What Will Define San Diego In 2014?

MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: San Diego's interim Mayor Todd Gloria will deliver the state of the city address this week. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Our top story on Midday Edition, San Diego's upcoming State of the city address. On Wednesday interim Mayor Todd Gloria will outline the 2014 agenda for the city Council. Of course the agenda may change a bit after San Diegans elect a new Mayor next month but on the whole the focus on infrastructure and community planning will most likely continue no matter who wins. Joining me for a preview of the Mayor's State of the city address are my guests, Carl Luna is a political science professor at San Diego Mesa college. Carl, welcome back to the show CARL LUNA: Good to be here. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: And Scott Lewis is CEO voice of San Diego. Scott, welcome. SCOTT LEWIS: Thank you. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: First let's take a trip down memory lane. Last year this season was a bit unusual we got a hint of what the Mayor Bob Filner's administration would be like. For instance we recall a new team first lady was introduced, Carl. CARL LUNA: Of course we now refer to him as he who will not be mentioned ala Harry Potter. His fiancée was the first lady. He set out an aggressive progressive agenda things he wanted to be accomplished many of which have been carried forward by the city Council and Todd Gloria. Todd Gloria more efficient at getting things done. It was 30 minutes late starting off which kind of reflected the disorganization in the Filner camp which bedeviled him across his entire administration. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: And Scott, the last year's state of the city address as Carl mentions was very long and also there were new elements introduced, like a new award for some San Diegans. Did it show what the Filner administration was going to be like? SCOTT LEWIS: I think it showed one main thing in that this display itself just showed one main thing that a bunch of different people were going to start to find prominence in San Diego in a way that had been displayed before. In other words people from a more progressive standpoint, people who were more diversely spread out through the city and really a focus on neighborhood. One thing that Bob Filner ended up doing I think one of the most important, lease talked about things that he ended up doing during the year was basically respond to every single neighborhood complained that got to his ears. And though he would shutdown projects, he would tell his inspectors not to go inspect buildings to punish a developer that had angered neighbors, and these sorts of reactions to the neighborhood and neighborhood activists were I think a hallmark of what he ended up doing and what he showed America could do with good and bad, with the executive power. So that was kind of a beginning sort of point that look we are going to listen to these people almost to a fault to the point where to where she didn't listen to both sides of a competing issue. It turned out to be a major point hidden by the other scandals that he faced. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Carl, what do you think are some of the themes we are going to be hearing in the interim Mayor's state of the city? CARL LUNA: Maybe a little humorous remorse over the fate of the Chargers but on a more serious note talking about the fate of the Chargers something to the effect the city wants to keep the Chargers here. How you do that has been a 20 year question. Then you talk about what happened about some of the things part by the previous organization the Balboa Park reorganization plan. The Balboa Park Centennial is a big thing they still have to look at, always go up about your biggest hits, the five-year plan with the police the Todd Gloria got through the reorganization of planning has once again its own independent entity paying more attention to neighborhoods and then I look to the future. What's the budget going to look like, like are you to run the $40 million deficit long-term pension funding but also know that the library is done, what's the next big project on the show for the city to focus on? Dare I say a new City Hall? MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: And Scott, dare I say we hear about infrastructure this particular state of the city address, not normally the kind of topic that you hear a lot of about but this has been a big focus of the city Council? SCOTT LEWIS: I don't know what he's going to talk about but I know what I would if it were in a similar situation. Basically four or five things that really stand out for me. One is this potential for a mega bond. The idea being that they are going to go to each one of the neighborhoods and ask them what infrastructure do they want? Do they need libraries, do they need rehabilitative fire station, do they need roads what's going on in the neighborhoods? They're going to get a gigantic list together. They might propose some kind of tax increase or just some sort of special bond that would then maybe not pay for everything but would be a big part of it. I agree [inaudible], but another big thing is the community plan. You are seeing the Barrio Logan community plan being challenged by referendum there are other community plans on the cusp of being approved, will they get challenged as well? Are we going to be able to get these community plans approved because they form the foundation of being able to get things built to a neighborhood with community acceptance of other parts of the fight after each one of the projects. I think the infrastructure at the border is going to be a major issue. I also think that we each year, or every so often get a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency for the sewage that we dump into the ocean because we do not treat it up to the standard that we are supposed to so we get a waiver. Are we going to get that this year? If we do not we will be facing some serious costs in either building the infrastructure up or coming up with an alternative and I think that you know, they're going to try to talk about minimum wages. There's going to be a special minimum wage push in San Diego different from what's going on in the state in the country and I think that all these things might be addressed, or something to look forward to in the year to come. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Going back to what Scott said about what last year the city's state of the city did introduce the city to a whole new set of powerbrokers or people whose voices will be included in the discussion. We've got two things going on right now challenging the city Council, one that barrio Logan community plan that came back and will now be on a June 6th ballot because the maritime industry wasn't crazy about the idea, and another one in the works is a challenge to the city Council's affordable housing. It's linkage fee plan to raise fees for commercial construction in order to get some money for affordable housing. And my question, Carl, is I wonder if those two things, showing that the city is moving in a different direction, are we going to be hearing some support for those projects from interim Mayor Todd Gloria? CARL LUNA: I agree with Scott that certainly Barrio Logan is going to be mentioned in the speech because Todd Gloria has, directly to say this is a damaging thing to the planning process. You working committees, put the deal think everybody assigned on that one group that doesn't like it tries to reverse it at the ballot box. I just moderated a debate on the barrio Logan at the catfish club on Friday and there's a lot of daylight between the two sides between the shipping industry between environmental and community activists want to protect the area though it all comes down to some minor tweaks of how you deal with five blocks. I think what really is at stake is a power issue San Diego's used to be a reliable pro-business tilt trying to keep interference to a more minimum thus the planning department being absorbed by development. Now other people get a voice at the table and until we get used to hearing those voices we get some pushback. At some point people get used to the fact that it will be more crowded at the city dining table and the conversation will be more robust every night. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Scott, I think most people in San Diego remember the state of the city addresses focus most exclusively on downtown and uptown construction projects. What are we going to hear about the convention center expansion and a possible Chargers stadium? SCOTT LEWIS: I think the last state of the city that Mayor Sanders, Mayor Jerry Sanders did was really the punctuation mark on the end of a rhetorical device, that you can buildings downtown and really save the city. That's been completely replaced by neighborhoods first approach that even Sanders himself is using in these commercials that he's doing. You know, Sanders state of the city that your “this video of a young man, a young black man scared of what was happening in his neighborhood and literally running away from his neighborhood to all these wonderful facilities downtown and at first it seemed all inspirational, but a few of us really got a bad taste from that. I think the neighborhoods rhetoric that Filner helped popularize is now part of the given for San Diego politics. You know what are you going to do for the neighborhoods? We saw Kevin Faulconer attack David Alvarez saying that basically he was going to take money from richer neighborhoods and give it to them, these three neighborhoods that just happened to be predominant people of color populations and I think that you know this could be almost a tribalism, that's like the worst of what San Diego politics could devolve to, neighborhood versus neighborhood as we continue to go through this process. I think that hopefully a leader can step up and articulate that there's a lot of shared interest in schools being strong and neighborhoods being strong all across the city and it's not an us versus them situation. And I think you know we are also going to see, Carl mentioned the development being a Republican ideal and stuff. I think you're going to start to see as San Diego trends more blue as falconer gives elected he's basically saying he's a nonpartisan all of his things say he's not a partisan person I think we will start to see the regime of progressive development, of progressive networks where if you want to get projects done, if you want to have big deal for the city you start to play a more blue game. A more democratic. And so I think that will be interesting to watch. Especially if we start putting together those projects like the big maybe bond. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Let's talk for a minute about the man who will be delivering this year's state of the city address, intern Mayor Todd Gloria. He'll be stepping down after the election last month Carl, what tone as he said in the brief time he's been in office. CARL LUNA: I think you start to adopt the tone of the neutral faithful steward carried forward the desires of the folks of the last election cleaning up a lot of stuff that was left in the inbox. He's been one of the most successful unelected figures in modern San Diego says history which is why I like to refer to misfeature lieutenant-governor Gloria. He's got a lot of possibility possibly in 2016 for a race. I'd be interested to see if use personnel in the state of the union, state of the city address if he's going to say things that will benefit Mr. Alvarez or Mr. Faulconer or take it more as these are the facts ma'am, sort of town. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Having Todd Gloria in the air here we had several callers who say that if they could vote for him next month they would. Scott you think that's a widespread feeling? SCOTT LEWIS: You know I think that his decision not to run L buttress that ironically a lot of his decisions have shown a more long-term perspective that people really respond well to. One of the things he did that has gotten a lot of attention to see Marshall to a new management organization for the entire city structure and this is something that both mayoral candidates supported and while Acord, the guy who served help serve as a bridge between Filner and Gloria and management of the city really pushed and supported this as well. It's those kinds of things that Todd Gloria is going to leave his legacy with. You know, the city is running differently. Those things he did he took chances in a way that I wouldn't have thought as far as pushing the affordable housing issue forward, deciding not to pull the barrio Logan referendum, or the barrio Logan community plan off when the referendum was handed to the city. I think a lot of these things show that he wasn't going to just tear take for the next month. He really wanted to make his mark and he did you know, I think he's going to leave in as high of a position of respect in the community politically as anyone there will be interesting to see where he decides to take their credibility. CARL LUNA: And he doesn't leave city politics. He stays in the city Council. He's a new voice of gravitas and again I think that leaves Gov. Gloria in a very good position. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: And he stays the city Council President is that right? CARL LUNA: That said he is strong voice and platform will establish. Whoever is Mayor will have to work with him directly on anything they want to get done. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Carl, I want to follow up on something Scott was saying on the fact that whoever wins for the Mayor's race next month that we may be seeing changing dynamics in the power structure of how to get things done in San Diego, seeing sort of a more I think you put it be more blue way of going about doing things are getting construction that and getting projects off the ground that there are new players involved. Is that reflective do you think, Carl, of the actual new demographics that are happening in San Diego? That the city is fundamentally changing? CARL LUNA: It certainly is, Maureen I just gave a lecture this morning where we brought up Olympics restroom or the solar turbine area was are the power elite used to meet and talk about everything else we're a long ways from those days and also moved away in the last five or 10 years from Chamber of Commerce taxpayers Association downtown focus on San Diego. It's not just changing voter demographics, it's a changing business demographics, more green in industries hybrids with universities in San Diego. Military has environmental issues to look at and sustainability there's a general move in this direction and it's not any longer just a Democratic bastion. If Republicans want to be viable like Mr. Faulconer you have to embrace early some of this. And over time if he wins you will see like that me, a competing brand for both parties right now the Democrats have a preferred brand name for it. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: I have a last quick question for you both and of course last year San Diego was largely defined by the Mayor's sexual harassment scandal. What issue do you think is going to define San Diego in 2014 let's go to you, Scott. SCOTT LEWIS: I think the poverty thing, and various ways that people will try to address it, the affordable housing thing, the minimum wage, these community plants in some ways, as these communities in the Southeast try to get development, that they like there, I think poverty and good or bad efforts to address it will define the next year and many years to come. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: And Carl? CARL LUNA: I agree with Scott that the ideas of poverty sustainability social justice will be a rising thing. I think in the short term plain old infrastructure, repairing things that have been broken, fixing Balboa park is going to be a major component and it will come down to whose Mayor to work with president Gloria in terms of getting things done. MAUREEN CAVANAUGH: Each time we mention him he goes up in rank. I want to thank you both. I've been speaking with Scott Lewis CEO voice of San Diego and Carl Luna political science professor at San Diego Mesa College. Thank you both very much. SCOTT LEWIS: Thank you. CARL LUNA: Thank you.