San Diego, CA
San Diego’s cost-of-living committee led big policy fights in 2025. The City Council is ending it.
A year after creating a special committee on cost-of-living, the San Diego City Council is shutting it down.
Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, who chaired the committee, said he was content to let it die as the council had plenty of work to do completing policy initiatives that started there.
The committee took on some of the most high profile and divisive issues that the city considered last year, such as the successful effort to increase the minimum wage for tourism workers to $25 starting in July 2026.
But it also operated just as city officials passed new and increased fees that added to residents’ cost of living. The city’s new monthly trash fee, hikes to parking rates around town and increased charges for using city facilities all hit residents’ bottom lines this year.
Elo-Rivera stood by approving those fees with one hand while trying to combat costs with the other.
“The cuts on the table that those fee increases mitigated or avoided — library, recreation center and park hours services — were things the community said they didn’t want cut,” he said. “The fees we established were the most fiscally responsible way to avoid those cuts.”
Elo-Rivera is still pushing two other cost-of-living initiatives that could pass in 2026. One is a joint effort with the county to ban landlords from charging hidden fees tacked on to rent. The other is a potential June ballot measure to impose a $5,000 per-bedroom tax on vacation rentals or second homes.
“I completely understand why someone would say, ‘If you want to fix the cost of living, don’t raise these other costs,’” Elo-Rivera said. “We proposed a vacation home tax for the specific purpose of having the things that city residents want and deserve, without the cost of that resource falling on the backs of middle class and working class San Diegans.”
San Diego this year also became the first city in the country to ban grocery stores from offering digital-only deals, another initiative that started at the committee.
Elo-Rivera said the fees the city passed this year “only made it more important to have urgency to address cost-of-living increases driven by corporate greed, those that are disproportionately felt by everyday people.”
Councilmembers Henry Foster III and Marni von Wilpert also served on the select committee. Elo-Rivera credited them for stepping up.
“Everyone wants to talk about affordability, but nobody wants to own it,” he said. “There’s a tension there, but those two weren’t afraid to stand next to this issue and wrestle it.”
The mariachi band broke into song as soon as the Tijuana Municipal Little League team stepped back onto its home field Monday afternoon. Cheers and applause erupted for the team, which over the weekend earned the coveted spot to represent Mexico in the Little League Baseball World Series.
The team of 11- and 12-year-olds won the Mexico region tournament title on Saturday by defeating the Matamoros Little League team 8-2 in Tamaulipas. They ended the tournament with a 7-1 record.
“We are very proud of what you have done and what you are about to embark on, because this is just the beginning,” said Darío Venegas, president of the Tijuana Municipal Children’s and Youth Baseball League, before handing out rings to commemorate the team’s regional crown.
This marks the third time that the Tijuana Municipal team has advanced to the tournament in Williamsport, Pa., following appearances in 2013 and 2023. Francisco Fimbres has been the manager for all three trips, and he hopes that the third time could be the charm.
“I feel blessed with these players,” he said. “(They) make me believe that we can get that championship.”
But the proud coach acknowledged that there’s still work to be done and that he has learned from the last two tournaments. In 2013, Mexico lost to Japan in the international championship and finished third. In 2023, they fell to Curaçao in the international semifinals.
During his speech at the Jorge Campillo baseball field in Tijuana on Monday, Fimbres urged players and parents to enjoy the moment, as he said it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
He described this year’s group of players as “una generación campeona,” or a “winning generation,” whom he has followed since they were 8 years old. “These kids have too much baseball in them,” he said. “They’re growing up and learning a lot, which will be great for their development.”
In 2023, an interaction between Fimbres and one of his players went viral. During the second inning, with the bases loaded, he noticed that his pitcher was nervous. He went to the mound to encourage him and remind him to have fun and not be afraid of making mistakes. “What if he hits a home run? Exactly, nothing happens,” he told him. “You’re a good pitcher. You’re better.” For many, this moment captured the spirit of the Little League competition.
This time will be special for Fimbres. He shared that this might be his last stint with the Tijuana Municipal team.
Pitcher and outfielder Jean Paul Lavenant said that he felt happy for “Pancho,” as he fondly calls his coach, and hoped to get the title for him.
Lavenant named Major League players Jonathan Aranda of the Tampa Bay Rays and Alejandro Kirk of the Toronto Blue Jays as his inspirations. Both players came from the Tijuana Municipal league.
The players said they have their minds set on bringing home the championship. “Nothing is impossible,” said pitcher and infielder Emiliano Kerber.
Coach Marcelo Santamaría, who was part of the 2023 coaching team, said he hopes this opportunity leaves a lasting impression on the players. “It’s every young baseball player’s dream to participate in this tournament,” he noted.
That’s what they emphasized to the players throughout their journey to earn a spot in Williamsport. Tijuana Municipal will kick off its Little League World Series run on Aug. 20 against the Australian region.
“Would you rather experience it on TV or in person?” pitcher and outfielder Esteban Bautista recalled his coaches asking them before the Mexico region championship game.
In person, it will be.
The Killer Tomatoes are loose in San Diego, and they’re ready to get sauced.
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is taking over Good Night John Boy (401 G Street) in the Gaslamp on Saturday, July 25 from 7pm-11pm for the official Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence after party, celebrating the wild new chapter in the cult classic franchise that first got its start in San Diego back in 1978.
Fans can party alongside cast and crew with meet and greets, “killer” cosplay, exclusive giveaways, DJs, and dancing. There will also be specialty themed cocktails and bites available for purchase, because fighting off killer produce apparently works up an appetite.
Tickets will be available here, though they’re not yet available. We’ll update once we know more.
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