Public backlash is prompting San Diego to reopen 13 restrooms in Mission Bay Park this Friday after a six-week closure during the heart of summer that angered city residents and tourists.
Mayor Todd Gloria and two City Council members announced the move Wednesday morning, just as Councilmember Raul Campillo was preparing to widen his vocal campaign to get the restrooms reopened.
It’s the second time in recent months the city has reversed itself when a budget-balancing move has met fierce resistance. In May, the city announced paid parking in Balboa Park will end Dec. 31.
The mayor acknowledged that such moves might look erratic to city residents but said San Diego’s budget crisis requires politicians to try new measures and be willing to retreat if they don’t work.
Wednesday’s move does not permanently reopen the closed restrooms. The $200,000 in new funding only guarantees they will remain open through Dec. 31, with funding for 2027 uncertain.
Campillo said by phone Wednesday that he would prefer that the mayor reopen the restrooms permanently, calling the closures a public health issue at one of San Diego’s most popular tourist destinations.
The $200,000 includes $100,000 provided by the mayor and $50,000 each from Councilmembers Joe LaCava and Jennifer Campbell, whose council districts include Mission Bay Park.
“This was one budget cut that was too deep, too impactful, and undermined the enjoyment of this wonderful resource we call Mission Bay,” LaCava said during a news conference at Tecolote Shores on the east side of Mission Bay.
LaCava said the council deserves some of the blame for the closures, because its nine members unanimously approved the budget that included them and were fully aware the closures were in it.
“I made hard choices, balancing competing needs,” said LaCava, who represents Pacific Beach and La Jolla.
Because the council shares responsibility, LaCava and Campbell contributed $50,000 each from district funds they typically use to help fund parades and community events.
The city’s $100,000 will come from $12.5 million in unexpected new state money for housing and homelessness prevention that city officials found out about last Friday.
He said the new state money — the city was granted $25 million, rather than the $12.5 million it expected — would free up some general fund money that had been slated for addressing homelessness.
Campbell said the timing of the restroom reopenings is crucial with the busy Labor Day weekend coming in early September and the San Diego Bayfair power boat races Sept. 18-20.
Campbell, who represents Mission Beach, said the closures highlight San Diego’s dire need for more revenue to cover the city’s growing expenses.
“This situation underscores the need for San Diego to identify more stable, ongoing sources of revenue,” she said.
City voters narrowly rejected in 2024 a proposed one-cent sales tax hike that was expected to boost city revenue by about $400 million per year — nearly 20%.
Campillo, who voted for the budget with the restroom closures but has been lobbying the mayor to reopen them since shortly after they closed July 1, said Wednesday he’s pleased public pressure worked.
“I’m proud that my advocacy, along with that of tens of thousands of San Diegans on this important issue, finally got through to the Mayor,” Campillo said.
Before the mayor’s announcement Wednesday, Campillo had scheduled a Thursday news conference where he planned to widen his campaign to bring in public health experts and other officials.
Among those scheduled to attend were Bradley Schnell, founder of the Mission Bay Park Conservancy, and Dr. Audrey Pham, a pediatric resident physician at Rady Children’s Hospital.
Campillo has said that tourists and other park visitors have begun relieving themselves in grassy areas and other locations, and that as a result the closures are creating a public health emergency.
Shortly after Campillo began lobbying for the restrooms to reopen, the mayor sent him a memo on July 24 saying San Diego needs to save every penny for new expenses on the horizon, such as coping with winter El Niño storms.
The mayor said Wednesday that he still feels that way, stressing that $100,000 from the new $12.5 million in state grant money was a relatively modest contribution.
The city had been slated to save $546,000 in maintenance and cleaning costs this fiscal year by closing the restrooms — 13 of the 28 that serve visitors to Mission Bay Park.
Those savings will now shrink to $346,000. And they could shrink further if the council and mayor decide in late fall to fund the restrooms in the second half of the fiscal year — from January through June.
“The city will continue monitoring its financial condition and at the city’s mid-year budget review reevaluate the potential to keep the restrooms open for the full fiscal year,” a city news release said.