TIME FOR NEW CITY LEADERS TO GET TO WORK

There is no recent precedent for the mass turnover at City Hall last week, as Mayor Todd Gloria and Councilmembers Raul Campillo, Sean Elorivera, Joe Lacava, Marni von Wilpert and Stephen Whitburn took office. But the six lawmakers — all Democrats — shouldn’t ease into their responsibilities. In his speech Thursday, Gloria vowed to fix “the small issues that past leaders have struggled to resolve” in his first 100 days — issues like “scooters and vacation rentals” — so he can “focus on the biggest problems facing our city.” Yes, please.

On housing, Californians will never make substantial progress unless dominant Democrats accept the need to change environmental and zoning rules that give NIMBYS and construction unions easy ways to block new projects they don’t like. Progress is also unlikely if Democrats continue to see subsidized housing that helps only a relative handful of residents as a broad solution. Prefab homes and dormitory-style housing have alleviated housing shortages in Britain and Japan. Why can’t local and state elected officials follow proven blueprints to reduce the extreme cost of housing?

On homelessness, newly departed Mayor Kevin Faulconer and past City Councils deserve credit for the amount of funding and attention they gave the intractable issue. San Diego arguably has done better than any major city in the state on it. But blocks of Downtown can be feces-flecked barrens dominated by homeless people — some openly using drugs and in need of mental health care. Yes, of course, they deserve compassion and support. Yet the city must strike a thoughtful balance between the needs of homeless residents and the quality-oflife needs of sheltered Downtown residents.

On short-term vacation rentals, which is no small part of the housing problem, the progress of a proposal by new City Council President Jennifer Campbell suggests the city may finally be ready for fundamental change. Unanimously backed by the Planning

Commission earlier this month, Campbell’s plan would reduce the number of such rentals by half while carving out exceptions for Mission Beach, where hundreds of homeowners have rented out their properties year-round for many decades. The complex proposal needs Gloria’s full attention. But its 6,500-home cap on short-term rentals in the city is a cap worth considering to prevent speculators from buying up homes — and keeping them from year-round use by locals — then renting them out via Airbnb and other websites to tourists. City Hall must show more political courage than it has in the past in responding to threats of lawsuits or ballot measures generated by Airbnb signature-gathering.

On infrastructure, it’s been nearly six years since a comprehensive city report was issued that listed literally hundreds of problems with poorly maintained streets, sidewalks, bridges, sewers, storm drains, parks, libraries, police and fire stations. While more than $1.2 billion has been allocated for capital improvements in recent city budgets, far more still needs to be done.

Finally, on police reform, there is national momentum for a better approach to law enforcement. In June, Faulconer and Police Chief David Nisleit announced smart new policies emphasizing the need for officers to “de-escalate” potentially violent encounters with the public, and in November, voters approved creation of an independent police review commission. But city leaders need to take many more steps to reduce the present norms in which officers are often expected to serve as de facto mental health counselors in dealing with troubled individuals. That is not a role that police should be expected to handle on a daily basis.

This is a challenging time. The pandemic’s health toll on San Diego is grim, but so is its toll on the local economy and the city budget. Here’s hoping the new officeholders at City Hall rise to this occasion — and truly focus on the biggest problems facing the city.