NBC 7’s Joe Little breaks down changes the city might make to its towing program.
The city of San Diego is mulling changes to its controversial towing program after discovering the city loses $1.5 million a year.
District 3 Councilman Stephen Whitburn said the city towed and auctioned 32,000 vehicles in the past six years but still lost money because fees and fines are never paid. Whitburn argued the towing program also hurts low-income residents the most.
“When the city of San Diego tows somebody’s car, they may have trouble getting to work,” Whitburn explained. “And if they can’t pay the rent and they lose their apartment, well, now they’re part of the homeless population, and then the city of San Diego is spending tens of thousands of dollars to try to get them back into housing.”
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“It’s very hard,” said Sara Johnson, who recently had her motorhome towed by the city. “You’ve got people against you, you have people for you, but you still have all the in-between that don’t know where the heck to go.”
Johnson admitted to having multiple parking tickets and a lapsed registration. Towing her motorhome, however, left her on the streets.
“Yeah, I’m pissed everyday at them,” Johnson said.
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“We ought not to be doing that to people,” Whitburn said. “They shouldn’t tow and sell somebody’s car because that could send that person into a downward spiral.”
A November audit by the city of San Diego revealed that the city’s towing program mostly hurts low-income residents who have parking tickets or lapsed registrations.
“That is a punishment that is way disproportionate to the matter at hand,” Whitburn said.
Making matters worse, the city loses $1.5 million annually because people still end up not paying the fees, fines or penalties by giving up their vehicles and the auctions don’t make up the difference.
“So, this is not a smart approach,” said Whitburn with a shrug.
The District 3 Councilman said the city still needs parking regulations, though.
“We’re not giving people a free pass, and there do have to be consequences for breaking the rules,” Whitburn said, but he doesn’t think the consequences should lead to homelessness.
City staff is investigating ways to fix the program, including looking at “text before tow” services and parking boots on wheels until fines are paid.
There is no timetable for when those changes will be proposed.
“We don’t want to criminalize poverty,” concluded Whitburn. "We want to help people make ends meet."
