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If it were, say, 2015, the announcement on Wednesday that of the California Coastal Commission would consider asking the president to declare a federal emergency because of our local sewage nightmare might have been worthy of applause. But in 2023 — after a decade in which the sewage crisis has gotten steadily worse — it deserves groans and catcalls. It amounts to one more sign that when it comes to stopping sewage from Tijuana from fouling South Bay beaches and coastal areas — and sickening ocean s, Navy SEALs and border and customs agents — most state and federal leaders focus on process, not actual, tangible progress.
What can’t be emphasized enough is that fixing this problem is not a staggering engineering challenge akin to setting up a human colony on Mars. It can readily be solved with money — and not an extreme amount. As San Diego Councilmember Vivian Moreno points out in an essay posted on our website today, the EPA says an allocation of about $1.5 billion would pay for all the improvements on this side of the border that are needed to make this crisis go away. That sum is less than one-fortieth of 1 percent of the federal budget — and it was just two years ago that Congress approved $55 billion specifically for water projects. As Moreno notes, congressional for a quick fix would be instantaneous if federal lawmakers lived with the nauseating fecal odors plaguing San Ysidro and Imperial Beach.
But the same must be said of Gov. Gavin Newsom. It was only this week — after months of being urged to declare a state of emergency over the crisis — that he gave a detailed, specific response. It came through an aide, who wrote “a state proclamation of emergency cannot accelerate federal work needed on this federal facility that is in a federally controlled area on an international border.”
This highly technical answer may be correct on its face. But it ignores the larger question that’s actually being asked of Newsom: Why won’t he come to San Diego’s aid and demand action? Why won’t the self-styled can-do technocrat use his frequent national interviews with outlets like “60 Minutes” and The New York Times to say that it’s absolutely unacceptable for President Joe Biden, federal bureaucrats and the great majority of Congress to tolerate this assault on the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of San Diegans? Instead, channeling 1970s sitcom star Freddie Prinze, the governor declares, “That’s not my job.”
Newsom’s bizarre ivity on this issue has triggered speculation from pundits on why he is so loath to be perceived as a critic of Biden. But here’s what his hands-off approach to our endless sewage nightmare should trigger among those hurt by it: disbelief and anger. Between our AWOL governor and our indifferent president, San Diegans are being betrayed by those whose help they need the most.
