August 26, 2022
On August 25th Councilmember Campbell announced that she had met with the Coastal Commission and announced that the city of San Diego was withdrawing it's request for the Coastal Commission to review the vending ordinance so that the ordinance can take effect city wide.
No information was provided as to when the city intends to start enforcement in the Coastal zone.
What this action proves is that the Mission Beach Town Council, the Mission Beach Precise Planning Board and other coastal community organizations were correct in the spring of 2022 in stating that Coastal Commission review and approval of the vending ordinance was not required.
Mayor Todd Gloria and Councilmember Jennifer Campbell should be taking no credit for having taken the step of removing the request for Coastal Commission review. If they really cared about the public's right to use our coastal parks and walkways without being obstructed by commercial activity they would have never included the requirement for Coastal Commission review in the first place.
What Mayor Gloria and Councilmember Campbell should be doing is issuing an apology to the beach area communities and the families throughout the San Diego region for having impeded their rights to coastal access by not beginning enforcement on June 22nd.
While welcoming the forthcoming promised enforcement, should the timing of this happening be looked at?
On July 26th, Venus Molina, Councilmember Campbell's Chief of Staff in an email said that enforcement of SDMC 63.50 in Mission Beach Park would be "arbitrary and discriminatory." On August 4th, Gerry Braun, City Attorney Mara Elliott's Chief of Staff, in a email said that enforcement of SDMC 63.50 would "expose the city to liability."
Have the fears of discrimination and exposing the city to liability just vanished into thin air?
Is it just a coincidence that this is being announced now at the end of the summer moratorium when vendors will again be allowed back into parts of Balboa Park?
Is it just a coincidence that vending in some coastal parks and walkways will still be allowed to continue until next years summer moratorium?
Is it just a coincidence that the unofficial start of the campaign season starts after Labor Day and Councilmember Campbell is up for reelection?
THANK YOU, to the members of the MBTC, the Mission Beach Community as a whole and everyone in the coastal region who have kept this issue alive throughout the summer by sending countless numbers of emails asking for enforcement and filing countless numbers of GetItDone reports reporting violations of the street vending ordinance. It's your efforts that have forced Mayor Gloria and Councilmember Campbell into action.