{"id":971694,"date":"2026-07-31T17:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/971694\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T17:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:09:10","slug":"opinion-san-diego-must-not-balance-its-budget-on-the-back-of-mission-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/971694\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: San Diego must not balance its budget on the back of Mission Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A family walks on the south Mission Bay shore. (File photo by Thomas Murphy \/ Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

Mission Bay Park<\/a> is one of San Diego\u2019s greatest public assets and one of the most recognizable destinations in our region. Each summer, families, tourists, athletes and outdoor enthusiasts fill its beaches, playgrounds, picnic areas and businesses.<\/p>\n

Yet at the very moment Mission Bay should be putting its best foot forward, the city of San Diego has closed 13 of the park\u2019s 28 public restrooms.<\/p>\n

\"Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

That is nearly half of all restroom facilities in a park that welcomes an estimated 15 million visitors each year.<\/p>\n

City officials say these closures will save approximately $547,000. But closing nearly half the public restrooms at one of San Diego\u2019s most heavily visited destinations is not a meaningful solution to the city\u2019s larger budget problems. It is a choice about priorities \u2014 and one that shifts the consequences of those budget decisions onto families, visitors and nearby businesses.<\/p>\n

Public restrooms are not a luxury at a major regional park. They are basic infrastructure. Parents with young children need them. Seniors need them. People with disabilities need them. Tourists spending an entire day at the bay need them.<\/p>\n

Closing these facilities during the busiest season sends exactly the wrong message about San Diego\u2019s priorities and our readiness to welcome millions of visitors. It also puts local businesses in an impossible position.<\/p>\n

When visitors cannot find an open public restroom, they inevitably turn to nearby restaurants, hotels and shops. Those businesses are then expected to absorb the added demand, cleaning costs and disruption. At the same time, a diminished visitor experience can shorten trips, discourage return visits and reduce spending at the small businesses that depend on a strong summer season.<\/p>\n

Tourism is one of San Diego\u2019s economic engines. Visitors do not just stay in hotels. They eat at restaurants, rent bikes and boats, shop locally and support thousands of jobs. When the city allows one of its premier destinations to become less welcoming and less functional, the economic consequences extend well beyond Mission Bay.<\/p>\n

That should concern every employer who depends on a clean, safe and well-managed city to attract customers, investment and opportunity.<\/p>\n

These cuts also hit San Diegans directly. Mission Bay belongs to the public. Local families already pay taxes to maintain it. They should not arrive for a day at the beach only to find locked restroom doors and fewer essential services because City Hall could not find $547,000 elsewhere in its budget.<\/p>\n

Budget challenges require difficult decisions. But there is a difference between making difficult decisions and making the wrong ones.<\/p>\n

Before eliminating basic services at one of San Diego\u2019s most heavily used public spaces, city leaders should exhaust administrative savings, reconsider lower-priority spending and work with community and business partners willing to help find solutions.<\/p>\n

San Diego\u2019s business community should not remain silent when City Hall balances its books by degrading the public spaces that help drive our economy. Business owners understand budgeting. They understand accountability. And they understand that cutting a relatively small expense can ultimately cost far more when it damages customer experience, commerce and San Diego\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n

This is also about something larger than 13 locked restroom doors. It is about whether San Diego is willing to make the difficult choices necessary to fund the basic services residents and taxpayers reasonably expect from their city.<\/p>\n

It is time for a course correction.<\/p>\n

Reopen Mission Bay\u2019s restrooms. Bring stakeholders together. Find a responsible solution that protects taxpayers without punishing families, visitors and local employers.<\/p>\n

San Diego cannot claim to value tourism, small businesses and quality public spaces while making one of its signature destinations harder to use.<\/p>\n

Mission Bay deserves better. San Diego taxpayers deserve better.<\/p>\n

Scott Bedingfield is Chairman of the Lincoln Club Business League<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A family walks on the south Mission Bay shore. (File photo by Thomas Murphy \/ Times of San…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":971695,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,13237,152393,193178,3549,7264,5331,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-971694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-america","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-city-budget","tag-mission-bay-park","tag-restrooms","tag-san-diego","tag-sandiego","tag-tourism","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117015699077217946","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971694","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=971694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/971695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=971694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=971694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=971694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}