S.D. COUNCIL CANDIDATES DEBATE VACATION RENTALS, CLIMATE CHANGE, DEVELOPMENT
District 2 contest also focused on incumbent’s responsiveness, ADUs
Five candidates battling for San Diego City Council debated vacation rentals, climate change and rules for coastal development during a spirited public forum this week in Point Loma.
The candidates also argued over police budgeting, accessory dwelling units and incumbent Councilmember Jennifer Campbell’s responsiveness to neighborhood concerns during the last four years.
Campbell, a Democrat, is being challenged for re-election by Republican dentist Linda Lukacs and three
Democrats: former state Assemblymember Lori Saldana, former city administrator Joel Day and neighborhood leader Mandy Havlik.
The top two finishers in the June 7 primary will advance to a November runoff to represent Council District 2, which includes Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Old Town and Clairemont.
Campbell’s opponents attacked compromise vacation rental legislation she has touted as a major success during her first term. Campbell contends she helped solve a 15-yearold problem that no one else had dared to truly tackle.
“This law brings back quality of life with enforcement,” Campbell said of the new law, which is expected to take effect this fall. “It will also put a cap on them so that San Diegans who live and work here will have places to buy and live in.”
Havlik criticized the cap, which essentially limits to 1 percent the number of units citywide that can legally become vacation rentals.
“I’d like to see the 1 percent equally distributed amongst all the nine (City Council) districts,” said Havlik, contending the noise and disruption from the rentals shouldn’t only be in beach communities and other popular areas.
Day would go even further, imposing a 1 percent cap in every one of the city’s four dozen planning areas, which are generally equivalent to individual city neighborhoods. He also criticized Campbell for working with lobbyists.
“I would not have done what Airbnb wanted me to do,” he said.
Saldana essentially wants vacation rentals to be completely illegal in residential areas.
began instituting a CLICK2GO online order system with curbside pickup in 2019. The pilot home delivery program is an extension of that service.
Earls says his company is led and staffed by veterans, members of Gold Star families who’ve lost a loved one on active duty and military spouses.
One of the newly hired carriers is Valerie De Castro, a Camp Pendleton mom with a 9-month-old baby and a toddler, age 4. She heard about the program through a military spouse Facebook group and signed up.
“I have my kids with me all the time,” De Castro explains. “This is an opportunity to make some money and help support my kids so they have the opportunities in life I want to give them.” A couple of her friends also have applied as carriers.
The program won’t just target off-base shoppers. “I know some families living on base who don’t own a second car,” De Castro says. When a spouse is working, they often ask if anyone can pick up commissary items for them.
Neeley McAllister, a Gold Star widow who lives in Virginia, is in charge of hiring community leaders and drivers for YouUp. She estimates about 50 delivery drivers have been hired so far in San Diego. They are a mix of military spouses, veterans and military retirees, with about half living on a base.
“Some spouses have been so excited, they’ve posted about it on their own Facebook pages,” says McAllister, who is relying heavily on word-of-mouth, military group social networking and military publications to get out word about the new service.
If the three-month pilot project goes well, Earls foresees the program being rolled out to all 236 commissaries here and abroad, eventually employing as many as 3,000 workers.
This may help stem hemorrhaging commissary sales. Defense Commissary
Agency figures show a drop from $6.09 billion in sales in 2012 to $4.5 billion in 2019.
Plus, shopping online became a way of life during the pandemic, and delivery services are flourishing.
It’s also a long overdue convenience for veterans, disabled vets, widowed spouses and others.
Ninety percent of commissary-eligible shoppers live off-base, according to the Defense Commissary Agency. Many, especially moms with young children, have neither time nor fortitude to brave the often-long lines for entry.
This also will open the door to many who retain commissary privileges but currently don’t have credentials necessary to enter a base.
The delivery service applies only to commissaries, not base exchanges, which sell nongrocery items and already accept online orders for shipping.
The YouUp.com service is being offered only online, although an app may be added. Beginning June 1, same-day delivery will be available within three hours of ordering on Mondays through Fridays.
“We would like to be part of the solution,” Earls says.
Now, after the birth of their third son, Rachel is surely happy she brought up the issue.