San Diego Mayor on housing package, police chief search

S1: It's time for Midday Edition on Kpbs today. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria joins us with an update on what's happening in the city. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. We'll talk about what's next. After the Housing Action Plan 2.0 hit a stumbling block.

S2: Monday's vote was a setback , but I'm confident that we can get this back on track. And my expectation is that we'll have this back before the City council very quickly.

S1: Plus , we'll find out how the city plans to fill the chief of police position as Nesbitt heads out. That's ahead on Midday Edition. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has long touted the importance of building more housing in San Diego to ease both the shortage and homelessness crisis , but the mayor's latest suite of housing initiatives ran into a stumbling block last week when the city council rejected his Housing Action Plan 2.0 proposal due to changes in affordable housing rules. Earlier today , the mayor announced plans to bring the housing proposal to the city council again next month. Meanwhile , San Diego is starting the search for its next police chief. Plus , the city is looking to open its next safe parking site near the airport. I spoke with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria late last week. Here's that interview. And Mayor Gloria , welcome back to Midday Edition.

S2: Thank you so much for having me , JD.

S1: Glad you're here. So the San Diego City Council rejected your housing plan or your Housing Action Plan 2.0 last Monday , largely due to amendments that would change the rules for affordable housing. Can you explain the reasoning for that proposed change ? Well , I.

S2: Want to start by just acknowledging that San Diego's severe housing crisis is central to really every challenge that we face , from economic growth to homelessness , and we need to take action on this. Monday's vote was a setback , but I'm confident that we can get this back on track , and my expectation is that we'll have this back before the city council very quickly. Specifically to your question , the perhaps disagreement of which there was not a consensus on the city council amendments were offered and were unsuccessful by those who didn't support my proposal to try and address what is the desire to actually build units , and specifically the ability for folks who are building housing in a community to be able to build more and more affordable housing on a different site ? That sort of flexibility , we think , will create more housing that people can afford , and that's why we've proposed it. There are some questions from some council members that we're going to try and address with this additional time that we have and ultimately , hopefully come to a consensus and move forward with taking action on the most urgent issue in our city , which is our housing and homelessness crisis.

S1:

S2: Now , you know , folks who want to build homes do have the ability to do stuff off site or pay an in lieu fee , and we as a city use those dollars to build offsite. The idea is this that if we can use lower housing costs and lower land values in another community to actually get more housing and more housing that's more deeply affordable , that we all see that as the social benefit that it is. Right ? Fewer units at more at higher prices don't really address the need that we have in our community , although for community integration reasons , I understand why that's a concern. The way I attempted to address this is by saying that we're not going to concentrate these lower cost units and lower income communities , instead , that we would allow them to be constructed in what we call high resource communities , communities with more amenities , with easier access to jobs and other things that are hallmarks of those high resource communities. So I think we put forward something that is extremely balanced and accomplishes what we want more housing that's more affordable in areas of greater opportunity. Obviously , there is a debate amongst the council , and ultimately what happened on Monday was a lack of consensus. Ultimately , I think we can gain that consensus and move forward , but that flexibility is key to doing what we need to do , which is build more homes that everyday San Diegans can afford.

S1:

S2: And if we can find agreement on things that I believe will actually move the needle on housing affordability , will make those alterations , and then bring this back before the city council again , I think that this is not going to be a difficult negotiation , quite honestly. I think on Monday , if the hearing had been permitted to go on for just a few more moments , we probably could have found that consensus. But we're going to take this additional time that the council has given me to make this proposal better , certainly make it implementable , and then move on to the next innovation. Because let's be clear , while I believe passionately that Housing Action Package 2.0 will help improve the situation , it will not solve our housing affordability crisis. And you can guarantee that I will come back again and again with new ideas to innovate in this space , to make it more affordable for San Diegans to live here in our great city.

S1: And you've often emphasized the importance of building more housing for San Diegans as you've done throughout this interview. But you chose not to opt in to the SB ten , which would make it easier to build housing in certain areas.

S2: City of San Diego , opting in to SB ten , one of the few cities in California that's attempted to do this. This was a part of the original Housing Action Package 2.0 , when this item was heard by the Planning Commission. They opted to remove this from the proposal in order to workshop it further. We're continuing to work with the Planning Commission and with interested stakeholders to try and find a pathway forward for SB ten. For your listeners benefit , what SB ten will do , in my estimation , is create more townhomes in our city , which are typically first time home ownership opportunities. And Jade , I am passionate about this. Working in middle class San Diegans deserve the opportunity to buy homes in our city and build wealth and raise families here. I believe SB ten will do it. I'm open to the suggestions and the concerns of the Planning Commission and others to make sure that this fits for San Diego. But to suggest that I am not supportive of trying to build more homes through through methods like SB ten is simply not accurate. It was removed by the Planning Commission and it is a continuing concern that I hope to bring back in the future.

S1: Okay , so I know you said that the Planning Commission removed the SB ten proposal , but their vote was purely advisory and you could have kept it in the package if you wanted to. Correct.

S2: I mean , that's fair , but the Planning Commission does vet land use items for the city council and for the city as a whole. Often when they take a dim view on something , it is not necessarily going to be successful when it's heard by the city council. And so what they asked for was for more work to be done on it. And I'm happy to do that. You know , I understand that this is a significant change and that we should take our time to understand and perhaps address some of the concerns that are out there. And that's what we're doing. You're correct. Their opinion , their work and their votes are advisory. But I do take their work very seriously. I take their opinions extremely seriously. These are professionals that serve in a voluntary capacity for the city , and I think it's right to show them the respect and the courtesy , to listen to their concerns and study them the way that they ask for them to be done. That's what we're doing. But ultimately , the desire that is behind that proposal to build more first time home ownership opportunities in the city of San Diego is something I'm still very committed to. And whether it's SB ten , some variation of SB ten or some other strategy , ultimately the work still needs to be done to build more homes in San Diego that are affordable , to work in the middle class people to give them that first time home ownership opportunity. That work is very important. If it takes a little bit longer , I'm I'm happy to do that. I will do that. And that's what we're doing now.

S1: You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hageman , I'm speaking with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and Mayor Gloria. I want to turn our attention to law enforcement. Last week , San Diego's Police Chief , David Light , announced he plans to retire in June. He served in that role for your entire time in office.

S2: He has overseen our department in a time of great challenge , and I believe he's been successful in working with me to make sure that San Diego remains one of the safest big cities in the United States. As his service to our city comes to an end in June of 2024 , we are going to undertake a national search for a new police chief to make sure that we stay one of the safest big cities in United States , and importantly , that we ensure that our department continues to innovate and holds criminals accountable. And while keeping our neighborhoods and its residents safe in their homes.

S3: And the city.

S1: Said the search for lights replacement is already underway. In a statement , you said you'll be looking to include community stakeholders to help select San Diego's next police chief. Tell us how you intend to do that and how the community will have a voice in the hiring process. Absolutely.

S2: Absolutely. So we have hired an outside consultant to help the city recruit from across the country , as well as internal to our department. We anticipate and hope to have internal applicants as well , but to field a good group of folks from which we can choose from , and one of the ways we're going to make those choices is through involving the community. We intend to gather community input , specifically having a forum in all nine of our city council districts and then having interview panels that consist of both internal city stakeholders , department peers , and others that will work with the next police chief , as well as community members who are nominated by council members and by myself to help serve as a community voice in vetting these individuals who step forward to say that they believe that they are the right leader for our department. Bottom line , end of the day , we hope to have a selected candidate for the City Council's confirmation before Chief Millete concludes his service to the city in late June of 2024. And right now , what we've given you is a time frame of basically eight months to do this community engagement , to recruit these individuals , to vet them thoroughly and pick the very best person to lead the San Diego Police Department.

S1: And I guess , you know , there has been some concern from the community about Bob Murray and associates and their engagement in this process.

S2: Often it's on social media , and it's worth about as much as what they paid to post those comments. But with regard to Bob Murray and associates , I hope your listeners , your viewers know they are nationally recognized search firm. They perform police chief searches all across this country. They performed the last city search is a process that I think most people felt was thorough and inclusive , and we're anticipating taking that previous process and improving upon it to make sure that people's voices are heard and that we get the very best person that's out there. But with regard to Bob Murray and associates , again , we are performing a national search , and we're using a firm that has a reputation and that has helped to select police chiefs all across this country , and to do that successfully , I believe they can do that for San Diego.

S1: After a long period where there had been multiple vacancies , the San Diego Ethics Commission is now fully filled with two more appointees approved earlier this month. But this was after you nominated former San Diego Sheriff Bill Glau for it , or Bill Gore rather for it. The selection garnered criticism from criminal justice reform advocates given the high death toll in San Diego's jails during Gore's tenure.

S2: And I feel like that hasn't always been made very clear by the media. So please allow me to do that. Now , what we would with this particular seat on our ethics commission required is someone who has previously run for public office , someone who has not run against an existing elected official and someone who is generally a resident of the city of San Diego. Someone who is willing to serve on the body. And reminder for your listeners , this is a voluntary position. There's no compensation associated with it. And someone who is in this particular case could not be a Democrat. So when you look at a city resident , it's not a Democrat who's run for political office and who's willing to serve , but has not ran against someone who is currently serving. That's a very narrow group of people , and we certainly contacted plenty of people that fit that narrow definition. And sadly , most of them were not willing to serve. It didn't either fit their needs or maybe conflicted with other things in their life. Point is , former Sheriff Gore met and meets all of those qualifications and was willing to serve. I issued two call memos to council members asking for nominations , and you probably know I received no responses. And so ultimately , what we were left with was having an ethics commission that was having trouble making quorum. And that's just unacceptable. So absent council action , I took action to put forward qualified nominees who meet the qualifications that are under our city charter. Ultimately , Sheriff Gore , former Sheriff Gore , withdrew his nomination and the council finally submitted a name of someone who met that very narrow definition. I'm glad to say that that person now has been confirmed and can serve. We now have an ethics commission that is fully staffed , and that's a good thing. San Diegans deserve to know that our ethics laws are being fully implemented , and have to say , it shouldn't be this hard to appoint people to the Ethics Commission. But what you saw from me in my administration was being relentless in making sure that we put forward qualified applicants who meet the letter of the law. Ultimately , it took too long to get this done , but now it's done. And I'm glad that the Ethics Commission is fully staffed , and.

S1: The City Council announced plans for a new shelter site on city owned land near the airport , called the H barracks.

S2: So H barracks will be very familiar to many of your listeners and viewers , even if they've never heard of it before. This is a city owned site immediately adjacent to San Diego International Airport. For any of your listeners who have sat in the cell phone lot at San Diego International Airport recently , when you're sitting in that lot , you're probably looking at H barracks. These are barracks that were previously used by the United States Navy when this was the Naval Training Center. It has been closed for a long period of time , and these vacant buildings have been there for quite some time. Underutilized. This will be the site of a future wastewater treatment site for the City of San Diego's Pure Water Project , but that particular use is not going to be available for quite some time. The Pure Water Project , as you may know , is the largest infrastructure project in the city's history and it's going to take many years to build that wastewater treatment facility. My opinion is that every city asset should be utilized to its maximum extent to address our homelessness crisis. And so if we have this key piece of land that is not currently being used , I believe we can use it to address our homelessness crisis. So what are we going to propose there ? We are proposing a relatively large homeless services facility. We're still working on what that would look like. A lot of the details are still being worked upon with community input , and so I don't have all the details I'd like to share with you , not because I'm holding them back , but because we legitimately are working with professionals in the homeless services world , as well as community members , to understand what we can do there to be as successful as possible. But ultimately , Jade , this is a multi acre site that isn't a discreet location. It is next to the airport. It is far from residences , businesses , schools and whatnot. It is separated from the Point Loma community by the channel of water that's there that runs alongside Liberty Station. So we think this is an appropriate site. We think it have high impact that we could house hundreds of homeless individuals there. And what I want your listeners to hear me say is this is a temporary use. We believe that with some speed , we can maybe operationalize this space and in as little as a year's time from now. But whatever we do , there will be time limited because we still need this site for a wastewater treatment facility. So you've seen me move forward on safe sleeping sites at 20th and B and at Ola in , in and around the downtown Balboa Park area. Those sites are also temporary. H barracks can be an additional to those facilities and a transition place for those while we work on longer term strategies at locations like the old Central Library in downtown. So forgive me for the long answer , Jade , but there's a lot of moving parts here. Ultimately , what I hope your listeners hear and feel is a city that is doing all it possibly can to have high impact solutions to our homelessness crisis , places where people can go with security services and most importantly , pathways out of homelessness and into permanent housing. I think H barracks can have that high impact on a temporary basis to help us get people off of our sidewalks , out of our parks , off of our beaches and into care and on their way to permanent housing.

S1: I've been speaking with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. Mayor Gloria , as always , thank you so much for joining us.

S2: My absolute pleasure. Thanks for the opportunity.