Great Weather, Great Beaches, and Good Neighbors (S4E02)
Mayor Todd Gloria presides over one of the best places in the USA, best if you like near perfect warm weather year ‘round. With Mexico as a neighbor Mayor Todd has a practical and personal relationship with the immigration and border issue. He deals with it every day, and he says what you might hear and see on TV is not often reality. Listen to him talk about what he sees in San Diego, California.
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Transcription
David Martin: This is the good government show.
Todd Gloria: Housing is the reason why I’m there. It’s why I ran for mayor. It’s why I do this job. I tell my constituents often. I’ll pick up your garbage once a week in exchange for the opportunity to work on housing issues. And they’ve kindly taken me up on that offer. Typically, the pushback are from folks that fear change. And I personally, I understand I am not a huge fan of change myself.
I like my routine. I like my habits. We’ll put up or shut up, get over and go ahead and do this. Volunteer. I loved it. And next thing you know, I’m running for city council and then I’m the mayor. You don’t have to run for office to to have an impact on good government. I like the idea of a framework of a politician as a social worker.
Better than one as a litigator. Right. Because it’s less about arguing. It’s more about problem solving. You know, a lot of young people always like, well, how do you become the mayor? My answer is you do the two things your mom told you never to do knock on a strangers doors and ask strangers for money. You know, that’s this is not pleasant stuff.
David Martin: I’m welcome to the Good government show. My guest today comes from one of the best places in USA, San Diego. This California city consistently gets rated as having some of the best weather in the nation. My guest, Mayor Todd Gloria, says he won that geographic lottery by being a native San Diegan. He’s been mayor since winning the seat in 2020, after serving on the California State Assembly and on the San Diego City Council.
Being a city on the Mexican border gives Mayor Gloria a very personal and up close view of the immigration issue. He says what you might see on cable TV news is not what’s happening in the city. And bear in mind, downtown San Diego to Tijuana, Mexico is only about 20 miles. He says comprehensive border reform is needed. But he says it’s not all chaos.
And he mentioned a recent trip he took with some 60 other mayors. We showed them one of the nation’s busiest border crossings. He said the mayor’s remark to him about how orderly the entire process was, his experience in dealing with border crossings and immigration is worth listening to. While different parts of the border have their own unique challenges, Mayor Gloria deals with this issue on a daily basis.
He had been having Mexico and Tijuana as neighbors is an asset for the city of San Diego. But the conversation wasn’t all whether on immigration. We discussed sports. A conversion of a former sports stadium into housing and parklands. We talked about the homeless problem in San Diego, and he explained a good government program called Park Safe. This is an area where many working poor people who can’t afford a home live safely in their cars.
And the mayor talks about how he’s moving forward on gun violence prevention. Now let’s take a trip to San Diego, California. It’s beautiful, for sure. And there’s a lot going on. And the mayor is working for good government in one of the best places in America. And, you know, I mean, best if you if you like warm weather year round surfing or just sitting in a chair looking out over the Pacific Ocean from the beach, or checking out a fantastic destination hotel of the Del Coronado, or eating great Mexican food.
Anyway, all those things are happening in San Diego and that’s coming up after the break.
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Welcome to the good Government show. I am happy to have with me the mayor of San Diego, California, Mayor Todd Gloria, welcome.
Todd Gloria: Thank you. Thanks for having.
David Martin: Me. Now, I’ve been to San Diego a few times. I think I’ve read this more than one place. San Diego has the best weather in America. Is that true?
Todd Gloria: I’m required to say that, but I think I think data backs set up too. We are a beautiful city with great weather.
David Martin: A beautiful city with good never gets way too hot. It never gets way too cool. The breezes always good. And yeah, it’s got a beach.
Todd Gloria: We’ve got a beach, we’ve got a great border community. We got, we got a lot going on for us. I feel incredibly lucky to lead my hometown. I was born there. I like to say I won the geographic lottery when I was born, at Scripps Maria Scripps Hospital and lawyer.
David Martin: And how are things in the del is beautiful.
Todd Gloria: They’ve actually had some modernization. It’s worth checking out.
David Martin: The hotel del.
Todd Gloria: Coronado. Yeah.
David Martin: One of the beautiful hotels in America. Certainly.
Todd Gloria: Listen, Marilyn Monroe can’t be wrong, right? This idea, some like it hot.
David Martin: How often do you get there? Do you? Are you able to have events there?
Todd Gloria: Oh my God. Yeah. Listen, I’m a politician. I have do the rubber chicken circuit. I hit every hotel, ballroom all the time. And that’s definitely one of the nice ones.
David Martin: That’s what I would go back to. I did it again. yeah. I had a day there, and I, I got a, I got a bike. It just rode all around that whole area, the, the Del Coronado Peninsula there.
Todd Gloria: Yeah. It’s beautiful.
David Martin: It’s beautiful.
Todd Gloria: Beautiful town.
David Martin: Stopped into the bar and, they had a couple drinks at the beach bar there way. The whole thing. Just just a beautiful spot. As beautiful as San Diego is, I’m sure there are a few problems. You are a border city. You’re on the border with Mexico. certainly. We’ve learned a lot about immigration and border policy.
How are things in San Diego? How are things on the border? Is it what we hear?
Todd Gloria: No, no. And in fact, I hosted the U.S. Conference of Mayors, fall meeting in San Diego at the Hotel Del.
In order to show my fellow mayors, over 60 of them who traveled, to my town, to see it for themselves. And what was universal was that what people see about the border on cable news is not the reality. Now, do we have challenges? Yes. I tell you, there’s a lot of challenges. But what most people think of when they see the border is not my lived experience.
As someone that lives on the US Mexican border, we definitely need change. we need more resources to support the folks who work on the border. We need, comprehensive immigration reform. but we have a, a border situation that is, is not what people think. And I was glad to be able to show that to my colleagues.
David Martin: Sometimes you might get the impression, especially if you’re listening to one side, that it’s just a mass of criminals and and worse, racing across the border, trying to get into America to commit crimes. That’s not the case.
Todd Gloria: No, no, listen. But there are a lot of folks crossing all the time, right? It has a lot more attention right now, in part because the numbers are up, but also because we’re in a presidential election year and this is, fodder for that. But, you know, I can remember a time in my city when, you know, what you described was probably more what was happening.
Okay, fast forward today. What you have are generally families walking across in the rural areas and surrendering directly to Border Patrol and seeking asylum. And they’re doing that because our legal processes of, you know, applying for a visa or sort of petitioning for a permanent status is so cumbersome and difficult that they don’t feel as though they have any other option.
That’s the that’s the, the pull factor. The push factor is back home. There’s a lot of, of, challenges in their home country. So the point is, is that, you know, currently we’re having a lot of, folks who are appearing on our southern border, seeking asylum. And but those numbers are down from where they were not that long ago.
and, you know, it is it is more orderly than what people expect. What what the 60 some odd mirrors I took down to the San Ysidro port of entry were stunned at how orderly it is that you have, incredible, Customs and Border Protection officers who are able to. I have a sixth sense. Right. You know, they’re they’re they’re calling out cars and seeing that in the secondary and finding stuff because they’re there every single darn day.
And while they may find that those individuals, to your point before, those are few and far between, the vast majority of people are crossing for legal purposes. to travel, to come work legally in the United States, to live in Mexico, because it’s the cost of living there is less. Sure. it is a very functional environment and I would the bottom line I would want to say on this, the border is an asset to my city.
It is a distinguishing characteristic in a global economy where cities compete with one another. I don’t compete against L.A., I compete against every other city on the face of the planet because we’re an interconnected world. Having Tijuana on just on the other side of our border, being able to have the, you know, intellectual design and, computing capacity that I have on my side with their manufacturing capacity makes us unbeatable.
So as a mayor, I’m thrilled to be a border mayor. And it is an asset is not a liability.
David Martin: So I interviewed a county commissioner in, Arizona on the border and in El Paso, Texas on the border. And all three of you were saying the same thing. It’s not that bad. It’s you don’t believe what you hear. Don’t believe what you see. these are border communities, and we’re you.
Todd Gloria: Yeah, but I love you, allowing us that opportunity to shadow people. Because I think when you start dispelling this, you can start focusing on what the real needs are. And the real needs are that we need to have a functional, legal path for folks to come here, either temporarily or permanently. But the challenges that are happening there are largely a choice of policy, and we need Congress take action.
David Martin: I know that Southern California used and I’ve done this myself. Just jump over the border and go to Ensenada or Rosemary. It is that is that still as popular as it used to be? No, no, no.
Todd Gloria: I think that’s one of the things it is sad. You know, I talked to my, my father who, you know, as a child, you know, there would be day trips, be very easy to go down, get your haircut, like have a meal, you know, just put a pop down. That’s not really possible any longer because of is beer.
Exactly, exactly. So you know, the challenge though is that if you want to enter the United States now, it is highly uncertain how long it’ll take. So it could be an hour or two. It could be 4 or 5. So when that’s the situation, you’re not going to pop down there just for a quick visit to run a quick errand.
You’re so it it’s actually kind of made it a little harder for us to have the connections that we have. Don’t get me wrong, plenty of people cross the border every single day. In fact, the city of Port of Entry in my city is the busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere. That said, casual trips become sort of eliminated because of the lengthy ness of the waits to cross into the United States.
And so it really just means that there are essential trips going home, going to see family, going to a medical appointment.
David Martin: And what’s so what’s lost in that is Americans going down to Ensenada for, you know, great seafood for the day and make it a day of it. And, you know, it’s a one hour trip. Wow. You know, that’s gone.
Todd Gloria: It happens. But I think I think it’d be well that’s.
David Martin: It I mean that’s a.
Todd Gloria: Loss for everybody. Absolutely. What’s the the losses the lack of mutual understanding. You know, that sort of human interaction that sees us not just as customers, but as neighbors, as friends. Right.
David Martin: Did you have that pass that? You know, the daily part I.
Todd Gloria: Do, yeah, I it’s a century pass. You know, maybe your listeners aren’t familiar, but know that can help expedite crossing in a more predictable fashion. But it’s a reserved benefit. you know, it’s you undergo extensive background checks, and even then, you can still end up with a lengthy, wait in the line that, again, when you’re sort of balancing out your day, you know, if you just have an afternoon, you’re not going to roll the dice on that.
David Martin: All right. Well, thank you for that perspective. I think it’s very important as a border mayor on a border town to, you know, sort of counterbalance what some of the rhetoric is. And it can’t help it can’t help.
Todd Gloria: I think it’s intentionally not helping the intended to help. Right. I think they intend that rhetoric to make people fearful of other nationalities forget with perhaps their family may even come from. And really to make sure that we stymie good policy that will allow us to have a more functional immigration system that would work better for our country.
David Martin: All right. So let’s talk about something even more important than immigration baseball. I’m a Yankees fan. Thanks for one set.
Todd Gloria: I heard how the Padres, you know, the not so good at the moment. But you know.
David Martin: There’s still you’ve got the Dodgers. so that’s that’s going to be a test match every time.
Todd Gloria: So, listen, we were, you know, in the playoffs only two years ago. you know, we have good years, we have bad we got plenty of time to do better this season. Okay. you know, but even if we’re unsuccessful, which I predict we can still do good things this season.
David Martin: A good core.
Todd Gloria: We still got a good core. but, you know, you still played at Petco Park, which is not the mayor’s opinion, but USA today’s opinion. The best ballpark in America. So I think that’s 100 and been.
David Martin: To the Bronx. Come on.
Todd Gloria: so there are historical ballparks. I get that.
David Martin: It’s it’s not as historical they used to be.
Todd Gloria: But I mean, there’s legacy stuff. So I recognize that we don’t have that long legacy. But you also don’t have fish tacos and world class craft beer. at, other.
David Martin: We got to tell you, sausages.
Todd Gloria: Yeah. Well, and you don’t have the weather.
David Martin: No, we don’t have.
Todd Gloria: The weather and and the environment that we’re in. You know what? We we used to play in the Mission Valley part of our city, which was the only thing that was sort of out there was in this sort of a sea of asphalt. Now you have it right in our downtown. It is an incredible experience, people. I think it’s no, no, no exaggeration.
They they take the whole day off, right? They just make a day of it going down there. And downtown is vibrant in those live and it brings so much energy. That was not the case when I was growing up. That was not our experience. And so back to this point about human connection, right? You know, much like we’re discussing with the border a moment ago, this has helped the Padres, like I have seen so much more affinity for the team because it’s not just about the nine innings on the ball field.
It’s about the experiences in the restaurants, into the bars, all around the ballpark. And, you know, you go downtown on a game day. I mean, people are all decked out. It is an experience. And I couldn’t be prouder of what the Padres do. They’re an incredible partner. I’d like to see a few more wins on the board, but those can still come.
David Martin: You’re the mayor. Have you been invited to throw out the first pitch of your.
Todd Gloria: I have, yeah.
David Martin: And how did you do?
Todd Gloria: I did not do it.
David Martin: You didn’t do it.
Todd Gloria: So here’s the thing.
David Martin: Oh, this ought to be good.
Todd Gloria: Well, I don’t know about all that, but I so know your limitations, okay? And I know that I will not be good at that. So there’s no need for me to go ahead and do that when I’ve given, given the opportunity, I would normally take a child with me, allow them to have that opportunity.
David Martin: Okay. So,
Todd Gloria: I have a memory. of our police chiefs and several police chiefs ago, he went out and do the first pitch, and he didn’t quite make it up off the mound. and he.
David Martin: Ought to be that guy.
Todd Gloria: Well, he was in full uniform with a revolver, and the reaction was not positive. So I feel like if I, when I would do the same thing, I would not have the benefit.
David Martin: Of the respect.
Todd Gloria: Of the uniform and the revolver. Right. So, I’ll just happily, you know, facilitate the child to have that experience and just cheer for them.
David Martin: Sit behind the home team dugout and let him see you. They’re supporting the team, right? Fair enough. while we’re on the topic of sports, I saw somewhere that you have a plan to turn the old football stadium lands into, housing. Is that is that correct?
Todd Gloria: Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I mentioned a moment ago, you know, where the Padres used to play is in the Mission Valley community, San Diego. It’s right along the Cienega River, and it was 133 acre, asphalt Paradise. Right, right. And so the old Qualcomm Stadium or Jack Murphy Stadium, depending on how far back you go, is now gone.
it’s been replaced by Snapdragon Stadium, which is home to our women’s, professional soccer team, as well as the San Diego State Aztecs. but it is a much smaller footprint, and the rest of that, footprint is now going to be used for an expansion of San Diego State University. so those hundred and 33 acres now, instead of being a parking lot, are going to be dorm rooms, apartment mints, classrooms, lab space, a 40 acre park, open to the general public.
it’s an urban oasis, and it’s, it’s underway now, this the stadium is done. The park is now done. the dorms will start going up shortly. The other one, this is so good. And we’re so bullish on it that we’re repeating the same thing at our sports arena, which is just West of there. It’s about a 47 acre parking lot.
we’re going to build a new state of the art sports arena, to, God willing, host NBA or NHL. but we’re also going to build 4250 homes on the remainder of that site to do exactly what I just described for you. That’s happening at Petco Park. When you put these venues in the middle of, communities and you build them and design them appropriately, you can create a world class experience that people want to be a part of, both San Diego and tourists.
So we did it successfully in Petco. We’re doing it right now at Snapdragon, and we’ll do it again soon in the sports arena.
David Martin: And housing seems to be one of the issues that you’re that you’re really getting behind it and trying to change. How much have you been able to accomplish and what’s what are your goals now?
Todd Gloria: So housing is the reason why I’m there. It’s why I ran for mayor. It’s why I do this job. I tell my constituents often, I’ll pick up your garbage once a week in exchange for the opportunity to work on housing issues and they’ve kindly taken me up on that offer.
David Martin: I’m sure.
Todd Gloria: So quick story. When I was born in San Diego in the 1970s, we were building about 15,000 homes a year. at that time, San Diego was about 700,000 people. Fast forward to today, the city is 1.4 million people, and we have been building about 5000 homes a year. So we’ve doubled in population but reduced housing production by two thirds.
That is a recipe for unaffordable housing, the inability to buy a home and rampant homelessness. That has to change. I’ve been mayor for a little over three years now. Last year we built for we permitted 10,000 new homes, so we’ve doubled our annual, production, and we’re working our way towards 15 again. If we can do that, we will no longer be one of the most unaffordable cities, in our country.
but we’ll be one where we don’t just have wealthy folks who can afford to live there, and the poor folks who are trapped in our city will. Instead, we’ll have a vibrant working and middle class once again. And that’s the goal I have is up for our city again of 10,000 a year, is more than we’ve done in the past, so we need to be at 15.
But I like the trend line. Ron, has.
David Martin: There been any pushback from the citizens about all this expanded housing?
Todd Gloria: Absolutely.
David Martin: Yeah, yeah. How do you manage that?
Todd Gloria: You remember why you’re doing this? You know, typically the pushback are from folks that fear change. And I personally I understand I, I’m not a huge fan of change myself. I like my routine. I like my habits.
David Martin: Nobody likes their applecart upset by their cheese moves. Right. Whatever you order yourself.
Todd Gloria: But for those folks, you know a lot to ask them. You know you can still have it at home. They graduate from college and they’re still in their childhood bedroom. Are you thinking that you may never see your grandkids because they’re going to move away, and you’ll have to see them maybe a couple times a year max, because they can’t afford to live here?
How do we as a city remain economically competitive if the talented people are graduating from UC San Diego? Sdsu, my alma mater of USD, can’t afford to live here, that we hand them a diploma and we show them the door because we’re not willing to make space on how long will our economy thrive, if that’s what we’re going to do?
David Martin: I don’t that just that just starts a downward spiral of brain drain and yes, everything else.
Todd Gloria: Listen, hi. I’m a third generation San Diego and I know my hometown, okay? We cannot get by just on our. Good luck. Yeah, we have great weather, we have incredible beaches. But anything the pandemic has taught us, we can do our jobs from almost anywhere, many of us. And as soon as the major employers of some of these really incredible companies that are headquartered in San Diego decide that the talent is going somewhere else, they’ll follow them.
And folks are not asking for Taj Mahal as we built for them, right? They’re just asking for rent that they can afford, or the opportunity to actually buy a home and build wealth. So to your question, yeah, there are folks that are opposed to it or are very cranky about it, but what I know for sure is that there are more people who are impacted by our high housing costs, who want a mayor who’s going to champion and concern themselves with them, and I do.
I consider them every single day, and every decision I make is like, is this going to make it more possible that folks have a roof over their head at a price that they can afford? If the answer is yes, we’re going to move forward with that. The answer is no. We’ll go try something else.
David Martin: I’ll give you some good news. One of my buddies is living in Washington. realize he could work from anywhere. He called us. He ex-Navy? Hi, Jeff. He, said to his boss, can I live anywhere he goes? Well, I guess that’s good. I moved to San Diego, so.
Todd Gloria: The bay had a great taste.
David Martin: You picked up two residents? Yeah. So he said he’s like, oh, you’re going to come out here, but like, likes the beach. I know that, much of Southern California has a, has a homeless crisis. Yeah. how how does yours compare with other large Southern California cities? And what are you doing about it?
Todd Gloria: So my recent homeless count, we caught a point in Time County, a census that’s required annually by the federal government showed about 6000 homeless people in my city. About 10,000 in our county.
David Martin: That’s a lot of folks.
Todd Gloria: it is. Of that 6000, about half are sheltered. So they’re living in our shelter system. The other half are on the streets. So 3000 people living outdoors in a city, state, nation as wealthy as ours. It’s unacceptable. What am I doing about it? Well, what I’m doing is increasing the amount of shelter, in my city. when I took over as mayor, we had about 1000 shelter beds.
Today we have over 2000. And I believe we’ll add another 1200 this calendar year. we are innovating, in trying things like safe parking, safe sleeping, and other, proven efforts that can get people off the streets quickly, triage them and hopefully get them into parking. Well, sure. So these are typically the working poor. These are folks that can own a car, put gas in and keep it insured, but can’t afford a.
David Martin: Home and get to work.
Todd Gloria: Correct. And so they often are living in their cars. these are often service workers, low wage workers, minimum wage workers, and they’re needed to power the city. They’re the people that run our city right there and make it work. but, you know, a one bedroom apartment in my city is about 2420 $500 a month. that doesn’t work for them.
So they live in their car. So what we do is you. Yeah. You have a parking lot that’s set aside. They’re allowed to park there generally overnight. Some of them are 24 seven, but generally overnight. Those places have security, lighting, bathrooms, food. You have social workers, other folks there that can help address the issues. Okay. You obviously don’t have enough of an income to live comfortably, but have you looked into low income, housing and energy assistance?
are you on the section eight waiting lists? Like what? What can we do to put you in a place where you don’t have to live in your car to program? That program I just described to you has been operating in the city for less than ten years. We’ve already served, I believe it’s over 5000 people. and it’s one of the it’s sort of low hanging fruit.
These are people who typically, again, have jobs, have some level of income, have some ability. We can work with those folks and get them back on their feet. That’s what safe parking helps us accomplish that.
David Martin: It’s good government and you are continuing on. So that’s good. I also noticed that you had some, some kind of initiatives to help get guns off the street. That is a huge problem everywhere. you know, it’s been a long, long time, but there was a mass shooting in San Diego in Cedar? Yeah. what what what can you accomplish as mayor?
Todd Gloria: A lot. We can do a lot more with state and federal help. And in California, we have a lot of help from our state legislature. And obviously, the federal level. We have some challenges. but that hasn’t stopped us from moving forward. So I like to think San Diego is a leader on gun violence prevention. I have the data to back it up.
we, lead the state in gun violence restraining orders. our city attorney, Mark Elliott, has successfully issued more gun violence restraining orders in, in our city than the rest of the state of California. for your listeners. I mean, I know what that is. These are folks who, are gun owners, but who are, you know, involved in a domestic violence situation or having a mental health crisis, and really shouldn’t have easy access to a gun.
We go to court, we prove our point. judge allows the Grob issue, and then we go, we collect the gun. it’s not forever. but it does help to de-escalate situations. another thing that we do are gun buyback programs. I just had one a couple weekends ago. Very successful. We also passed a nation leading ghost gun.
prohibition. I didn’t have a ghost gun unit that goes out, actively works these cases to get this stuff off the streets. The final data point that’s worth noting is that San Diego has is often considered the safest big city in America, because we have the lowest homicide rate among cities.
David Martin: I thought we were.
Todd Gloria: Well, it’s always how you want to look at, which is why that point that I made so San Diego. Yeah, I know your joke, but this is this is this is serious stuff. And these are all connected. Yes. We generally average about 40 homicides a year. Now for this mayor in 40 is way too many. But when you look at other big cities, that have comparable sizes, they could have hundreds of people murdered each year.
You see very quickly that our programs and our policies are working. And I credit a lot of our gun violence prevention interruption efforts, with that lower homicide rate and.
David Martin: I would like to also point out that being on the border with a low homicide rate means something.
Todd Gloria: I love that you make that connection because. Exactly right. You wouldn’t know that from looking at, cable news. but that distinction of having, a nation leading low homicide rate, while simultaneously being a border community shows you this, that the two are not correlated.
David Martin: Well, that all sounds like good government, but we are now going to get to the heart of good government. We’re going to do that after this break.
After you get done with this episode, hear more good government stories with our friends at How to Really Run a City. Former mayors Kasim Reed of Atlanta and Michael Nutter, a Philadelphia, and their co-host, journalist and author Larry Platt talk with guests and other mayors about how to really get stuff done in cities around the nation. Check them out where you’re listening now or through their nonprofit news site, The Philadelphia Citizen.Org slash podcasts.
Okay, so we have the good government questionnaire we’re going to get to your your your true desire and your true thoughts on government. Are you ready?
Todd Gloria: I’m ready. All right.
David Martin: First question from where you sit currently as mayor to find good.
Todd Gloria: Government, I think that is about delivering public services efficiently, effectively and transparently.
David Martin: That’s it. Well it’s simple.
Todd Gloria: It’s absolutely simple. You know, when you see it I know when I see it. Okay. You also know when you don’t see it.
David Martin: You don’t see it. Well I how do you judge your success or lack thereof. How do you know if you’re doing a good job?
Todd Gloria: Well, I can do a little better. I think the general public has something different. Yeah. The way I phrase this, you know, I’m big on paving roads. you know, we got to pave the damn roads. And, you know, after homelessness is in housing production, that’s kind of where my.
David Martin: Focus story is. I don’t care if you’re Democrat or Republican. I want the I want the pothole fix.
Todd Gloria: Amen. So that’s the adage that’s fair. Another one that’s also fair is that unless I’m paving the road in front of your house. Yeah, you ain’t paving the roads. So I define success. I define success as saying that when I took over as mayor, repaved about 45 miles of roads a year. Unacceptable. We’re going to do about 125 next year, and that’s over the course of a four year time frame.
So we’re amping it up. That’s progress. Right? So I think that’s progress. However, again, if I haven’t page in front of your house yet, you’re probably not thinking we’re making progress. So my definition is there’s data to back up whether or not we’re making progress. even if maybe subjectively you don’t feel that way.
David Martin: All right. So if people feel like they’re not getting good government, if they feel like the government’s not receptive, if you’re not doing a good job, what would you like them to do?
Todd Gloria: Get involved.
David Martin: It’s hard. I don’t want to get involved. I’m busy.
Todd Gloria: I, you know, listen, I’m doing it. And let me tell you, yes, this is now my profession. But that’s not how I started. Okay? You know, I started doing neighborhood watch my neighborhood, right? I started volunteering in the community. I got appointed to the city’s housing commission because I was one of my mouth about housing all the time.
And was like, well, put up or shut up, get over and go ahead and do this. Volunteer I loved it. Yeah. And next thing you know, I’m running for city council and then I’m the mayor. but I guess my point is, is that you don’t have to run for office to to have an impact on good government.
In fact, I had a colleague when I was on the city council who was like me, she was a neighborhood activist, and she got on the city council, and she actually felt she was more effective and more powerful as a community activist because she could do whatever she wanted right through, you know, open government laws and like, you know, all that kind of stuff.
She didn’t have to adhere to that. She had a singular focus, and this was her issue. Now, when you’re elected, you got to care about everything. And so I guess it’s a way of saying that anybody can do it at the level they’re comfortable with. If you want to send a letter that’s been involved in government, you want to testify in front of your city council, that’s being involved in government.
You want to run for office that is also being involved in government.
David Martin: Okay. As an elected person in government, what would you like people who aren’t in government to know about government and how it works?
Todd Gloria: I don’t always feel like people really reflect correctly on the lack of resources. So what I mean to say is that, you know, everything’s a priority. Sure. But I don’t think they always understand that we don’t. It is not for want of heart. You know, I would pay for your vote tomorrow if I could. But if I don’t have the budget, if I don’t have the staffing contractors, I can’t do it.
And so it’s not about the mayor doesn’t like me or does it? You know. No, I it’s just me. If I had a magic wand, I’d wave it. My, my pandan line is this. My name is Todd, not God. I can’t control all of it. But I promise you, no one will. No one will out hustle me. And I want every one of my constituents to know that when I see that pothole, I obsess about it until I can get it fixed.
And it may take me longer than I’d like, but I promise you I’ll I’ll get it done. But again, the issue is not that I didn’t fix that pothole because I’m civil to the potholes. Far from. It’s usually a resource question, but when I talk with folks, I don’t think they always understand. It’s not as simple as just saying fix that.
There’s a lot else behind it, and it gets to the question of good government. Have we created systems that are intended to solve problems quickly? in the case of pothole repair, we can typically do it in, a couple days. Or do we do we have a system like where immigration is, which is to say, now go ahead and petition for immigration.
But we you may hear from us in a couple decades, you know, the difference in good government and bad government.
David Martin: so that’s a two part question. First part is what’s the best part of your job.
Todd Gloria: Talking with people. Yeah. So I got my start in the county of San Diego. I was I was a social worker.
David Martin: Okay.
Todd Gloria: I loved it, but it’s just by the way, it’s the same thing I do now. I meet with people every day.
David Martin: You’re still a social worker for this?
Todd Gloria: Absolutely. People think, and I appreciate that you share this with your listeners. People think politicians, generally speaking, are attorneys. And that’s that’s a fair assumption.
David Martin: A lot of them.
Todd Gloria: But I the work of seeing with people and listening to their challenges and trying to connect them to resources to solve those challenges, that’s also what I do. And I like the idea of a framework of a politician as a social worker, better than one as a litigator. Right? Because it’s less about arguing, it’s more about problem solving.
So that’s the orientation I bring to this work.
David Martin: Where are you a social worker?
Todd Gloria: I worked in child protective services for the county of San Diego. I worked in income maintenance, you know, and so when you’re. I’m the son of a maid and a gardener. So I understand what a blue collar family in San Diego deals with. But I will tell you, I didn’t realize how blessed I was until you sitting across the table from families in crisis, you know, with families with abused children, folks who literally have nothing.
We often grew up with very little, didn’t have a car, that kind of stuff. But we were rich compared to the some of the people that I worked with at the county. And, it’s eye opening and a reminder every day that the job that I do now, I think of people I work with back in the 90s when I did that work, and I remember I know better how challenging it is to make ends meet generally, but particularly in a community like San Diego that’s so expensive.
David Martin: And that’s kind of help when you’re the mayor and you can call back to those experiences personally growing up, but also, you know, talking to folks as a counselor, trying to help them get off, you know, where they are. And on social services.
Todd Gloria: Well, I again, I think I would understand why people might look at me. They see the suit, they see the tie, you know, the shiny shoes, you know, they get an impression. But I’ve never far from my memories of growing up, but all of my memories from doing that job. And so it goes back to when you asked, what’s the best part of the job?
I love talking with people and understanding what is their concern. You know, I find people often not their own best advocates know because of the trauma and the things that they experienced. They often can’t explain it in a way that’s succinct and clear, but that’s one of my value adds. Having done this work for so long, I understand you’re mad about the panel, but you’re not really mad about the pothole.
You’re talking about the fact that that flat tire you got because the pothole is up and it’s your household budget because you can’t afford, an inconvenience or, or, an emergency like that. So it’s something bigger than that. And that’s, that’s what my training is taught me. And bringing that to politics, I think is a good mindset.
But and I’ll conclude with this because I, I know you have other questions. Remember that I became mayor of San Diego in December 2020, which is to say, I did the first two years on zoom, right when I didn’t get to interact with people and so that has only reinforced for me how important it is to have that direct communication with the public that, you know, yeah, sometimes it can be painful, maybe it can be tedious, but it you can’t be an elected representative if you’re not interacting with the people.
And I missed that so much during the pandemic. Yeah, Zoom’s fine, but it’s not the same as eyeball to eyeball, in-person body language reading that the kinds of those tells that I get to say it’s not really about that. One thing that you’re saying, it’s really about all these other things.
David Martin: And showing up in their neighborhood and showing up at their house.
Todd Gloria: Yes.
David Martin: Right.
Todd Gloria: I love that part of the job.
David Martin: So how’s your garden? Do you do any gardening at home?
Todd Gloria: No, I do not.
David Martin: Oh no.
Todd Gloria: I live in downtown. I don’t have a garden and I’m also not home much to to tend to a garden.
David Martin: So that’s the best part. What’s the hardest part of the job?
Todd Gloria: Well, I’ll be honest. I mean, you have to campaign to do this work, right? I you know, a lot of young people always like, well, how do you become the mayor? And my answer is you do the two things your mom told you never do knock on the strangers doors and ask strangers for money. You know, that’s this is not pleasant stuff.
But, you know, for me, I always weigh it, you know. Is it is this.
David Martin: I’m not outdoors. It’s kind of fun sometimes.
Todd Gloria: Yeah, actually, I’m a I’m Gladys Kravitz. I’m nosy. I’m all about. Yeah, that’s an interesting design choice, you know? Yeah, but it’s hard, you know, it can be hard. And, you know, particularly asking for money. Our culture is not into that. It’s not like it’s.
David Martin: Just close to your face five times in a row.
Todd Gloria: Yeah, all that stuff. But but you weigh it against if I continue doing this and I’m allowed to continue doing my job and I can make change on housing costs, homelessness, infrastructure, public safety, is it worth it? I tell you, do it every single day. It’s always worth it.
David Martin: So you’re a newsmaker in San Diego. Where do you get your news from?
Todd Gloria: Like everybody, it’s it’s a very, diverse thing now, right? Like, you know, time was I was a CBS news guy. I watched it every day, you know? That was good. Thank you.
David Martin: I yes.
Todd Gloria: You okay? I love me some Dan Rather. All that stuff. Even as a little bit boss. a union tribune, which our local paper.
David Martin: Do you still get.
Todd Gloria: Up, deliver obsidian. Yeah. but, you know, I, I’ve augment that now with, you know, a, you know, now it’s easy to get New York Times, Washington Post and put that are part of my daily diet. But it also is true that we have local blogs, local online only resources that tend to be quicker and a little bit more dynamic.
David Martin: You haven’t said podcast yet.
Todd Gloria: I do do podcasts. I listen to the, first NPR every morning just to get caught up, know I’m working out and whatever else. It’s good to be aware, but, the point is, I know, I know, media is in a challenging spot in the moment, but I always find it’s interesting because my my diet is diversified tremendously.
So it includes the paper, television, online, social media podcast, you know, and and that’s a part and I see it not just as an informed citizen, but as someone that does my job. Right. I need to look for news to understand what’s the city thinking and feeling right now. Where is my time and attention necessary? That’s why I, you know, again, about three papers a day, a couple of blogs, maybe a few, podcasts and.
Yeah, and hopefully I’m well enough informed to be able to answer whatever question a constituent a reporter throws at me.
David Martin: Do you get do you get questions thrown at you that you have no idea what they’re talking.
Todd Gloria: About all the time? Oh, really? Yeah.
David Martin: But I get that to you. I that my staff is going to look into that. Please call me tomorrow. Listen.
Todd Gloria: I don’t know, but I will find out is always a good answer.
David Martin: It is. So who’s your political hero? Who inspired you to do this?
Todd Gloria: So the transit as a woman named Susan Davis, she was my youth mentor. As a kid, I met her through a, a nonprofit group called The Price Fellows, and she later went on to become a state legislator and a US congresswoman. I worked for her for in her district office in San Diego for many years. She also was a social worker.
And she kind of showed me that you may not be bombastic, you may not be the litigator or whatever, but you could still do this work and you could do it. She was universally known as being nice, and she’s still with us. She retired from Congress, about four years ago. but I met when I was 14 years old.
I learned the craft of public service from her. Okay. and I’m honored to carry on her tradition of being a pragmatic problem solver in politics.
David Martin: Well, no. What else is said Susan Davis. Okay, there you go. growing up, was this something you thought about being the mayor or being president? were you president of your high school class?
Todd Gloria: Oh, of course I was. Oh, yeah. Well, so the answer to your question is yes or no? Yes. Because I was always interested in politics. I was the nerdy kid that would watch C-Span for fun. I would read the newspaper. I was eight, nine, ten years old watching Dan Rather’s at the 6 p.m. news. Right? That was me.
That was me. All right. So yes. And I ran for student government, I assume by president, all that kind of stuff. That’s the yes part. The no part was that people like me didn’t get this job when I was a kid. I am a gay man of color. And in 1980s, 1990s, that wasn’t an option. Oh, by the way, as a Democrat in San Diego, that also at that time was a little unusual.
Okay. So, you know, the world told me this wasn’t for me, right? This wasn’t a job I was allowed to have or would ever be entertained. Right? Yeah. But the world changed around me. I had great mentors like Congressman Davis and other folks who encouraged me, put me in positions where I could be, seen and allowed to develop the skill sets.
And when the world changed, and frankly, when some laws and policies changed, I was able to run for office and be successful.
David Martin: So yes and no. Okay. Well, that that’s great. all right, now I have to say, Diego, a couple of times, always had Mexican food. I’m coming. Where you’re going to take me out. You’re showing me the town. Where are we going? What are we having? What’s the San Diego dish?
Todd Gloria: Well, what we’re known for is fish tacos. Okay. And. But here’s a fun fact. I don’t like fish, so we will. You’re welcome to have one of these. Okay? Okay. Okay. Good. I will be fine. I will take you to buy tacos El Gordo. Okay. sort of authentic Tijuana street style tacos that are available in San Diego, right?
they’re quick, they’re cheap. They’re so delicious. You go there, there’s a line. Okay. bear doesn’t cut the line. I’m not that kind of mayor. Okay, good. But it’s part of the experience, too, right? Do you want to, like, rub elbows with people here? What’s on there? My, So I would take you to Tacos of Gordo in the Gaslamp.
Yeah, we can eat there. and then we can wander down the Gaslamp further and check out some of the other bars. And another good times that are there, but,
David Martin: I will just did the Gaslamp. I’ll describe it briefly. It’s downtown San Diego. It is sort of historic. It looks old. It’s very pretty. It’s not something you expect in a downtown because it’s very well preserved and it’s just nightlife central.
Todd Gloria: It is. It is all.
David Martin: Described it as a.
Todd Gloria: Great is a great description. State horse, Historic heart of San Diego.
David Martin: yeah. To the U.S. Grand Hotel.
Todd Gloria: Back to the U.S. Grand. That’d be a good place to have a final drink at the Grand Grill.
David Martin: Absolutely.
Todd Gloria: and there’s some craft beer in there somewhere. Because we do pride ourselves. I mean, the craft beer, capital of America.
David Martin: Good. All right, well, I am ready. I am ready to come back. this is the good government show. We like to bring it back to the government. Give me an example of a good government project that you’ve created that you’re especially proud of.
Todd Gloria: Wears a lot. But I think I’ve. You know, I started working for the congresswoman, and I remember all those years ago taking constituent complaints back in the day, you know, that generally involve like a clipboard and yeah, yeah, the ability to reach me between 9 and 5 on Monday through Friday, what have you. we had the city, through our chief innovation officer in our performance analytics department.
good government again, going back to efficient, effective, transparent. we’ve established as, get it done app. And so you as a citizen can download that app onto your phone. You don’t have to get me 9 to 5 Monday through Friday. You can the second you see graffiti, a pothole, a trip hazard, whatever the case may be reported directly to the city, you bypass the politician.
You don’t need to go to me. It goes right to the person that works on that issue and they get it done faster.
David Martin: Do you check it yourself?
Todd Gloria: Sometimes I report on it all the time myself. what I what I love about it, though.
David Martin: They say, oh, damn, it’s the mayor again.
Todd Gloria: Well, you know what? It it does it. Some people use my name when they submit their own reports, but that’s. I get mad that that ever sticks a pothole. I’m good. Okay. But what I love about it is that it empowers an individual to solve a problem, and they can track it through the whole process. So you can see submit it being worked on resolution.
We have employees. It says take it for a pothole. You send a do your phone a photo. The pothole will send you back a photo of the pothole filled. Oh, so you know.
David Martin: That’s good government. We can see.
Todd Gloria: Got done right? Yeah. How many times you like? Well, I don’t know what came of that. I told the mayor about it. Hopefully he did something. Oh, no. You can track it through its whole process. See who did it when it was done. It’s transparent, it’s efficient, it’s effective. It’s good government. It’s our Get It Done app available on the, on the Apple Store and on Google Play everywhere.
David Martin: You at Mary Todd Gloria of San Diego, California, one of the beautiful spots in America. It was great having you. Thank you very much. Thanks for coming. And, a pleasure talking to you.
Todd Gloria: Thanks for this opportunity.
David Martin: Thank you. Where do you get your news from? Where do you get your state and local government news from? Because that’s getting harder and harder. And it’s essential to stay updated with your community. And it’s becoming increasingly important to know what’s going on in other cities and states, because they’re likely facing challenges that you’re grappling with, too, or you’re going to face eventually.
That’s why we’d like to welcome our new partner, route 50, to the show. Route 50 is a leading online publication covering state and local governments across the country. They’ve written about states protecting themselves against the rise in cyber attacks, counties using AI to better support citizens services, local responses to crumbling infrastructure and extreme weather, and much, much more.
There’s a lot there. It’s a one stop shop for issues affecting state and local governments and their residents. That’s you. That’s all of us. Do yourself a favor and go to route 50.com to see the topics and solutions they cover, and learn what other people in government are doing. They also deliver a daily newsletter called route 50. Today I see it in my inbox every morning.
I check it out and you should too. Thanks again. Route 50. We’re excited to have you on board and being a partner here at the Good Government Show.
What is it the county government does? That’s the question county commissioners get asked the most. And the simple answer is everything on the Good Government show. We’re so lucky to have talked with so many county commissioners and other county officials that have shown us how effective county government is. County government dates back to get this 1634, making it one of the oldest forms of government in the United States.
Think about it. Roads. Highways. Hospitals. Schools. Recycling. Law enforcement. Water. Sewers, and most of the county. Those services are maintained by the county. That’s county government. The National Association of Counties represents all 3069 counties across the USA. Naco helps county government work better together through things like sharing best practices. When county government works well, well, that’s just good government.
We can’t get by on our good luck, said Mayor Gloria. And first let me say San Diego is a very good looking city, but the point the mayor made is there’s work to be done housing, homelessness, gun violence prevention are all good government projects he’s working on. It all takes time. The mayor says. My name is Todd, not God.
That’s what he said. Another real story in San Diego is immigration with Mexico. As a neighbor, Mayor Gloria sees Mexico as a very good neighbor and part of what makes a city great. I’ve been there. I couldn’t agree with you more. That’s our show. Thanks for listening. Please like us and share this with your friends and review us right here where you’re listening now and check out our website.
Good Government show.com for extras. Join us again for another episode right here. I’m Dave Martin and this is the Good Government show.
The Good Government show is a Valley Park production. Jim Ludlow, Dave Martin, that’s me and David Snyder are the executive producers. Our show is edited and produced by Jason Stershic. Please subscribe, then share and like us and review us. That’s the best way to make sure we’re able to keep telling these stories of our government working for all of us.
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**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.