Ahead of this year’s election, SDSTRA reached out to each candidate in the primary election running for Mayor, City Council, and District Attorney to get their take on STRs in our community. Below are their responses to our questionnaire to consider as you head to the polls.
Important San Diego Voting Information
Election Day is March 5, 2024
Early Voting: Feb. 5, 2024 – March 2, 2024
Mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before election day and received by March 12, 2024
Candidates for Mayor
Jane Glasson
No response yet
Todd Gloria (Incumbent)
No response yet
Genevieve Jones-Wright
No response yet
Daniel Smeichowski
- What is your general stance on short-term rentals in San Diego? “Support them with regulations that are fair to all parties.“
- Out of the major issues currently affecting San Diego, where would you rank short-term rentals? “Moderately Important“
- Do you support the existing short-term rental ordinance in San Diego? Why or why not? “I support some provisions but not all“
- How successful do you think San Diego’s STR licensing process has been? “Undecided/Unsure“
- How successful do you think San Diego’s STR ordinance enforcement has been? “Unsuccessful: The problem still exists.“
- Short-term rental applications received by the City are well below the current cap on short-term rental licenses. What are your thoughts on this, and how has the shortfall in licensing revenue affected enforcement? “No one is aware of the ordinance, so no revenue is being generated. The same lack of understanding is the reason there are no enforcement issues.“
- What additional limitations on short-term rentals, outside of those currently in place, do you support? “I would not allow out of town owners to participate in the program.“
- What changes would you like to see made to San Diego’s short-term rental ordinance, licensing process, or enforcement procedures, if any? “Noise and parking violations need to be addressed by revocation of permit after repeated violations.“
- Do you feel there is another city or municipality who has a better or ordinance or that is preferable to you? “Do not know of any.“
- Do you support California SB 584? “No: No new taxes”
Larry Turner
No response yet
Candidates for City Council
District 1
Brian Maienschein
No response yet
District 3
Kate Callen
- What is your general stance on short-term rentals in San Diego? “STRs have shrunk the local housing supply at a time when we need more housing. The proliferation of “party houses” that cause problems with noise and street parking has become a scourge here in District 3, which has more than its share of STRs. Enforcement just isn’t happening.“
- Out of the major issues currently affecting San Diego, where would you rank short-term rentals? “STRs are a problem, but we have much bigger problems.”
- Do you support the existing short-term rental ordinance in San Diego? Why or why not? “No”
- How successful do you think San Diego’s STR licensing process has been? “Unsuccessful”
- How successful do you think San Diego’s STR ordinance enforcement has been? “Unsuccessful”
- Short-term rental applications received by the City are well below the current cap on short-term rental licenses. What are your thoughts on this, and how has the shortfall in licensing revenue affected enforcement? “The argument that we need more STRs so we can get more licensing revenue so we can pay for better enforcement is so bizarre that it makes my head spin.“
- What additional limitations on short-term rentals, outside of those currently in place, do you support? “Let’s close the loopholes that allow bad actors to game the system.”
- What changes would you like to see made to San Diego’s short-term rental ordinance, licensing process, or enforcement procedures, if any? “See previous answer.”
- Do you feel there is another city or municipality who has a better or ordinance or that is preferable to you? “No”
- Do you support California SB 584? “Yes: I am a strong believer in the importance of local democracy. My campaign is entirely focused on serving the interests and representing the views of the constituents of District 3. Some of those constituents are STR owners and hosts, although many STRs are owned by people who don’t live in D3. But the majority of D3 constituents don’t want STRs in their neighborhoods; they want homes that are lived in by full-time residents. I will listen to my constituents, and I will work to carry out their wishes.”
Coleen Cusack
No response yet
Ellis California-Jones
No response yet
Stephen Whitburn (Incumbent)
No response yet
District 4
Chida Waren-Darby
No response yet
Henry Foster (Pro Tem)
No response yet
Tylisa Suseberry
No response yet
District 5
Marni von Wilpert (Incumbent)
No response yet
District 7
Raul Campillo (Incumbent)
No response yet
District 9
Fernando Garcia
No response yet
Terry Hoskins
No response yet
Sean Elo-Rivera (Incumbent)
No response yet
Candidates for District Attorney
Heather Ferbert
No response yet
Brian Maienschein
No response yet