San Diego’s new City Council president is shifting who leads some powerful City Hall committees and creating a new temporary committee focused on making San Diego more affordable.
The new council president, Joe LaCava, said the new panel will focus not just on talking about the city’s high cost of living but also on actually recommending actions the city can take to address it.
LaCava is also shifting leadership of the powerful Budget and Government Efficiency Committee from Councilmember Kent Lee to Councilmember Henry Foster III, who hasn’t led any committees since he was elected last spring.
Already considered one of the most pivotal committees, budget will be even more crucial in 2025 with the city facing a roughly $300 million deficit that Mayor Todd Gloria says will require deep cuts.
Foster should be highly familiar with how the committee works, because he served as chief of staff to Monica Montgomery Steppe, who led the budget committee for multiple years before she was elected county supervisor in 2023.
Lee, who was in the unusual position of leading two key committees last year, will retain his leadership of the Land Use and Housing Committee. Lee will also serve as council president pro tem, a largely ceremonial post that means he leads council meetings when LaCava is absent.
Leadership of the Rules Committee shifts to LaCava from Sean Elo-Rivera, whom LaCava replaced as council president. Elo-Rivera will take over leadership of the Environment Committee from LaCava.
The leadership of all other council committees will stay the same.
Marni von Wilpert leads Public Safety, Stephen Whitburn leads Active Transportation and Infrastructure, Raul Campillo leads Economic Development and Vivian Moreno leads Audit.
Jen Campbell will also continue to lead Community and Neighborhood Services, a committee that hasn’t met since early last summer because she was out on medical leave from September through mid-November.
The new special committee will be called the Select Committee on Addressing Cost of Living. It will be led by Elo-Rivera and include Foster, who represents southeastern San Diego, and von Wilpert, who represents north inland neighborhoods.
“Addressing and decreasing cost of living is essential for the stability of our community and for San Diegans to see a future for themselves in our city,” LaCava said in a staff report. “The creation of a temporary committee to directly focus on these issues would allow dedicated time to explore policy solutions for these critical issues.”
Committee assignments generated more controversy than usual under Elo-Rivera, who served as council president for three consecutive years.
LaCava said during a Wednesday news conference that he is optimistic council members will embrace their new roles when the assignments are debated during a meeting scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 202 C. St.
“I think all the council members will be satisfied with their assignments,” he said. “Everybody kind of understands the role where they can serve their constituency best.”
In appointments to outside agencies, LaCava will replace Elo-Rivera on the board of the San Diego Association of Governments. Mayor Gloria will retain his slot there.
On the board of the Metropolitan Transportation System, the city’s four representatives will remain Gloria, Whitburn, Moreno and Elo-Rivera.
