Add The California Post on Google San Diego mayor Todd Gloria is quickly becoming the poster child of fiscal mismanagement — and a warning about what happens when “red” states and cities go “blue.”
The latest debacle involves trash fees. As The California Post reported, thousands of San Diego homeowners were shocked to find that they had been overcharged for trash removal — by $1,000, in some cases.
Worse, some homeowners were billed on their property taxes, and not on their regular sanitation bills.
In some cities, the problem would be seen as an unfortunate technical error. But in San Diego, the trash fiasco has become a symbol of broader financial problems.
This year, San Diego faced a deficit of $118 million, thanks to exploding expenses.
Some of those expenses were simply outrageous. As The California Post reported, the city spent 5% of its entire general fund renovating its offices with fancy cubicles and new furniture.
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Other costs were the result of a massive increase in the ranks of middle management, as Gloria padded the payroll with bureaucrats.
Facing an acute cash shortfall, the city tried a number of gimmicks to make ends meet. One was charging for parking in Balboa Park. Another was canceling the city’s annual Christmas celebrations.
Every suggestion was met with public outrage.
Fed-up residents voted down tax hikes in June, largely because they do not trust the city to spend the money properly.
It’s a tough position for Gloria, who was heralded as a standard-bearer for the Democratic Party when he was first elected in 2020.
Before then, San Diego had been one of the few major cities in the US that had been governed, at least some of the time, by a Republican.
Gloria’s predecessor, Kevin Faulconer, was a moderate Republican who steered the city through the a homelessness crisis, a surge of migrants, and the coronavirus pandemic.
Before Faulconer, Democrat Bob Filner had entered office with high hopes that were dashed in a bizarre sex scandal. He left within months.
Gloria seemed to mark a permanent shift to the left — following the example of Orange County, a once-reliable Republican stronghold that has been dominated by Democrats in recent years.
But the fiscal problems in San Diego have shone a spotlight on a tax-and-spend philosophy that is widely shared within the party.
It’s a warning timely warning for the midterms: Elections have consequences.
