Guest Commentary: How bad are San Diego’s streets? We can see for ourselves

Another new, and expensive, comprehensive survey to tell us what we already know about San Diego’s streets (“Just how bad are San Diego’s streets? With two major evaluations coming, the city faces a watershed moment,” Jan. 4, La Jolla Light).

City officials say they’ll take it as a “call to action.” Taxpayers need action, period!

Simply drive around our city’s streets, as we do daily, to see the pathetic shape of our infrastructure. Residents have been complaining for years, with meager action from city officials. But this time will be different? Suddenly city Transportation Director Bethany Bezak has had an epiphany because a new laser study will produce more data to tell us what we already know?

The referenced 2016 study illustrated what everyone knew about San Diego’s streets: They were a disaster. Now they are worse. The streets were so poor in 2016 that a City Council member sponsored Proposition H, a measure in which a dedicated fund, including from tax revenue, was earmarked for street and infrastructure improvements. Proposition H was supported by 65 percent of San Diego voters in 2016 and adopted. What has happened to the money from the adoption of Proposition H?

The City Council voted in 2021 to allocate the money to the city’s general fund. The money has effectively been stolen from taxpayers who voted for its intended use — to fix our infrastructure. City officials are mum about Proposition H and the total tax money diverted.

Now a sales tax increase is being discussed to pay for some of the road repairs San Diego taxpayers voted to pay for in 2016 with Proposition H.

It appears city officials will recommend bringing more road repairs in-house due to a lack of local contractors. This is comforting news because the historical street maintenance overseen by the city has resulted in the infrastructure we have today: complete failure.

The city also oversees its infamous Get It Done app for street repairs. How has this worked?

Perhaps the shortage of local contractors is due to the city’s litany of qualifications required for city work eligibility, eliminating many willing to bid. Taxpayers get less results for more money.

Our city might want to consider best practices of other cities. Drive to any incorporated area in San Diego and look at the streets. Drive to Orange County, where medians are tidy and streets are silky smooth. Even Los Angeles’ streets are superior to San Diego streets.

How is it that San Diego has lagged so far behind other municipalities with the maintenance of its streets and sidewalks? What have our mayor, City Council and streets department been doing?

Suddenly San Diego is going to magically shuffle the deck of ineptitude because of a new laser study, create a new tax and then, poof, our streets will be repaired? We are asked to trust these same people to do a job they have been unable to accomplish over the past 10 to 15 years? Taxpayers would be foolish.

It is incomprehensible that the city is still studying this problem. The mismanagement of our infrastructure is alarming, and citizens should demand change. The status quo cannot be depended on to produce results due to a new study.

We need street work now, not a “call to action” based on a new study.

Ted Levis is the owner of Emerald Properties in La Jolla. ◆