S1: Welcome in San Diego. I'm Jade Hyndman. On today's show , we'll tell you about a committee dedicated to solving San Diego's cost of living problems. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. We don't have to tell you that the cost of living in San Diego is a real problem. A study last year by U.S. News and World Report ranked San Diego the most expensive city in the country , thanks to housing and transportation costs. San Diegans also pay among the highest electricity prices nationwide. For many , making ends meet is a daily challenge. The San Diego City Council is forming a new committee dedicated to addressing the cost of living. District nine Council member Sian ILO Rivera is chair of the committee. He joins me now. Council member , welcome to Midday Edition.
S2: Thank you for having me.
S1: So glad to have you here. So tell me about the general idea of the Cost of Living Committee.
S2: I told him , you know , I'd really like to dedicate myself to addressing what I think is the biggest threat to our community , and that is people's ability to afford to live here. In my time in office. We've , you know , seen folks struggle through not just paying their rent , but the other increases in cost of living. And I represent a working class district , uh , folks who work very , very hard and are finding it more and more difficult to stay here in San Diego to see a future for themselves in San Diego. And , you know , you know , I just came off running for reelection , which gave me even more opportunity to talk to people. And whether it was students at San Diego State who love this city , whether they moved here or grew up here and want to stay here once they graduate. Or young families similar to mine who are trying to get a foothold here , or seniors who have dedicated their lives to making San Diego what it is. People are really concerned. They just won't be able to afford to to live here. And it's a real threat to to our community and to who we are as a city. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , let's turn to to how we fix this. I know some of the specific issues. The committee wants to focus on , one being a price fixing of rental properties.
S2: They've also now filed litigation against some of the corporations who are utilizing the software. And we know that there's at least one submarket within San Diego where prices are artificially inflated , an additional 5 to 7% , perhaps more. And it is an important thing to note. Neither , neither I nor any single politician can fix the economy that we can't make life affordable overnight on our own. But that's not a reason not to try. And so when we think about something like artificial intelligence being utilized to , um , to to price gouge or to fix prices for rent , that 5 to 7% for something like rent , that adds up , that adds up to , to hundreds of dollars for people. And in my opinion , what we've seen over the last several years is big tech partner with big corporations and Wall Street to try to squeeze every cent that they can out of every consumer that they can. And what I want us to do is be just as. As diligent and just as committed to putting dollars back in the pockets of of San Diegans. Of preventing unscrupulous practices like artificial intelligence. Price fixing. From taking those dollars out of folks pockets. And I think that bit by bit. We can claw some dollars back from greedy corporations , and we can keep dollars in the pockets of San Diegans.
S1: Another thing the committee is considering is banning grocery stores from offering digital only coupons.
S2: And we know that our seniors are and have been impacted for this for a while now. The AARP , which is a very well-respected national organization , has created a nationwide campaign about this. And it's it's pretty simple. You know , in terms of a concept , people should know what price they're paying for , the goods that they're paying for. And our trips to the supermarket shouldn't turn into games again for big tech and and greedy corporations to try to squeeze every cent that they can out of the milk that we buy and the eggs that we were buying. And these apps , these digital only coupons , are being used in a way that seems to intentionally be targeting seniors , uh , folks who may not may lack access to , um , smartphones or maybe just are not as comfortable using those phones and at other times don't seem to be , um , being offered in a way that is necessarily user friendly. And folks who are very comfortable with technology and are trying to be diligent about making sure that they're tracking , uh , getting every discount that they can because they need every discount that they can find. Uh , they are getting to the checkout stand and still being charged more because , you know , there's a lag between when the coupon is scanned and when it's applied. Again , this is about trying in every way that we can to put a few dollars at a time back into people's pockets and these trips to the grocery store. If you think you're buying an item that's on sale that has oftentimes been seen that the price jacked up on that item in advance of that sale or in alignment with that sale , you start to see a pattern. And I'll be honest , this this policy idea is not something that I came up with on my own. My father actually is the one who inspired this. He was very frustrated with this this practice as it was growing and again , being totally transparent. I laughed it off at first as a as an example of a boomer just not knowing how to use his phone. And when I listened a little bit more and actually saw what was happening at the grocery store , I realized , um , and then added , you know , added the research to that. This is a widespread practice and it's having a huge impact on seniors , seniors who are living on fixed income already struggling to get by. And we think that it's a very simple policy fix and one that will make a difference in people's lives.
S1: Makes a lot of sense. You know , earlier you said that you all as politicians can't fix the economy , but but you can make meaningful changes through policy.
S2: The the digital only coupons. Um , and we also know that we , we want to be very aggressive on ensuring that San Diegans are being paid a fair wage. Um , you know , when they when they're doing hard work that makes the city run. But there's another component to this. We want to make sure that we're listening as well. So right now we've planned only four meetings for the year , one in each quarter. We want to make every meeting impactful and meaningful. We want to ensure that we are sitting down with community organizations and with community members to hear about the ways that they are being impacted by the high cost of living that aren't necessarily appropriate or easy to slot into the other committees that exist. Uh , you know , I want to make sure that this committee is staying very focused on on things that are within our control. I don't want our work to be performative , right ? So there might be , as an example , health care costs are are , you know , through the roof for a lot of people and have a huge impact on their on people's ability to , to make ends meet ? I know that I've seen it happen in my family , and the city is not necessarily a great place to address that. So we could do some performative work where we , um , I pound on the , on the dais and say that it's unfair and unjust for healthcare corporations to squeeze money out of consumers , but there wouldn't necessarily be tangible effects from that , that that , you know , put dollars back in the pockets of San Diegans or keep dollars in the pockets of San Diegans. So we want to take the time to listen. We want to take the time to be thoughtful about what is going to be impactful and as as immediate as possible. Oftentimes , the policy changes that we we make are important. And and things that I'm very supportive of but won't necessarily be felt for many years down the road and to the greatest extent possible , I want this committee's work in partnership with my colleagues who will be on the committee. Council member , foster and Council Member von Wolpert to try our best to make sure that the actions that we take lead to impact in the shortest amount of time possible. Federal level.
S1: This is KPBS Midday Edition. We're back after the break. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman , talking about a new effort to address San Diego's cost of living crisis. Also , you know , when listeners hear something like a new committee was formed. Sometimes it can sound like bureaucratic jargon.
S2: We heard , um , we heard people say that as soon as we announced it. And I understand why people don't need a committee. They need to feel relief. So that's that is my mindset as we as we go into this work. There's no mission accomplished flag that will be flown. You know , because we've created the committee or because we have our first meeting , we will feel like we're doing our work when policies are passed and those those policies are implemented and start to have an effect on people's day to day lives. So , um , I don't expect people to believe me when I say that. Now , what I , what I hope is that they'll keep an open mind and , and engage with my office and my colleagues , share their ideas , um , and when the policies are being considered , will weigh in. And , um , I fully expect that we will be bold , um , that we will fight for San Diegans because working class families deserve us to fight for them. Um , when we engage in those fights with the big corporations who want to keep every single dollar of profit possible , um , we're going to ask for their help and we're going to take them on. And I hope at the end of the day , they feel like life has just gotten a little bit easier to afford here in San Diego.
S1: The city faces a huge budget deficit.
S2: We had a sales tax on the ballot. Unfortunately , that came a few thousand votes short. And , um , that's going to have an impact on our ability to fund programs that could otherwise , um , you know , help reduce cost of living. And at the same time , I think that one of the conversations that we have to have as a council with the mayor for this budget cycle is what we prioritize. And I want to prioritize making San Diego work for San Diegans. I don't think we should be subsidizing tourists and tourism when San Diegans are struggling. Um , we're going to ask more folks who visit this city , who use this city and see the benefits of it to pay their fair share , fair share when they come here. Our office has proposed charging visitors for parking at our beaches and our bays and our beautiful parks , like Balboa Park. I don't think San Diegans should need to pay those fees , but I do think visitors should. And there's millions of dollars of potential revenue that's there , and millions of dollars of revenue can be poured into something like child care programs. It can be poured into the the operating hours of our libraries and our rec centers , which in a very meaningful way can help bring down childcare costs. Because if we have public spaces that are open and safe , families can can utilize those to help address some of their childcare costs. Um , but this is going to require an important and difficult conversation that San Diego has oftentimes shied away from. And that is , again , making sure that San Diego works for San Diegans. It doesn't work for wealthy out-of-town corporations. It doesn't work for the tourists. It works for San Diegans. And so that a lot of our advocacy during the budget cycle is going to be about reframing how we think about who uses this city , who benefits from this city , and making folks who who come here pay their fair share so that San Diego's San Diegans can enjoy the benefits that should come from living in a beautiful , beautiful city that has also become far too expensive.
S1: Well , there are many people , I'm sure , rooting for these efforts. I've been speaking with San Diego City Council member Sian Rivera. Thank you so much for being here today , Council member.
S2: I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
