SAN DIEGO – City Council President Joe LaCava discussed what’s on the agenda following its August recess, elaborating on thorny issues being tackled, including SeaWorld fireworks, oversized vehicle enforcement, and parking and trash fee increases.
The city of San Diego’s approved budget for Fiscal Year 2025-26 is $5.82 billion, following the City Council’s override of the mayor’s vetoes on June 23. The city is facing a budget shortfall for fiscal year 2026, which started July 1, now projected at $258 million.
The budget prioritizes essential city services addressing issues like homelessness, housing, public safety, and critical infrastructure, including roads and other improvements. The budget was adopted, despite a significant projected deficit, by balancing strategic cuts with key investments in the city’s priorities.
Looking ahead to the City Council’s resumption of weekly meetings on Monday, Sept. 7, following its legislative recess that began July 30, LaCava said, “We got very busy the first half of the year and we’ll be finalizing decisions in September on two big items – paid parking at Balboa Park and the question of a minimum wage for the hospitality and tourism industry.”
Noting the city’s budget this year is “very tight,” and given that the budget is in part based on economic projections, LaCava said he and his council colleagues have been “really working with the mayor to watch our expenditures and our revenues to see if we need to make any (budget) adjustments in any direction.”
Though it’s uncertain how soon it will come up, LaCava said the council is expected to reconsider what to do with three city-owned leases in Mission Bay, the largest being Marina Village, which is slated in the Mission Bay Master Plan to be a hotel site.
Regarding SeaWorld fireworks, LaCava noted, “I’ve gone on record saying fireworks night after night is just not good practice considering the environmental damage, dangers from fire, and the impact on residents and their pets from the noise.”
However, the District 1 council member noted that SeaWorld is presently amending its master plan, expected sometime in 2026. He said there is a strong chance the city will wait until that process is over to see what the amusement park plans to do with its fireworks displays before deciding what action it may or may not take in curbing them.
Addressing the growing proliferation of oversized vehicles taking up public space along the waterfront, LaCava acknowledged, “We need to do something.”
While pointing out he drives past Mission Bay daily, he added, “What I’m most frustrated about is people taking advantage of the lack of RV enforcement who just plan on staying in the middle of a parking lot rather than renting a camping spot in Campland or a KOA.”
LaCava talked about one suggested solution to free up space in coastal parking lots. “When you have RVs parked on both sides of the street, it really narrows travel and bike lanes, which can be very problematic. One idea to resolve that is to introduce angle parking.”
Concerning inherently unpopular parking and trash fee increases, LaCava noted, “It’s a tough time to have to deal with that, given state and federal relief dollars have now been exhausted, and we have to figure out new revenue sources. If the sales tax had passed last November, we might be having a different conversation on that now.”
Regarding extending hours, and including Sundays, for meters in community parking districts citywide, including the one in Pacific Beach, LaCava said: “Part of the revenues are supposed to go to parking districts and part to the city. When we rolled out parking meters in PB, initially, those dollars went to subsidize the Beach Bug (pilot shuttle). But it wasn’t sustainable.
“[The City Council] is now looking at all the city’s parking districts to decide how best to optimize use of those precious dollars from parking districts. We need to find ways to make the most efficient use of those revenue streams.”
