Money talks at the city of San Diego | Politically Speaking | NBC 7 San Diego
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[{'start': '5.805', 'end': '10.343', 'text': "money talks. And right now money  is just about all the city of  San Diego can talk about. As the  city grapples with its shocking  budget shortfall. Many San  Diegans just want to know when  will some of the pressure on  their pocketbooks ease up? From  Abc7 news, this is Politically  Speaking. Thank you so much for  joining us this morning. I'm  Joey Safchik. Let's get right to  it. There's no easy money to  speak of for the city of San  Diego, which is in the process  of making some hard decisions  about how to balance its budget.  The city faces a $258 million  deficit. The mayor's draft  budget suggests paring down  library and rec center services,  while increasing funding for  police and fire. They have no  choice but to balance the budget  by June, but it won't be easy,  and program cuts are all but  inevitable. Council President  Joe LaCava is here to talk with  us about this this morning.  Thank you so much for being  here. Thank you for the  opportunity to talk about the  most important thing happening  down at City Hall right now.  What was your gut reaction when  you saw the mayor's budget  proposal? Well, we had given a  preview. We had recognized as  much as last fall that a lot of  that one time funding that helps  carry us through that structural  deficit, that lack of revenue,  was not going to be there for  the upcoming year. And so we  knew there were going to be cuts  across the board. We were hoping  they'd be strategic. They we  thought they'd be balanced  across the city of San Diego.  But I certainly wasn't  surprised. A lot of conversation  over the next two months to get  to that balanced budget. I know  my council members will weigh  in. I know the public's going to  weigh in, but this is a very  hard conversation and nobody's  going to walk away happy. Based  on what you've seen so far, are  they strategic cuts? I think  it's the mayor has done a better  job. The operation side has  really taken a deep dive to say,  we've got to make sure that we  get to a balanced budget. And  how does this impact every  neighborhood, every business,  every member of the public,  every residents going forward? I  think there's a lot to talk  about. But at the end of the  day, we've got to balance that  budget and there is no new ways  to cut this pie up. So I think  it's difficult. It's painful,  but it's the right thing to do.  From my initial reaction. I've  got a lot more work to do to  dive into the deeper ends of  that budget. How do you go about  cutting city services and  programs while promising to make  life more affordable for San  Diegans? I think that's where it  gets really painful that this is  not just about City Hall. And  how do we deliver the services  that our residents and  businesses expect, but we're  here in an era where you have  the increasing cost of living,  and then you have the  uncertainty created by the  decisions that are being made in  DC, how that's going to impact  us in so many different ways  jobs being lost, things being  more expensive. And we really  have a convergent that is really  the most trying and most  challenging for us as San  Diegans, as us at City Hall,  trying to make sense of this all  going forward. So that's where  it's going to be very difficult,  and we're hoping that we can get  through the next year relatively  unscathed, and that we really  prepare ourselves to be able to  easily bounce back once we  discover new revenue. Once the  economy looks more stable and  more certain. You took on the  role of council president,  knowing that this could be an  excruciating budget season,  right? Why did you undertake  that challenge and what went  through your head when the  reality of this all settled in?  Well, I thought this was a good  opportunity for me. One door is  only open so often, so you've  got to walk through them when  the door is open. But my years  of working with multiple groups  through challenging  conversations I thought would  play well. My background is in  engineering and very much of a  problem solver. Very pragmatic  going forward, and to a certain  degree, a lot of these cuts will  not impact my district, district  one as much as will impact. So I  could provide a better oversight  of the entire process going  forward, allowing my council  colleagues to really drill in.  How does this impact to their  individual neighborhoods? How  does this impact those  traditionally under-resourced or  lower income residents of San  Diegans, and really focus on  that and then be able to bring  it all together come June, when  we got to actually adopt a  budget. Why is the impact on  your district more negligible?  Generally speaking, my residents  have better options to be able  to overcome some of the cuts  that we're seeing here going  forward. Look, they are good  taxpaying residents. They  deserve city services as much as  any other district going  forward. But in a tough year,  when we try to figure out who  can accommodate the cuts, who  can withstand them, that's the  conversation that we're going to  be having over the next few  weeks. On that note, how do you  make sure that the cuts are  equitable? Yeah, I think that's  one of the things that we've  pivoted over the past few years  as the city as a whole, to  really understand that for  decades, City Hall wasn't really  particularly concerned about who  got hurt, who got helped by  those cuts, about how they tried  to. Those communities that were  historically disadvantaged were  much more sensitive to that,  while realizing taxpayers across  the city deserve the services  that they're being asked to pay  for. But we're much more  sensitive to make sure that  let's put the money when we  don't have enough funds, where  we can really have the greatest  impact. And that's something  that I came into office to be  able to do, to recognize that  that's the challenge really in  front of us. So it's a delicate  balance that we have to navigate  going forward. So when we talk  about cuts to libraries, is one  community more impacted than  other communities? And to also  realize the rhetoric of it's  just about south of 94, it's  just about south of eight. We  have some communities that are  challenged across the entire  city, and we got to make sure  that we're really very  thoughtful in those  conversations. Did the city do  enough to prepare for this  eventuality? I'm especially  thinking about those record high  pension payouts. Yeah, I think  that the honest answer is no. We  knew that we had a structural  deficit. We knew that we rode on  the Covid relief funds and other  federal funds that came to us  that would not be around  forever. And so that's one of  the reasons that some of these  cuts are a little more dramatic  in this upcoming year, because  all those one time funds are not  going to be available to us. So  we really have to make do on the  revenue that is actually coming  into the city. And no one likes  to make those cuts, right. We  want to keep our libraries, our  rec centers. We want to deliver  the services. We want to make  sure that public safety is  strong and has all those  resources. But this is the year  that we really have to face up  and make those hard choices. The  mayor's proposed budget relies  on tens of millions of dollars  in new revenue, but that new  revenue could still face some  obstacles. So what happens if it  doesn't pull through? Yeah,  that's the biggest challenge in  front of us. There's a lot of  folks who don't like the cuts  that came out on April 15th.  We're going to get an update  here in a couple of weeks. The  so-called May revise that will  also include projections of  revenue that is dependent on the  strength of the economy. And  those signs are not very good.  We expect sales tax maybe to be  lower. We expect higher costs  due to the tariffs going  forward. And so we may see a  slightly different version  coming from the mayor here in a  couple of weeks once we have  that input. To your point,  there's a couple of things that  actually require council vote.  We're talking about changing  about how we charge for parking  and public spaces. We talk about  the trash fee, which is probably  the most controversial in in all  of that. Those are big dollars  that this budget really relies  on to deliver. And so if we  don't have that revenue, the  conversations come June are  going to be very challenging.  There's going to be a lot of  midnight oil being burned to  balance that. And then if my  council colleagues reject some  of those cuts and say, I want to  claw that back, how are you  going to replace them? Because  for every dollar you want put  back in the budget, you've got  to take another dollar out. So  it's going to be a very tough  conversation. But this is the  balance between the mayor who  looks at citywide, and the big  picture council members who look  at their district and their  constituents and the people who  live, work and play in their  district. How do you balance  that all out? And that'll be the  conversation, whether we're  talking about new revenue or  cuts, there are always going to  be naysayers, right? At what  point do you just have to tune  them out and say, this is what  we have to do for the city going  forward? Well, that's exactly, I  think, what the job of the  elected official is. For every  cut, there's going to be a  stakeholder or a contingency  that's going to come in and say,  not this cut, cut somebody else.  And that's what our job is to  really balance those  conversations. And this is going  to be a year where we're going  to say, we just have to stand up  there and say, no, we can't  restore those cuts because there  just isn't the funding to cover  and meet everybody's hope for  and expectation. People at home  say, well, I've balanced my  family's budget. Why can't the  city do that? These are my  elected officials. What do you  say to them? Yeah, it is a big  challenge. Part of it is we have  mandates that we have to  deliver, and so we need those  core services, public safety,  which is a priority number one  at the city, takes up over half  our budget. So we start with  that. While there's a little bit  of refinement in those, by and  large, public safety is being  delivered at the rate that our  police chief, our fire chief and  our lifeguard chief want us to  deliver that. So then it's the  rest of it. And then we have  mandates that come from the  state, come from the federal  government that we also have to  deliver on. And then we talk  about what we have to deliver  on, what we'd like to deliver  on. And that's the conversation.  And of course, costs have gone  up higher than the revenue that  we rely on to pay for those  services. This all sounds very  solemn, very challenging. Is  there any hope coming out of  this budget season for closing  that structural deficit? Well,  we already know that the goal  originally was to come out of  this and eliminate the  structural deficit, measure  ongoing revenue with ongoing  expenses. And by and large, the  draft that we've seen so far,  which will be subject to change,  pretty much does that. It's not  100%. So we're just this year or  looking forward this year and  looking forward, depending on  the economy. That'll be the wild  card in this conversation. But  there are some one time fixes.  They're relatively small  compared to previous years. So I  think we've done the mayor has  done a good first draft. More  conversations to come and we  will keep everyone updated on  those. Thank you so much for  being here this morning. All  right. Thank you for the  opportunity to talk about it.  And coming up, if you're more  focused on your own budget than  the city's, you may be wondering  when some campaign promises  about lowering the cost of  living will come to fruition. We  take  Welcome back. This week marked  100 days in office for President  Trump, per a new NBC news poll.  His approval ratings are  slightly higher than at this  point in his first term, but  they're lower than other  presidents. At 100 days, he's  lost ground on the economy  specifically, which is where we  start this morning with Paula  Whitsell, chair of the San Diego  GOP. Thank you so much for being  here. Thank you for having me.  First of all, what is your  reaction? How have you felt  about the first 100 days?  Actually, I'm pretty excited, to  be honest with you. President  Trump had a lot of promises, and  he is a person who does what he  promises. So I think generally  speaking, everybody, especially  here in San Diego County, we're  we're excited with his border  policies because that was a  really big issue here for San  Diego County. We were impacted  by those crazy policies that  were in the last administration.  So I think people are getting  what they voted for. What about  the cost of living, though? Has  he made good on those campaign  promises to lower the cost of  living? Well, we're we're in the  first quarter, and he actually  hasn't been here for the first  full quarter, generally  speaking, across the country  you're seeing gasoline prices go  down, eggs, groceries, those  type of things are going down  slightly because of his  embracing a strong energy  policy, which will naturally  bring things down. But I think  over time you're going to see  that his policies on tariffs,  lowering taxes, lowering  regulations, all the things that  come into play that take a  little bit longer to come in,  come into play and to be really  effective and have an impact on  the economy. We're going to  start seeing that now in  California. We're not seeing a  lot of those changes because we  still have Gavin Newsom and  gasoline prices, where in other  parts of the country they're  paying almost $2 a gallon. We're  still paying almost $5 a gallon  here in California. So we have a  different situation here in  California that don't that we  don't necessarily feel the  impact of some of those energy  changes. For example, you  mentioned those controversial  tariff policies. Does the local  GOP stand by them even if there  is short term pain? Yes, because  it's the long it's a long game.  And ultimately bringing  countries to the table to have a  fair trade deal will benefit the  whole country. And that is a  long term play. We're already  having countries come to the  table Japan, India, all those  countries are already  negotiating with the current  administration, and that will be  a game changer for the whole  country. Bring jobs back,  manufacturing lower prices, and  it will be fair. And we're not  asking for anything other than  to be fair. And so that that  policy is, is bringing countries  to the table to have  conversations about what is fair  for the American people, for the  American consumer. What do you  say, though, to local business  owners here in San Diego who  say, well, we might not be able  to sustain our operation to make  it that far given the short term  pain of these tariffs? Well, I  think you're seeing that the  Trump administration is reacting  very quickly. Countries are  coming to the table very quickly  because they want access to the  American consumer. And so it's  not going to take very long for  the for countries to come and  make those deals. India has  already inked a deal. They've  already signed it. And you're  going to see other countries  doing that as well. Japan is  already in the process of  finalizing a deal, so it's not  going to take very long for all  of this to come to play. And  you're already seeing a lot of  big companies committing to  billions of dollars of  investments in the US market  because we are the primary  market in the world. So  everybody wants access to our  markets. Per that poll that I  mentioned, some 68% of  independents disapprove of the  president's performance so far.  What are you and your party  going to have to do to win them  over come the midterms next  year? Results. Really, it's the  bottom line when the American  consumer starts seeing the  results and the impact of  Trump's policies. Generally  speaking, I think people are  very happy with the border  policies. That is something that  they wanted and expected. And  it's happening. Energy policies.  You're just seeing all of this  put into place. It takes a while  for it to take to take hold. But  as as these policies do take  hold and start impacting the  everyday American and the middle  class, you're going to see that  people are going to be very much  on board with the policies of  the Trump administration. Is  there enough healthy debate  within the party? Are elected  officials comfortable enough  pushing back against the  president when they disagree  with him? I think so, generally.  I think there's a, first of all,  freedom of speech is one of the  basic tenets. And so you see a  lot of conversation, discussion,  people who, you know, out of the  box are not, for example,  Pro-tariff. But when you see the  big plan, it's not just a one  legged plan, it's a three legged  plan. So you have to step back  and look at the whole entire  picture to be able to understand  what the impact is going to be  on the economy, and specifically  here in San Diego County. You  mentioned free speech. How does  that square with student  protesters having their visas  revoked or being threatened with  deportation because of their  protest actions? Well, first of  all, if you look at the  deportations of students, they  are not U.S. Citizens. And so  the they're here on visas. Yes,  but they're the US Constitution  protects U.S. Citizens. And it's  not a question of just free  speech, because free speech is  protected. And that is something  that the Trump administration  has been adamant about. But what  you're talking about are threats  to Jewish students. You're  talking about violent. Protests  on the street. That is not  acceptable for someone who is  not a US citizen here in the  United States. And they are  here, as you know, our guest.  And so they're not acting as  guests in our country. And so  when they choose, they can  choose to do whatever they want.  But there are consequences to  certain actions. Let's talk  local. Do Republicans in  California have to moderate some  of your positions because of the  Democratic supermajority?  Actually, I do not think so,  because Californians are pretty  fed up with the current  administration. Here in  California. We've seen the  impact of having Democrat  control and supermajority in the  legislature. And there was a  poll that came out, I think it  was about three weeks ago that  said 70% of Californians would  be willing to consider voting  for a Republican for governor.  So people here are in California  are fed up. They're fed up with  the lack of safety. They're fed  up with crime, rampant crime.  You can't go into a drugstore  and buy a deodorant without  getting someone to unlock it. So  a lot of these crazy policies  have impacted our daily lives  and people are getting fed up. I  want to ask you very quickly,  the California attorney general  has been filing lawsuits against  the federal government, an  average pace of about one a week  since this administration began.  How invested is the local party  in those lawsuits? What are you  tracking? Well, that's not  something that we get involved  in locally. That's a federal  issue. You know, we are aware of  those lawsuits. It's a waste of  California taxpayer money.  There's a lot of things here in  California that we need to be  doing that are wasting our  money. Doing these lawsuits is  not a proper use of our taxpayer  money. You know, we have Cal,  Medi-Cal and other things that  are going on that have budget  issues. And I think that that's  a waste of money, taxpayer  money. All right, Paula, thank  you so much. Always appreciate  your insights. All right. Thank  you. And straight ahead tracking  changes to immigration policy at  the San Diego border and beyond.  Stay with us.  Welcome back. Since the first  day of his administration,  President Trump's immigration  policies have been met with  swift blowback from critics but  lauded by supporters. NBC 7  Shelby Bremer has closely  followed the many developments  on this front and tells us  what's changed in 100 days. It's  often said that immigration is  where domestic and foreign  policy meet, and President  Trump's actions over the first  100 days have really been  multifaceted, all with one goal.  There's really no place more key  to watch that play out than here  at the border. We're really at  the center of that political  conversation. President Donald  Trump closing out his first 100  days, the same way he began  signing another executive order  Monday with a focus on  immigration. I ran on a campaign  of taking criminals out of our  country. The president often  making clear his mass  deportation effort is a promise,  fulfilled. One of his  administration's very first acts  on day one was to shut down the  CBP one app, which allowed  migrants to seek asylum and  enter the U.S. Now it's back,  but rebranded as CBP home to  encourage self-deportation. And  those who did use CBP one  legally are getting letters  saying it's time to leave.  Immigrants are always told  follow the law, enter the right  way, do things, quote unquote,  the right way. And then here  they go. And they do it. And  then they they're getting the  rug pulled out from under them.  That's just one avenue by which  Trump is carrying out his  crackdown. You can't come in the  House. You don't have a warrant.  Immigration and Customs  Enforcement says the agency has  deported more than 65,000 people  in the first 100 days, focused  on those with criminal  convictions, but drawing  backlash for arresting those  without. It's cruel and it's  unjust and it's inhumane. Those  removals are happening in  concert with a major shift at  the border. San Diego at the  center of it all, Border Patrol  reports just 29,000 encounters  in March, a 10th of the monthly  totals one year ago. Sir, this  is a proclamation declaring a  national emergency at the  southern border of the United  States. That's a big one. A lot  of big ones. Day one's national  emergency declaration brought  troops to the border to install  concertina wire as a deterrent  as to what message that sends.  It's not my, my, my position to  make opinions. It's my position  to follow the directions of my  commander in chief. That  direction, 100 days in remains  the same as it ever was. One of  the fact that we're going to be  doing this, we have to be  allowed to do it. Otherwise  we're not going to have a  country any longer. So many all  along pointing to congressional  action next to fix a long broken  system. All along, so many we've  spoken with on both sides of the  aisle say next is congressional  action to fix a broken system  that hasn't been updated since  the 90s. From Otay Mesa, Shelby  Bremer NBC 7. Our thanks to  Shelby. That's all the time we  have for today. Thanks for  talking politics with us. We  will see you next week."}]