LA deliberately cut its housing capacity from ~10M to ~4M homes through single-family zoning. It hit that cap in the 1990s, then added 5x more jobs than homes 2010–2015. The result is one of the world's least affordable cities.

Taxes that were supposed to fund a Convention Center expansion are now being used to pay off debts from the city’s 2001 expansion. voiceofsandiego.org/2026/06/…

Money wasted on scrapped parking plan reflects gross incompetence sandiegouniontribune.com/202…

If capitalism truly rewarded skill or intelligence, the richest people would be neurosurgeons, engineers, and scientists. If it rewarded talent, it would be artists, writers, and creators. If it rewarded hard work, it would be cleaners, laborers, and service workers. But it’s none of them.

This the basic difference. Republicans believe that that if you let the wealthy spend capital it will make Americans prosperous. Democrats believe that the federal government investing in the healthcare & education of our people will make America prosperous & productive.

Mistakes? What mistakes? San Diego City Hall is a contrition-free zone sandiegouniontribune.com/202…

It isn't easy keeping up with all the local governments, districts, and agencies in #SanDiego. The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District annual 2027 Budget has been posted. Spending is $135 million, down from $155 million in 2026, but from $87 million in 2025. Staffing is unchanged at 178 positions. sdapcd.org/content/dam/sdapc…

Another #SanDiego agency is facing ongoing structural budget deficits and papering over the problem by increasing fees and underfunding capital improvements. "MTS is facing a $94 million budget deficit for the next fiscal year, which begins in July. That deficit will increase to more than $122 million by 2030, according to MTS projections." Possible solutions include "creative ideas like a tax on rental cars for tourists." Longer term solutions include a sales tax increase, possibly as early as 2028. kpbs.org/news/kpbs/2026/06/1…

The #SanDiego city council will hear an "Amendment to the Salary Ordinance for Fiscal Year 2027" on June 16. The amendment includes a 2% salary increase for most city employees, including unrepresented employees (i.e. 'middle managers'). The cost of the amendment (such as its effect on the pension deficit) is not specified in the staff report. The 'fiscal considerations' section only notes that "approval of the Salary Ordinance is required under the City’s Charter as part of the annual budget process." sandiego.hylandcloud.com/211…

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that neither the #SanDiego city council nor the mayor have learned the lessons of the FY 2026 and FY 2027 budget processes. "Middle Managers Chopped" There have been some reductions to 'middle management' positions, but the city has yet to produce a comprehensive list of remaining unclassified positions and their responsibilities. "It is hard to overstate the scope of San Diego’s infrastructure problem." It's also hard to understand why the city leadership continues to spend months defunding/refunding the arts when the infrastructure funding gap continues to grow. "Measure A: The Revenue Stream That Almost Was" There is no reason to believe the Empty Homes Tax, after the cost of creating the enforcement bureaucracy and legal expenses, would have made any significant contribution to city coffers. There is a difference between a new revenue measure that will generate income to replace critical infrastructure and one that will do nothing but generate lawsuits and popular discontent. "As it stands, we have no reason to believe next year’s budget cycle will be any less scarring." So, it looks like FY 2028 will be a replay of FY 2027. voiceofsandiego.org/2026/06/…

“A budget is the purest form of policy priorities, and infrastructure is taking a backseat,” said former City Councilmember Mark Kersey. He now works as the president and CEO of the #SanDiego County Taxpayers Association, which has been sharply critical of the city’s financial management under Gloria. “The multi-billion dollar infrastructure deficit is the biggest crisis facing the city because there is no real plan to address it. Without some kind of strategic vision to close that gap — as well as actually resolve the city’s ongoing structural budget deficit — the city will continue to languish, and it’s really just a countdown to failure.” "Kersey said the additional workers and the pay raises show that the city 'has clearly prioritized employee salary increases over infrastructure investments for the last six years.'” "Since 2022, the mayor and council have waived about $39 million in contributions meant to go to the dedicated fund and instead channeled the money into the general fund. "While that’s allowable under the rules governing the fund, Kersey said it’s poor policy." inewsource.org/2026/06/09/sa…

This is directly due to income inequality. The wealthy hoard so much wealth the tax base for social security has been narrowing for years due to regressive tax policies. Congress could easily fix this

🚨 WOW! Trump Interior Sec. Doug Burgum just OBLITERATED Gavin Newsom for whining about energy prices yet purposefully DETROYING refineries "California not only imports 60% of their oil from foreign countries. That is a absolute national security risk. The number one importer into California on February 1st of this year, 2026 was Iraq!" "There used to be 40 REFINERIES in California. Then it was eight, then seven, then six. They're putting so much pressure!" "So California has a policy. They've turned themselves into an energy desert, an energy island, raising prices, lowering national security." "California's policies do one thing for sure. They RAISE the price of energy, including gasoline for every single Californian. Everybody needs to know in California the reason you're paying more for gasoline than anybody else in the world. And the lower 48, more for diesel, is because of the state policies."

1/ Today, ESP released Building Affordability, our new policy agenda on housing, which tackles the two causes of unaffordability: broken markets and broken incomes. Written by @chao_becky, @Mtkonczal, and @resnikoff, it shows how policy can expand supply while also directly protecting tenants.

Bring on sales tax hike if it actually fixes ‘unbelieavably bad’ roads sandiegouniontribune.com/202…

Another fee increase on the #SanDiego city council docket this morning. "The current project and environmental appeal fees need to be updated to accurately reflect staff time involved when appeals are considered by Planning Commission and City Council. This proposed amendment would increase the Planning Commission appeal fee from $1,000 to $1,140, and the City Council appeal fee from $1,000 to $2,380, based on the unreimbursed staff time required to process and hear the appeals." sandiego.hylandcloud.com/211…