March 25, 2025

The Chamber IPA team has been busy advocating for San Diego’s business community across our region this past month.

At the County:

• Justine Murray, Executive Director of Public Affairs, spoke in support of the appointment of Coronado Mayor John Duncan to the Air Pollution Control District Governing Board of Directors at San Diego’s City Selection Committee, alongside partners from IEA and the Working Waterfront. Mayor Duncan also had support from Congressman Peters, demonstrating his ability to work with partners across the region to provide meaningful resources for the County. Mayor Duncan was approved by vote to be the District 3 representative on the board.
• Lauren Cazares, Policy Advisor, spoke in opposition of a County resolution to support AB 303 (Addis), “The Battery Energy Storage and Safety Act”. Despite its name, the bill is detrimental to public safety and our region’s, and further the state’s, safe and clean power supply. The bill is a de facto ban on any new BESS, and the Chamber encourages legislatures to work with industry to promote safety standards and new BESS technology designed to keep communities safe while supplying essential power and energy, instead of banning this critical piece of our sustainable infrastructure. The resolution did not pass, and the Chamber will continue to work with County leaders to educate decision makers and the public regarding BESS and ensure bans on BESS do not come to fruition.
• The County of San Diego voted unanimously to update their Unsafe Camping Ordinance to address growing public safety concerns, specifically wildfires created by encampments. Lauren Cazares spoke in support of proposed enhancements to the updated ordinance, including the prohibition of combustible materials and ignition sources that contribute to wildfire risk. The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to move the item forward, and the updated ordinance will come back to the Board of Supervisors in 60 days.

At the City of San Diego:

• The San Diego City Council recently voted to explore rolling back some of the provisions of the ADU program, notably removing the potential of building ADUs in some of the lower density areas of the City. Chamber staff worked diligently with Council Offices to advocate against a full repeal of the program, and Policy Advisor Evan Strawn spoke in opposition of the potential repeal at City Council. While rolling back some pillars of the program is not ideal, the Chamber and our partners are encouraged that the program was not completely repealed. Now, the Planning Department will work on bringing proposed changes to the program through the annual Land Development Code Update process.
• Chamber Policy Analyst Jimena Villaseñor, alongside industry leaders, spoke out in opposition of a proposed Cannabis Business Tax increase, from 8% to 10%, for retail outlets. While we recognize the City’s need to address its budget deficit, we raised concerns about the process, as this item was placed on the agenda via direct docketing rather than the standard committee review. In addition, Jimena voiced concerns over higher cannabis taxes in the city compared to neighboring cities in the county, questions on whether the increased tax would actually bring more revenue to the City’s budget and calls for future cannabis-related proposals to go through the proper committee process rather than direct docketing.
• Justine Murray spoke in support of the City of San Diego’s resolution in support of Senator Catherine Blakespear’s SB 569, which aims to streamline encampment abatement near CalTrans roads and properties. The Council voted unanimously to support Senate Bill 569, which will also create better collaboration across agencies and the region to address this growing crisis.

From unsafe encampment ordinances at the County to proposed tax increases at the City of San Diego, the Chamber remains engaged with our partners and with elected officials and their staff on all of these issues to ensure San Diego’s business community has a voice at the table.