Housing, Homelessness, and the 2020 Elections in San Diego - Part 1
Housing vs. the Environment in the County
The biggest issue in the 2020 election for local governance has to be housing, which is linked to homelessness and climate change, along with a sad history of racism.
The simplified version of the conflict in the county is all-too-often depicted as a battle between developers and environmentalists.
In fact, the lines between these positions are muddled, depending on which situation is being discussed. Almost everybody agrees on the need for more housing. It’s just the “who,” “how,” “when” and “where” that divide San Diegans.
Measures A and B on March 2020 county-wide ballots are examples of how conflicted people can be on these issues.
Measure A (SOS Initiative) would require the county to give the people a vote on large housing developments that require general plan amendments to increase density in rural and semi-rural areas.
It’s on the ballot because big money developers currently can go to the Republican dominated Board of Supervisors to get changes allowing for housing tracts in places where they shouldn’t be.
In recent times County Supervisors voted to approve some controversial developments in rural, high-fire danger areas and there are other projects in the pipeline requiring exemptions to the county’s General Plan.
Supporters of the SOS initiative include the League of Women Voters and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, Cleveland National Forest Foundation, the Volcan Mountain Association in Julian, the Audubon Society, San Diego 350 and the Chaparral Institute.
This “pay to play” business strikes a lot of people as unfair, or corrupt, and they want it stopped.
However, Measure A creates what’s called “ballot box” planning.
Ballot box planning denied the community of Barrio Logan the chance to have a say about environmentally dangerous operations next to housing areas inhabited primarily by people of color.
Big bucks business interests made it sound as though the Navy would leave town if the community’s plan was enforced.
Although SOS/Measure A didn't come from corporate/developers, as happened in Barrio Logan, it's none-the-less asking voters to step in and exercise the power supposedly given to elected officials.
The No on Measure A folks say it’s chock full of loopholes and point to disastrous economic results following passage of a similar measure in Ventura County.
The No folks' arguments about six unit exemptions having to be voted on, however, are just baloney. General Plan Amendments are an expensive legal process, too costly for the small guys.
The big names opposing this measure are a mixture of establishment types (the Democratic and Republican Parties, the so-called taxpayer association) and affordable housing advocates like the SD Housing Federation and Community Housing Works.
No matter what side of this debate you’re on, the opposing side will be quick to tell you that you’re not being progressive. It’s a lose-lose situation when it comes to maintaining one’s political credibility.
Question: Do we really want to have a vote every time some entity that bought land on the cheap wants to get rich?
The solution to this dilemma is not more ballot box decisions. It’s having a Board of Supervisors with enough wisdom to see beyond the needs of their campaign treasuries.
San Diegans can fix this problem in the 2020 elections, as there are candidates with ethical backbones running in three supervisorial districts on the ballot.
UPDATE: I've had a change of heart on this one. We need to throw some sand into the gears of the machines defiling our rural areas. Build up, not out. Vote Yes on A.
Save Our San Diego Countryside (Yes on A)
Website | Facebook | Twitter
No On A
Website | Facebook | Twitter
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Measure B on upcoming county-wide ballots is the kind of thing I’m talking about.
Measure B, which will appear on the ballot below Measure A --which may create some confusion-- would challenge the Supervisors approval of the Newland Sierra development.
People in El Cajon and Chula Vista will be voting for or against something that has little direct impact on their lives.
Supporters of the project, which include various chambers of commerce, have portrayed it as much-needed housing amid an environmentally conscious development.
Consider the stats on the Yes on B website:
80% of the land is preserved as open space/fire protection.
62% of the homes are attainable to San Diego’s workforce
19 miles of riding/hiking trails
100% carbon neutral
Wow, you’d have to be real Grinch to oppose all those benefits. Right?
Not so fast, gang. Flowery language can mask terrible truths.
Here’s the No on B take:
The project is in a Very High Fire Severity Zone where the County General Plan originally restricted housing density. A large scale wildfire evacuation would be dangerous, considering there are 2 evacuation routes for a project the size of the city of Del Mar.
Newland is failing to provide any affordable units in the 2,135 units that they are building. Attainable is not the same as affordable.
There will be 28,862 new trips daily on local roads and the I-15 and the developer will pay exactly zero dollars to mitigate the gridlock.
According to emails, Newland Sierra proponents exerted political pressure on senior agency officials to downplay concerns about protection and preservation of wildlife species.
So--pay attention here--Measure B amounts to ballot box planning, which is supposed to be a bad thing.
Voters are being asked to stop a big housing development.
Now that it’s made it through the Board of Supervisors, No on B is the only thing standing in the way of some serious sprawl.
I would be remiss by not noting that the campaign against B is funded by a luxury spa that doesn’t want nearby developments. The opposition, however, includes the League of Women Voters, the Democratic Party, and numerous environmental groups.
Better Choice San Diego (Yes On B)
Website | Facebook | Twitter
No On Newland Sierra (No on B)
Website | Facebook | Twitter
No and No are how I’ll be voting on these measures. No to ballot box planning. No to sprawl, since the Newland Sierra measure got this far. And No to County Supervisors who can’t see the environmental disasters headed our way. (More on those contests soon.)
Tomorrow: Home Building (or not) in the City
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Lead image: National Park Service