Mayor Faulconer explains opposition to city council's declaration of environmental state of emergency

On November 16, the city council of San Diego declared a state of emergency for San Diego in an attempt to expedite preparations for the coming El Niño this winter. The council cited the threat posed by water channels that are clogged with vegetation and other debris, and noted that the declaration of emergency would allow them to clear those channels without going through the regular channels. By that, I mean the five or six regulatory agencies that the law requires to issue permits before the city can do anything that might affect San Diego's precious environment.

I am going on the record as opposing the council's declaration — not because it's a bad idea, but because it ignores the more urgent threat to San Diego's environment: the possible departure of the San Diego Chargers. Without the Chargers, it's hardly worth bothering to save flood-prone regions like Mission Valley. Without the Chargers, what possible reason do we have for preventing the waters from swallowing us in their dark embrace? The Chargers are the real emergency, and if there's any situation that demands the circumventing of environmental agencies and their damnable impact reports, it's that one. If the Chargers go, then I hope El Niño brings a real rain, one that washes this whole stinking city off the face of the earth.

— Mayor Kevin Faulconer