Dear Neighbor,  

San Diego stands with the people of Israel in the wake of the brutal and horrific terrorist attacks this past weekend.  

Our hearts are with the families of the innocent civilians killed in the attacks and all those in our own community suffering the agony of waiting for news of loved ones in danger.

I am personally mourning the death of Mayor Ofir Libstein, head of the San Diego sister city Sha'ar HaNegev in southern Israel. Mayor Libstein was killed defending his community.

San Diego shares a deep connection with Sha'ar HaNegev. With the support of the Jewish Federation of San Diego, our two border cities’ formal, 20-year relationship has resulted in diplomatic exchanges, philanthropic aid, and other important efforts.

Mayor Libstein visited San Diego in 2021 to tend to our sister city relationship. I was pleased to welcome him to City Hall and to talk about the many advantages and challenges our two border cities share.

Last year, Mayor Libstein published an opinion piece in the San Diego Union-Tribune that celebrated his community and his plan for a cross-border employment, training and a medical center, an ambitious plan by a truly visionary leader.

I was fortunate to see Mayor Libstein’s plan in person when I visited Sha'ar HaNegev with other members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors earlier this year. His enthusiasm for building connections between his city and neighbors in Gaza was inspiring.

Mayor Libstein was a friend, and the news of his death is absolutely heartbreaking. I offer San Diego’s deepest condolences to his family and the people of the community he loved so much and served so well.

My condolences extend to all the innocent civilians whose lives have been forever changed by the senseless terrorist attacks by Hamas.

As always, it’s an honor to serve as your Mayor. 

Crime Down 7% in the City of San Diego  

Both violent crime and property crime are down 7% this year compared with the same period in 2022, according to SANDAG’s report on crime rates for the first half of 2023. 

Overall, the report shows the San Diego County region experiencing a steady decrease in crime since the pandemic spike we saw in 2021. This is particularly true when it comes to violent crime.

San Diego continues to be one of the safest big cities in America, a fact I attribute to the excellent work of our San Diego Police Department, as well as our partnership with law enforcement counterparts.

Unlike many American cities, the attrition rate in our Police Department has slowed in recent months. My administration has made investing in our city workforce a priority with pay raises, better parental leave and even creating childcare options. We are on-track to open a childcare facility for police officers later this year that caters to their nontraditional working hours, easing the childcare burden on our officers.

Alongside those retention efforts, our intensive recruitment efforts continue. Later this month, the Police Department will hold its third annual Women’s Hiring Expo, and this year, we'll have some of the officers who were hired after attending a past expo there to speak with potential recruits. 

Why the City’s Privacy Ordinance Needs Revisions  

The City’s new Privacy Ordinance works to protect people’s right to privacy while also recognizing the need for the City to use technology to ensure public health and safety. 

The ordinance is a good start toward balancing privacy with public safety. However, as written, the new law is overly broad in its definition of “surveillance technology,” and the review process is unnecessarily long and complex.

For example, common operational tools like police officers’ body-worn cameras, employee key-card access technology on the doors at our airports and even basic technology like Google Maps are being defined as surveillance tech and therefore subject to the law’s intensive review process. Even the 911 dispatch system falls under the purview of the ordinance. 

The Privacy Ordinance established a rigorous review process for both new and existing surveillance technologies used by the City. The process, which takes about six months to complete for each technology, includes preparing a Surveillance Impact Report and Surveillance Use Policy, presenting the documents to the community at nine separate community meetings (one per Council district), then presenting them to the Privacy Advisory Board for review prior to requesting final City Council approval for the use of the surveillance technology.

As City staff worked to implement the process laid out in the Privacy Ordinance, they identified more than 300 existing technologies that would have to go through the lengthy approval process because of the overly broad definition of surveillance technologies in the ordinance. 

As a result, contract renewal dates for these standard technologies would be missed because of the 6-month review process. Grant deadlines and funding opportunities involving these tools would be affected, and the City would not be able to replace existing hardware that’s damaged until the technology undergoes the 6-month review. 

Not being able to quickly replace hardware that powers the City’s emergency-response system is particularly concerning. 

If we don’t clarify the overly broad definition of surveillance technology and make the review process shorter and more manageable by amending the Privacy Ordinance, important programs and City services will be impacted. 

Changes Coming to San Diego’s Street Vending Ordinance  

Some vendors have found and exploited the lack of clarity in the definition of vending in the Citys new Street Vending Ordinance and are claiming First Amendment protection for their sale of goods even when the mass-produced products or food they’re selling clearly don’t meet the definition of free expression. 

Councilmember Dr. Jennifer Campbell and I are bringing forward changes to the ordinance to improve its clarity and enforceability. 

After listening to the community and vendors’ concerns, Councilmember Campbell is leading the charge and asking for amendments to the ordinance that include clearer language that protects constitutional rights and maintains public order in the city’s public spaces and coastline.

The amendments also include new impounding procedures to swiftly address rogue vendors who willfully flout the City’s regulations. Our goal is to create an environment where permitted vendors can continue to flourish, while also maintaining public order and preserving the vibrant character of our community.