San Diego is shrinking some city bureaucracy and laying off the city’s highest-paid worker to help close a $258 million deficit, but Mayor Todd Gloria still hasn’t made emergency cuts to services that some have called for.
Gloria announced Tuesday that seven city departments are being merged into other departments, saving the city $5.3 million by eliminating some high-level department head and deputy director positions.
The departments that will no longer be independent include Race and Equity, Cultural Affairs, Child and Youth Success and Sustainability and Mobility, which focuses on climate change and bicycle lanes.
Gloria announced he is also eliminating the chief operating officer position and laying off the man who has held that job since fall 2022, Eric Dargan, the city’s highest-paid worker. His annual salary was $383,000 and his benefits cost another $70,000 a year.
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But other than Dargan’s job, 29 of the other 30 positions eliminated by Gloria are vacant. That means eliminating them provides no savings in the ongoing fiscal year, with the savings only coming in the upcoming fiscal year when those positions had been projected to be filled.
Gloria appears to be delaying any proposals for service cuts, which many expect to include shorter hours at libraries and recreation centers, until he unveils his proposed budget for the new fiscal year in April.
That runs counter to lobbying from the City Council and city labor leaders, who have urged the mayor to make emergency cuts as soon as possible to potentially soften the deep cuts expected in the new fiscal year.
Gloria defended his approach Wednesday, contending his management team is thoroughly studying the city’s entire operation before proposing cuts.
“This is just the start,” Gloria said. “There’s a lot more work to be done.”
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Gloria said when the mother lode of cuts finally gets proposed, he suspects the reaction will be “fairly emotional.”
The city’s largest labor union, the Municipal Employees Association, praised the mayor’s announcement.
“Mayor Gloria deserves credit for shaking things up to meet the moment of the city’s significant budget and operational challenges,” said Mike Zucchet, the union’s general manager. “We look forward to continuing to work with the mayor and his team to ensure city services are aligned with available resources and priorities.”
Gloria conceded that the $5.3 million in savings won’t make much of a dent in the $258 million deficit projected for the new fiscal year.
But he noted that a plan to begin charging single-family homes for trash pickup in July is projected to shrink that by $71 million.
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And the city could get another $30 million from an expected court ruling on a ballot measure that would provide the city money for homeless services and roads.
In addition, the city recently doubled parking meter rates and plans to sharply increase a wide range of city fees starting as early as April. Those moves are projected to generate more than $40 million a year.
If all those moves come together as planned, that would leave a deficit of roughly $100 million.
Gloria said he’d like to shield from cuts four priorities: homeless services, infrastructure, public safety and housing initiatives.
Gloria defended 25% pay raises that most city employees received in 2023, which many critics blame for the large deficits San Diego is facing.
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“I think that’s appropriate,” Gloria said of the raises, which kick in incrementally over three years. “We’re not hemorrhaging talent like we have previously. We are paying wages and providing benefits to attract high-quality talent to come here and serve the people of this city.”
The mayor also defended the decision to fold the Race and Equity Department, which the city created in 2020 after outcry following the murder of George Floyd, into the city’s Personnel Department.
“The incredible work accomplished by the Department of Race and Equity since its inception has laid a strong foundation that I’m extremely proud of,” the mayor said.
He said the other mergers don’t mean the city is giving up on the missions of those departments, just that the work is being reorganized.
“None of this is a signal of retreat from these issues or these priorities,” he said.
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Child and Youth Success is merging into the Library Department, Cultural Affairs is merging into Economic Development and Sustainability and Mobility will be chopped up and merged into three other departments.
Additional mergers include the mayor’s office taking over Government Affairs, Boards and Commissions and the office of the chief operating officer. In addition to Dargan, a program manager in that department was laid off.
Gloria declined to praise or even evaluate Dargan’s performance. He said only that “Eric Dargan is a good man — I’ve enjoyed serving with him.”
Four suspects were behind bars Friday for allegedly beating a man to death two months ago during a fight at Linda Vista Park.
Arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder in connection with the violent death of 59-year-old Ruben Rimorin were Juan Garcia Alavez, 21, Juan Manuel Lopez, 26, Brian Reyes, 20, and Franklin Joseph Tuell, 21, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Rimorin was found gravely injured about 3:45 a.m. Oct. 18 on a sidewalk in the 6800 block of Osler Street, just west of the park, SDPD Lt. Chris Tivanian said. Paramedics tried in vain to revive the victim before pronouncing him dead at the scene.
It remains unclear what sparked the deadly fight.
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The suspects were being held at San Diego Central Jail without bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Friday afternoon.
National City’s Pepper Park can soon expand in size by nearly 50%, thanks to a ruling this week by the California Coastal Commission to approve the National City Balanced Plan.
The approval of the plan at the CCC’s Wednesday meeting, developed by the Port of San Diego, means that not only will the popular park have the ability to increase in size, big changes are coming for commercial, recreation and maritime uses on the National City bayfront.
“We are grateful to the California Coastal Commission for its support of the National City Balanced Plan,” said Danielle Moore, chair of the Board of Port Commissioners. “The progress we have made has been anchored in tireless collaboration with the community, business leaders and, of course, the city of National City. It’s about bringing more recreational opportunities to the bayfront while also streamlining and strengthening maritime operations, and we are eager to bring these projects to life.”
Other components of the balanced plan include:
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Realigning Marina Way to serve as the buffer area between commercial recreation and maritime uses
The closure of Tidelands Avenue between Bay Marina Drive and West 32nd Street, and West 28th Street between Tidelands Avenue and Quay Avenue, around six acres, to increase terminal efficiency by eliminating redundancies
The development of a recreational vehicle park, tent sites, cabins and the “ultimate development of up to two hotels with up to 365 rooms, as well as dry boat storage,” a port statement read
A connector rail project to connect the existing rail and loop track located on the National City Marine Terminal to additional rail car storage spots at the existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe National City Yard east of the National Distribution Center
The Board of Port Commissioners must accept the CCC’s certification, then the port and city can begin the process of completing the above projects.
“I am proud of the work we have done to help create a lasting legacy for National City, the Port of San Diego, and the entire region,” said Port Commissioner GilAnthony Ungab. “Nearly a decade in the making, this plan balances the interests of the community and many other stakeholders, addresses public access, maritime, and recreation uses, and expands waterfront access in my community.”
The National City Bayfront is 273 acres of waterfront land and 167 acres of water, and includes the National City Marine Terminal, Pepper Park, Pier 32 Marina, the Aquatic Center and pieces of public art.
Mayor Todd Gloria announced an initiative Wednesday intended to expand housing options in neighborhoods by integrating small-scale residences such as townhomes, rowhomes and cottages into an area’s existing character.
The Neighborhood Homes for All of Us initiative is also intended to support community land trusts — nonprofit organizations that acquire land to create permanent affordable housing.
“Since Day 1 of my administration, I have been focused on building more homes that San Diegans can actually afford — and getting them built faster,” Gloria said at a news conference Wednesday. “‘Neighborhood Homes for All of Us’ is the latest piece of that puzzle. This innovative program will break down the barriers that have gotten in the way of building the type of housing that I believe is ideal for young families and first-time homebuyers for whom the dream of homeownership has long felt out of reach.”
Around 80% of land zoned for housing in the city is restricted to single-family homes, which continue to increase in price, Gloria said. And a significant portion of new housing being built consists of apartment buildings with primarily studio and one-bedroom units, leaving working-class families fewer and fewer options for homes.
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Neighborhood Homes for All of Us is intended to increase the housing supply and allow community land trusts to keep housing affordable in disadvantaged communities for low- to middle-income families.
“San Diego is an incredible place to raise a family, and more families need the opportunity to do that in San Diego’s existing, highly desirable single-family neighborhoods where their kids can learn and play in a great community,” City Planning Director Heidi Vonblum said. “But today, that comes at a price that is out of reach for too many. Integrating more options for families requires careful and thoughtful planning, with input from existing and future community members across the city, to ensure these new home opportunities for San Diego’s families are built in ways that best enhance and benefit San Diego’s amazing neighborhoods.”
The initiative will roll out in two phases. In the first phase, beginning this week and continuing through next summer, San Diegans can help determine what the neighborhoods can look like. The public will be able to see renderings showing small-scale neighborhood homes within San Diego’s existing communities, along with new regulations that “provide a clear pathway for building these homes,” according to a statement from Gloria’s office.
Phase 1 will also include an open house and ways for the community to provide feedback and concerns.
Phase 2, scheduled for the second half of 2026, will be for city staff to develop regulations allowing for the building of more neighborhood homes in a way informed by the public feedback.
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The initiative is partly funded through a Regional Early Action Planning grant from the San Diego Association of Governments.
