“This was a forum to remember and remind us what democracy is all about.”
— Mike Aguirre
Tonight’s meeting of the Hillcrest Town Council featured a forum focused on solutions to address the city’s fiscal crisis with panelists City Councilman Carl DeMaio; former City Councilman Michael Zucchet, now with MEA; former City Attorney Michael Aguirre; and USD economics professor Alan Gin. The evening was moderated byScott Lewis of the Voice of San Diego.
A standing room only crowd of 150 neighbors from throughout Uptown packed the Joyce Beers Community Center. DeMaio led the panelists sharing his Roadmap to Recovery plan that balances the city’s budget and reforms the pension system. He believes that San Diegans sent a strong message with athe defeat of Proposition D. They don’t want an increase in tax revenue, until the city enacts
meaningful financial reforms.
Zucchet followed sharing his concern that DeMaio’s forecast of the pension deficit depicted 15 years versus a 30-year forecast used by the MEA. Zucchet believes that in year 16 the pension funding recovers. Bankers Hill resident Mike Aguirre advocated for bankruptcy to solve San Diego problems. If you take away the pension portions arising from service credits that were not paid for, then we’d be OK. Zucchet responded that the city is too solvent to declare bankruptcy.
USD’s Alan Gin promotes increased revenue through an increase of fees. SD charges significantly less than other cities for business taxes, hotel surcharges and stormwater fees. It also doesn’t collect money for trash collection (except from multifamily homes). The professor had a memorable quote re: constituents wanting a higher level of service with no increase in fees stating that “San Diegans are cheap.” The evening was full of spirited exchanges and enjoyed by all.
