{"id":479839,"date":"2026-09-29T23:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T23:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/479839\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T23:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T23:24:08","slug":"san-diego-council-rivals-crosby-and-bailey-debate-power-immigration-liberty-station-and-the-future-of-city-hall-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/479839\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego council rivals Crosby and Bailey debate power, immigration, Liberty Station and the future of City Hall \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Diego City Council candidates Richard Bailey and Nicole Crosby clashed this week over whether the city should control electric power, whether the mayor has too much power and the future of the Ocean Beach Pier.<\/p>\n

Crosby and Bailey also sparred over federal immigration enforcement, Bailey\u2019s proposal to slash city staffing and the future of the Liberty Station mixed-use development.<\/p>\n

Crosby, a Democrat, and Bailey, a longtime Republican turned independent, are battling to replace termed-out Councilmember Jennifer Campbell in District 2, which includes Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Clairemont and nearby areas.<\/p>\n

Bailey said the OB Pier will not get rebuilt without some sort of public-private partnership, suggesting that the $200 million price tag is out of reach for the cash-strapped city.<\/p>\n

He said the city could sell revenue bonds from the public-private venture or devote all city tax revenue from short-term vacation rentals to a new pier.<\/p>\n

Crosby said she believes the city can secure adequate grants and matching funds to rebuild the pier, vowing to make chasing grants a higher priority at City Hall if she\u2019s elected.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we really think about $200 million, it\u2019s not actually that much,\u201d she said. \u201cThis money exists; the city just doesn\u2019t go after it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crosby said she supports the city\u2019s plan to take over supplying power to city residents, contending San Diego Gas & Electric and its shareholders should not control something needed for homes to be habitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely do believe public power should be a very serious concept we are considering,\u201d said Crosby, suggesting customer bills would go down.<\/p>\n

\"CommunityCommunity attendees watch a forum with San Diego City Council District 2 candidates Richard Bailey and Nicole Crosby at Point Loma Nazarene University Liberty Station Conference Center on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (Sandy Huffaker for The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Bailey dismissed the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one should defend SDG&E and I certainly won\u2019t, but there is only one agency I would trust less to run a utility company \u2014 the city of San Diego,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you can\u2019t even bill correctly for trash collection, why should voters trust you to run a utility?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bailey was referring to a recent scandal<\/a> in which tens of thousands of city trash customers were over-billed due to a technical glitch.<\/p>\n

The candidates also sparred over the strong mayor form of government San Diego has used for the last two decades.<\/p>\n

Bailey said the city should revert to having a city manager, contending recent mistakes at City Hall can be blamed in part on the city\u2019s mayor and nine council members having no leadership or management experience before taking office.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can they oversee a $2.2 billion organization?\u201d Bailey asked. \u201cWe need to bring back professional, competent, accountable leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crosby said voters approved the switch to strong mayor and that it\u2019s their decision, but she defended the current system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we look back, there was poor city management (before), too,\u201d she said, referring to the era before the switch to strong mayor.<\/p>\n

She also questioned how a city manager could be removed if San Diego switched back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are the rules going to be \u2014 five City Council members can fire you?\u201d she asked. \u201cSix City Council members can fire you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RichardRichard Bailey and Nicole Crosby speak during a public forum at Point Loma Nazarene University Liberty Station Conference Center on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (Sandy Huffaker for The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Another hot topic was Bailey\u2019s proposal to shrink city staffing levels to what they were in 2015, a move he says would transform the city\u2019s $100 million structural deficit into an annual $300 million surplus.<\/p>\n

Crosby said city expenses were artificially low in 2015 because of the now-invalidated 2012 ballot measure known as Proposition B, which instituted a citywide pay freeze and eliminated pensions for most new hires.<\/p>\n

The measure was later overturned by the courts. Unwinding it has cost the city tens of millions of dollars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at 2015 in a vacuum is absurd,\u201d said Crosby, contending Bailey\u2019s plan would require reckless cost-cutting and privatization of many city services. \u201cIt\u2019s 2026, and things have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

On federal immigration enforcement, Crosby said the city must resist efforts by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement \u2014 especially raids and searches without warrants.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur police are not here to do the bidding of the federal government,\u201d she said. \u201cIf it was that important, they\u2019d provide a warrant, not raid \u2014 Gestapo-style \u2014 community events. This is bonkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bailey said he supports federal agents having the power to enforce federal immigration law even in cities, counties and states that refuse to cooperate with them. But he did criticize the Trump administration for being too \u201cheavy-handed\u201d with enforcement.<\/p>\n

On Liberty Station and the ongoing legal dispute over its long-term ownership, Crosby said the city should never voluntarily give up control of the area.<\/p>\n

Bailey disagreed, suggesting that portions of the development run by the private sector are in better shape than those controlled by the city.<\/p>\n

He suggested the city consider giving the current leaseholder an extension long enough for it to fund an aquatics center that nearby residents have sought for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a potential win\/win here,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cThe city of San Diego has an abysmal track record when it comes to managing any properties whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crosby also proposed during the forum that the city consider turning Montgomery-Gibbs Airport in Kearny Mesa into a large housing development.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is almost 500 acres of open space that is right now causing noise pollution and air pollution,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The forum, held Monday night at the Liberty Station conference center, was sponsored by the Point Loma Association and coordinated by the local chapter of the League of Women Voters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Diego City Council candidates Richard Bailey and Nicole Crosby clashed this week over whether the city should…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1400,204,989,181,23,205,100,13,74,76,75,1696],"class_list":["post-479839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-2026-elections","tag-election","tag-elections","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-local-politics","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-top-stories-sdut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479839","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=479839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}