urge you to pass this
ordinance to protect a huge
part of your constituents
the renters, the working people
in.
>> Thank you.
That concludes your time.
Susan Riggs Good afternoon.
I'm Susan Riggs, senior housing
director for the American
Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals and a Renter
in d-3.
I'm here to speak to
the importance of reining in
rental rental fees overall but
more specifically those related
to the keeping of pets.
Housing instability is among
the top causes of pet
surrender, especially among
lower income households and
communities of color.
While I'm here to advocate for
solutions to reverse this
trend, I'm also here to speak
to the importance of the human
animal bond.
People are making unimaginable
decisions in order to avoid
giving up their family of
choice.
We ask you to affirmatively act
on the junk fees ordinance so
that fewer renters are forced
to choose between a roof over
their head and keeping their
family pet.
Thank you.
Anthony Ralphs Good afternoon
City Council I strongly support
this ordinance because at a
time when 60% of Americans are
one paycheck away from
homelessness, when a quarter of
San Diegans are already
currently in debt to the greedy
energy monopoly star Genie when
the cost of living in San Diego
is already the highest in
the nation when private equity
predators are buying entire
blocks and amassing communities
of empty homes, we are prey to
sky high rents, air pollution
levels causing one death per
day.
Cp That can't hold police
accountable.
Sdg In these billions in profit
greedy landlords flock and now
junk fees.
>> Please support this
ordinance And I didn't forget
about you LaCava There's a rose
for you as well.
Thank you.
That does conclude in-person
public comment.
I've started The five minute
timer on council chambers will
now turn to the virtual queue
in which there are 12
participants requesting to
speak.
We'll begin with Evans Strawn.
Please begin.
>> >> Good afternoon.
Council PRESIDENT LaCava and
Council members.
My name is Evan Strawn.
I'm speaking on behalf of
the San Diego Regional Chamber
of Commerce.
There are some aspects of this
ordinance that we could support
including increased
transparency for renters and
reasonable policies on things
like processing fees.
Unfortunately though we are
opposed to the ordinance
because many of the remaining
items will lead to less
investment in needed housing
and do not allow rental
operators to recoup reasonable
costs for operations and
maintenance.
Rental housing operators incur
costs for things like pest
control, pet damage and late
and unpaid rent.
These are not just items they
can write off for free.
Their businesses who must
recover costs just like any
other business or even like
governmental organizations like
the city have to do.
Most parts of this ordinance as
it's currently written punish
these businesses for trying to
recoup these costs.
For these reasons we must
continue to oppose
the ordinance as it is
currently crafted.
>> Thank you.
Jay ems ceo.
Please begin.
Yes?
Can you hear me?
Yes.
Please begin.
Thank you.
So my wife and I are mom and
pop landlords and I wanted to
speak in opposition to this
bill on two specific items and
this has been misstated here a
few times tonight.
State law was changed a couple
of years ago by Assembly Bill
12.
It is now illegal in the state
of California to charge a
separate pet security deposit.
That is the law of the land.
The only way for a landlord to
cover their damages for pets is
for a pet fee.
If you get rid of pet fees in
the city of San Diego, my wife
and I will sell all five of our
rental units and it'll be very
difficult for anybody to find a
place to rent to them.
On the portability of
screening.
I have in personally
encountered people falsifying
screening paperwork.
And again if you banned me from
getting my own we will get out
of the landlord business as
well many other landlords.
Thank you for your time.
>> Thank you.
Our next speaker is Amelia
Romero.
Please begin.
>> Good afternoon, council
members.
My name is Amalia Romero.
I work at Legal Aid Society of
San Diego and I support this
ordinance.
For years recently and our work
helping the most vulnerable
renters in the city We've seen
the increase and widespread
practice of landlords charging
extra fees beyond the base rent
.
And we see firsthand how these
hidden fees can push ordinary
families into housing
instability and how they're too
often seemingly designed not
just to recover operational
expenses but to unfairly profit
off of tenants.
This ordinance will not prevent
landlords from recovering
legitimate costs.
They can absolutely still
recover those costs by
including them in the base
rent.
As was previously a very common
practice, this ordinance is not
something revolutionary or that
risks destabilizing the housing
market in the city.
It will promote transparency,
close loopholes and limit
exploitation.
>> So I urge you to move it
forward.
Thank you very much.
>> Thank you.
Our next speaker is Aria
Grossman.
Please begin.
>> Good afternoon Council.
My name is Aria.
I'm the policy manager at
Circulate Planning and Policy.
Under current law in certain
places across the city parking
has to be charged as a fee
separate from rent.
This is an equity measure to
ensure that those who do not
use a vehicle either by choice
or by necessity aren't charged
for it.
In addition to being an equity
consideration, this policy also
helps make progress towards our
climate and mobility goals as
it helps ensure that people
consider alternate forms of
transportation rather than just
defaulting to driving a
vehicle.
For this policy to be
effective, the cost of parking
has to reflect demand which
cannot which it cannot be if
it's capped under this
ordinance.
There is of course also
the concern that landlords
might raise rents on everyone
to capture the differential
between the cap and then
the current market prices that
they're charging for parking.
So I urge you to address this
issue by exempting parking
costs that are already required
to be unbundled from rent and
the final ordinance.
Thank you.
>> Thank you.
Our next speaker is Justine
Murray.
Please begin.
Good afternoon, Council
PRESIDENT Cobb and Council
members.
My name is Justine Murray.
I'm the vice PRESIDENT Of
government affairs for
the Downtown Senior
Partnership.
More than 30 years
the partnership has represented
downtown San Diego's businesses
property owners, employers,
residents and community
stakeholders.
We respectfully urge you to
vote no on this ordinance as
currently proposed.
While we do support greater
transparency for renters, this
ordinance goes well beyond that
goal.
It creates additional
regulations that increase
uncertainty for housing
providers, make projects more
difficult to finance and
discourage the private
investment needed to build,
operate and maintain housing
for San Diegans.
At a time when our city faces a
severe housing shortage, we
should be advancing policies
that encourage housing
production not adding new
barriers that could further
constrain housing supply and
investment.
We encourage the city to
continue working with
stakeholders on balanced
solutions that improve
transparency while also
preserving a predictable
regulatory environment that
supports housing production
affordability.
Thank you so much for your
time.
Thank you.
Please note that the five
minute timer has concluded with
nine speakers left in
the queue.
No other speakers will be taken
for public comment.
Our next speaker is C.J.
Mendoza.
Please begin.
>> Good afternoon.
I'm C.J. I'm with high school
and I urge you to vote yes on
this ordinance.
Hidden rental fees makes
housing more expensive and
unpredictable.
More cost transparency benefits
both renters and responsible
landlords.
In addition to the strong
support of the ordinance being
reviewed today, I urge the City
Council to explore the addition
of language that would prohibit
landlords from charging a
higher rent for additional
tenants living in the same
unit.
While language directly naming
the cost of additional tenants
,many of the leases that were
reviewed included language
similarly limiting the tendency
of the unit to only those
signed to the lease agreement.
We understand that additional
tenants MAY trigger higher
utility consumption and MAY
result in higher utility bills
for that unit But the base
monthly rent should not be
allowed to change.
Many San Diego, especially
youth are vulnerable to
unpredictable employment status
and rising cost of living.
Unfortunately.
Thank you And please vote yes.
>> Thank you.
Our next speaker is Natalie
Roski.
Please begin.
Natalie Roski.
Hi.
Can you hear me?
Yes.
Please begin.
All right.
Natalie Ashley, District seven
I've been transparent most of
these meetings about what I go
through as a tenant in some of
these large apartment complexes
such as Money Vista.
If we're being currently, you
know, having to move and I have
a child that's 18.
So when you're married you have
to fill out an application for
yourself or your husband And
now I have an 18 year old
child.
That adds up.
We have some sub water charges
submitted water charges,
submitters sewer charges along
on top of the water and sewer
charge which they charge us a
on the size of our apartment
square foot.
So I could be conserving water
but that doesn't mean the other
my neighbor is and I'm still
being charged per my square
foot.
My garbage fees are $103 a
month.
It's starting to really become
overwhelming that families are
having to put themselves in
situation where they feel like
.
Thank you.
That does conclude your time.
Our next speaker is a caller
with the last four digits 8700.
Please begin.
>> Sorry about that.
Deputy City Clerk Joy Sonia.
>> Yeah, I'm glad I'm coming.
Excuse me.
I was a strong Yes and then I
listened and I listened
carefully to all the speakers
and wow, that was a lot of
information in a lot of it
seemed real on both sides.
So Councilmember Rivera, I'm
going to be a yes with an
amendment in the amendment is
that we get a little more
clarity on three things
stakeholders, more outreach to
stakeholders and get more
clarity on their losses and how
fair that would be.
And then polarizing language I
agree with Paul Kruger and for
some reason I don't feel
comfortable with the word junk.
It could be a personal bias in
some way but is that being used
in a professional legal way?
That does conclude your take.
Thank you.
Kevin hang on a second.
That's why I'm hanging on.
But you guys earn it.
No, we don't.
>> We're going to take a brief
recess until we reestablish
quorum.
Thank you.
Henry I'm glad to hear from
just one of them.
Yes.
Okay.
And we're back.
Come and continue on.
Okay.
Our next speaker is Hector.
>> Please begin.
All right.
Thanks for taking my call.
Hey, you guys should have these
meetings at night when more
guys can afford to come there
and pass out a free trial.
A day passes for
the participants that actually
come there.
That'd be great because these
guys are street level men.
Regulate them Billionaire
companies.
They're trying to do.
They're the ones charging all
these fees and any fee they can
think of.
And you guys are charging fees
also man just hired 18 more
parking meter guys and given
out tickets left and right.
Plus you guys are the ultimate
bait and switch.
There's these guys The big guys
are bait and switch and on
these things the rest three
grand but it really turns out
to be 36 grand.
Kind of like what you guys did
on the track b You guys are
the ultimate bait and switch
switchers and I don't know if
you guys even have these
meetings man with a straight
face but to regulate the big
guys they're scamming and they
don't care.
>> The little guys are cool.
Thank you Melissa Peterman
Please begin.
>> Hi, my name's Melissa
Peterman and I'm with
townspeople in affordable
Housing nonprofit and we're in
support of the ordinance.
We always look at how we charge
people and although not unusual
to charge a late fee, we
decided not to By and large our
tenants pay their rent and when
they don't it's because
something bad happened which
tells us that if our tenants
have the money they pay and if
they don't charging them extra
doesn't help them come up with
it.
It just punishes them for
having a rough month which
doesn't feel right to us as
others have said, it's not that
landlords should never charge
fees.
The costs of housing are real.
We're an affordable housing
nonprofit not flush with cash
and we operate without them If
a fee is needed put it in
the listing, put it in
the lease.
Let people make an informed
decision before they sign
anything.
Finding a home in our community
is a lot and the last thing
someone needs is to finally
land somewhere, do the math,
get excited, move in and find
out that number was never a
real The ordinance says be up
front and work.
>> Thank you both and conclude
your time.
Our next speaker is Kim Arnold.
Please Kim Arnold, please begin
.
Kim Arnold?
Yes?
Hi.
Can you hear me?
Yes, we can hear you.
Thank you.
>> I represent a small family
owned management company.
First off as a rental housing
provider we absolutely agree
with price transparency and
we've already rolled it out
across the board for all of our
rental properties housing
providers should be upfront
with the total costs and fees
for the rentals that they offer
but some fees are necessary as
long as they are disclosed.
Were you aware that dog pet
stations cost anywhere from 4
to $600 each and need to be
replaced every couple of years
due to corrosion?
Pet waste bags are not free but
more importantly fraud is a
real issue in our industry with
websites out there that sell
fake screening documents.
Housing providers need to be
able to pull their own
screening reports from trusted
providers to cut out fraudulent
applications.
Let's work together for common
sense changes to this ordinance
that can work for all parties.
>> Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Blair
Beekman.
Please begin.
>> All right.
Thank you.
Blair Beekman The beginning of
the presentation to make
housing more affordable for San
Diegans And third is promote
fairness, equity and
transparency regarding how
landlords change fees.
>> That order should be
reversed.
I think that's a starting point
.
I think this is an item that
speaks to our our best selves
and that tenants rights should
be an issue that we are working
towards and how we build our
future and that it shouldn't be
feared.
We can work together toward
those goals.
So you know the issues for
landlords can't they can't we
work out something with
the city that they can create
some sort of funding pattern so
they can dip into for
operational costs and work out
a system like that for really
great measure That sounds like
how how can operational costs
be supported by the city for
landlords and for landlords who
don't want to use that system
they can offer you can offer a
good legislative package and so
they have to return.
>> Thank you.
That does conclude your time.
Next speaker is a caller with
the last four digits 2538.
Please begin.
>> Caller with the last four
digits 2538.
Please begin.
>> I cannot unmute for you.
>> The only other thing I think
is very Hello my name is
Stedman.
i am a researcher and policy
advocate with the Center on
Policy Initiatives.
Sorry about the founding
syndication I have to struggle
to submit housing applications.
I was looking for housing
shelter That's both a financial
burden on renters.
We should be able to budget for
living expenses without having
to worry about unexpected fees
holding us back financially.
That's why I'm here in support
of a proposed ordinance to
address financial exploitation
and the need for cost
transparency something that no
ethical landlord should oppose.
I also ask that the ordinance
includes necessary protections
to ensure that landlords do not
pass the cost of basic fees to
people's cost of rent.
What is being asked as a bare
minimum landlord should not be
able to squeeze more money out
of working families with
the rising cost of living in
San Diego.
City Council needs to take
action to prevent added
economic hardship.
Moving this forward is a
necessary step at your chair to
support this ordinance and
stand up for tenant protections
and landlord accountability.
>> Thank you.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Thelma
Navarro.
Please begin.
Okay.
Looks like we lost Thelma.
That does conclude a virtual
comment.
We do.
We also have received speaker
slips that would like to
register a position but not
speak.
We did receive one slip to
speak in favor by aj Estrada
and the following individuals
submitted slips in opposition.
Jack and Hale.
Doug Dunbar.
Wendy Montgomery a rain Shaker.
Annabel Cloutier Chanel Sotelo.
Bertha.
Alicia Pichardo.
Alisha Mendez.
Doris said Duff.
Grant Beckwith.
Rodrigo Herrero de Faria.
And that does conclude public
comment for item 330.
All right.
Thank you, Deputy Clerk.
As I like to do on these big
meetings, let's give a big
round of applause to our deputy
clerk and the entire city clerk
staff for keeping us organized
and on point.
You guys always do a great work
despite how many people show up
to speak.
>> This is an information item
so no motions required and
we'll turn it over to
Councilmember questions and
comments.
And I'm going to start with
the two council members that
are bringing this item forward
and we'll start with you
Council member Ella Rivera.
All right.
Thank you, Council PRESIDENT.
Thank you again to Jeffrey and
Maya, to Hilda with the city
attorney's office and all of
the community folks who we
worked with over the last
several months In addition to
Councilmember Foster's office
and our colleagues at the Board
of Supervisors to get to where
we are today.
As I mentioned before this
conversation started last year
at the committee to address
the cost of living.
And what we kept hearing from
committee members about the way
that ways that hidden fees and
junk fees were impacting their
ability to see a future in this
city at the end of the day.
That is what we are.
We are fighting for is to make
San Diego a place where
everyone sees a real future for
themselves where young people
who are in college or just
graduated can see themselves
continuing to live here where
young families actually feel
like they have a chance to to
make it.
And we're seniors don't feel
like they're consistently on
the cusp of being priced out.
And all of that is becoming
more and more challenging for
everyday people these days.
And in addition to that,
housing is a human right.
And so with all of that in mind
,we think that reining in
these excessive fees, these
deceptive and sometimes
completely hidden fees is
essential for making San Diego
a more affordable place for
everyday people.
We I want to also acknowledge a
couple of things here.
One is is the renters who spoke
up that did take a lot of
courage because it is not as if
retaliation is a theoretical
issue.
It's a real issue.
We heard from multiple people
today about the ways that
they've been retaliated against
for simply asking what the law
already requires.
And while while there are
remedies to that, it often
comes at considerable cost and
a real decision as to whether
or not the willingness to speak
your mind is worth all
the discomfort that comes with
having a landlord that's trying
to push you out of your home.
I want to acknowledge the good
landlords who are here.
The gentleman who spoke at
the beginning of this
conversation who seems like
the most upright and honest
business person that we could
ask for if that is what every
renter in San Diego is
experiencing we wouldn't be
having this conversation right
now.
Unfortunately that is not
the way every landlord is
treating their tenants.
>> It was said today that
everyone has the same goal.
And I actually think that in
this case that's actually not
true.
There are corporate landlords
and others whose goal is to
make as much money as they
possibly can off every person
in their homes no matter what
what impact that has on those
people.
And then there's the rest of us
who are just trying to get by
and want to see their neighbors
survive and thrive And that's
who we're going who we're
trying to fight for here.
On the issue of fairness and
transparency, I appreciate that
There was multiple landlords
who said they agree with with
that And I think most are doing
their best to be transparent.
But here's the thing
The honesty of an honest
landlord doesn't erase or
protect renters from the harm
caused by dishonest and greedy
landlords.
And if a fee can be disclosed
to banks or in financial models
or loan agreements, there is no
reason why it cannot be
disclosed to renters.
>> So when we say that fees are
not secret because they're
baked into the financial models
no they're not secret from
the banks and the lenders and
the people who are profiting
off the system.
But they are to the people who
are scratching in clean and
fighting with other renters
over the limited housing stock
that we have.
And just because something is
baked in does not mean it's not
harmful.
In fact it could be very
harmful.
A 2021 needs assessment by
serving seniors found that
financial distress is a driver
for older adults into
homelessness.
In an environment where 33% of
the unsheltered population are
individuals that are 55 and up,
we can see why transparency is
so vital for people who are
living on fixed incomes.
>> So with all of all of this
in mind, the hope today is that
after I've made my comments and
you've seen the presentation
and Councilmember Foster hears
yours, we can get feedback
Council PRESIDENT From
the council from our colleagues
so that when we bring a draft
ordinance, when we bring an
ordinance forward in the fall,
it's one that everyone has had
a chance to see to weigh in on
and we can get to the work of
making San Diego a place where
renters have the rights that
they should have the chance.
Parents see that any consumer
should have and they will
actually believe that they can
continue to live in the city
that they love.
>> Thank you, Council
PRESIDENT.
All right.
Thank you.
Council member Councilmember
Rivera.
>> Now I will go to Council
member Foster.
Yes, Thank you, Council
PRESIDENT And thank you Council
member Isla Rivera to you in
your team.
Also just want to say a big
thank you to our county
partners.
We've had a lot of
conversations to get to this
point to where there was
something to present.
And I do want to be clear that
this was intentional to have as
an information an item because
it was to introduce the item
and to make sure that we were
able to receive feedback to
look at all sides of this.
When this was presented at
the originally discussed at
Committee I to have concerns.
A lot of times you hear in
District four.
One thing that really does
strike me is the type of
product that we tend to get
presented as we were talking
about housing.
And so I wanted to make sure
that I was at the table and
able to work through not only
public concern, whether you're
the landlord or the tenant, but
I just think this is a
conversation that we need to
have and that we must have.
Also I do want to say and one
thing that I do find very
troubling is that for quite
some time the city of San Diego
has been spending about $100
million on an annual basis in
regards to our homelessness
efforts.
And to this day with that type
of expenditure we are
continuing to see more families
,more individuals entering
homelessness than staying
housed.
And that's concerning.
And as we talk about cost of
living, I think we can all
agree that cost of living when
you ask a family, when you ask
a typical resident cost of
living is a major, major
concern.
And so these are conversations
that are difficult
conversations.
These are conversations that I
feel are important
conversations that
conversations we must have.
And I have lived in district
for four for the majority of my
life.
And there were just recently
some new units that were
brought online that were ready
that are right around
the corner from my house.
And these are brand new units
and they are two and three
bedroom units but they are
going for about $3,600 a month.
And part of the fees that are
included are pet fees, trash
pickup, These parking for
storage fees that are saying
that, you know, rent can go as
high as $3,900 a month.
And so I understand and I can
tell you when that I built
units and I understand there is
a cost to design construct and
to design and construct
the units.
And I also understand that
there's a cost in managing
the properties.
And I think one of the examples
and I think one of the public
speakers brought up is about
pet areas and how that is
handled.
I personally worked on a
project where there were
specific provisions provided in
the project for pet areas and
those do require maintenance
but those are amenities that I
think communities want and
deserve.
And so I think there needs to
be there does need to be some
additional conversation.
Also I did make a commitment
that my daughter that I will go
out and as we are here for this
informational item but I will
be meeting with stakeholders.
I will be meeting with folks
that are renters.
And I will be meeting with
industry because this is
something that I think is a
conversation that needs to take
place.
And I would like to think that
as we look at the city of San
Diego as a whole that we can
all come to the table and do
what's right.
And so I say all that to say
that I do appreciate all of
the work that has gone into
this to date.
And I continue to look forward
to the discussion as we move
forward.
Very interesting to hear from
my colleagues as as I would
like to hear their positions
And as you know with the Brown
Act it does allow us to to to
have that type of conversation.
So I'm eager to to hear my
colleague's comments.
And I'm also eager to continue
to roll our sleeves up and to
bring a product that I hope
gets us to where we need to be
so that as we talk about
housing, as we talk about
housing being a fundamental
right which is a belief that I
do sharing because I truly do
feel every family, every
person, every young person
should have a place that they
call home that is safe, that is
well maintained and and based
on certain calls that I receive
on a regular basis.
There is a lot of work to do
and one thing that does make
this a very difficult and
challenging conversation and I
think some of the public
commenters touched upon this
quite frequently are
the various complexities and
different types of of units
that we have in place because
we have everyone at different
economic levels.
Some folks like certain
amenities and some don't.
You know so I think all of that
needs to be further looked at
and discussed.
And I look forward to to
the conversations to come as we
prepare to move this forward in
the fall.
So with that council PRESIDENT
That will conclude my comments.
And again thank you for
everyone that came out.
And thank you to my colleagues
and thank you.
All right.
Thank you.
COUNCILMAN Foster.
We'll go next to council member
Campbell.
>> Thank you so much Council
PRESIDENT And thank you to
council Councilmember Foster
for your comments as well as
Councilmember Sheila Rivera.
It's been really revealing to
hear all the horrible things
that so many people have been
through and so many people have
had advantage taken of them.
I'm so sorry to hear about
that.
I really I really think that we
need to to look at this
sometimes from high up and
realize that there are two big
things causing what's going on
here.
First of all, there's not
enough supply for the demand of
rental housing.
So that that's the number one
problem.
We need more supply so that we
can meet the demand.
Number two, there's a problem
because the state legislature
her favorite friend put in
the 10% cap on rent raises just
a couple of years back.
And the reason they did this
was it was going to be 5%
allowed per year for rent
raise.
And then the other the other
limit up to 10% had to do with
the inflation rate.
So for last year I believe
the amount the state would have
allowed would have been
something like 8.3% of a raise
in rent.
And you know that can be a
pretty high raise in rent for a
lot of people.
So that's that's tough in and
of itself.
However, costs have gone up
gone up so dramatically that
these these landlords MAY have
put in fees as a way to get
around having to take a loss
because they needed they
thought they needed some of
them MAY just be greedy but
they thought they needed more
than cap of the 3% in order to
not take a loss on the amount
of rent they received.
So they're in business.
They can't take a loss or
they'll go out of business.
So it's a really it's a double
edged sword.
They've got two things against
them supply and demand.
Demand is high, supply is low
so they can kind of look
the other way around since more
people want to rent from them.
They have spaces to rent.
And number two, the state has
imposed a limit on them that
does not necessarily represent
a free market type of a
situation for business people.
So it's a really it's it's a
tough situation going out from
the side of each each party
involved The landlord and
the renter.
It's tough.
I'm particularly concerned that
more regulations as some have
said today will continue to
disproportionately affect small
mom and pop housing providers.
They are still the vast
majority of those in San Diego
who provide rental units.
And these suggested
requirements will put an undue
burden on their small
businesses.
i doubt that these rules would
hurt corporate landlords who've
been trying to increase their
share of our market Here in San
Diego corporate landlords have
employees and bandwidth and
they can meet requirements like
this but small landlords cannot
and MAY be forced out of
business as many have left This
business with the previous
regulations that were put into
effect to to help protect
renters from evictions.
And that's a shame because
people do need to be prevented
from unnecessary evictions.
But the best way to ensure that
people have and remain in
housing is to build more of it.
We need more housing.
We need increasing supply so
that renters can have an ample
choice of where they should
live and can choose Among these
I used to be a landlord.
I just had one condo that I
rented out and this was 15
years ago so it wasn't that
long.
It was more like ten years ago
but it wasn't that long ago But
it was long enough ago that
these new fees are different
than what we had back ten
years.
I would never think of charging
an application fee.
The fact that I would have to
do a background check on who
wanted to rent that was my
problem.
That was something I paid for
as a landlord as part of my
business cost That was included
in the rent.
That's how business is done.
You put the cost the product
into what you charge
the consumer and you try to
make ends meet.
Well unfortunately with
the lack of supply and with
the 10% limit put on by
the state or 8.3% last year,
you run into problems because
this is just not working.
What would really solve it?
We really need to get busy and
build more housing, that's for
sure.
And the other thing is some
people MAY have to go somewhere
else.
My own grandson had to he went
around the country, worked from
home So he and his wife went
around the country looking at
different cities to see where
they could afford to buy a
house.
And they ended up in Richmond,
Virginia far away from grandma
which I didn't like but they
could afford a house there for
$600,000 That here would have
been $1.6 million.
And so I understand completely
their desire to do that.
So it's tough.
It's tough.
It's a bad situation.
I can see all sides of it And I
just feel terrible about people
who don't understand when they
move in that they're going to
have these fees applied to them
and I don't think that's fair
either.
This should be total
transparency and the people who
are renting out units should be
able to charge what it takes
for them to make ends meet.
And so we've got this conundrum
going on and it's difficult
it's difficult to solve But I
think solving it by putting on
heavy restrictions and
regulations makes it harder for
the smaller landlords to be
able to provide housing.
I do see some good things in
this that I would approve of
and I see some others that I
wouldn't But I want to take
that offline.
I'd be happy to meet with my
colleagues who are in favor of
this to discuss the details of
which ones I would favor and
which ones I don't think will
work out right.
But I just feel really bad that
this has become such a problem.
It's not fair to the renter and
it's not fair to the landlord.
So thank you very much.
Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT.
All right.
Thank you.
Council member Campbell will go
next to council member Camejo
Thank you Council PRESIDENT And
thank you to members of
the public for their input
today and the District nine
staff for their work on this.
I appreciate the opportunity to
provide this feedback at this
early period and consider how
the audience audience works in
practice.
The policy proposal here has
two different segments and I'll
address them separately.
There's the cost transparency
concepts and the price
regulation aspects.
And so starting first with
the cost transparency the idea
that everyone should know what
their housing will cost all in
indisputable in every line item
as well That's common sense.
That information is critical to
families in the city who are
already stretching every dollar
they have.
They're calculating the cost of
groceries and gas and childcare
and insurance and utilities and
health care down to the penny
at this point and unexpected
fees can absolutely destabilize
a household budget.
We've heard from people talk
about that destabilization and
I appreciate the intent of
trying to address that problem
and solving that problem.
Housing should be affordable
and no one should have to
choose between those
fundamentals in order to simply
exist in San Diego And
the transparency aspects
protect that.
The affordability concept of
course is fundamentally a
question of the cost of
something and the ability for a
person to obtain it.
Which brings me to the second
component which is the pricing
regulations, the costs can be
absorbed by a business or
the financing used to obtain
the property or some other
component involved in a
transaction And the government
can incentivize the private
sector to absorb that cost by
making something that we have
on our end less expensive or we
can subsidize it by providing
funding for it.
But when we ban collection of a
particular cost that cost does
not simply go away.
It moves, it ships, it still
exists And in order to support
a policy that's intended to
create affordability, I would
like to know exactly where that
cost moves and how it impacts
San Diego as including those
who currently are covering
the cost that talked about
the burden they are facing
paying for those today but also
those who are covering
different costs within
the ecosystem.
>> Yes, in a perfect world
housing providers would simply
absorb every new cost that's
imposed on them.
But that's not how the market
functions.
That's not how the homes are
financed.
And we have to acknowledge when
proposing policies and tending
to support renters that that's
not how it works.
And as much as this aims to
target and prohibit unfair
business practices, I have
questions about the affordable
issues related to affordable
housing and homes that are
naturally affordable too.
And so I'm just going to jump
into some questions at this
point for staff on issues of
addressing affordability,
The staff report mentions that
this is modeled off a few other
jurisdictions was pointed out
in the presentation as well.
I'm curious to know the impacts
and what we've seen in other
jurisdictions, other cities
specifically when it comes to
prohibiting specific fees.
What have we seen when it's
when other cities are getting
rid of fees if they've gotten
rid of pet fees, pet rent and
how that impacted base rents as
a result?
Thank you for the question,
Councilmember Campo In my
research one of the more
prominent examples of
the prohibition of pet fees is
in Colorado research there I
was provided by the aspca.
The researchers in my
presentation didn't go
specifically to what you were
alluding to where the cost MAY
have moved.
I think that's a bit difficult
to to track But what I did go
over is the availability of pet
friendly units in which there
was no attributable
attributable change to
the availability of those units
Once the policy was enacted.
>> Excellent.
Well one where they enacted it
was that statewide or was that
municipalities?
It was a state of Colorado.
Okay.
I would have to find it.
So on my PowerPoint one of
the slides says the number of
available allowed between units
on a permanent account between
the summer of 2023 and fall
2024 and the Associated bill
was Colorado House Bill 1068.
It went into effect in that
time frame.
Excellent.
Okay.
Thank you for having me for
having that available.
So in the time since that's
been implemented which just a
few years is there any evidence
to show that base rents didn't
fluctuate as a result of
the cap that was put in
Colorado housing supply issues?
What has been the market
response in Colorado since that
time that we can look back and
say putting in those those caps
and that was a deposit You said
it was a deposit cap rate and
rent cap Be the first sorry do
we what is the economic data
showing us about lack or growth
in housing supply as a result
base rents going up or down?
What are we seeing there as a
result of this policy
specifically I can look into
that to confirm with you I need
to touch back base with aspca
on the data that they were abl
to provide for me but I don't
have all the information on
that.
Okay.
All right.
Thank you.
On the definition of particular
fees I'm seeing in the draft
that the fee does not include
rent, the definition of fee is
not include rent late fees
which I seem to be a late fee
related to paying rent after
e due date security deposits
and utility charges.
Does the definition of fee
include things like parking
replacement fee related to
broken items appliances
fixtures in the apartment?
>> What does that include That?
Yes, as it were a fee would
include any charge outside of
the listed charges But for a
definition of fee specifically
just wanted to just clarify
please later on in
the ordinance when we do talk
about the cap we specify
recurring fees.
>> Okay.
Understood.
I know that we received a
question raised by Circulate
San Diego today about current
law requiring parking fees to
be unbundled from rent.
Can City Attorney's office
clarify if if the fee
definition as proposed
conflicts with that state
regulation?
>> Good afternoon Hilda Mendoza
from the City Attorney's office
that there is state law
regarding unbundled parking
that does not apply to the city
of San Diego.
However there are municipal
code provisions that address
unbundled parking and currently
as written it does include all
parking fees If there is a
desire to exclude that
unbundled parking that would be
something that could be added
to the ordinance.
Okay.
Quick question.
Thank you.
You said you said there's a
state law but it doesn't apply
to San Diego.
It is by it specifically states
what counties and jurisdictions
it applies to and does not
include the county of San Diego
.
>> That's strange.
Okay.
Thank you for those answers and
I appreciate the work that went
into this.
Absolutely.
I do have concerns that
the price regulations in
the ordinance could backfire.
I'm worried that if we
institute caps in our crystal
clear on what constitute a fee
and how they operate
functionally, how that impacts
the entire ecosystem,
the renters who are paying for
it right now and the renters
who are not paying for it right
now.
What I don't want to see us do
is create a scenario where
rents rise to compensate for
those caps which would hurt
everyone.
I mean so it's one of those
issues where the details really
matter And if we allow for that
to happen the problem doesn't
get solved.
It's simply change the line
item that is on an invoice
while the cost could go up for
everyone.
I do want to thank one member
of the public specifically who
did show up here to talk in
support of of the proposal That
younger gentleman is not in
the room right now.
He left a while ago.
He said that the most
vulnerable communities that are
being taken advantage of right
now need to be educated about
their rights and given
the resources to defend
themselves.
And he's absolutely right about
that.
Policies can be good but
without a system to inform
people of their rights it won't
have nearly the impact that's
needed.
Some problems aren't solved
with a new law.
They're solved with educating
people to stand up for
themselves and their neighbors
and giving them the tools to
defend their rights which is a
more fundamental way to prevent
exploitation and gouging.
No one wants exploitation and
price gouging and I think that
the transparency and components
do a lot of good work to
accomplish that so that renters
can see what they're going to
be charged exactly and be able
to to stand up if something is
unfair to be able to question
why something is the way it is
And the public needs to
understand also why the price
regulations are going to
achieve what they're intended
to achieve which at this point
is still unclear And I know
we're going to have more debate
about it.
The public needs to understand
why the proposed 5% caps are
appropriate, how particular
cost recovery bands are
supposed to work without
driving up prices for everyone
And fundamentally where that
math is grounded in and how it
works.
So thank you for putting
the proposal today and I'll
have more questions in
the future.
Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT All right.
Thank you Councilmember Camp
here.
We'll go next to Council member
Whitburn.
Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT Thank you MR.
Wynn for presenting this item.
A follow up question about
the piece of this regarding
caps that would cap fees at 5%
of the monthly rent and what
fees would be included within
that cap.
So am I understanding that at
this point parking fees would
be included within the cap?
That's correct.
So the way that we crafted that
portion of the ordinance was to
specifically address repeated
or recurring fees.
So anything that is associated
with one time maintenance such
as a repair would not be
captured in the 5% cap but
parking would be okay.
Thank you.
And then what about utilities?
Would you So like if a landlord
bills utilities or you know
pays the utilities for
the whole building that bills
tenants individually are those
fees is capped within the 5% or
not?
>> No Councilmember we
specifically defined our fees
to exclude utility charges
okay.
Because we have an existing
utility fee or utility
ordinance.
Thank you.
That's helpful.
I really appreciate
the continued attention to
the high cost of living and
want to recognize the work that
council members Ella Rivera and
Foster and their staffs have
put into this.
And thank you to you for
bringing this to the City
Council to get some additional
feedback.
The biggest part of the cost of
living is the cost of housing
and it is important to examine
ways to make Sandiego more
affordable for people who are
struggling.
I like to focus on
transparency.
Renters do have a right to know
the fees upfront.
There should be no unexpected
fees that prospective renters
discover late in the process.
I think requiring
the itemization of fees on
website listings makes great
sense As far as broader
advertising goes, I would
support making that apply to
advertising where there is
enough space to do that I could
envision difficulties listing
fees on a social media ad for
example so I would take that
into consideration.
The most important thing that
the City Council could do to
make housing more affordable is
to make rents more affordable.
And how could we do that?
We could make rents more
affordable by incentivizing
the construction of more
housing.
When you build more housing,
when you increase the supply
there is more competition to
attract tenants And that is
what we have been seeing in
the last few years.
We have seen significantly more
home construction in the last
few years, particularly
apartment construction.
And as more and more apartments
have come online we have seen
more vacancies And as
competition for tenants heats
up, rents have been stabilizing
and in some cases declining a
bit.
Kpbs wrote a story about this
on MARCH 27th of this year.
Three months ago it was
headlined San Diego Rents
Declined more than 19 of
the nation's top 20 markets
following a surge in supply.
I want San Diego to keep moving
in that direction.
I want rents to become more and
more affordable.
We should keep building more
housing.
I want any additional fees to
be fully transparent and be
fully transparent before
somebody pays hard earned
dollars just to apply for an
apartment.
Cut me in for that.
But what I don't want to see is
fees that are currently spelled
out transparently just getting
baked into the rent causing
rents to go up.
If fees get baked into the rent
there are three consequences to
that that I would really hate
to see.
First if fees get baked into
the rent the rent goes up.
The rent is too high already.
It needs to go down not up.
Second, if fees get baked into
the rent it's actually less
transparent.
You're paying higher rent and
you're not seeing the fees that
are baked into that.
And third, if he's get baked
into the rent then everybody is
paying for that service
regardless of whether they use
that service.
For example, supposing your
apartment rent is $2,500, about
5% of your rent is $125.
But parking in a downtown
apartment building can easily
cost $200 a month.
Trust me, I know I worry that
those parking fees will cease
to be charged separately.
They'll get baked into
the rent.
Rents will go up.
It'll say, you know, rent is
whatever parking included that
will just get baked into
the rent that way And suddenly
you will have a situation in
which people who don't own a
car are paying higher rents
that effectively subsidized
the rents of people who do own
cars.
That would be a significant
unintended consequence of this
and one that isn't very climate
friendly and I don't think
anybody is looking to do.
But I could totally see that
happening if parking is
included in that 5% cap.
So I would agree that we should
ensure that fees are
transparent and are transparent
right upfront and as long as
fees are transparent upfront I
would be cautious about
creating a situation where fees
are supposedly eliminated.
But in fact are just baked into
the rent that's less
transparent.
It raises rents and it causes
renters who don't use a service
to subsidize those who do.
So in summary I support
the elements of this proposal
that increase transparency.
I urge caution about doing
anything that would result in
higher rents.
Rents are declining right now.
That is far and away the best
way to make housing more
affordable.
Let's keep doing that and keep
building more homes.
Thank you, Council PRESIDENT.
All right.
Thank you.
Council member Whitburn Not see
anybody else in the light.
I have a few comments of my
own.
So first thank you Maya and
Jeremy for the work.
And I want to thank
Councilmember Eli Rivera and
Councilmember Foster for
bringing this forward.
It sounds like there's a lot of
broad based support on
the council and I think it was
very productive as
Councilmember Foster introduced
to get input coming out of
the cost of living committee.
I want to thank everyone who
spoke today contributing your
perspectives.
There's a lot of positive
recommendations in this draft
proposal and some areas that
need refining as we've heard
and this is that information
item are still opportunity to
examine those changes and build
a bill to build a broader
coalition.
Two areas I want to focus on
speak to ensuring code changes
can be operationalized and
enforced and making sure we're
not creating any new loopholes
where tenants could be at risk
for unintentional exploitation
and or trap well-meaning
landlords starting with
the rental applications
industry.
Members mentioned the potential
for fraudulent or I develop
background checks.
Prevent this we could explore a
central portal for rental
applications could be done
through a single fee based
application and cost
recoverable from a staffing
perspective.
It would reduce costs for
tenants as well as protect
landlords.
I also see that itemizing all
fees on an advertisement can be
cumbersome but as we've seen in
other platforms Zillow,
Ticketmaster and Airbnb
customers want the all in cost
upfront and from there I can
look at the breakdown of cost
and make an informed choice
that they can rely on.
As we've heard too many people
are on the very vulnerable
edges and an unexpected fee
could push them over the edge.
And for those that are not on
the other side of the digital
divide, I'm sure there's ways
to be able to achieve those
same goals.
Charges like this that will not
dilute the ultimate goal of
burdening burdening renters.
I know my own staff and their
peers face these challenges on
the rental market and
especially a time when
affordability and careful
spending are at the top of
everyone's mind.
Regarding unintended
consequences I too am concerned
with the possible exploitation
of a cap on total fees and I
also do not want to see that
rental landlords are raising
base rents at higher rates in
order to account for costs that
would have been covered by fees
.
And this would be for services
that tenants MAY want and as
well are willing to pay for it.
And if the additional cost hits
that cap the fees might be
added into base rent or even
more concerning such services
MAY no longer be available to a
tenant.
I do not think there's a lot of
change to be put in place in
this ordinance and therefore
would like to see these other
issues addressed when it comes
back to council as a final
vote.
And Councilmember Ella Rivera
kind of made reference.
I too am concerned by
statements that new projects
pencil by bolstering their
performance not just on their
rents or expected rent
increases but on these fees.
This is not financially
prudent, creates perverse
incentive and is not a defense
against this ordinance.
And as stated if we build more
housing rents MAY stabilize,
rents MAY even come down and
landlords MAY be more defensive
and more protective of these
fees to counterbalance
reduction in the overall rental
marketplace.
These are some of the tough
conversations lie for us to
sift through and find that
right balance.
There were good arguments
raised that might call for
additional exemptions.
The military family that is not
a landlord but just hanging on
to their family home as they
get reassigned in other areas.
The mom and pops that have
legitimate concerns and with
the extra paperwork and I hope
there can be outreach and I
think I heard it from both
council members with the goal
the building a bigger coalition
and support before this
ordinance returns.
I wish government could be more
surgical so that we could
accommodate most sides of this
issue.
We MAY not get there but it
should not be for lack of
trying.
This is important.
Let's be very clear This is
important.
But let's get this right.
Thank you again Councilmember
delivering Council member
Foster your entire team for
the work on that.
And that will end my comments.
And with that we will return to
Councilmember Eli Rivera.
Thank you, Council PRESIDENT.
I just want to thank my
colleagues for the feedback.
It's really, really helpful to
get that today.
What I've heard is a general
consensus around
the transparency components and
an agreement that people should
know what they're going to be
asked to pay and they should
know that at the beginning of
their search and before they
sign a lease not after.
And it shouldn't be a moving
target during their their
tenure in their homes.
And then the important
questions that are being asked
about ensuring that we're we're
not having an unintended
consequence of raising folks
rents who aren't benefiting
from the services that are are
being that they could be
charged a fee for.
I did want to address give my a
chance to address a little bit
of that because I think current
tenants have a have protections
on that front although there's
still some questions to be
asked So I'll hand it over to
my right.
So currently ab 1482 does
provide that rent cap that's in
place and allows for an annual
increase on a tenant's rent.
Currently it's allowed to go up
8.8% and beginning on AUGUST
1st of 2026 the allowable
increase is 8.2%.
>> Thanks Matt.
So I think the concern about
future rents baking in
everything regardless of
whether or not someone would be
using a service or an amenity
is a is certainly something
that we want to be thoughtful
about.
At the same time we do know
that there are protections for
current tenants.
And what we've seen is that
the fees are actually being
used as the workaround to those
protections.
And experience that we're
hearing from renters is a rent
increase up to the maximum
allowable under law and new
fees being pulled out of rent
to to exceed what that
allowable rent increase would
would be.
And that is what what's
prompting a lot of a lot of
this action.
And sometimes those increases
can be substantial.
And often they are often
coupled with is a choice to
either enter into a another
year lease with these new fees
added on or a month to month
agreement with a special fee
for being in a month to month
lease.
And so at that point there is
substantial leverage being
being wielded against renters.
They've experienced the full
rent increase.
They're being charged in a new
way for things that they'd
already been paying for in
their rent.
And they're being told that if
they don't accept those
conditions for a full year
they'll be charged even more
for wanting the flexibility of
the month to month structure.
So certainly all the questions
being raised are really
important and we will dig into
those.
I just wanted to give some
additional context as to why
this is is so important to us
and the way that we're seeing
these these fees utilized for
renters.
And then just just one last
last note.
We've got to create more
housing.
There's no doubt about that.
And I think many of
the advocates actually for this
that we heard from today have
been strong proponents of
building more housing.
And what I'm wrestling with is
is kind of untangling
the concerns about this
particular policy or component
of this policy being the thing
that leads to less production.
When we've heard the same thing
time and time again.
The Tenant Protection ordinance
of a few years ago we were told
was going to stunt development
And we've seen how much housing
has been built since that time.
That isn't to say that there
couldn't potentially be a straw
that breaks the camel's back.
But there is a certain
component of of hearing
the same thing over and over
again tomorrow because of
the actions of this council.
Thousands of workers are going
to get a pay raise from
the hospitality industry.
And I think we should be proud
of that.
And we should want to keep them
to keep as many of those
dollars in their pockets as
possible.
And you know, one of the ways
that we do that I think is is
by protecting renters.
And then final final thing here
is I want to make sure we give
my a shout out.
This is her last presentation
with us on staff as she's going
to law school.
And she's done an incredible
job with us working very
closely with Jeffrey on this
and did not want to MISS
The opportunity to embarrass
her and make her blush in this
on this item.
Uh, sorry Not sorry, Maya.
With that I'll hand it back to
you.
>> Council PRESIDENT.
All right.
That was well worth it.
Councilmember.
So okay.
I don't see anybody else in
the light again.
This was an information item.
No motion is required and so we
will close item 330.
Okay.
We have one more item for
the day.
Clerk please introduce item
s505 items 5a5 is an ordinance
amending the enforcement
authority under the city of San
Diego's living wage Prevailing
wage and minimum wage
ordinances.
All right.
Thank you Deputy Clerk.
At the risk of stealing their
thunder, this is an you could
argue is an implementation of
an action we took during budget
talking about moving compliance
into the city attorney's office
And this will create
enforcement authority by
the city attorney's office.
>> So now that you're settled
in, introduce yourselves for
the record and let us know how
much time you need.
Assistant City Attorney Jim
McNeil With me is Deputy City
Attorney Elena Min.
Two minutes I guess.
Good evening now Council
PRESIDENT, council president
Pro tem and Council members
The Office of City Attorney is
requesting City Council adopt
this ordinance amending several
municipal code ordinances
affecting wages including
the Living Wage Ordinance, air
traffic control worker minimum
wage ordinance, the earned sick
leave and minimum wage
ordinance, the Hospitality
minimum Wage Ordinance and
the City of San Diego
Compliance with state
Prevailing wage ordinance to
include the Office of the City
Attorney as an additional
enforcement authority as part
of adopting the fiscal year
2027 budget the Council
included moving the Office of
Labor Standards and Enforcement
or lsc to the Office of
the City Attorney as a means of
reducing the oil lessees impact
on the general fund through
the use of the city Attorney
grant and penalty funds While
the Office of the City Attorney
can file litigation for
violations referred to it by
the llc, the current wage
ordinances limit their
administrative enforcement to
the mayor accordingly
transferring of the office
the lsc to the office of
the City Attorney while leaving
intact its administrative
enforcement authority requires
amending those various wage
ordinances to allow such
enforcement through the Office
of the City Attorney.
That's precisely and only what
this ordinance with its
proposed amendments will do.
The amendments are limited to
providing for the office of
the city attorney to have
the same authority to
administratively enforce those
wage ordinances as the mayor.
We therefore ask that Council
adopt this ordinance to amend
the identified wage ordinances
to include the Office of
the City Attorney as an
additional enforcement
authority.
We're available to answer any
of your questions.
All right.
Thank you for the presentation
and thank you for moving
quickly on this with
the adoption of the budget.
With that Deputy clerk, please
proceed with public comments.
But this item received one
comment in opposition via our e
comment form which has been
distributed to the Council.
We will begin with in person
comment allegedly order it
please come forward.
You'll have two minutes to
speak.
>> So anyhow I was wondering if
we could call sd Junior because
the gasoline you guys keep
pouring out on the people is
just brilliant sense and I
don't know if they can do
something about that but Shawn
what are you talking about?
The rest of us trying to get
by.
Why are you acting like you're
trying to get by?
That's not fair to the people
that are trying to get by
because you I don't know if you
got a frog in your pocket but
the way that you that's totally
gaslighting the people that are
actually trying to make ends
meet not sitting up on a dias
with an electric by most people
would love to have an electric
bike like you got.
They couldn't even afford that
kind of stuff.
I mean they can't even afford
to eat And you guys are up here
talking about prevailing wages
and a living wage.
Who are you to be determining
that?
I mean again until you guys are
putting in setting your wage at
minimum wage and seeing what
it's like trying to get by like
the rest of us, I don't think
it's fair for you to be even
talking about this.
It's a slap in the face to act
like you have any idea what
that's like.
You MAY have known it at point
in your life but I don't feel
like you've taken that with you
to go Oh hey, you know, I mean
as you sit here and go
the people decided to give you
guys raises every time.
I mean it's just ridiculous
the kind of stuff that takes
place and you know, you don't
know how to stretch a buck
because you guys come to us
time and again for more money
and then you want to pit
landlords and tenants against
each other when you guys are
making the cost of living go up
and it's like you sitting there
going like we're going to go
after the corporations that are
screwing you guys And it's like
That's what you guys are.
So I mean it's just like so
hypocrite or cool to sit there
and act like you guys
understand and that you are
equipped to be able to set
these wages.
So I mean if yours is going to
be set high let's be equitable
either you make yours high or
ours higher and or yours lower
but it needs to be the same and
you need to be doing practicing
what you preach instead of
sitting up here on a dice and
acting like you guys you know
what it's like to do your time
.
We also have a speaker slip
from Anthony Ralphs However I
don't see him here so we will
turn to virtual comment.
I have started the five minute
timer and council chambers and
we'll turn to the virtual queue
in which there are currently
three participants requesting
to speak And begin with Hector.
Please begin.
All right this will be cool.
Hey when the mass rapid
deportation begins it's going
to open up a lot of housing
units and drive the cost of
labor up.
You know there'll be less labor
guys working so guys will get
out a pay raise to find them.
So when you guys get involved
in this mass deportation it's
going to actually increase
wages because produce less guys
looking for jobs so they'll
have to pay us more So it's
also the temporary legal status
has been removed from over a
million people in America and
that means a lot of people in
San Diego County have lost
their temporary legal status
status even if they've lived
there for 15 years.
They got to go.
If they're not American
citizens, they got to go now
Trump is a rap rap Beat it up.
This is just one angle so you
guys get to keep talking about
how to build more housing If
there's less people living in
housing it's going to open up
more housing for like American
citizens.
So that would be a great angle
And then you mention it But
that's what's really going on
here man.
All these illegal guys are
taking up the low rental
prices.
Even the high rental places.
You know they buy houses too
and stuff But like the Chinese
guys are buying houses driving
up the cost and they're just
they're scamming the system
when they're pregnant baby
factories getting citizens
they're the ones are scamming
right in the open.
So go after those guys and
anybody on the city payroll
that has temporary legal
stature status has to go No
paying those guys any more
paychecks.
There's got to be like
the hundreds of them.
How many are there talk
the city attorney how many
people with temporary legal
status work for the city that
that would be a good question.
>> Thank you.
That does conclude your time.
Blaire for Beekman please begin
by Blair Big Ben thanks a lot
for this item Giving City
Attorney a bit more power for
an issue like this is
important.
Thank you.
I'm really interested how
the city of San Diego can be
working towards a future of
some sort of an Office of
Immigration And I think these
items living wage, prevailing
wage, minimum wage ordinances
and dres issues of child
trafficking and all be really
important concepts in
the future of an Office of
Immigration in San Diego San
Jose has one They started one a
few years ago and it's an
interesting concept that I know
you guys have talked about but
you don't want to further
develop and I think we really
should be.
I think it can really address a
previous previous public
commenters comments that I
think he's living in a bit of a
fantasy world If he thinks that
we're going to just
continuously be deporting
people I don't think that's our
American future.
I think this is a one time two
year shot for Trump that we're
already, you know, easing off
of and that we are going to be
using our hope more because we
are going to be developing more
clear policies I think that can
be everyone can relate to with
ideas like a piece of
immigration that we can talk
with and that can address drug
concerns, that can address, you
know, worker rights concerns.
Good luck in those sort of
efforts to consider that way of
thinking as opposed to just
everyone's illegal or not.
It's a lot more shaded than
this.
So black and white I think good
luck how we understand that and
work that together better in
the future and come up with
really good immigration
policies and to conclude I
think in in the Brown Act
process if you had an item at
the committee or council
meeting before you can remove
it and not have people comment
but eventually that does
conclude your time.
>> Thank you.
Our next speaker is a caller
with the last four digits 8700
Please begin Joy okay first of
all I'll be on point and then I
want to add a couple of things.
Yes.
To this ordinance adjustment
and I support that.
I wish I could say this exactly
precisely right.
The only question I need and
it's probably answered in
the backup is that I have
clarity on the authority of
the mayor versus the office of
the attorney.
It sounded like it was a
matching authority equal but I
am not sure on that But I
approve this item full
heartedly so a couple of
things.
No, I got to get this off my
chest.
Got to get all of you make an
amazing salary in my opinion I
think it's $180,000 a month.
That's a lot of money
especially when you're you
understand what underserved
communities are doing are where
where they're living and what
they're what they're facing.
I want a more together
professional look of our
council Where is money?
Well, for Councilmember Van
Wilpert, MR. Councilmember for
the third you were absent a lot
during budget and you've been
absent a lot And I don't get it
And it doesn't feel good And I
know you're following protocols
but I want you to step up.
>> I don't want quorum issues.
I don't want the budget meeting
start I want you to show us
your noble engaging what you
the people voted you for for
the city of Sandy.
Oh, and we deserve that And
please do that for us.
And I love you.
I love you Now I like the idea
of the immigration office
because I don't understand
what's happening to our
refugees and immigrants and how
they're going to get home.
Thank you.
That does conclude your time.
Thank you.
Our next speaker is Natalie
Rashi.
Please begin.
>> Hi.
Um I stated this I think this
week or last week we're going
to have to start being really
innovative in how we move
forward.
I've been doing some deep dives
into A.I. And how that MAY or
MAY not affect our community.
It's moving faster than I think
people are really wanting to be
aware of and everything that we
do as a collective I think has
to be intentional and strategic
.
There are big A.I. Companies,
big people that are I would say
sociopaths that are trying to
do things and run this country
your way that I'm not choosing
that I want to participate in
these the wages I don't even
know what that means anymore
And that's why I've been really
focused on building community
and building business because
if this is going to go the way
that some of these people these
techs are trying to make it go
I just read an article
yesterday in The Voice of San
Diego.
They have an ai robot teacher,
the first one in San Diego.
That's insane.
And the look on those kids
Facebook looked like they were
scared.
>> It's a six foot two robot.
It's strange but that's where
we're at.
So I don't know where that
leads us when it comes to jobs
At the end of the day.
But like I said, I think we
have to get innovative and say
no when it's time to say no and
stand up for what you know what
is human and what is not human
.
>> Thanks.
Thank you.
That concludes public testimony
on items 5o5.
All right.
Thank you, Deputy Clerk I'll
turn over my colleagues
questions.
Comments Entertain a motion.
I'm going to start with Council
PRESIDENT Pro Tem Lee and then
I think Council member Foster
was next up and then I'm going
to Councilmember Kimball I'll
actually defer first to
Councilmember Foster to start
this from a budgetary
perspective.
Wasn't sure who hit first but
COUNCILMAN Foster Oh your Thank
you.
No worries.
Thank you.
Council PRESIDENT And I just
really want to thank MADAM City
attorney for the quick work on
this and also want to thank her
for identifying for identifying
this as we were working through
the budget process.
I think those are the you know,
as we are continuing to look at
the structural deficit and look
out look at how we continue to
meet our obligations, I think
this was an opportunity that
was brought to the table at
the right time to where we can
expand our processes and some
improvements and have a little
more flexibility in what we can
do, what we cannot do now.
>> So I just want to think that
also just wanted to make sure
and Jim, if you could I just
want to make sure that we
continue to do our annual
reports coming before committee
council as we look at all these
processes that we have in place
to make sure we are meeting our
intended goals that we are
targeting.
So just wanted to make sure
that we can continue to do that
.
>> Can you confirm that?
Yes.
Councilmember Foster thank you
for the question.
>> Yes, that will carry on as
usual.
All right.
Thank you.
And Jim, thank you for moving
so quickly with this as this is
a very important item I would
say for myself and I think for
this council.
And so with that I will move
staff's recommendation.
>> All right.
Thank you, sir.
So a motion by Councilmember
Foster to move the recommended
staff recommendation will go
now to council PRESIDENT Pro
Tem Lee and Council PRESIDENT
And I'll second the motion and
also share my thanks to City
Attorney Firmat for really
bringing forth this
opportunity.
And I think this is more than
just a logistical move that has
the potential of saving funding
from a general fund standpoint
.
What it really is is is taking
an office that actually had
been shifted in the last year
and a half or so to just being
the division of labor standards
under the city treasurer to a
place where I think we have an
opportunity to actually think
about how we do better
enforcement on this front And I
think enabling the city
Attorney's office to actually
conduct that work to oversee it
has many advantages And again I
think we have a lot of thanks
to the office and city attorney
for it for bringing this
forward.
>> So again with that happy
commission.
All right.
Thank you, sir.
We have a motion by
Councilmember Foster in a
second by council PRESIDENT Pro
Tem Lee Not see anybody else in
the lights.
Clerk Please call the roll.
>> I have set up the voting
system.
Please cast your vote and we
will need a verbal vote from
Councilmember Foster.
I vote yes.
Thank you.
The item passes unanimously So
nothing with the council
districts five and eight
absent.
>> All right.
Thank you for the good work and
thank you for the presentation
and patiently waiting through
this afternoon's agenda.
So with that we will now
adjourn Council to the next
regularly scheduled council
meeting on Monday JULY six,
2026 at 10 P.M. And as a
reminder the new changes under
sb seven seven will be effect