{"id":407891,"date":"2026-07-22T12:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T12:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/407891\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T12:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T12:38:08","slug":"former-council-members-essay-detailed-san-diegos-decline-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/407891\/","title":{"rendered":"Former council member\u2019s essay detailed San Diego\u2019s decline \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Re \u201cServices shrink as City Council staffs grow. Why?\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sandiegouniontribune.com\/2026\/07\/17\/opinion-san-diego-services-shrink-as-city-council-staffs-grow-why\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">July 19<\/a>): Lorie Zapf\u2019s comments captured our situation clearly. I have called San Diego my home since 1977. On arrival, I took note of the city\u2019s scenery, openness and cleanliness.\u00a0 It was much nicer than Miami and Fort Lauderdale, where I grew up. This city was so well-managed. Roads, parks and public spaces were clean and functional. Police presence supported safety. Affordable rents helped residents live comfortably. For decades, San Diego was well-run, even as leadership changed. It was truly \u201cAmerica\u2019s Finest City.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2012, San Diego became largely Democratic-controlled, and since then a decline in fiscal responsibility has been obvious. If voters keep supporting this Democratic governance, conditions will only worsen. Those hesitant to vote Republican might consider independents. Ultimately, voters should look beyond party lines and judge candidates by their actions and records, not campaign promises or rhetoric. Please vote thoughtfully and responsibly in November.\u00a0 We can still turn this around.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Glen Volk, Point Loma<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Re \u201cServices shrink as City Council staffs grow. Why?\u201d (July 19): Lorie Zapf\u2019s comments captured our situation clearly.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1564,975,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-407891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-letters-to-the-editor","tag-opinion","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}