Backlash is reaching a fever pitch as San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s plan to fill a budget deficit by enacting downtown Special Event Parking Regulations moves closer to reality.
Downtown residents and merchants are upset, the Gaslamp Quarter Association has issued a stinging rebuke and even the San Diego Padres, usually a reliable ally of the city, are crying foul.
After Gloria’s administration oversaw a quarter-of-a-billion-dollar deficit that had to be balanced this past summer, surge-pricing for parking was put on the table. The city council had already recently voted to double fees to $2.50 per hour…