{"id":411918,"date":"2025-11-29T02:40:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T02:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/411918\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T02:40:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T02:40:11","slug":"campillos-reforms-a-smart-response-to-glorias-trash-fee-machinations-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/411918\/","title":{"rendered":"Campillo\u2019s reforms a smart response to Gloria\u2019s trash fee machinations \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a city where every elected official is a Democrat, it\u2019s rare to see one offer a pointed critique of San Diego\u2019s governance. But that\u2019s just what Councilmember Raul Campillo has done with a call for reforms<\/a> in response to the appalling tactics Mayor Todd Gloria and other leaders<\/a> used to clear the way for requiring more than 200,000 single-family homes to begin paying directly for trash collection.<\/p>\n

In 2022, 50.5%<\/a> of voters backed allowing the city to charge households exempted from trash fees by a 1919 city law after being told it would lead to monthly bills of $23 to $29. But in February, city officials announced the basic fee would be $53. Public outrage led that to be reduced to $43.60<\/a> \u2014 still 90% higher than the low-end estimate and 50% higher than the high-end estimate. Nevertheless, Gloria rejects<\/a> the widely held view that this was a \u201cbait and switch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campillo \u2014 who voted against the proposal because of this deception \u2014 wants a requirement that the city must undertake a thorough analysis of what fees would be and provide it to voters before they decide on proposals like 2022\u2019s Measure B, not after.<\/p>\n

The Harvard-trained attorney also wants to avoid a replay of the city\u2019s shabby compliance with Proposition 218<\/a>. The 1996 state ballot measure includes a provision that blocks proposed fees from being collected if they are objected to by a majority of affected property owners. The law requires local governments to notify affected residents via mail and tell them how they can contest such fees. City officials did the minimum possible, sending out a notice that many found vague and confusing. Campillo proposes requiring that the first page of such mailers \u201cmust clearly state that a fee is being proposed\u201d and that the mailers include a simple form with which residents can object.<\/p>\n

These two reforms should be the first step toward a culture change at City Hall. But will they actually be enacted, given that doing so would amount to an admission of wrongdoing? Gloria and a majority of the council have never apologized for the city\u2019s dishonest tactics on this issue. There\u2019s no reason to expect them to do the right thing now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a city where every elected official is a Democrat, it\u2019s rare to see one offer a pointed…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":411919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,6083,1269,3549,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-411918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-editorials","12":"tag-opinion","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115630678133202994","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}