San Diego, CA
'They've lost their minds': San Diego's parking overhaul sparking concerns
People are concerned over a plan that could end free parking in some of the most popular places to go in the city of San Diego. Now, some residents and business leaders are pushing back.
The Hillcrest Business Association has sent a letter to Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, urging the city to reconsider. That’s because as construction on the new Pride Promenade in Hillcrest is moving along, Benjamin Nichols, the association’s executive director, says construction never would’ve happened without money they saved from their share of the parking meter revenue.
He’s now worried future projects and maintenance could be in jeopardy because of the city’s proposed parking changes, especially the possibility of slashing the percentage of meter money parking districts get from 45% to 15%.
It’s money that Hillcrest used for things like signage and sidewalk improvements, as well as the promenade.
“If the money does go away, I think Hillcrest is really going to suffer,” Nichols said. “And we’re essentially going to be helping to balance the city’s budget without getting a community benefit, and I think that will really be a problem.”
Balboa Park, one of San Diego’s crown jewels, could also see parking changes. Meters, passes and other paid parking methods are being considered for the now free parking lots.
Peter Comiskey, the head of the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, says they’d prefer parking remain free, though paid parking could create a revenue stream to help improve the park.
Comiskey says they’re worried about the implementation of a paid parking plan on visitors.
“People will simply get uncertain about visiting the park. We have enough people now who maybe don’t visit Balboa Park because they think parking is difficult,” Comiskey said.
The proposed changes are all part of the city’s plan to help make up its more than $250 million budget shortfall.
Earlier this year, most hourly parking rates were doubled to $2.50. The city’s hoping to raise $100 million from parking changes, like no more free Sunday parking.
“They’ve really lost their minds,” Hillcrest resident Juan Pablo Perez said.
“They need to find other ways to cover the shortfall, not by putting it on their residents,” Lisa Alexander, who works in Hillcrest, told NBC 7.
There are 5,700 parking meters in San Diego, according to the city. But none are in high-traffic neighborhoods like La Jolla and Liberty Station.
Nichols says it’s only fair to level the playing field.
“Before deploying enforcement of parking meters on Sundays in Hillcrest, they need to think about deploying enforcement of parking meters in Liberty Station,” Nichols said.
The proposed parking management plan will likely go to the city council for consideration in May.
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County leaders are keeping their options open for a future county-backed tax hike as a citizens coalition pushes a November sales tax measure.
Officials in late April quietly extended a contract with consultants tasked with researching and poll-testing potential county revenue options for a Board of Supervisors subcommittee led by Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Vice Chair Monica Montgomery Steppe. The extension is for up to two years and the price tag remains up to $320,000.
Other county supervisors’ offices told Voice of San Diego they weren’t notified of the change – and one is now working on a policy proposal to force public updates on subcommittee-directed contracts.
County spokesperson Tammy Glenn said staff directed the contract extension “in consultation with the subcommittee” and based on prior board approval last September to create the Sustainable Fiscal Planning Subcommittee. The item allowed the subcommittee to hire and pay consultants up to $500,000 to explore multiple options to increase county revenues and taxes.
An initial January 2026 contract called for Chula Vista-based Ironwood Public Affairs and four subcontractors including a prominent local Democratic campaign consultant to survey county residents, prepare revenue estimates for potential tax hike options, conduct focus groups and outreach and submit a report by May 1.
On April 30, county staff amended the contract with Ironwood to “deliver any requested ballot measure language, report, and presentations no later than June 30, 2028.”
Five days later, a coalition that includes labor groups and advocates submitted signatures to the county registrar’s office for a proposed countywide sales tax hike projected to raise $360 million annually to fund healthcare, child care, solutions to the Tijuana River sewage crisis and public safety. The registrar’s office has since confirmed the measure qualified for the November ballot.
Lawson-Remer has rallied behind the sales tax proposal and argued that a “local revenue measure” could shield the county from Trump administration-backed cuts. The county has projected that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could cost the county $300 million annually.
In a statement, Lawson-Remer’s office noted that a board majority voted last September to create the subcommittee and hire a consultant.
“With the Trump Administration threatening healthcare, food assistance, behavioral health, and other core services — and federal decisions being announced, reversed, paused, challenged, and revived in real time — the county and Fiscal Subcommittee has a responsibility to plan for multiple scenarios, including federal cuts, state shortfalls, taxpayer savings, state advocacy, and whether any local funding option does or does not materialize,” Lawson-Remer’s office wrote.
In a separate statement, Montgomery Steppe also pointed to board approval of the subcommittee and its work “evaluating fiscal risks and options to help inform future Board decisions.”
A few months after the September vote to approve the subcommittee, the county hired Ironwood Public Affairs led by former county staffer Victor Aviña. Aviña’s company subcontracted with prominent Democratic campaign consultant Dan Rottenstreich’s company Amplify Campaigns, polling firm FM3 Research, Los Angeles revenue forecasting firm Economic & Planning Systems and Los Angeles-based law firm Kaufman Legal Group.
Glenn said the county has thus far paid Ironwood $96,000 for planning tasks that the initial contract said should be completed by early this year.
The county has yet to provide documents to Voice that the contractor submitted to the county about its work a month after a public-records request.
Spokespeople for the county’s three other elected supervisors said this week they weren’t notified about the changes to the contract.
Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond, the two Republicans on the board, have criticized the lack of transparency surrounding the subcommittees and consultants at least two of them have hired.
At an April board meeting, Desmond argued that subcommittees shouldn’t be allowed to spend county money or secure contracts without a review by the full board.
And Anderson has pushed for reforms to increase transparency for subcommittees that have met behind closed doors. The board on Thursday unanimously approved changes to make more of those meetings more public.
Anderson’s office said he is now working on a board proposal that, among other changes, would also require updates to the full board on work that outside consultants are doing for subcommittees. He expects to bring the proposal to the board in August.
“There’s no possibility of secrecy when a vendor/contractor reports to the entire board,” Anderson wrote in a statement.
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