San Diego is a beloved vacation destination. Tourism contributes heavily to our economy and our culture—without it, the city would lose a vital part of what makes it so great. Sadly, we’re on the path to destroying a huge component of what makes San Diego vacations such an experience.
Democrats have been peppering the vacation rental industry with attacks, and the discussion is going absolutely nowhere because of it. City Council President Pro Tempore Barbara Bry is leading the hunt to prohibit short-term rentals, arguing that they hurt housing stock—despite practically no correlation existing based on city studies. It’s even become a focal point of her campaign.
Existing city codes have been barred, stalled, or even completely forgotten. Though some members of the City Council have made attempts to protect rental landlords, the noise from both sides of the argument has made it difficult to clarify a confusing city code. Mayor Kevin Faulconer is willing to engage in a conversation with the Council once they bring him a proposal, but no such proposal has been made.
The San Diego City Council has not been able to enact meaningful and reasonable regulations, instead choosing to fight over proposals without consensus. If a solution is going to be reached, Bry’s backers are going to have to understand that working together is better than working against one another and seek a compromise with Republicans across the aisle—who are more than willing to reach a bipartisan solution if it’s in the best interest of San Diegans.
When our legislators fight, the people are the ones who get hurt. It’s a shame that fighting is nearly all Democrats seem to be interested in these days.
