San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria anticipates another dramatic and difficult budget year but said he is ready to tackle the challenge head-on, even as scrutiny of his administration proliferates. He joined Politically Speaking this week to discuss the decisions that landed the city in this budget hole and what needs to happen for City Hall to claw its way out.
The full transcript of the interview is below:
Safchik: You have almost three full years left in this term. What is your top priority?
Gloria: Well, right now, it’s balancing the city’s budget for good. You know, you’ve had mayors come in and speak with you for years and years on this show, always talking about a budget deficit and never quite tackling it successfully. I want to do that because this perennial conversation of what are we going to cut just does not inspire the confidence of the public. And I’m willing to make the tough decisions to get us on a firm financial footing and then recognize and know that that foundation will help us make change on things like keeping us safe, building more homes that people can afford and tackling our homelessness crisis.
Safchik: You said last year that that was the year you were going to structurally balance the budget. We didn’t exactly see that. Why do you hope this year that’s going to come to fruition?
Gloria: Because we did the lion’s share of the work last year. I think when we first spoke about this, we were projecting a budget deficit somewhere in the order of about $270 million. At the end of the day, it got closer to 320 million. And that has a lot to do with the cost of living pressures that your viewers experience, as well as things like tariffs that we couldn’t necessarily have anticipated earlier in the year. We were able to deal with about $270 million of that roughly $318 million or so problem. So that still means there’s a heavy chunk left to do, but the lion’s share of the work was done last year. This is the year to finish the job, establish a new firm foundation and then build from there.
Safchik: We’re going to come back and talk a lot about the budget. But first, I want to touch on your State of the City last week. When you approached the podium, what were you hoping people’s main takeaway from that speech was going to be?
Gloria: Well, I think we’re living in a really difficult time where there’s just so much darkness and so much negativity at the local, state, national and international level. And I think in the midst of all that negativity, a lot of the good stuff gets missed. And so this was an opportunity to remind people that San Diego continues to be one of the safest big cities in America, that we saw a 14% reduction in homelessness last year. We’ve nearly doubled our new home production numbers, which means that housing and rents are flattening out or going down. And that we have made some pretty significant investments in infrastructure with more to do. The speech was not about mission accomplished. Far from, as you mentioned, still three more years to go, but there are good things that are going on in this city. And sadly, I don’t think those are always covered. It doesn’t get quite the same attention. And I want to remind San Diegans that we can do big and tough things. We’ve done them recently. We will do them again. And in doing so, we’re going to make people’s lives better.
Safchik: We offered plenty of analysis on that speech. How would you characterize it? Was it a victory lap or were you playing defense?
Gloria: No, not a victory lap. We have so much more time left to do. And I am someone who is sort of hard wired to see challenges and want to tackle them. So when I see a 14% reduction in homelessness, I think that’s fantastic. But I know we have roughly 3,000 people who are going to still live outdoors tonight, and that’s absolutely unacceptable. I see progress on things like prostitution in communities like Barrio Logan, neighborhoods that never thought City Hall cared about them at all. I care about them. I went to Sacramento, changed state law and was able to deal with that human trafficking crisis in that neighborhood. So but until that problem is completely solved, I won’t be happy either. It’s not about defensive. It’s about reminding people that we have had successes and that those successes can inform solutions to other challenges that we continue to face. I think prime very for the mind, obviously, is the budget issue, the need to repair our roads and continue to make progress on cost of living in our community.
Safchik: Why in that speech did you neglect to mention the controversial parking changes at Balboa?
Gloria: Well, they were mentioned indirectly in the budget portion of that speech. You know, when talking about hard decisions, trade offs, you know, balancing our budget and doing so in a way that is sustainable, that is what, that is a part of it, among other things that we’ve done. I think if I had more time and whatnot, what I would have taken the opportunities to explain to San Diegans that this is very much about setting up the park for success long term. I mentioned every mayor comes in here talking about what money we don’t have, what deficit we’re dealing with, and one of the primary harms that come from that is the park. You know, we cut tree maintenance, we cut park rangers, etc. You know, these parking fees are a step towards fiscal independence for the park, so that it’s insulated against future downturns, the economy, recessions, etc. This is step one. There are more steps to come. But ultimately, if we can shield the park from the whims of the general fund, this crown jewel of our city will be able to continue to shine for indefinitely.
Safchik: But by evading tackling those topics head-on, do you feel like you left constituents feeling like they’re not being heard when they’re shouting from the rooftops about this?
Gloria: Well, I think there are plenty of people making themselves heard, even during that speech. But, no, I mean, we’ve provided tons of information. You know, I think it’s frustrating because some of the coverage, I don’t know if this is from San Diegans because I get positive and negative feedback. A woman stopped me that day. She went with their daughter to the park, and she was able to park in a parking lot close to where she was going. She felt safe. This was a nighttime event. Stories like that I have not seen covered. But there’s been discussion about a chaotic rollout. I mean, Joey, this is change. Change is always difficult. And I recognize that people will struggle with that. But as I sit here today, what we have had is nearly 2,200 San Diegans sign up for annual passes and monthly and quarterly passes. We’ve seen several hundred thousand dollars of money generated. Reminder that money must stay in the park to help make it better. And so there is a good news side of that story that needs to be told more.
Safchik: So did you miss the opportunity to explain why these decisions were made.
Gloria: Mind you that this has been an ongoing conversation for a very long time. You know, for the entirety of the FY 26 budget conversations, this was there. We’ve had multiple public hearings for people to weigh in on it. I think the focus is obviously because it went into effect. But it is very easy to understand, I think not only the facts of it. You know, that residents pay $5, right? And that seems to be a surprise as I talked to San Diegans because they have some impression the number is much larger. Again, this is where good reporting could be very helpful. But additionally, to understand that it is being implemented, and it’s moving forward, you know. I see the State of the City. I was raised Catholic. I want to be in and out in an hour. You know, I recognize that not everyone can do long-form interviews like this one. And so fitting in the totality of the eighth largest city of 1.4 million people’s lives of a $6 billion budget and trying to do it in roughly 40 minutes or so, which is what we did. You know, there are limitations even to that speech. And I suspect that we’ll be asked more about the part going forward. But what I think that story will look like a few months from now is people understanding how it works, navigating that and, importantly, seeing the improvements that are funded because of the fees so that when they go to the park, the lights are on, right? The parking lot has been repaved. That the environment that they already love is made better. That is the challenge going forward. And that’s why I look forward to implementing.
Safchik: So let’s talk about this more broadly. Do you feel like the city dropped the ball on explaining why some of these scary changes were necessary?
Gloria: Well, I think it’s there if you pay attention. I mean, you know, I think you understand that for years, if not decades, we’ve been talking about the budgetary challenges at the city. I am painfully aware of that. And I’m just simply not interested in continuing that narrative. I want to fix it. I want to solve it. So when people, you know, wonder, ‘Well, why are water rates the way that they are?’ You know, that’s actually generally outside of our control. You know, those are costs that are passed on to us by our suppliers. I think one of the areas where I can’t say it enough, although I’ve said it plenty, is that the cost pressures that are experienced by you, by me, by all your viewers, are also experienced by the city. So when you see your electricity bill go up, so does the city, when you’re impacted by paying more at the pump to put gas in your car? That’s also true for the city, except we have 5,000 vehicles, right? I think we have to continually paint the picture of the fact that the city is not insulated from the very same things that San Diegans are experiencing. The difference is, is that the only way we get revenue, generally speaking, is to ask our taxpayers for that money.
Safchik: We have seen data that shows the doubling of parking meter rates does not yet uniformly lead to the doubling of revenue. Was that change still worthwhile?
Gloria: Absolutely. I do know that has come as a revelation to certain council members and to members of the public. But that’s basic economics, right? When prices go up, you know, utilization tends to go down a bit. That said, you know, our parking meter rates have been untouched for about a generation. And that meant that a public asset, something that the taxpayers of this city owned, was being under charged, essentially, while the private sector was more than happy to meet the current market numbers. That meant that, like, say, for example, games at Petco Park, you know, if you went there after 6 p.m., the city parking was free, where our private parking partners could be charging more than $100 to park. And that cost differential is a part of why the city has a major structural deficit. Changing that, making that decision, is not popular. Clearly it’s not. But I do know what’s popular. The fact that we’ve fixed, I think, nearly 2,000 streetlights since that change was made because those dollars again have to stay in that neighborhood. So if you go down to Petco Park, as thousands of people do, and I note that the Padres continue to have sold out audiences and special events like the ones that have happened this weekend also packed, what people will experience when they park, is the opportunity to walk on a sidewalk that’s not busted along past streetlights that are on, past graffiti that has been removed. That is what we’re trying to do with these fees.
Safchik: You seem to be taking some of this political blowback in stride. Are you concerned about consequences to your career?
Gloria: I’m concerned about the consequences to the city if we don’t take these actions. I’m a third generation San Diegan. I’m going to live here my entire life. And I just am not willing to watch the city deteriorate because people don’t have the political courage to make the right decisions. I recognize that not all of these things are popular. Plenty of people in my job in the past have made what they thought were popular decisions, leaving it to someone else to solve. And I’m the guy who’s here to say I’m going to call the question. I’m going to make the right decision, and I’m gonna put our city on a better trajectory. Whatever that does to me individually pales in comparison to what it does to the 1.4 million people that are counting on me to run this city efficiently and effectively. So, I’m not concerned about pretty personal ramifications. What I am concerned about is making sure our city continues to move forward. And as we lay out in the speech, you know, what we’re doing is gaining, positive reaction. You know, I think you’ve reported, you know, our credit rating has improved by our rating agencies, that iconic events like the Ted conference or NASCAR and others are choosing to locate their events here in San Diego. So I think what we’re doing there are early indicators that it’s been well received. I recognize for many San Diegans that they remain skeptical. But my job is to make sure we execute on that. And that means getting someone to your door when you call 911, fixing the road in front of your house and making sure that our city continues on a positive trajectory.
Safchik: When it comes to asking San Diegans to pay more, what kind of oversight guarantees can you personally, as the mayor, make to ensure that those street improvements are happening in a timely manner?
Gloria: Well, I mean, obviously my job is to run the city, and so I hold department directors accountable, as you’ve seen, you know, I have not had any problem making significant reductions in spending cuts. You know, I think that’s also something that’s underreported. You know, this year’s budget, a lot has been made about the fee increases that have happened. Very little has been discussed in terms of my willingness to eliminate six city departments. The elimination –
Safchik: But you can understand that that’s because that’s what’s directly impacting the average person’s pocketbook?
Gloria: And I totally understand. But that also means, as average people often ask me, ‘Why aren’t you making cuts?’ Because, again, the reporting isn’t there to say that this budget was balanced on roughly half cuts and half revenue increases, right. That’s how you fill in these gaps. And it’s not that they’re any happier about the fee increases, but they do want to know that I’m looking at these things critically. To your question about oversight, when saying we’re going to rank priorities and do what we can afford to do, we do eliminate departments. We do eliminate senior and management positions. We cut $30 million in outside contracts. I tell city employees, you can’t be in rented space any longer. We’re going to put you in city-owned space because that’ll save us millions and millions of dollars. So I think I have a track record of showing people not just the priorities are right, and that’s fixing your road, getting homeless people off our streets and keeping San Diegan safe, but that I’m willing to make sure that we are doing the work that is necessary to get the maximum return on their dollars. In addition to that, the city council obviously has a role in this. Our independent auditor has a role in this. Our independent budget analyst has a role in this. We have a long list of accountability and oversight on us, which is part of why we tend to lead in the news, right? And makes jobs like yours, I think, a bit easier when you can go to the independent auditor, independent budget analyst to the city’s audit committee, etc., etc. I think that what I am most concerned about, though, is less about the oversight because there’s a lot of that, is about driving those changes in communities. And when you see the increase in road repair, the increase in sidewalk repair, streetlight repair, again, I think I’m driving the outcomes that people want. The limitation, generally speaking, is resources. And those continue will continue to be limited in the next budgetary year, in part because of the city’s issues, but also in part because of what we’re seeing in terms of turmoil at the federal and state level. That absolutely flows down to the city.
Safchik: Speaking of resources, are you engaged in any conversations right now about rolling back any of these parking changes?
Gloria: No, no. You know, it’s disappointing that some people have asked to do that, like maybe two days into the program. You know, it’s we need data to show what is what’s working, what is not. What I will tell you is if we find that certain things are not working, we will make adjustments. No question. I’m not interested in watching failure proceed. But what I am seeing are thousands of San Diegans successfully accessing the system, creating a permanent segregated fund that will go to improve Balboa Park. I think that is working. But, Joey, I absolutely commit to, over the next number of months, watch how it performs, both in Balboa Park and citywide at our off-street parking lots and on-street meters. And we will make adjustments in order to make sure the system is optimized. At the end of the day, we’re getting the results that we want, which is correct parking management, good value for the money that we’re charging and the returns and investments in the neighborhoods where those parking fees are generated.
Safchik: In early hindsight, was there any way to close this budget gap that wasn’t balanced on the backs of San Diegans?
Gloria: So that’s – that question is interesting because, you know, obviously there are other ways to do this. The city considered and provided some of those options in the form of the 2024 ballot measure, which might have been a different way to handle this. You know, oftentimes people in my line of work will tell you that you can have your lunch and it’ll be free, and that is exactly how we got in the situation. I mean, think back to the pension reform measure that previous leaders sold to the public, which actually was not legal, was ultimately ruled out, but also increased our pension costs when people were voting to assume that it would reduce it. It’s this kind of, sort of fool’s gold, if you will, that has allowed this conversation to go on and on and on. And what it has done is erode the public’s trust in City Hall. Again, I’m willing to be the honest person who’s standing there and saying, these are the facts, and this is the best viable option to get to where we need to go, which is fiscal stability. There are other ways. But the city, frankly, has been trying those other ways for roughly two decades now and getting the same result, which is an ongoing structural deficit. I am laser focused on addressing this fully and completely, and establishing a new foundation that allows the city to do better going forward.
Safchik: I do want to ask about some decisions made early on in your administration, like using one-time COVID funds for certain pay increases, recognizing there have been extenuating circumstances – you couldn’t predict inflation. Would you have made different decisions knowing what you know now?
Gloria: I think an important part of that is that it is not a unilateral decision of the mayor.
Safchik: So would you have encouraged different decisions?
Gloria: I think I may have, but that’s, it’s a shared responsibility situation. But setting that aside, I think this is a perfect illustration of what we were just discussing. You know, previous city leaders had said that we didn’t have to provide pay raises to employees for the better part of a decade. Well, what did that do? That created massive vacancies at the city of San Diego, such that we weren’t paving roads, that we were not trimming trees, that we weren’t providing the services that San Diegans came to expect. But you were told that this was a kind of very economical way to handle that budgetary crisis. By providing the contracts that we have in place that are expiring here in a few months, what we’ve been able to do is make sure that we have the sufficient city personnel to do things that your viewers want and expect us to do. Pick up their calls to 911, pick up their garbage, have a trained professional on our beaches to protect lives there in their neighborhoods through our firefighters or our police officers. I just, I guess the other ways of doing things, in my judgment, are worse than what we are going through right now. And in my particular case, I think I have the receipts to show that that’s the case because those previous solutions simply have not got the solutions or the outcomes that San Diegans we’re told to expect.
Safchik: When those contracts expire in a few months, what are we going to see?
Gloria: Well, we’re at the table now negotiating with our bargaining units. And it’s, you know, my role in this is to seek the city council’s direction on what they would like me to offer, and then try and negotiate the best deal possible. You will not see contracts like what we passed a few years ago because we don’t have 10 years of inflationary pressures with no pay raises to have to address.
Safchik: You’re saying we won’t see such significant raises.
Gloria: I would not recommend that. I would believe the city council would understand why that wouldn’t be the right approach.
Safchik: Do you feel like that would be fiscally irresponsible?
Gloria: Well, absolutely. I mean, we are starting at day one currently as projected with a significant budget deficit. Anything above our assumed rates, which is roughly around 3%, will be an addition to that deficit. That would be absolutely irresponsible. There may be some that will encourage that. There may be folks that think that that’s a reasonable thing to do. My question to them will be well, how are you going to pay for it? And I know that they won’t be able to answer that because again, people aren’t willing to tell the truth. That is not my problem. I’m very clear in telling people the honest truth, which is that, in the case of certain things, we have not recovered our true costs there, that we have done things a certain way to really create the circumstances for ourselves. The way we get out of this is to change our behavior. I’m driving that change, and I recognize that that change can be disruptive. But I am absolutely clear that the end result of this change will be an improved quality of life in our city.
Safchik: In making some of these previous decisions, was the city over-reliant on a sales tax increase that has not yet manifested?
Gloria: No. Because particularly with regard to the labor contracts, I mean, those were negotiated back in 2021 and 2022, long before the sales tax measure in 2024 was put forward on the ballot. So no, but I do think that we have to again, it’s telling the truth, a note that our sales tax is the lowest in the state of California. And while some will understand that maybe that gives the economic competitive advantage to other cities, it also means that we have roads that look like we have the lowest sales tax rate in the state of California. Both things can be true. The question is, what is the, which one’s the priority? And, you know, we gave that question to the voters by a very narrow margin, less than 1,400 votes, they said no. And as a consequence, I’ve said about balancing the budget without the benefit of those additional dollars. That’s the budget we’re currently living under. If people want to change that, they’re welcome to do that. But I want to be very clear about this joint, the budget that I’m dealing with today and the one that I’ll be proposing later this year will not assume any budget– I’m sorry, new revenue from a ballot in the future. That would be irresponsible. And that will not be a feature of a budget that I will propose or support.
Safchik: Have you fully enacted the budget as approved by the City Council, including eliminating some of those positions?
Gloria: Yes. So I know about this issue, and this is again one of those things where, ‘Look over there because I don’t want you to look here.’ You know, certain folks have wanted to make a deal out of basically two management positions in the city’s executive ranks. They have given direction to eliminate those positions. The way the city is run on a day to day basis is left to me, that is a part of my jurisdiction and responsibility as mayor. What I have done is account for those savings. So the budget target will be hit. While the city council or some of the city council members want to see those two positions eliminated, I do not think that that is wise. In fact –
Safchik: So you have not eliminated them yet?
Gloria: I have not, and I will not. But I will hit the budgetary target, the dollars that I was asked to hit. You can bank on that.
Safchik: And is that what you’re legally required to do?
Gloria: Yes. Yeah. We have to have a balanced budget. And that’s why, you know, it’s interesting. You know, you’ve seen me explain to the city council, I thought some of their revenue projections were overly optimistic, that we very much could see a mid-year budget deficit. And, you know, this is a part of the back and forth that we had last year around budget adoption. Well, fast forward six months later. What we have is a mid-year budget deficit. We’re still forecasting a deficit in the next fiscal year. And that’s because many of the revenues that were anticipated, including parking, did not come to pass the way that was included in the budget. So you asked me about my fealty to the current adopted budget. I would encourage you and others to ask the city council, are they honoring the budget that they adopted, right? When they adopt a budget with $16 million in revenue from Balbo Park parking, but then pass a parking plan of their making that actually only generates about 3 million, you should be asking then where is the difference that roughly $13 million difference is going to come from, rather than the two executive positions that they directed to be eliminated that again, I will meet the target for the reductions and matching their salaries and their benefits. But I am, and being the one that’s honest, that’s making the tough calls and being transparent and answering the questions, I don’t always see that on the other side of the table. And that’s going to have to change. That’s going to, this next budget will absolutely force that question. And I hope that we can all agree that we should balance this budget in a responsible manner.
Safchik: And I certainly will ask them those important questions. But is it not your responsibility to enact the budget as approved by the City Council?
Gloria: And we are to the dollar amounts, right? But again, that accountability that you’re asking of me has to be asked when the council does not approve the revenue resources at the rates that they set. So that question ought to be asked of them as well. And again, the differential I am managing the day to day of the organization. We will meet the targets that we’re set for in fourth in the budget. But that is made significantly harder, I would say tens of millions of dollars harder, when the projections were overly optimistic and the execution was far below the expectations.
Safchik: Very quickly, and then I want to pivot and talk about housing. But how do you feel about some of the council members calling to reinstate the COO position?
Gloria: Well, I don’t think this situation is going to be made better by creating more executive level positions that are currently not in the budget, right? I, you know, this whipsaw back and forth of city manager from a government to strong mayor to back to support this is rearranging deck chairs like this is just theater to try and make it look like you’re doing something when all you’re doing is ignoring the actual problem, which is our city’s finances. So at the end of the day, whether it’s the city manager, a mayor, or a chief operating officer that are making these decisions, the facts remain the same that we are a city that has historically been under investing in our infrastructure, that we’ve kept taxes relatively low compared to our peer cities. And as a result, we have a structural imbalance. That would be true under a mayor, under a city manager or a COO. So rather than continuing to sort of fiddle with the org chart, let’s get down to the business of running the city, which is what I do every single day.
Safchik: OK, let’s talk about housing. This was the part of your speech that felt to me the most like a victory lap. Have you taken enough credit for the progress that you’ve made on this front?
Gloria: I mentioned taking credit. I’m just interested in showing the results. I recognize that when people are talking so much about cost of living, which is understandable. We often talk about grocery prices or gas prices, often ignoring the fact that rent or mortgage is the main consumer of your household budget. And so if folks want to talk about affordability, I’m all in, but I’m going to do it from the perspective of housing, knowing that that is what is a burden on so many San Diego families. And I will say, Joey, that what we are doing is leading both in our state and I think in our country, of driving, the outcomes that we want more housing that is affordable to working middle class San Diegans. That’s good news. But as I said, very clearly, in the state of the city address, we have more work to be done. And I’m going to do that work.
Safchik: You have focused heavily on reforming zoning laws. How much housing are we talking about paving that way for? Do you have a number?
Gloria: Well, the state gives us a number. It’s an excess of 100,000 new homes created over a roughly eight year, a decade period. That is very ambitious. The city will struggle to meet that high goal.
Safchik: How close to that can we get?
Gloria: Well, we’re going to give it our best shot. But I will tell you, most jurisdictions don’t ever hit their targets. But I’m–
Safchik: Are we talking 50% of the way there? 80% of the way there?
Gloria: More than 50. But we’re going to have to do a lot of work. And you’ve seen that this work is hard, right? I’m sure I’ve done plenty of coverage of the communities that are concerned about new proposals, new projects in their neighborhood. And so we see a lot of that negativity. Rarely is the story done about the people who end up living in those places, who are able to make ends meet, who are able to support themselves and their children, who are able to contribute to our city. You know, I’m saying very clearly that if you’re willing to work hard and play by the rules, we will make a place for you here in San Diego. So back to housing production. What we are doing presently is exceeding our historic production levels by more than double, and that means more inventory. Every one of your viewers knows, again, basic economics. You know, if you w parking meter rate, you don’t get double the money. But if you double your housing production, rents will start coming down. And we are seeing some of that reporting going on. It’s a promising trend. I want to make it a trend line that ultimately results in working class people saying, I can afford to live in the city of San Diego.
Safchik: Was your promise to continue pushing onward and upward with Midway Rising? Is that a promise you can make good on, or was that too bold, given the legal roadblocks you’ve stumbled into so far?
Gloria: No. I think it’s very realistic, and I’m going to work very hard to make it real. Joey, it is very similar. The conversation we had just a moment ago about parking. You have a public asset, that property, roughly 48 acres, that is doing relatively little to contribute to the housing needs of our community in the economic vitality of our city. We can get 4,200 plus homes on that site, many of them deed restricted, affordable housing with a lot of park space and other things, as well as a new arena. We have had setbacks. What we also have had are two citywide votes that have affirmed this vision and saying that we should move forward with this. And so we are going to continue on all fronts that we have available to us the legal, legislative and council methods, to get this done, we have a plan that I think makes sense. We have funding to make it possible, private sector funding to make it possible. And we should do it. Anyone who drives to the midway district knows that we can do better in that area, and doing better in the midway will improve the life of everybody in our city.
Safchik: And it’s not just Midway Rising that we’re talking about here. You even dared to utter the words 101 Ash Street, right? Talking about converting public property into housing, are these projects that we’re going to see come to fruition during your tenure?
Gloria: Yes. I’m very confident that you will see a groundbreaking on that building, in the not too distant future. We’ve been very successful recently in getting some federal funds to assist that. You know, nothing’s going to make that last decade of odyssey on that property. Okay. But between the clawing back of the ill gotten, proceeds from the people who defrauded the city, to the ongoing litigation we have with contractors that expose the asbestos, to this conversion, to affordable housing for families living in downtown San Diego. At the end of the day, we will cobble together funds to say this is a battle wash. But the end result is that we got over 200 units of affordable housing for San Diego families to enjoy. It doesn’t end there. We can do that again at the old Central Library that has been shuttered for over a decade. Again, past leaders not taking the initiative, not taking action, not doing the hard work to get a good result. I believe we have some good news on that in ‘26. And we’re I think we’re very close to good news on the indoor skydiving facility. Again, a tortured and very dubious history, in terms of its acquisition, but turning that into affordable housing that can work for people in San Diego. These are the ways that we can continue to meet the needs of individual San Diegans while improving our overall economic situation.
Safchik: The reality is that a lot of these changes are not going to be tangible or visible for maybe a decade after your tenure. What does that mean for your legacy?
Gloria: Well, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about legacy. And this is not, again, about my personal gain. I am San Diegan. I will always live here. If the benefits of a revitalized midway are realized somewhere, in the early 2030s, I will be here to cheer and root and be as happy as anybody that that has happened.
And again, I think that that is a part of what we have to do if we are going to get through this rough patch that we’re in now. If we continue to just make decisions on a short term basis, we will continue to be where we are today. I’m willing to make the long term decisions and long term plays the prioritization, prioritization. As I said in the speech of long term stability instead of short term comfort, we will be in a better place. So I’m not at all concerned about my individual well-being. What I’m concerned about is the well-being of the city, and I’m confident I go to bed every night confident that the decisions that I’m making, in consultation with the City Council, are the right ones to get as close to where we need to be a fiscally responsible city that is safe, prosperous and works for working class San Diego.
Safchik: Okay, let’s talk about homelessness. Now. You’ve continually called on the county and the state, sometimes successfully, to step up their efforts. But what more responsibility does the city under your stewardship bear?
Gloria: Well, we have to continue to build more housing and ultimately, a shelter is not a home. It’s a waystation to permanent housing. And so as the organization that is charged with providing permits and planning, our responsibilities to actually build that housing, you understand that when I’m pushing more housing development, building more homes in our community, it’s for the benefit of working in middle class San Diegans. But it’s also for those folks who could live on the street because they can’t afford a home. We do need to see more participation from other folks at the federal level, where funding is being threatened by the Trump administration.
Safchik: Could that reverse or paralyze any progress that has been made?
Gloria: Yes. And I said that very clearly in a state of the city address. I’m very concerned about that. A good chunk of our homelessness response system here in San Diego, and frankly, across the country, are funded by our federal partners. Threats to those dollars will imperil our success, as well as the success of other cities all across this nation. It’s also true at the state level, and the state is also grappling with significant fiscal headwinds. They zeroed out the homeless funding that we received this year. So I’m doing this work right now without the participation of the state government early. The governor just released his draft budget proposal. He restores 50% of that funding. 50% is better than zero, but I’d like 100%. Either way, these things together can have major, major negative impacts to our city. If they come to pass, we will do all that we can to lobby both in Sacramento and DC to prevent that. And if the worst may come, we will be as dynamic as possible to try and maintain as much as we possibly can. But what we have been doing is working. Joey, a 14% reduction in on street homelessness from one year to the next. Not my numbers, but independent numbers. The downtown San Diego partnership, the collection of businesses and property owners in downtown have shown drastic reductions in encampments. But we have to do more.
Safchik: Does that count if people are leaving the city of San Diego and sleeping on the streets in some other jurisdiction?
Gloria: Well, the truth is that for decades, the city of San Diego has been the only participant in this region providing shelter and homelessness response services. Now, that’s been changed in recent years, and I’m grateful to those mayors and other cities that are finally starting to provide shelter services. But you asked me that question. That question could have been asked of any of the 17 other cities in this county over the last 30 years, while the taxpayers of the city of San Diego have been footing the bill for the homeless folks who are leaving other cities and coming downtown because that’s where the services are, I do not believe that the number of reduction in numbers are coming, because we’re pushing people into adjacent cities. Where they’re going is the doubling of our shelter capacity through things like our safe parking lots and safe sleeping sites, as well as this new housing that we are building where people are going. That is primarily how people are housed, homelessness. And we will continue to do that. This situation will be made way better if these other cities got in the game, rather than what many of them do, which is to stick their heads in the sand, act like nothing’s happening. Or again, our state and federal partners who may be withdrawing, reducing their support. And lastly, Joey, when I get asked by people about our homelessness crisis, what they are describing are unhoused people who are also untreated to severe mental illness and addiction issues that people observe every single day as they go around this city. And cities all across this nation are the responsibility of the county of San Diego. And ultimately, they are the folks with the Health and Human Services Agency, the folks with the social workers, nurses, and other folks that can help these people in their addictions and their mental illness will help manage it. Until that is dramatically increased, we will continue to see this subset of the population that some people like to say are choosing to be homeless. I don’t believe that to be the case. I believe they’re so deep in their illness or their addiction that they’re not able to get off the streets. And we need better interventions from our county and state partners to help get them into shelters and on a pathway to end their homelessness for good.
Safchik: We see and hear so much political hot potato passing the blame. How important is it for a leader to take responsibility for tight spots or tough decisions, and do you feel like you’ve done that successfully?
Gloria: I think that’s the nature of this interview, right? Is that there are people who are upset with decisions that we’re making. But the point is, we’re making decisions. You know, plenty of people had long careers in politics by simply not taking positions, by ignoring the problem or kicking the can down the road. I’m not that guy. I think I was pretty clear about that in both elections that I won handily, because I think Sam Diegans do crave someone who’s going to tell them the truth, look him in the eye and tell them what they need to know. I am doing that.
Safchik: In this interview, you place blame on past administrations, on other jurisdictions. How much of this is your responsibility to bear?
Gloria: Well the buck does stop with me. I’m the mayor, right? However, I can’t solve the addiction crisis when I don’t have the legal responsibility to handle that. Joey, when it comes to issues where I’ve been prohibited from taking action, you’ve seen me do everything I can to either influence or to take over the responsibility myself. Case in point homeless encampments along our freeways. That state property, the city is literally prohibited from doing anything in those rights of way. But people are very common to say, mayor, why aren’t you cleaning up the freeways? Well, I didn’t pass the buck. I didn’t blame shift. What I did was go to the state and negotiate a deal where we took over some of those responsibilities and we’re getting results. So I think it is it is blame shifting or it is, passing the buck, when you have no record of action on the issue of homelessness, I’ve built shelters over the objections of people who are often very afraid when shelters are created in the community, because I believe that the end result would be get more people off the streets. That is proven to be true. But when you’ve done that level of work but you still see people untreated walking about, you better believe that you’re going to say, we need to do something more here. And whether that’s saying and helping to educate the public on whose responsibility it is, or traveling to Sacramento and passing, helping to pass some of the biggest behavioral health reforms in over half a century. It is never a situation where I’m not taking action. I’m always taking action. And sometimes that action is saying, this may not be my responsibility, but I’ll tell you who it is and let’s work together to get the change that we all want to see.
Safchik: From the outside. It often feels like there’s a lot of dysfunction. Legislating from the dais at City Hall, you told Voice of San Diego, “the situation is extremely functional.” Why should people believe that? What aren’t we seeing behind closed doors?
Gloria: Well, first off, I would object to decisions for the public being made behind closed doors. That’s not what state law mandates. And so sometimes when you see legislating from the dais, I mean, that’s what happens. You ought to be there to listen to staff presentations, to listen to public comment and then make decisions. And it may be that the council members enter with one opinion and then change it over the course of the public hearing. That’s the process as it’s prescribed under state law. When I say that it’s functional, it is functional. We are a city with an adopted budget. We are a city that is building more housing. That’s reducing homelessness, that is improving our roads. That is a city getting stuff done. Is it sometimes messy? Surely it is. But I believe it’s messy, in part because we are serving under unusual times where again, everyone is observing the darkness in the negativity at the international, national and other levels. But it’s also true that we are living through a time where, again, I’m not willing to ignore problems. I want to address them directly, and if that makes the council a little bit uncomfortable, naturally that’s what they get paid to do. They have to make the decisions, and not all the decisions are ones that I agree with, but I will. I’m grateful for when we see progress and then I will always come back to try and get more of it. When maybe the decisions are maybe less than what I want.
Safchik: We’ve seen some of this tension we’ve seen between your office and some council members. Can you give us some examples of when those relationships are more copacetic, like you’ve alluded to?
Gloria: We’ll look at what we’ve been able to get done. I mean, things like that are extremely controversial, like the hospitality minimum wage, where that was not necessarily something that I supported as proposed, but I was able to work with Council member Ella Rivera and industry stakeholders, as well as organized labor, to come up with something that is now enacted that is not being referenda and is resulting in people who help support our tourism economy to make a little bit more money in these high inflationary period. That’s a situation where, you know, maybe under other circumstances, with a different mayor, there would be no engagement, no negotiation, no bringing everyone around the table to get a result. That is good, I think, for our economy and for workers. I think that’s an example that gets overlooked, by folks in part because it’s a happy story, right? The outcome is a good one that just simply doesn’t get as many clicks or as attention. And that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It did. And again, even when there are points of discord or whatever, there are natural tensions between the executive branch and the legislative branch. You see that at the national and at the state level. It’s no different at the city level. And forgive me if I historically know that whatever we’re living with pales in comparison to what I experienced as a city council member. People sometimes forget this mayor served on the city council for eight years. I did it, when we had a mayor, who had to resign early, in part because of the way he comported himself. I’ve seen what dysfunctional government looks like. That is not what is going on right now. What I’m simply doing is acknowledging the times that we’re in and not being content with the status quo and instead saying, no, we were going to move forward. We are going to solve problems, and we can do it for the long term benefit of the people, the city, not the short term needs of politicians.
Safchik: You’ve faced a lot of scrutiny lately, even some murmurings of a recall effort. How much of that do you think is justified?
Gloria: Well, this is the nature of the business. I mean, I think that there were people saying that right after I was elected my very first term. Right. I mean, it’s what people say. And, you know, whatever comes this is not the concern that I am driving change in this city, and it’s going to get people to act out in certain ways. But, again, Joey, I can’t emphasize enough. I’m not coming here to do this job just to hang out, to be important. That is the least of my interests. I’m here because I love my hometown, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make it a better city. Ultimately, this is a temporary job. You only get it for a maximum of eight years. When I complete my two terms in 2028, I’ll be the first mayor to have completed two full terms in San Diego since 2000, roughly 30 years. So this is a tough job.
Safchik: Do you like your job?
Gloria: I love my job. I love my job. Even on its worst day. I love my job. This job, by nature, is one. It’s very stressful. It’s not even a job. It’s more of a lifestyle. It’s not like it’s an 8 to 5. Monday to Friday. You’re always working. But I love my home town, and so does it feel like work? It doesn’t for me even when posed with options that are usually bad and worse. I recognize that I’m grateful for the opportunity to be here to minimize the pain as much as possible, to improve, increase the upside as much as possible, and can create the circumstances where we can not be the city that we’ve always been. One that is sort of is stuck on a loop, you know, that’s constantly talking about convention center expansions or arenas, but instead be the city that’s going to finally break through and get these things done. I absolutely love my job. And when you hear me say, I only have X number of months left to go, it’s not because I’m excited to leave, it’s because I’m well aware that I need to pack as much as I possibly can into every single day, because the time is limited and because, someone else will ultimately get this job and my commitment is to make sure that whoever comes after me in almost three years from now gets a city that is in better condition than the one that I was given.
Safchik: Mr. Mayor, what’s next on your agenda?
Gloria: Well, this year we have to work on the budget. I believe that we can have a year, where we can drive more change on housing production and homelessness reduction. And ultimately, what I want to see is a situation where we are a city that working middle class people can afford to live in, and not just live, but thrive. That is the city that I grew up in, and it’s a city that I believe we can have again.
Safchik: Thank you so much for such an in-depth interview this morning, I appreciate it.
Gloria: My pleasure. It’s always great to talk to you, Joey.
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