Trash fee vote Monday will be a test of city leaders’ honesty
The City Council’s latest move to maximize the money it takes from the public — its Monday vote to begin charging for parking on Sundays and at the San Diego...
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ICE raid tactics unwarranted, reckless and not at all ‘by the book’
On May 31, a large team of masked, armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents executed a dramatic raid on sister restaurants Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta in South Park....
Blaming the visitor industry for local poverty is laughable
The fact that life in California is downright inhospitable for many millions of its residents is a huge problem for the Democratic elected leaders who dominate local and state governance....
What The New York Times left out about our local sewage nightmare
The phenomenon of journalists heading to places they have little familiarity with and then instantly presenting themselves as local experts — lampooned a century ago by beloved British satirist P.G....
San Diego County is on the brink of a grim, telling housing milestone
It’s been 14 years since the Census Bureau began issuing reports on poverty that factored in the cost of living. Ever since, it’s been clear that California — not Mississippi...
Ambulance story makes it official: Mayor Gloria has jumped the shark
Has San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria jumped the shark, to use the snarky phrase coined in the wake of a particularly ridiculous 1977 episode of the TV sitcom “Happy Days”?...
Massive L.A. fires could happen here without emphasis on fire ‘triage’
Literally nothing will ever change the minds of millions of Americans who think the climate emergency is a vast left-wing conspiracy. But to most, the January blazes in the Los...
How to limit jail deaths: Local attorney has a smart suggestion
This week’s report about yet another death at a county jail run by the Sheriff’s Department was painfully familiar in its portrait of cruel indifference to the health of inmates...
City must junk its dishonest trash initiative and start from scratch
The May 4 U-T report showing that the city’s 2022 estimate of how much a new trash collection fee would cost 200,000-plus affected single-family homes was far lower than it...
May Pope Leo XIV be a ‘pontifex maximus’ — a builder of bridges
Even in an era in which organized religion is a diminished force, the selection of a new pope to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics — about 1.4 million of...
Still more deceit, manipulation in Chapter 3 of city’s trash power play
Can the city of San Diego’s shamefully deceptive and manipulative handling of its push to impose trash-collection fees on 233,000 single-family homes get any worse? Mayor Todd Gloria and most...
How does hostility to international students help the U.S.?
Perhaps the best hope that President Donald Trump will rein in the erratic excesses that have unnerved many liberals, moderates and constitutional conservatives alike is that more and more MAGA...
The telling response to the death of Pope Francis
As the distractions of a wired world change how people — young and old alike — lead their lives, organized religion is among the many institutions to face declining participation....
Lawson-Remer’s call for $1B county tax hike: ‘defiant’ or ‘delusional’?
At a time when polls show sky-high levels of disillusionment about quality of life in California, local and state elected officials have a choice. They can acknowledge that the governments...
Ruling in jail death case invites misconduct by law enforcement officers
A February ruling by a divided of three judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — which allowed the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department to withhold some...
Time for bullied San Diegans to fight back, only starting with trash fee
San Diegans already disillusioned with City Hall have new reasons for angst. In a bizarre story that raised eyebrows around the world, the Union-Tribune revealed Sunday that newly elected City...
EPA chief’s weighing in on sewage crisis is welcome. But there’s a twist.
For two decades, visitors to San Diego have expressed bafflement about the U.S. government’s response to one of our region’s worst problems: the billions of gallons of raw sewage that...
Who will be next unfavored group added to Trump’s enemies list?
For decades, the Internal Revenue Service has made taxpayer confidentiality a high priority, including strictly restricting the access of other federal agencies to its billions of returns. IRS leaders made...
If Newsom knocks ‘toxic’ Dem policies, what about gas-price con games?
Gov. Gavin Newsom has been on a headline-grabbing roll of late, selling himself as a voice of Democratic moderation after the party’s dismal showing in November’s national elections cost it...
Massive tariffs will both punish Americans and help U.S. rivals
Even before this week, the downside of the Trump White House’s brusque treatment of historic U.S. allies was obvious. Many Canadian tourists are going elsewhere, billions of dollars in arms...
Severe cuts to VA betray Lincoln’s promise to veterans
Is the U.S. at risk of a brutal fiscal crisis? No doubt. When 13% of the federal budget goes to paying interest on the national debt — and the percentage...
City attorney needs to back up her stand on trash outsourcing
The bitter controversy over City Hall’s plan to implement new trash collection fees on 233,000 households at a far higher cost than San Diego voters were told before they approved...
Trump’s back-door attempt to break his Social Security promise
In 2016, one of the keys to Donald Trump’s popularity didn’t get the attention it deserved: his declaration that “I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican,”...
Is it common sense to have climate goals that are preposterous?
As a Jan. 26 U-T headline observed, transit in San Diego “always seems to be at crossroads.” But is that because of political infighting over priorities and projects? Or is...
Newsom on homelessness: The buck stops over there
Gavin Newsom’s determination to keep himself in the national news — on display since his first weeks as mayor of San Francisco way back in 2004 — has always been considered...
Endorsement: Paloma Aguirre for county supervisor
In the special election to fill the District 1 vacancy on the county Board of Supervisors, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board believes that Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre is...
R.I.P. to Leon Williams, an inspiration to the San Diego community for decades
The death of San Diego civic legend Leon Williams at age 102 triggered outpourings of appreciation and iration for the groundbreaking Black community leader. The Oklahoma native who moved to...
Here we go again: Time for new fight over minimum wage
A City Council committee’s initial embrace Thursday of a $25 minimum wage for some tourism industry workers — 45 percent higher than the city’s present $17.25 minimum wage — sets...
Evidence keeps growing that city finances are in awful shape
The report that the city of San Diego’s funding shortfall for much-needed infrastructure projects has tripled since 2020 — going from $2.16 billion to a staggering $6.51 billion — is...
Mayor’s response to criticism of costly trash plan far from persuasive
It’s becoming clearer how the budget debate is going to play out at City Hall as leaders address a projected $258 million deficit in the fiscal year beginning July 1....
Blame state, not the usual suspects, for energy policy headaches
California’s global leadership on environmental issues, dating back to its pioneering crusade against smog in Los Angeles in the 1940s, is an appropriate source of pride for many residents. But...
Time may have come for voter revolt over city’s trash fee bait-and-switch
Was the Jan. 16 report that a frustrated City Council was eager to challenge Mayor Todd Gloria’s handling of budget headaches genuinely good news — or a self-serving smokescreen? Actions...
Dead plan walking: Gloria finally gives up on Middletown shelter
Since he was first elected in 2020, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s homelessness policies have become steadily more controversial. His longtime push to expand shelter options, his shift to ...
Why sheriff’s refusal to heed new law on jail deaths is no surprise
In 2023, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 519 to require sheriff’s departments to release far more information related to deaths in county jails, some may have hoped this...
‘Ready, fire, aim’ approach yields MAGA applause, not results
The most consequential moves by Donald Trump since his return to the White House — his various attempts to dramatically increase presidential authority and circumvent 200-plus years of precedent on...
Why the county needs a regional fire safety czar ASAP
It’s now been nearly a month since both the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire exploded in Los Angeles and its suburbs, killing 29 people, destroying or damaging more than...
What the spending freeze is really about: maximizing tax cuts
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s stunning order Monday freezing hundreds of billions of dollars in spending triggered anguish, bafflement and anger in San Diego and across the nation...
Triage must be goal of state leaders in new Trump era
Whatever your views of Donald Trump, his first week back in the White House showed his istration is better organized and more cohesive than last time. The sense from 2017...
Fixing sewage nightmare ‘beyond the capabilities’ of our leaders
It’s been more than 30 years since toxic sewage from broken infrastructure in Tijuana reaching coastal areas and marshes from the border to Coronado was likened to a “local version...
To escape budget rut, San Diego needs a Gorbachev-style leader
In delivering his fifth State of the City address on Wednesday, Mayor Todd Gloria offered a pointed, accurate critique of other local governments and Caltrans for letting San Diego bear...
San Diego and state must meet challenge of scary new fire era
It seems likely and perhaps inevitable that the devastating, deadly and staggeringly costly fires that exploded in Los Angeles on Jan. 7 will be ed as a pivotal event in...
Lesson of latest housing initiative to flop: Central planners don’t know best
When it comes to the state’s intertwined problems of housing and homelessness, the glib assumption that the latter problem is primarily due to addiction and mental illness is still common....
Sticking with bullet train fiasco a bad look for Democrats
The Democratic reaction to Republicans winning back the White House and control of Congress initially focused on the theme that swing voters care far more about the economy that they...
San Diego school board must worry about more than finances
As San Diego Unified deals with a budget deficit recently estimated at $113 million, it’s no surprise that leaders of the state’s second-largest school district would focus on finances. But...
Editorial: Rest in peace, Jimmy Carter, America's greatest ex-president
Jimmy Carter’s death at 100 in his hometown of Plains, Ga., on Sunday will lead to more tributes of him as a person than a president for a singular reason....
Supervisors must call special election to replace Vargas
The immediate reaction to county Supervisor Nora Vargas’ bombshell announcement on Dec. 20 — that she would not serve a second term to represent her South County district after being...
After Ash Street, Gloria’s lack of due diligence on shelter plan is shocking
The saga over whether the City Council will go along with Mayor Todd Gloria’s push to turn a 65,000-square-foot vacant Middletown warehouse into a massive homeless shelter continued to unfold...
SANDAG needs to abandon its imperious, oblivious ways
The recent board meeting of the San Diego Association of Governments, the region’s lead transportation planning agency, came after an unprecedented year in which nearly a decade of doubts about...
Poway Unified’s illegal money grab dwarfed by San Diego’s legal power play
In a news cycle packed with major breaking events, it got little attention last month when the California Fair Political Practices Commission reported that Poway Unified School District broke clearly...
Jerry Sanders’ journey and what it says about state GOP
The announcement that Jerry Sanders, 74, is retiring in coming weeks after 12 years as CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce was big news. Besides leading the...
EDITORIAL: Las economías de CaliBaja y el mundo en riesgo en una guerra comercial
Wall Street cree que se trata principalmente de una táctica de negociación
Economies of CaliBaja and the world at risk in a trade war
When it comes to the lessons of the 20th century, the parallels between Donald Trump’s views on public health and the global economy are striking. Even though vaccinations were the...
Trump’s immigration earthquake: No one’s coming to the rescue
Donald Trump says so many seemingly off-the-wall things that many Americans may hope it’s all empty blather. That needs to change. With less than two months until Trump’s return to...
City leaders must heed lessons of Measure E. Will they on trash plans?
The defeat of Measure E — which would raise the city sales tax from 7.75 cents to 8.75 cents per dollar — now seems close to mathematical certainty. As of...
Supervisors’ share of blame in county jail deaths keeps growing
In 2019, after The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Watchdog team first documented excessive deaths at the jails run by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the agency was dismissive. While the...
State must protect its policies. But Newsom’s grandstanding doesn’t help.
In November 2016, though shocked by Donald Trump’s unexpected victory, many pundits predicted that as president-elect, Trump would moderate and drop many of his extreme views. For the most part,...
Here’s how to ensure sales tax windfall is used responsibly
The city of San Diego was not witness to the incumbent purges seen elsewhere in California, most notably in the defeats of San Francisco’s mayor and Los Angeles County’s district...
Board must force change on SANDAG for agency to achieve goals
It’s still possible that Measure G — which would raise the sales tax by a half-cent countywide to help the San Diego Association of Governments pay for its very costly...
After Props. 36 and 47, it’s time for this smart criminal justice reform
The U-T Editorial Board welcomes the landslide victory of Proposition 36 — the most significant result as of Tuesday night’s deadline for the completion of Wednesday’s Opinion page — as...
No, ‘expansive’ federal law doesn’t prevent sewage disaster declaration
In normal circumstances, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to visit the region to personally review one of its most pressing problems would be welcome. But when it comes to the Tijuana-South...
Don’t reward deceptive state leaders by backing Props. 2 and 4
When deciding whether to state Propositions 2 and 4 — which would each authorize the sale of $10 billion in bonds — the central question is the credibility of...
Newsom right to knock commission’s punishment of Musk
The fundamental importance of the government acting in a neutral fashion in handing its basic duties is reflected in the fact that the U.S. Constitution has two separate provisions barring...
Endorsement: No on Measure E. Don’t be duped by City Hall.
The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board’s deep and amply justified concern about the judgment of city leaders was rekindled in early 2023 when Mayor Todd Gloria came forward with a...
Union-Tribune Editorial Board endorsements for Nov. 5 election
Here are all of The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for the Nov. 5 election.
Endorsements: Cusack, Elo-Rivera for San Diego City Council
The homogenization of San Diego City Hall has led to unhealthy groupthink among elected officials. This is why in February the U-T Editorial Board was happy to endorse Coleen Cusack,...
Endorsement: To protect students at San Diego Unified, elect Crystal Trull
Except for the divisions over school closures during the unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s rarely been a sense that a significant part of the community felt that San...
Endorsement: More proof a vote for Measure G is a vote for chaos, waste
The San Diego Association of Governments wants county residents to approve a half-cent increase in sales taxes paid across the county to help fund its $160 billion-plus long-term plan to...
Endorsement: Unless you like California status quo, reject Prop. 32
Proposition 32 — the latest state ballot measure seeking to raise the minimum wage — is being framed as an easy, painless way to help many households make ends meet....
Q&A with San Diego school board candidate Sabrina Bazzo
On Oct. 9, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board interviewed Sabrina Bazzo, who is seeking re-election to the District A seat on the San Diego Unified School District Board of...
Q&A with San Diego school board candidate Crystal Trull
On Oct. 10, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board interviewed Crystal Trull, a candidate for the District A seat on the San Diego Unified School District Board of Education. Trull is...
Q&A with San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera
On Oct. 9, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board interviewed Sean Elo-Rivera, the incumbent representing District 9 on the San Diego City Council. Elo-Rivera, a Democrat, is president of the...
Q&A with San Diego City Council candidate Terry Hoskins
On Oct. 10, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board interviewed candidate Terry Hoskins, who is running to represent District 9 on the San Diego City Council. Hoskins, a Democrat,...
Endorsement: No on Prop. 2, yes (barely) on Measure HH
With enrollment down in most parts of California but with compensation costs still going up because of automatic salary increases and soaring pension costs, school districts should sweat the spending...
Endorsement: Despite missteps, Todd Gloria is the clear choice for mayor
In March, after San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria scored an anemic victory in the primary over little-known rivals, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board wrote that we hoped the independent...
Q&A with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria
The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board interviewed incumbent Todd Gloria on Oct. 2 ahead of the 2024 general election for San Diego mayor. Gloria, a Democrat, is running for a...
Q&A with San Diego candidate for mayor Larry Turner
The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board interviewed challenger Larry Turner on Oct. 1 ahead of the 2024 general election for San Diego mayor. Turner is an independent candidate and a...
Endorsement: Reject Measure G. SANDAG is dishonest, dysfunctional.
It’s impossible to recall a ballot measure backed by a major local government that had less credibility than the San Diego Association of Governments’ Measure G. It would raise the...
Endorsement: Lawson-Remer for county supervisor. Ash happened.
Before the March primary, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board endorsed incumbent county Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer in District 3, which includes communities from Carlsbad to Coronado. We cited her determined...
Endorsement: Heather Ferbert the clear choice for San Diego city attorney
In a city that has a 30-year history of making bizarre mistakes on pension funding decisions and faux pension “reforms,” awful real estate deals and more, the need for San...
Endorsement: Yes on Prop. 36: Time to free the detergent
The coming landslide win for Proposition 36 will be a triumph for truth over spin. The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board has long ed criminal justice reform. But in real...
Scandals keeps mushrooming at San Diego Unified
Are the San Diego Unified School District’s elected leaders aware of bad conduct and dysfunction — or are they happy to be kept in the dark by a staff bent...
Endorsement: No on Prop. 35. It’s more about doctors than patients.
Proposition 35 — the “Provides Permanent Funding for Medi-Cal Health Care Services” initiative statute — is a numbingly complex measure related to how the state appropriates about $8 billion in...
Endorsement: No on Prop. 5, which rewards state’s broken status quo
A key selling point for Proposition 5 on the Nov. 5 California ballot is that it defends democracy. By lowering the constitutional threshold to local bond measures from two-thirds...
Endorsement: No on Prop. 4, $10 billion bond with too much unfocused spending
The practice of local and state governments using 30- or 40-year borrowing to pay for short-term needs used to be considered irresponsible. In a 2010 interview with editorial writers for...
Endorsement: No on flawed, poorly crafted Prop. 6
Flawed if well-intentioned initiatives related to criminal justice are the norm in California politics. In 2016, at the behest of Gov. Jerry Brown, voters even approved a measure that cleared...
Endorsement: Yes on Prop. 3: State should protect same-sex marriage
Proposition 3 would make the right to same-sex marriage a part of the California Constitution. It would repeal 2008’s voter-approved Proposition 8, which defined marriage as between a man and...
Endorsement: No on Prop. 34. It sets a bad precedent and seems unconstitutional.
Proposition 34 is nominally about making health care more efficient. It requires that some care providers in the state spend at least 98 percent of their net drug sale revenue...
Endorsement: No on Prop. 33. Rent control makes problem worse.
For the third time in recent years, state voters are being asked to expand cities’ and counties’ power to control rent. Proposition 33, the latest such measure to make the...
Harris, Trump must be pressed on how they would respond to sewage nightmare
This past week could end up being ed as a pivot point in authorities’ response to the dire sewage crisis affecting an increasingly large part of coastal South San Diego...
What surprises will Legislature’s late-session votes yield this year?
The disinterest in principled democracy held by many state leaders becomes painfully clear year after year when key details finally emerge about far-reaching bills that received little if any public...
Vulnerable groups very much need COVID booster shot
The emergence of COVID-19 as just one more front in America’s culture wars has come with a death toll. However one feels about whether schools were shut down for too...
Slow-motion federal sewage fix: Shame on Newsom, Gloria for accepting it
They'd rather stay on the good side of the White House.
If mayor won’t, City Council must sweat details on mega-shelter
The fact that homelessness remains so pervasive in San Diego — despite a dozen-plus years of escalating efforts by our elected leaders — may explain why Mayor Todd Gloria is...
Elected leaders’ warnings about climate crisis not reflected in their actions
Three weeks into summer, the climate emergency is demanding attention as heat waves across the West hit all-time extremes. In Northern California, a record of 116 degrees was set last...