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Paying for the Past, Building for the Future with Mayor Todd Gloria · Building Better Cities

• Ep. 50 Mayor Todd Gloria: Mayors today are inheriting decades of deferred infrastructure maintenance, unpaid bond obligations, and policies that restricted what could be built. Now, as residents voice growing concerns around affordability, mayors are being held accountable for past decisions they must try to unwind, all while setting their cities up for future success. Few people understand that tension better than Mayor Todd Gloria of San Diego. He has spent much of his life in public service in his hometown as San Diego evolved from a relatively conservative military town into a more progressive city. Now he's bringing that experience to a national platform as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, where he represents nearly 1,400 mayors from red and blue states alike. In this episode, we get into what's driving San Diego's structural budget deficit, how his focus on housing production is echoed by mayors nationwide, and the politics behind the tough decisions he makes every day. With the midterms just weeks away, this is a candid conversation about what it takes for mayors to deliver when they're paying for the past and building for the future. I'm Kate Gasparo and this is Building Better Cities. Well, mayors are really the first political interface that a lot of residents have. And in a sense that can be great to help you create that trust and those relationships with residents. At the other time, you kind of are the face of other elected officials throughout the country, who at this point in time are getting a bad rap. national politics is pretty divided. but mayors at the end of the day don't have the luxury of getting into ideological gridlock. And so how do you, as a mayor who loves your city so much, help rebuild the trust that others have broken, either in past administrations or at the state and federal level? Yeah. Well you you sound like a mayor, because that's exactly right. You know, all of us feel the proximity to people. And I think particularly in this environment, as you say, you know, there's a lot of angst, anger, anxiety, whatever word you want to use. And we happen to be the folks that are In your grocery store for you to talk to about that. the way I kinda say it is a lot of us w every one of your audience members probably knows about public access television, watches like the public comment at the public hearing kind of thing, and that's a feature of local government. They don't have any such thing in the state capitol or in certainly not at the White House. And so I think what we get is that sort of redirected, you know feedback loop to us, even if it's not what we do or what we have jurisdiction over. And what you learn really quickly is to try to absorb those blows and hopefully redirect it in a way that leaves the person feeling heard at a minimum and hopefully inspired to s maybe work on the local level. I I've said to people since twenty twenty four, you know, we can't just write off the next number of years. You need to look local. and so you can be frustrated or angry about what's happening at the international or national level. But you know, get involved your community, in your neighborhood. There are ways for you to continue to seek progress. I find that that somehow resonates, and maybe that's what a mayor can do is continue to find some way to just move the ball a little bit further down the field. And that's also the good thing of local government. It's so tangible that you can do that. You know, when people come at me very hot, maybe they're a little angry. maybe the city did something wrong, that does happen. We're people business and humans make errors. But you know, my usually my rejoinder to them is, you know, did the water come on this morning? And the answer is always yes, right? D did the garbage get picked up this week? Yes. So it proves that we can do hard things, right? And maybe we got this thing wrong or maybe we need to work on this thing here. But you know, getting water to Southern California into your home and out of your bathroom faucet is a modern miracle and the city does it millions of times every single day. So if we can do that, we can take care of the problem you're raising. That's how you build trust. I like that example because often people come when they realize something has gone wrong. But there's so many things, especially in San Diego, I'm here locally, that go right every single day. And so as you sort of like zoom out and take a look at all of the elements that you have learned about through governing through city council as an assembly member and now as mayor, especially in a city like San Diego that used to be a little bit more conservative. Is becoming a little bit more liberal. Is the border city a military city, one of the country's largest cities? What have you learned through that government experience? And are you seeing that the ways that you have shaped the way that you lead or the ways that other mayors around the country have also had to shape the way that they lead? Yeah. Well, I think I learned that it's far harder than people understand or perhaps realize. You know, I've I think I had this early in my experience as a city council member where we were working on a neighborhood project and people were just like, I could get this done at Home Depot over the weekend Well, you know, your backyard gazebo is meant to host you and your family occasionally. What the city builds has to work on behalf of one point four million people through all weather conditions, utilizing you know precise procurement rules and construction laws and stuff like that. You know, stuff that individually people probably feel fine about, but the collective means that things take longer and cost more. And that's frustrating. I don't like it either. But when people make that comparison, there tends to be a frustration. So I guess what I've learned is the complexities of government, hopefully ways to try and convey that complexity and perhaps why it exists or try and identify why it shouldn't and work to get people to undo it. and I think that that's maybe what comes from mayors is a level of practicality that we don't always see at other levels of government. You know, mayors I think rightfully are I generally seen as fairly apolitical, nonpartisan. you know, I'm a proud Democrat, but I think there's a lot of folks who are like, you know, you you have this position on law enforcement or what have you. It really comes from a very pro practical place that says, at the end of the day, when I'm stopped in that grocery store, people want to say that the g garbage get picked up. And if you hold it to a litmus test or to a purity standard, you know, mayors don't get that luxury. We have to deliver and I think so I've learned about the complexities of government and the the need to be relentlessly practical that you know sixty, seventy percent of what I wanted is a win. and for anyone who's ever disappointed by that, my answer to them is all right, I got seventy percent here, know and believe that I'll wake up tomorrow to try and get the remaining thirty percent, but today we'll declare victory and come back and fight for more tomorrow. Hmm. That is a direct parallel to your agenda for the US Conference of Mayors. Mayors deliver is that agenda title. You're working to make sure that mayors are delivering more homes, safer neighborhoods, and a lower cost of living for their residents. Why those three priorities? I know that there's a recent study that the conference put out to sort of reinforce why affordability is one of those three pillars. If you can sort of talk about your conversations with other mayors and why these three pillars are so prescient at this moment in time. Okay, I love you knowing about this, so thank you for doing your research. And I would say that it's that agenda came from my colleague mayors, right? you know, I've stood before them and asked for their support to lead our nearly hundred-year-old conference. And in doing so, I need to be able to speak on behalf of about 1,400 mayors from every state in the union, representing red and blue states, very urban to perhaps more suburban or semi-rural communities. And what's striking to me is that really across the nation. The issues that mayors deal with is relatively the same. Everyone expects to feel safe in their community. everyone wants to see costs reduce. And w for me personally and what I hear the most from mayors, I have a passion around the issue of ho housing. but what strikes me is that even in places that are not coastal California, those mayors are sharing with me that there is not just a cost issue but a housing affordability crisis. It's really national in scope and so That's how that got distill to our mayor's deliver agenda. And the focus really is on outcomes. I think mayors are relentlessly outcome focused. But I think in this time where a lot of folks are extremely frustrated by what they see as a paralyzed federal government that doesn't do a whole lot. that I wanna draw people's attention to the fact that it at city halls across this nation, mayors are delivering. They are finding ways to reduce utility costs, reduce grocery costs, reduce housing costs. And if we can do this at a city level, maybe we can, you know. move this up market and really create some national solutions. And on the case of housing, you may know that one of the few big pieces of legislation that got passed this year in Washington was a federal housing bill that was constructed largely by mayors in concert with great legislators like Senator Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren, Mike Flood and Emmanuel Cleaver on the House side, where they consulted mayors to try and figure out what's the best way we can make a difference. N over forty different reforms that represent a comprehensive package the first time in forty years that the federal government has really passed something of substance in the housing space. That's how mayors deliver, both in our city halls and in Congress. Housing is a good example of what mayors inherit. the shortage we're facing today is a result of decades of deferred investment in housing, but also in land use decisions that have limited what we could build. To change course, mayors really have two tools in the toolbox policy implementation and the budget. And I want to start with the budget and we'll come back to policy. Pew recently found that twenty of the twenty five largest US cities headed into this fiscal year with a budget deficit. San Diego was one of them. What's driving the structural deficit we're facing today? And what about that deficit is similar in other cities and with other mayors that you work with? I love you asking about that 'cause not everyone wants to talk about municipal finance, but it absolutely drives literally everything we do, you know, level of safety, a level of park and recreation hours, right? That kind stuff. So what's driving San Diego's situation, there's some things that are unique and there's some things that are c shared by all cities. The the shared thing by all cities is what your entire audience would also experience. If they're mad about high gas prices, they may be upset about that relative to the one or two vehicles that they own. the city of San Diego has five thousand vehicles. And I don't know if you know or not, but like a fire engine and a trash truck, these vehicles get like two, three, four miles to the gallon, right? They're not as extremely energy efficient. So when you see six dollar gallon gas like we have in California at the moment, that absolutely hurts your family's household budget, but it absolutely also impacts the municipal budget. And all that money that is going to cover those costs can't go to things like road repair or additional library hours, right? So There's that's stuff that's sort of sh broadly experienced by everybody. And that's why you see organizations like the U.S. Conference of Minors advocating at the national level, because we're at the mercy of federal policy as well with regard to high interest rates, tariffs, things of that nature all impact our structural budget deficit. For San Diego, what's unique to us is as you mentioned before, we have a history of being a a more conservative city. we have become more progressive, but we're certainly not some of these other cities in the United States. Well what that means is that our tax base is, I think, certainly lower than you have in other communities. What does that look like? Well, San Diego has the lowest sales tax in the state of California and the books to show for it. we have one of the lowest tourism taxes of big cities not just in California but in the United States. That means that we're often competitive to host the kinds of conventions and events that bring more revenue to town, but that does mean that I we get a smaller percentage of the revenue than you would in another city, even cities that are seen as being more conservative than us. So when you add those things all up, the low one of the lowest business taxes in the nation, we don't charge a utility tax. When you put that all together, we have a very low revenue stream comparative to other cities, but we have all the demands of a big city. We're the eighth largest in the United States. But I wouldn't I would argue that we're not resourced at that same level. And so historically what that's meant is people who sit in this chair will tell the public, Well, we we'll we'll get through this, it'll be fine. And some of my predecessors did really bad things like underfund our pension system, which only exacerbates the problem. I'm the lucky guy that shows up kind of when there's really not a lot of other excuses that you can give. And that's perfectly fine. I'm happy to be the truth teller in the situation and be really honest with the public and say this is our situation and we can stay the course. we can course correct to have lower levels of service or we can do higher as if we can find the revenue. those are not pleasant conversations, Kate, but they are necessary ones. And what I've always told my constituents is that I'm not gonna tell you what you want to hear, I'm gonna tell you what you need to know. And i even if it's something that is perhaps unpleasant, but I believe in being transparent in that way we can build trust to move forward and hopefully have better outcomes for our city. I know that cities across the country are also dealing with their own deficit, although the flavor might be a little bit different. Like California cities are unique in the sense that whereas other cities they can rely on property taxes to help build the revenue for the city. You referred to some of the taxing policies here in San Diego are low as is. But we also have Prop 13 here in California, which caps property taxes and the revenue generated from legacy homeowners here in the city. And so housing sort of kills two birds with one stone in the sense that it helps generate revenue for cities generally when you build new housing. And also that supply should help bring down cost of living through rent reductions and more affordable housing options for residents. Can you talk about how you think about? New development in the context of Prop thirteen here in San Diego? Yeah. and I love that you raise this because I actually was meeting just before this with a business owner who was lamenting our high property taxes in California. and he seemingly is unaware of Proposition thirteen and the protections it provides to property owners. And there are certainly challenges with that policy. not least was the inequity of someone whose property taxes may have been arrested when they bought their home fifty something years ago. f versus someone who bought next door right now and have a much higher rate. But what it does do is provide predictability to folks about what their property tax bills are. For that business owner who was saying that though, and sort of romanticizing other states that have different approaches, you know, maybe they don't have an income tax in that state. my answer to him is that they will always get their money. Right. So okay, that may be that there's no income tax there, but I guarantee you the property taxes are higher than California's. And they also may have an abundance of toll roads and they may have higher utility taxes. List goes on and on. At the end of the day, you need money to run the government. And you can choose which ones you want to utilize more. And I would argue that we do more with sales tax and income tax in California than other jurisdictions because we have Prop thirteen. but it isn't it's just not an apples to apples comparison. What does that mean for how I look at land use? Well, it is an incentive for making sure that we're as nimble as possible about new development for the reason I just gave you a moment ago. when properties turn over is when you have a reassessment and those dollar amounts become higher. and so there is an incentive for localities to look at redevelopment and encouraging additional construction that isn't necessarily w widely held but you know many of us understand that you know turning over a property is a way to get to get more revenue in the door but ultimately that's a private decision, right? That the private property owner has to make that call. And so the best that we can do is put in systems and processes in place that really facilitate that and then leave it up to the property owner either to again enjoy those protections or choose to to do something different with their own prop private property. It's just kind of creating the circumstances for success as opposed to mandating it in a new way. Hmm. We talked before about your two big tools in the toolbox. you have the budget, which we talked about, and we also have policy. And you've been a big fan of upzoning as a policy in terms of being nimble. And leveraging land use in strategic ways, especially around transportation corridors, sustainable development zones here in San Diego to incentivize more housing to be built. How do you sort of as a technocrat put on the hat and say, Hey, we need more housing, legacy homeowners aren't paying maybe their fair share of revenue to the city, and at the same time have to work with legacy homeowners who are resistant to housing popping up in their communities? It's the this this big tension. You know, everyone wants to enjoy the amenities and the resources that city government provides for all homeowners and residents, but who's paying the bill at the end of the day seems to be a stark contrast here. Yeah. Well there's a lot in there that you just said and you know, it's I don't necessarily see it as an unfairness. I just think that people to the extent that again that gentleman probably is benefiting from the protections of proper team, but actually doesn't understand that. You know, I I I don't I I realize I may not always win every policy argument that's out there, but everyone should understand how we came to it and what's the benefits and what's the trade offs. And as you mentioned, there are real trade-offs. with regard to utilizing all the tools in my toolbox to build more homes, which I'm passionate about. Like this is why I saw being mayor of my hometown, and largely because, you know, my parents, who come from a blue collar background were able to buy a home in San Diego two generations ago. And I've seen the benefit that that provides them. As legacy homeowners, you know, they own their home and they are proper 13 protected. Their housing situation is extremely stable. And I don't look at that with jealousy or envy. What I look at that is say, I want more people to have that same opportunity. And necessarily that means we have to build more homes. And so utilizing the tools that I have around z planning, zoning, permitting to really incentivize and encourage more development. And again, that's always a partnership, right? With a i with the exception of city owned land, you know, generally speaking, you're gonna require a private property owner to say, I want to do this, to find private capital, generally speaking, to actually pay for it and then set about selling it through private transactions. But the city should be a facilitator for that. And I think a lot of cities see themselves as quite the opposite to your point about legacy property owners. I would also say though, okay, I have seen plenty of people who may have just got their mortgage a year or two ago who are also against more housing. And I don't think that that's really a function of dollars and cents, although partially. I think that's just generally that we as a species are often resistant to change. You know, we like the familiar, you know, everyone marches in the streets for change, right? And but they probably don't want to change their daily routine, right? And there's something in there psychologically that makes this conversation about changing neighborhoods often extremely difficult. But that said, there are plenty of ways to describe it to people like do you think you sit in too much traffic? You know, would you like to have a grocery store closer to your house? Are you concerned that your children are gonna be priced out and that you won't see your grandkids but only a couple of times a year? There is a way to get to people to yes, and it requires people like me to do things thoughtfully and I think not haphazardly. But it also means that when you come across folks who you know that there is no way on earth that they are ever going to support building more homes and they can use all the excuses they have, you know, not here, well not over there either, but not back here either. But also, could you do something about the homeless problem? You know Those folks, you know, you pay them respect, you show them courtesy, they are my bosses too. However, you have to recognize that there's no logic behind what they're saying other than I've got mine and no one else is gonna get theirs. And instead my approach really is about making sure that everyone who's willing to work hard and play by the rules can find a place for them in this town that they can afford. that's a lofty goal, it's not easily done and it's certainly not done in a f eight year time as mayor, but I can do everything I can to set the cr conditions and hopefully create the trend lines to put us closer to that and hope that in the future people will see the wisdom of that through falling rents and and more affordable city and say, you know, we should continue on that path. That's good for our quality of life, for our environment, for our kids, for our entire city. On this podcast we talk about a slightly different triple threat facing our cities, housing, affordability, and climate change. And this year we're expecting a pretty large El Nino and many San Diegans still remember the January twenty twenty four floods in which A lot of our stormwater system here was overwhelmed and created a real public health issue. So as we're heading into this winter, I'm curious how you are thinking about paying for the system upgrades that are needed to help us ensure that homeowners and residents can feel safe as we're facing this El Nino. Is it part of the narrative making the case to legacy homeowners that this additional revenue is what protects their homes? Or is that just like Too many steps between what people see when it floods and why the city needs to raise revenue to protect homes. I think that's a lot of steps. It's not illogical. I've I'm following you and I think a lot of people can follow you to understand how one you get from A to Z on that. but it is a challenge. And yes, you're exactly right. You know, the city of San Diego, I mean this here, this is the thing. We're known for our weather, right? We're known for our climate and as a consequence, you know, our my constituents care deeply about the climate and the environment. but they don't always understand how that plays out. I mean that's sort of like notionally about we want to go to the beach, right? But it it also means that, you know, we're experiencing weather conditions that our city simply isn't designed for and we need to start designing for that. And that can be fine when you, you know, build a new building and you have it meet a lead status of some kind that, you know, people notionally get that. But going back and retrofitting historic older neighborhoods to match the circumstances we find ourselves in, that's much harder. One, because the cost, I mean the cost of that is Absolutely enormous. but it also has change. I mean already discussed the change can be hard. So in the case of the twenty twenty four storms that you were referring to, you know, what we had was a thousand year flood event. You know, about three inches of rain dropped in about an hour. I mean it was it was absolutely unusual circumstance. But that was compounded by the fact that the city historically has not had a lot of rain and our stormwater system is basically sized for a ten to fifty year flood, not a hundred or 1,000 year flood. And unfortunately, you know, when people and I find this more and more these days, you know, it used to be that you have disasters and the mayor is the voice of calm and of leadership and of trying to help people rally together and move forward. What you're increasingly seeing are mayors are being directly blamed for natural disasters. And I I think that's a function of the times we find ourselves in where it is very important to people to p place blame somewhere. as opposed to understanding what things are, that the circumstances are changing. it goes back to the point that you're making. Stormwater needs in our city are measured at about seven billion dollars of need. for context, we have a budget, an annual budget of about six billion. So it exceeds literally everything that we spend in a year to run the eighth largest city in the country. And so you understand the enormity of the challenge with the existing revenues that we have means that we can only do this incrementally. and this is also why I point out that, you know. elections matter. the previous administration, President Biden's administration, provided the city with over seven hundred million dollars in funding for stormwater projects. And that was extremely helpful and those projects are under construction as we speak. But under the current environment, I think we're probably unlikely to get any similar level of investment. In Cade, unfortunately that seven hundred million now goes a lot less further than we had hoped because of inflation, because of tariffs, because of immigration policies that are hurting our ability to find the workers to perform this these construction projects. so it sort of paints the picture for the complexities that mayors like me have to deal with. and meanwhile, you know, you gotta recover from the flood. You gotta help people rebuild their homes and their lives in an environment where they're frustrated, they're angry, they're polarized, they're dealing with a changing climate and it's a lot for any one individual to do, but it's what mayors like me do every single day. It's what we do to get up and just keep moving forward. What I'm hearing is sort of the practicality that you face every single day and making sure that you deliver on the promises of your administration and for better livelihoods for all San Diegans. And that means that you're making some very difficult decisions every day. And I read about them in the headlines, especially during budget cycles, when you have to propose a budget and balance what we're cutting versus what you can afford not to invest in. And I'm curious. How do you make that decision and how do you sell that decision to council who must approve your budget at the end of the day? Yeah. So it's the biggest thing we do all year is propose and adopt a budget. And I've managed to find myself serving in a time of a global pandemic, high inflation, political uncertainty, which means that our structural issues, low revenues, high costs, you know, are made even more difficult. so the last two budgets or so that I've had to propose really don't necessarily align with my personal beliefs, but I have something that I don't think people always appreciate, which is that localities are required to balance their budgets. So, you know, we can look at the federal level and hear about, you know, all this spending and this new program and these new tax cuts and we're gonna, you know, redo all of Washington DC while we're simultaneously providing everyone a tax cut or even send you a check potentially, right? So it it I find there's a disconnect 'cause people see that and then they see what I'm dealing with and it it suggests that maybe I don't know what I'm doing. And what they don't appreciate again is the law, which I will always follow. I just sworn I swore an oath I will follow. And so we have this requirement for balance. So what does that mean is that you end up making the tough choices that the folks at the federal level never really have to make until they have to, and that bill's coming due. I think we both know that have just depends on when. So to your question, you know, for me I just I have very simple priorities. I wanna keep you safe, I want to build more homes, I wanna reduce homelessness, and I wanna fix the damn roads. And I list those options because I see those as almost exclusively functions of municipal government. and that isn't to say that the other things that we do here are not important. Surely they are. But things like a rec center, which is, you know, can be the center of a neighborhood and something that provides such life and vitality and is meaningful to a lot of people. The truth is there are other folks that work in that space around recreation, amusement, physical exercise, right? you might have a boys and girls club or a YMCA. or things of that nature. And so when trying to judge, if we're not in this space, will anyone be in this space? If we're not picking up 911 calls, no one's going to pick up that 911 call. So keep you safe has to be at the top of our list. If we don't issue permits, no one's going to issue permits. So whether that's your home, that business you want to start, that job you want to apply for, if we're not doing that work, no one's going to do it. We have to do that. So you kind of get my drift of where it comes and and unfortunately because of that legal requirement to balance, it does mean you end up me I have to propose things that I am not comfortable with. This year's best example is around the arts. we had to propose some very significant reductions to the arts. And that meant that people I have worked with closely and that I hold in the highest esteem. And you know, I go to arts functions all the time and now it's a little awkward because I made these proposals. But Kate, I'll tell you two things. One is that that's an area where I know that the other folks will will s will step in and help out. And in this case, this year we had the Preppus Foundation. Come in with roughly three million dollars in additional funding to match what ultimately was about the six or eight million that the city is contributing. So you see a sort of a leverage play there. So you kind of know that that's gonna happen. That doesn't always happen in other things that the city does. And then lastly, and then this is kind of deep in the politics, but I suspect your audience is is down for some deep wonky stuff here. Weirdly enough, whether the times are good or bad, I mean, say we have a surplus or a deficit. On the last day, I don't have the last word on the budget. I propose it, but the council has to adopt it. It is true that in good times or in bad, the city council will always adjust the budget upwards of by about fifteen to twenty million dollars. And when you're dealing with a budget deficit where you know that you're actually making reductions, but you're doing it at a table with folks who are necessarily always spend about fifteen to twenty million more, I'll just confess that you will make some reductions that you know that maybe they'll reverse. And you hopefully if you're smart enough, they're doing the things that you'd want them to do. Hmm. In that whole process though, you were the bad guy. I do remember seeing that. and hearing from friends, colleagues who are in the art space, just, you know, be curious and bewildered by the cuts that you were proposing. I'm curious in terms of partners, your government partnerships at a state and federal level. when you sort of have to zoom out and take a look there, we talked a little bit about the national legislation that you played a key part in. What does it look like in terms of ensuring that there are policies and financing tools that are coming from DC and Sacramento to ensure that San Diego can continue to move forward for the next generations? Well, you have to be there, number one. And you know, I get you talk about being the bad guy. I get some criticism for traveling, which is Understandable because San Diego historically is the mayor has not traveled places and candlely, why would you? We we live in paradise. Of course you want to stay here. But if you're not in Sacramento, if you're not in Washington DC, then you're not getting your fair share of resources. And I'll be damned if San Diego taxpayers are not gonna send their money to Sacramento and Washington for us to not get our fair share back, or on a good day, more than our fair share. And so being in those places does result in things like, you know, major national federal housing policy getting passed. Or in the case of Sacramento, you know, things like everything from our homelessness services dollars, you know, which are perennially under attack in Sacramento, but we've managed to be able to not only restore them this year, but actually increase the dollar amount, which means I have more resources to get more people off the streets in San Diego. Or one that gets less attention is partnership with Governor Newsome on the California Youth Jobs Corps program, which sends the city roughly 17 million dollars annually. And Kate, you know what I'm able to do with that money? I've been able to convert our city's internship program into a paid internship program. And what that means is that the the students that we've got now are much more representative of the city that we serve, much more diversity, both economically, racially, gender, etc. and then what I'm most excited about is that now about 20% of those young people are converting into permanent city employees. So it's really become a pipeline for the next generation of public servants. That would not have been possible. Number one, if Governor Newsom didn't care deeply about young people and youth service, but also as a former mayor, trust local cities like San Diego to receive these funds and do well by them. And so this partnership is literally helping thousands of kids over the number of years this has been operating, not gain work experience, put a little money in their pocket, maybe have a few less student loans. but really what I'm doing is building the next generation of park recreation leaders, librarians, engineers, police officers. and so if you're not in those rooms in the state and federal capital, you're not gonna get those resources and your people are gonna get left out. So my commitment to San Diegans is that you know I fly southwest I'm staying at the Holiday Inn, you know, there's there's nothing fancy about this. And I've more than a few times changed in the bathroom at Dulles Airport because we didn't want to spend the night hotel. Like I'll fly in on a red eye, get changed, go to the White House, then come back that same night, just to make sure that we get our fair share of resources to do hopefully more good things in America's finest city. I want to better understand when we talk about mayors deliver and delivering on your three pillars of housing safety and affordability, what Do mayors broadly need to be able to deliver at the end of the day? Well, resources are always key. I mean, I could do any number of things with resources. I think there has to be a vision. I mean, you this job will drag you in every direction if you allow it to. You need to come with a very focused set list of priorities. And you've already heard what mine are. You top of the list is building more homes, but tackling homelessness, you know, look keeping crime low and fixing the roads, you know, those are my list. It doesn't mean that other things don't matter, but it means that when there's any spare minute in the day, hopefully on our best days, those are that's where the time is spent. and you know, while we do need help and partnership from folks like at the county level, at the state and federal level of course, to to to move the needle. I often want to point out to my colleagues, and this is part of why I wanted to lead the conference of mayors, is that when we go to Washington, DC and we ask for additional resources for things like housing, it's very important to me that we do so with clean hands. And what I mean by that is that I think that s mayors should not be asking for resources if we haven't updated our land development code, if our general plan hasn't been looked at in the last century. you know, the people really you there's a lot you can do locally. And what I found success doing talking to senators and representatives from all ends of the political spectrum is that look, in my city, we have Updated our general plan. We've updated community plans. We've expedited permits and we've put general fund money towards these things that I'm asking you to support. And so it's not that I'm asking you to do my job for me. I'm asking you to help me do my job more effectively. I find that that resonates really well. And so we'll it's an advocacy that's both up and out, right? So it's up, you know, to the federal government, but also out to my fellow mayors. And I'll maybe wrap point this thing, is that you know, there's a sad truth amongst mayors. we know our homicide rates. like the back of our hands. You know, every murder in your city h weighs heavy on your heart and you you think about it often. I want mayors to know their permitting rates, like they know their crime rates. And what I mean by that is that I want you to be intimately aware of how long it takes someone who wants to build a home for a working class family in your city, I want you to know how easy or how difficult that is and to adjust accordingly. I think if we put that same level of focus on it in much in the way that we've seen historic reductions in crime in this country because mayors are laser focused on understanding the statistics behind it, if we put that same level of focus and discipline on housing production, I believe our nation's housing crisis would be significantly less and that would mean that more people are living with roofs over their heads at prices they can afford. So that focus on prioritization and making sure that you're looking not just externally but internally is pretty critical for a mayor to be successful. We're going to be releasing this episode in October, a couple weeks before midterm elections. And those are happening all throughout the country. You spoke earlier about how important it is to get out and vote. what do you want residents to keep in mind as they go to the ballot box and studies across the country and make decisions as it pertains to property taxes and land use and elected officials for their own communities? You know, first off, I just want you to vote. I think that's the most important thing. But you know, to as someone who has a strong opinion on these things, I hope that folks would ask candidates and in cases like California where we get to vote on a multitude of measures, ballot propositions, referendas and and whatnot, that you ask, you know, are you committed to helping more people afford to live in your community? And if you get those sort of gauzy, vague, long-winded answers. I think you know what the true answer is. I recently had a candidate I was talking to and they couldn't spit out that we need to build more homes. You know, and there were maybe even some allusions to, you know, concerns around what new homes are being proposed. And I just thought it was interesting because I was curious to roll the tape back to whenever his home was built and wondered what objections there were to his house. You know, what it didn't just magically appear, you know, there there was a process that was behind it. And he is grateful and he's probably financially secure and his family is happy and the children were raised there and all these good things. I look at that and I say, again, how do we do more of that? And I just am confused by people who look at that and say, I don't want more people to experience the benefits that I have. So elections are really about that and I hope that folks will have those sincere conversations with people. I realize we don't like change, but you know, by not voting for some of this change, you're gonna get change and what that change looks like is your kids move away. you don't have much of a relationship with your grandchildren. And maybe you don't have an ADU in your backyard, but you got a homeless encampment in your front yard. And I just think that these elections truly have consequences. And every year we have you know, people who say there's no difference and there's no you know, it doesn't matter, my vote doesn't matter. I think the last couple of years prove there are major differences and there are real consequences to voting a particular way or not voting at all. And so I just hope that people will participate. What I know for sure is that in every election I've ever run in, the issues really did come down to housing and whether or not we're gonna build more of it or less. And unsurprisingly all those elections, I was the guy saying, Let's build more housing. It is not always a popular opinion on next door or on social media, or in a public hearing where the folks who show up are usually the people who are opposed to something rather than in favor of something. But Kate, I've won every election by like ten points, and I share that with candidates and with voters. So they understand that you know the representative sample is not one website that your mom may belong to. it it it actually is the people who live and make the city work. And if you're working two, three jobs to make ends mean support yourself and your kids, you're not gonna come to the public hearing to oppose build to to support building more housing. and so let's keep those people in mind. and I hope that my success in politics really is an of affirmation to people who know that we need to build more homes. But they can do so with the confidence that you can have that position and be successful electorally. And if we have more of that, we're gonna build more housing and our nation's housing crisis will obey. Mayor Todd Gloria took office in the city without an ambulance contract or an energy franchise, carrying a pension system his predecessors underfunded. Now, with just over two years left in his final term, he's clear-eyed that the next mayor will inherit things from him too. That's the job. No mayor can unwind decades of decisions in a single term, but they can be honest about where the city stands, take the win when they get part of what they fought for, and make decisions today that the next generation won't have to undo. That responsibility doesn't sit with mayors alone. Every vote we cast this November in midterms becomes part of what our cities inherit next. If this conversation changed how you see your own city, like this episode, subscribe wherever you listen, and share it with someone who cares about where their cities are headed. And until next time, let's keep building better cities together.