A growing public backlash is bolstering a desire by some San Diego city council members to rescind or freeze the first-ever parking fees initiated at Balboa Park.
At the beginning of the year, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria implemented a tiered system of fees based on where the parking lot was located and whether the car was licensed to a San Diego resident.
The plan created a public outcry. Just before the meters became operationable, many were vandalized.
Three of nine San Diego city council members voted against the Balboa Park fees. Two other council members later said fee collection should be frozen due to a poorly communicated roll out.
Public officials throughout San Diego County publicly supported a petition by activist Shane Harris to eliminate the fees. That included the mayors of Chula Vista, Coronado, El Cajon, Escondido and San Marcos, as well as council members from Del Mar and La Mesa.
The Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, which represents 24 arts, science and cultural institutions in the park, sent a letter to Mayor Gloria asking him to reconsider the parking fees.
The mayor did not mention the controversial parking fees in his January 15 “State of the City” address.
A long-time political observer says politicians should never forget the basic lesson of optics regarding their decisions.
“When you’re raising money, never do it by taking away something that used to be free,” San Diego Mesa College Professor Emeritus of Political Science Carl Luna said.
Luna said if all of San Diego is going in a different direction, it doesn’t look weak if a leader makes a correction that serves the public good.
“If the mayor wants to have political viability he ought to make a change next week,” Luna said. “If Balboa Park is the legacy of this mayor, he’ll be looking at a future career in nonprofits, not politics.”
The Balboa Park parking fees, as well as an unpopular parking meter rate boost in downtown San Diego, were part of the mayor’s efforts to erase more than a quarter-billion-dollar deficit from the city’s last fiscal budget.
Mayor Gloria has so far dug in his heels in the face of opposition to the Balboa Park fees. In a statement, his office noted that Balboa Park is one of San Diego’s greatest civic treasures, and protecting it for future generations requires stable, reliable funding.
As of January 22, 2,457 parking passes have been sold, 2,283 of them to city residents, according to a mayoral spokesperson.
“The paid parking program is designed to create a dedicated source of revenue for the park,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office. “It must be evaluated based on clear, long-term data — not a few weeks of initial operation. Rescinding the program now, before meaningful trends can be measured, would put the park’s financial future at risk…”
The mayor’s statement also read: “Many of the institutions raising concerns operate in city-owned buildings and do not pay rent. That reality makes it even more important that we maintain a sustainable funding source dedicated specifically to the care and preservation of the park they call home.”
In bit of a wiggle on the issue by the mayor, his office said the city is monitoring performance and “will make adjustments where appropriate, and work collaboratively with park stakeholders.”
Park stakeholders in the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership point to a 25% to 50% drop in attendance since the fees kicked in on January 1. The Partnership is worried that combined annual revenue loss could amount to $20 to $30 million.
During the initial city council vote, council members Steven Whitburn, Raul Campillo, Vivan Moreno came out against the parking fees.
“I would like to see the city council come to a consensus on repealing the fees and restoring free parking in Balboa Park,” Whitburn said. “…Even the council members who supported paid parking wouldn’t want it to result in fewer visitors, closed exhibits and laid-off staff.”
Campillo said rather than generating revenue, paid parking is on track to cost the city money.
“Free parking at Balboa Park must be restored,” Campillo said. “I am committed to seeing this policy fully reversed and to restoring free access to one of San Diego’s most important public spaces.”
Council members Kent Lee and Sean Elo-Rivera voted for paid parking but later announced they were dissatisfied with the process.
“We stand by our call to suspend resident parking fees as we initially intended,” Elo-Rivera’s spokesperson said.
Any new direction on parking fees would need to garner five votes from council members. Six votes would be needed to overturn a veto the mayor might issue.
First, new legislation would have to be docketed by City Council President Joe LaCava. Questioned about parking fees after the mayor’s “State of the City” address, La Cava did not express a desire to reconsider Balboa Park parking fees.
LaCava reiterated in a statement: “This program was a major initiative, and I continue to take input from stakeholders including the Cultural Partnership. At this time, I am not seeking any changes but working to ensure the elements are functioning as intended and we do a better job of communicating how the program works.” SDSun
