Richard Bailey, San Diego City Council District 2 candidate – San Diego Union-Tribune

1. What is your view of how elected leaders won approval of first-ever trash collection fees on more than 200,000 single-family homeowners?

The city of San Diego either misled the public with a “bait and switch” on proposed rates or failed to accurately project the true cost. Either way, the lack of accountability reflects the breakdown in professional management and responsive leadership at City Hall.

That failure underscores the need for reform, which is why I support repealing the trash fee and transitioning to a competitively bid, third-party collection model, like every other city in the county. This approach would deliver higher-quality service at a lower cost for San Diegans.

2. What is your view of the imposition of parking fees at Balboa Park and do you think the mayor and council did enough to control costs before taking this step?

Years of irresponsible financial and management decisions created the city’s structural deficit, not free parking at Balboa Park.  Attempting to balance the budget on the backs of park visitors shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose of public parks. The impact of this bad policy decision extends beyond visitors with museums and park businesses seeing reduced attendance and sales, leading to layoffs. 

This $100 million-plus structural deficit was not a surprise. The city projected these shortfalls years in advance through its own five-year outlooks yet failed to make meaningful spending or management reforms. Instead, it turned to new taxes and fees, including parking.  

The current spending proposal only slow the growth in spending. Without significant organizational reforms, the city will be forced to seek future tax and fee increases.

3. Voters gave landslide approval in 2006 to a “managed competition” process in which some city services can be outsourced and strongly supported pension reforms for most city workers in 2012, but elected leaders have pursued neither policy in recent years. Would you?

Yes, I would support managed competition because the data shows that the city of San Diego does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending and management problem. 

Since 2014, the city’s population has grown just 1% while staffing increased 27%, driven by a 461% rise in middle management.

At the same time, service levels have worsened: Priority 1 response times have more than doubled, about 30% of streets are rated poor or failing, and it takes over 500 days to fix a streetlight. Taxpayers are paying more but getting less.

The city’s current model isn’t working. We should implement managed competition and transition City Hall from an operator to an oversight role to lower costs, reduce future pension liability and improve performance.

Without structural reform, deficits will grow and service levels will continue to decline.

4. What is the single issue you feel deserves more attention? 

The lack of accountability.

From the trash fee rollout to Balboa Park parking to the declining condition of roads, parks and public facilities, there has been little accountability for poor decisions and outcomes. Instead, staffing and compensation continue to rise while service levels decline.

In the private sector, organizations are expected to do more with less. In San Diego, taxpayers are getting less for more.

We need to measure performance using clear, objective data and hold leadership accountable for results. When City Hall is held to higher standards, policies improve — and so do outcomes for residents.

Go to richardbailey.com for more information about the candidate.