San Diego District 8 candidates on cost-of-living fixes

Q: How will you reduce utility costs?

Businessman Rafael Perez thinks the city should use its influence to lower the burden on residents, even though it can't set SDG&E rates directly. He would:

• 🏛️ Invest in energy efficiency at public buildings like libraries and rec centers to reduce taxpayer utility bills.
• ☀️ Expand partnerships that help lower-income households access solar, storage, and weatherization — not just those who can afford upfront costs.
• ⚡ Speed up and reduce the cost of permitting for energy upgrades.
• 📣 Advocate aggressively at the state level when utility companies need to be challenged.

School board member Antonio Martinez thinks working families are drowning in utility costs and need stronger oversight of SDG&E. He would:

• 📋 Push SDG&E to expand income eligibility for its CARE and FERA discount programs, and improve outreach so more eligible families actually enroll.
• 🏘️ Accelerate neighborhood-level infrastructure upgrades and expand access to community solar for low-income households.
• 🏛️ Advocate at the state level for utility reform and more transparency in how rates are approved.

Council chief of staff Gerardo Ramirez thinks the city is leaving hundreds of millions of charitable dollars on the table that could help struggling families. He would:

• 🤝 Create a public-private philanthropic partnership to direct charitable giving toward city priorities, reducing reliance on taxes and fees alone.

Q: What specific policies would you support to address housing costs?

Perez thinks the path to lower costs runs through faster permitting and practical, neighborhood-scale housing. He would:

• 🏘️ Support ADUs, townhomes, starter homes, and small apartments near transit, jobs, and schools, with faster permitting and pre-approved plans.
• 📜 Build on state-level housing work he's already done, including bills creating pathways for ADU homeownership and legalizing older unpermitted ADUs.
• 🛡️ Preserve naturally affordable housing and expand first-time homebuyer opportunities.

Martinez thinks District 8 families are being priced out and need a city that actively helps them buy homes. He would:

• ✂️ Cut red tape to speed up home development approvals and increase housing inventory.
• 🏢 Repurpose empty commercial buildings and vacant malls for housing.
• 🏠 Strengthen the San Diego Housing Commission's First-Time Homebuyer Program with better mortgage credits, grants, and prioritization in the bidding process.

Ramirez thinks regulatory barriers are the core problem driving up housing costs and delays. He would:

• ⏩ Expand access to expedited permitting programs and reduce approval timelines to cut project costs.
• 💰 Create a designated funding source for first-time homebuyer programs, which currently exist but have no guaranteed funding.

Q: What's your stance on the SDPD budget relative to other city services?

Perez thinks public safety is broader than one department and the key question is whether residents are getting results for the dollars spent. He would:

• 📊 Fund core public safety while demanding accountability and better response models for mental health and homelessness.
• 🎨 Protect arts, youth programs, libraries, and parks — which he sees as essential to public safety by creating opportunity and keeping young people connected.
• ⚖️ Factor lawsuit payouts into the budget conversation — reducing police liability saves money and builds trust.

Martinez thinks San Diego has badly neglected fire safety while debating police budgets. He would:

• 🚒 Prioritize competitive compensation for firefighters, who he says have gone 15+ years without a net raise and are now the lowest-paid in the region.

• 🧠 Invest in crime prevention through youth programs, mental health services, and homeless outreach, partnering with the County and nonprofits to maximize resources.

Ramirez thinks public safety and prevention go hand in hand, and that cuts to parks and libraries are a false economy. He would:

• 👮 Prioritize restoring police staffing — the city is losing 13–14 officers a month — so District 8 gets the same emergency response as any other neighborhood.
• 🌳 Protect parks and libraries as part of public safety, keeping kids engaged and reducing 911 calls down the line.

Q: The city's budget is in bad shape. What would you propose to preserve services?

Perez thinks the crisis has been building for years and requires discipline, smarter management, and better use of city assets. He would:

• 🛡️ Protect the services residents feel every day — public safety, libraries, parks, street repair, and stormwater infrastructure.
• 🔄 Better coordinate departments to stop wasteful patterns like repaving streets only to tear them up again for sewer work.
• 🏢 Conduct a serious review of the city's real estate portfolio to avoid costly mistakes like the 101 Ash Street debacle.
• 💰 Pursue grant funding, regional partnerships, and responsible public-private partnerships rather than nickel-and-diming working families.

Martinez thinks the city cannot balance the budget on residents' backs or by cutting essential services. He would:

• 🚫 Oppose fees like Balboa Park parking charges that create barriers to public access without providing reliable revenue.
• 📈 Diversify revenue through increased leases on city-owned properties, better tax compliance via auditing, and aggressive pursuit of state and federal grants.

Ramirez thinks the city must prove it can manage existing resources responsibly before asking residents for more. He would:

• ✂️ Start with low-hanging fruit like cutting the bloated layer of unclassified middle managers that has grown while frontline workers are cut.
• 📊 Tie every dollar of spending to clear performance metrics and cost-effectiveness analysis.
• 💵 Collect delinquent fees and unpaid obligations already owed to the city.
• 📝 Apply for more grants.