On this episode of the VOSD Podcast, host Scott Lewis sits down with Michael Zucchet, General Manager of the San Diego Municipal Employees Association, to unpack the city's decades-long pension underfunding problem, the failed 2024 sales tax measure, and a heated debate over whether San Diego's workforce is actually bloated — as right-leaning critics claim — or stretched thin by hundreds of new parks and services added since 2015.

0:00 Intro
1:10 The City's Pension Underfunding History
5:25 Revenue Measures: Trash Fee & Hotel Tax
7:57 Sales Tax Attempts & the 2024 Measure
11:25 Debating the City's Workforce Size
15:50 Budget Cuts in the "Era of Austerity"
24:15 Clarifying What Layoffs Really Mean
27:20 The City's Reactive Budget Cycle
30:31 New Revenue Ideas & Rollout Growing Pains
35:46 Labor Costs, Pensions & Wages
43:58 The "Lid Lifters" Trash Bin Controversy
47:10 New Parks Without New Staff
50:24 Port Commission & Harbor Island
52:58 Closing & Credits

On this episode of the VOSD Podcast, host Scott Lewis sits down with Michael Zucchet, General Manager of the San Diego Municipal Employees Association, to unpack the city's decades-long pension underfunding problem, the failed 2024 sales tax measure, and a heated debate over whether San Diego's workforce is actually bloated &mdash; as right-leaning critics claim &mdash; or stretched thin by hundreds of new parks and services added since 2015.
0:00 Intro 1:10 The City's Pension Underfunding History 5:25 Revenue Measures: Trash Fee &amp; Hotel Tax 7:57 Sales Tax Attempts &amp; the 2024 Measure 11:25 Debating the City's Workforce Size 15:50 Budget Cuts in the "Era of Austerity" 24:15 Clarifying What Layoffs Really Mean 27:20 The City's Reactive Budget Cycle 30:31 New Revenue Ideas &amp; Rollout Growing Pains 35:46 Labor Costs, Pensions &amp; Wages 43:58 The "Lid Lifters" Trash Bin Controversy 47:10 New Parks Without New Staff 50:24 Port Commission &amp; Harbor Island 52:58 Closing &amp; Credits

This is Voice of San Diego’s weekly spitfire roundup of news. We cover local and regional politics, the environment, education, the border and more. This show features our investigative reporting and interviews with lawmakers and other special guests.

This is Voice of San Diego&rsquo;s weekly spitfire roundup of news. We cover local and regional politics, the environment, education, the border and more. This show features our investigative reporting and interviews with lawmakers and other special guests.