San Diego’s trash fee plan needs a restart
The city of San Diego’s implementation of its new residential trash fee is not just disappointing, it’s undemocratic (“Let’s dump San Diego’s trash fee plan,” Let Inga Tell You, May 15, La Jolla Light).
Though voters may have approved Measure B in 2022 to allow the city to recover costs for waste collection, what’s happening now undermines the very spirit of that decision.
The so-called Proposition 218 protest process buries the actual protest form deep inside an eight-page mailer with no clear external notice. It’s a bureaucratic shell game, and many residents are missing their one chance to formally object simply because the city didn’t make that chance obvious.
Worse still, under this process, if you don’t return the protest form, your silence counts as a “yes” vote. That’s not democracy, that’s manipulation by omission.
Only property owners can protest, even though renters will absolutely foot the bill through higher housing costs. That’s taxation without representation.
This is why I a lawsuit to halt the current trash fee implementation and restart the process with fairness and transparency. We need a system that:
• Gives clear, upfront notice of the stakes
• Counts only actual responses, not silence
• Invites full participation from all residents, not just a select group
San Diegans deserve a voice, not a cheap trick.
Lionel Prout Jr.
UC San Diego should get no donations until Scripps Coastal Reserve is reopened
I stand firmly with Ghalia Mohder in calling for a complete halt of donations to UC San Diego until they reopen Scripps Coastal Reserve to the public (“UCSD continues to disrespect the law and the public at Scripps Coastal Reserve,” Our Readers Write, May 15, La Jolla Light).
Scientific research must be funded, but integrity matters and UCSD must face real consequences for disregarding the law and failing its students.
Restoring public access to the coast at Scripps Coastal Reserve is a necessity for all, but it is most critical for UCSD students. Walking to the reserve to enjoy the serenity of the ocean was essential for managing my stress when I was an undergraduate student living on campus at UCSD, and it pains me to think that current students are being deprived of the peace that I found there.
And why? With all of the university’s excuses discredited, it seems that the only plausible explanation for the closure is to satisfy the exclusionary desires of Chancellor Pradeep Khosla’s neighbors in La Jolla Farms.
UCSD must end the closure of Scripps Coastal Reserve or suffer a donor boycott until they do. The university’s leadership needs to understand that flouting the law comes at a serious price.
Kelly Kauffman
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