Last year, San Diego leaders passed a law that mandated transparency on renters\u2019 utility bills. It turns out, some landlords may not be following it.<\/p>\n
The ordinance requires landlords to produce copies of utility bills, along with the calculations behind the dollar figures, to any tenant who asks for it or is disputing their utility charges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The law is designed to help renters who don\u2019t receive a utility bill based on their individual usage. Instead, their landlord or a third-party company divide up the building\u2019s single utility bill across units \u2014 and the way the bills are divided up isn\u2019t always clear.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In multiple complaints obtained by Voice, landlords allegedly never produced those records, produced incomplete records or, in one case, threatened to have the requesting tenant evicted for asking too many questions.<\/p>\n
The new rule: It\u2019s called the Residential Utility Fee Ordinance, and its goal is to make utility charges more transparent and fair. It\u2019s supposed to give tenants a way to make sure they\u2019re being charged fairly.<\/p>\n
Naomi Granata and MacKenzie Elmer reviewed public records from the City Attorney\u2019s Office and discovered several complaints filed by tenants over the past nine months.<\/p>\n
Read the full story here.<\/a><\/p>\n Prop 45 Would Change CEQA in a Big Way<\/p>\n If voters approve Prop 45 this November, it could bring big changes to how projects get developed in California.<\/p>\n At the center of the measure is the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA \u2014 a law that requires governments to ensure development projects meet certain environmental standards. Obviously, environmental standards are great \u2014 but there\u2019s a big but.<\/p>\n CEQA has been known to stall or completely kill housing projects, including much needed affordable and clean-energy developments. Prop. 45 would set strict deadlines for environmental reviews and limit court delays. It would also allow developers to start building during the environmental review phase.<\/p>\n Supporters say it cuts red tape to build homes faster. Opponents say it would strip CEQA\u2019s ability to protect the environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both sides will be debating at Voice of San Diego\u2019s Politifest this Saturday in a discussion moderated by our environment reporter MacKenzie Elmer.<\/p>\n Read more about the debate in the Environment Report here.<\/a><\/p>\n Politifest Is This Weekend!<\/p>\n The annual who\u2019s who and what\u2019s what of San Diego politics is right around the corner \u2014 and, if you haven\u2019t already, it\u2019s time to get your tickets<\/a>!<\/p>\n Every year, it\u2019s a mad rush to get this event planned and we\u2019ve added several new discussions and debates in the last few days.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Future of the Democratic Party: Should the party head toward the left with policies like Medicare for All and taxing billionaires? Or would it be better served by more moderate policies? We\u2019ll get into it with three people at the center of the debate: Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, chair of the county Democratic Party, Connor Bennett, a co-chair of the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and Ryan Clumpner, a political consultant and strategist.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A Discussion on Prop. 40, the Billionaire Tax: Our Bella Ross will moderate a discussion with Carol Kim, business manager of the Building and Trades Council, and Mark Cafferty, CEO of the Regional Economic Development Corporation.<\/p>\n El Cajon City Council Debate: Three El Cajon City Council candidates will debate each other on the future of the city and how they plan to shape it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Get your tickets here.<\/a>\u202f \u00a0<\/p>\n Kind of Blue<\/p>\n How does San Diego end up sandwiched between New York City and Albuquerque, you ask? That would be in the How-Democratic-Is-Your-City rankings of course.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of the 30 most Democratic metro areas, San Diego ranks 20th \u2014 just behind a city which famously, or infamously depending on your perspective, just elected a democratic socialist as mayor.\u00a0<\/p>\n Number one might not shock you: San Francisco. Number three was a little more of a wild card: that would be Madison, WI.\u00a0<\/p>\n A data analyst with VoteHub posted the rankings on X.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n In Other News<\/p>\n The former deputy chief operating officer of San Diego, Alia Khouri, claims that her being fired last year was in retaliation<\/a> for her role in disciplining another city employee, who Khouri claims was in a romantic relationship with Mayor Todd Gloria\u2019s chief of staff, Paola Avila. Avila has denied the allegations and said she was \u201cat no relevant time\u201d romantically involved with the employee. (inewsource)<\/p>\n The aircraft carrier USS Theordore Roosevelt was deployed to the Middle East<\/a> on Sunday to support U.S. efforts in its war against Iran. Officials said it will likely be a longer deployment than normal because the Navy doesn\u2019t have enough ships. The last carrier deployed has been gone for 10 months and will have been on one of the longest deployments in naval history when it comes back next month. Eight sailors on that ship have attempted to take their own lives. (Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n Voter information pamphlets for the Nov. 3 election are being sent out starting this week<\/a>, according to county officials. Pamphlets include voting options, election deadlines, candidate information and more. (KPBS)<\/p>\n The county announced Monday<\/a> that Dr. Elizabeth Hernandez, its interim top Health and Human Services official, is set to become that agency\u2019s permanent leader after a national search. Hernandez is the latest in a series of internal<\/a> hires at the county following national searches.<\/p>\n The Morning Report was written by Tigist Layne, Will Huntsberry and Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated Posts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last year, San Diego leaders passed a law that mandated transparency on renters\u2019 utility bills. 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