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?

My view is simple: The trash fee should be rescinded and sent back to the voters because San Diegans were never given the full truth in the first place. The city spent $4.5 million on a consultant study that was supposed to tell the public what the fee would actually cost, but staff failed to provide information needed for an accurate analysis. As a result, voters were sold a lower number that did not reflect the true cost. After the election, the Independent Budget Analyst’s Office and city staff acknowledged major mistakes, including an overstated customer base and understated operating costs. Instead of correcting the errors and letting voters decide again, the council imposed higher fees anyway, including automatic increases. That was not transparency or informed consent.

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?

I oppose the imposition of parking fees at Balboa Park, and no, I do not believe the mayor and council did enough to control costs before taking that step. City Hall rushed into paid parking without an economic impact study, ignored warnings from its own independent budget analyst, and failed to seriously analyze the effects on visitors, park institutions, businesses and surrounding neighborhoods. The speed of the rollout was highly unusual for a program requiring contracts, meters, payment systems and administration, raising legitimate questions about how long it was being planned before the final vote. While facing budget deficits, City Hall should have been streamlining operations and controlling spending. Instead, it spent years expanding nonessential programs and adding layers of high-paid administrative staff. Now it wants taxpayers to pay for those irresponsible decisions.

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?

Voters approved both managed competition and pension reform because they wanted City Hall to control costs and protect basic services. In 2006, voters amended the City Charter to authorize competitive bidding of some services, such as trash pickup, and that authority is still on the books today. I would support reviving its use by competitively bidding appropriate non-core services where it can reduce costs without sacrificing service quality. On pension reform, the 2012 measure was struck down by the courts and cannot simply be revived. But I would support going back to voters with a legally sound reform for new hires, excluding public safety, because retirement costs are draining money from core services.

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

The most important issue facing San Diego is getting City Hall’s spending under control and making sure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly.

For too long, city leaders have neglected the core basics of local government: repairing streets and sidewalks, maintaining stormwater systems, clearing fire-prone canyons, supporting police and fire protection, and keeping parks safe and clean. Instead, the mayor and City Council expanded non-essential bureaucracy by adding new offices, programs and over a thousand new positions from fiscal years 2021 to 2025.

These non-core expenses cost tens of millions of dollars that could have gone toward the city’s massive backlog of maintenance and repairs. At the same time, the mayor and council were spending one-time revenue for these ongoing expenses to fill the budget hole. Instead of curtailing the spending spree, the City Council put a sales tax hike on the November 2024 ballot. Many voters saw it as a blank check for more overspending and rejected it.

Only after that defeat did the city begin cutting some of the added positions and departments. But by then, the money had already been spent on discretionary staffing at the expense of basic services. Now residents are being hit with new taxes and higher fees to pay for that bloat.

As a City Council member, I will fight to spend taxpayer dollars responsibly and prioritize core services residents rely on.

Go to markpowellforcitycouncil.com for more information on the candidate.