Volume 2, Issue 9 — October 2026

Announcing the 2027 Minimum Wage and Welcoming OLSE to the City Attorney's Office

I joined City and labor leaders to announce that San Diego’s minimum wage is going up and that the City’s Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement (OLSE) is now part of the City Attorney’s Office.

On January 1, 2027, the minimum wage will increase from $17.75 to $18.35 an hour. The new rate will apply to every worker, adult or minor, full-time, part-time, or seasonal, who works at least two hours in a week inside city limits.

A law on paper does not put money in a worker’s pocket. That is where OLSE comes in. It enforces the City’s minimum wage, earned sick leave, and living wage ordinances and investigates wage theft complaints. Now that the work lives here, investigators and prosecutors sit side by side, and a complaint can move from intake to enforcement without delay.



Thank you to Council President Joe LaCava, Councilmembers Sean Elo-Rivera and Stephen Whitburn, the Center on Policy Initiatives, and the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council for standing with us.

Asking the Court to Take Control of a Vacant North Park Nuisance Property

Our office has filed a civil enforcement action asking the court to appoint a receiver to take control of a vacant, substandard residential property at 3384–3386 Dale Street in North Park, one of multiple properties across San Diego owned by the same individual.

The City began investigating in May 2024 after neighbors reported squatters cutting locks, using blow torches, and fighting at all hours. Inspectors found trash and debris, a backed-up bathroom, and a garage unlawfully converted to living space. The sewer line was later severed, leaving raw sewage spilling into the yard that could be smelled from the street. Police have logged 48 calls for service and more than 340 hours at the property since 2023, and a fire drew 11 Fire-Rescue units and left the structures red-tagged.

The City ordered the owner to vacate and repair or demolish. More than two years later, the burned structure and the sewage spill remain, and neighbors still report attempted break-ins. When a property owner refuses to fix dangerous conditions, my office will ask the court to put the property in the hands of someone who will.

The lawsuit asks the court to appoint a receiver to take possession and correct the violations, declare the property a public nuisance, bar the owner from maintaining further violations anywhere in the City, and impose civil penalties of up to $2,500 per day. 

Securing the Release of $1.5 Million for San Diego's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force

We secured the release of more than $1.5 million in federal grant funding for our region’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

Congress created the ICAC Task Force Program to fund the investigation and prosecution of online child exploitation. The San Diego Police Department relies on that funding to work thousands of CyberTip reports and conduct forensic investigations alongside more than 30 partner agencies.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice attached conditions to those grants that were unrelated to the program’s purpose, including a requirement that the City provide unspecified access to Department of Homeland Security agents. In February, we filed suit in federal court alongside the City of San Jose, arguing the conditions were unconstitutional and contrary to congressional intent. The conditions have since been withdrawn, the funding has been released, and the case has been dismissed.

Protecting children online should not depend on conditions that have nothing to do with protecting children. SDPD has access to its full ICAC grant funding, that work continues without interruption, and defending the federal funding our residents depend on remains a priority for my office.

Building Connections and Sharing Impact

Setting Statewide Priorities as Civil Prosecutors Coalition Chair

I’m honored to share that I have been selected as this year’s Chair of the Civil Prosecutors Coalition (CPC). I joined colleagues from across California for the Coalition’s annual convening, where we select the state legislative priorities we will carry into the coming year.

The CPC brings together the largest City Attorney and County Counsel offices in California, representing more than 40 percent of the state’s population. Our offices employ thousands of California’s top lawyers and legal professionals, enforcing consumer, housing, environmental, civil rights, labor and employment, and other state and local laws, and we hold the statutory authority to prosecute civil cases on behalf of the People of the State of California.

That authority is what allows a local prosecutor to take on a company operating in every county in the state. Deciding together where to aim it is how San Diego’s priorities become California’s.

Thank you to my colleagues for their trust. I’m looking forward to the year ahead.

Representing San Diego at the Cal Cities Annual Conference

I attended the League of California Cities Annual Conference in Anaheim, where city leaders, attorneys, and staff from across the state come together to work through the issues facing every city. Much of it was familiar: housing, public safety, artificial intelligence, public records, and the growing pressure on local government to do more with less.

As a member of Cal Cities’ City Attorneys Department Executive Committee, I spent part of the conference working with colleagues on the priorities and positions city attorneys across California bring to Sacramento. It is important for San Diego to have a seat at that table.

The most valuable part of the conference was connecting with peers facing similar challenges. Our issues are rarely unique, and learning how another city handled a difficult records request or navigated a new state mandate helps us solve problems more efficiently here at home.

Last month the San Diego Family Justice Center officially opened the doors to its new home at 9275 Sky Park Court in Kearny Mesa. The space is double the size of our previous location, with free parking on site and easy access to bus routes and five major freeways.

The Family Justice Center opened in 2002 as the first of its kind in the nation, built on a simple idea: a survivor should find every service they need in a single place, instead of being sent from agency to agency across the county. The new building lets us do that for more people, with more room for advocates, partner agencies, and families.

The San Diego Family Justice Center, Your Safe Place, provides free, confidential support services and can be reached at 619-533-6000.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and we opened it at the San Diego Family Justice Center’s new facility alongside the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, the San Diego Domestic Violence Council, and community leaders. This year’s theme is Safe Homes, Strong Communities.

Behind every case number is a person who found the courage to ask for help. The Family Justice Center exists so that when they do, everything they need is waiting in one place: advocates, attorneys, law enforcement, counseling, and a safe room to sit in while they figure out the next step.

We were honored to celebrate this year’s HOPE Award recipients, leaders whose dedication to ending domestic violence makes San Diego County safer for survivors and families.

Thank you to the San Diego Domestic Violence Council for hosting the ceremony with us, to the community partners who shared resources, and to every advocate, survivor, and supporter who filled the room with purple and purpose.

We joined neighbors in Normal Heights for the Adams Avenue Street Fair, one of San Diego’s best traditions. There was live music, local vendors, and of course, so much good food to choose from!

Staff from across my office worked the booth, so residents could hear directly from the people doing the work. We answered questions, shared what this office handles, and pointed people to services they didn’t know were available to them. The best time to learn how to reach us is before you need us.

Thanks to everyone who came by!

Team Spotlight

In the News

CalMatters: Lyft to pay $272 million in record-breaking settlement over drivers’ compensation

REUTERS: Lyft will pay $272.5 million to settle California driver wage theft claims

LAW 360: Lyft to Pay $272.5M To Settle California Misclassification Suit

CBS 8: Lyft agrees to pay historic settlement to California drivers. Uber could be next

NBC: City of San Diego seeks to have receiver take control of North Park "nuisance" property

CBS Right Now: San Diego City Attorney sues owner of problem North Park homes

CBS 8: San Diego Sues Property Owner Over "Dangerous" Conditions in North Park

Apply today to join the San Diego City Attorney’s Office and be part of the work to protect the health, safety, and well-being of San Diegans. View our available opportunities below!

Chief Deputy City Attorney (Civil Advisory Division, Gun Violence Reduction Unit)

Deputy City Attorney (Civil Advisory Division, Housing Protection and Civil Code Compliance Unit)



Deputy City Attorney (Civil Advisory Division, Public Safety Unit)

Deputy City Attorney (Civil Litigation Division, General Litigation Unit)



Deputy City Attorney (Criminal and Community Justice Division)