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By Miriam Raftery
January 18, 2024 (San Diego)—East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery recently sat down for an exclusive interview with state Senator Brian Jones, who represents the 40th district and is also the minority leader in the California State Senate.
Issues discussed included homeowners losing insurance, the need to upgrade aging dams in the district, homelessness, housing, crime, and more.
Q: With multiple insurance companies pulling out of the Calif. marketplace, and homeowner’s insurance rates soaring if it can be purchased at all, Senate Republicans led by you have called on the state’s insurance commission to fix the insurance crisis with common sense solutions. Can you tell us what specific solutions you support?
A: The state’s insurance commissioner hasn’t done rate reorganization since he’s been commissioner. Look at fire maps...the FAIR plan was supposed to be a temporary fix. It doesn’t work if there aren’t enough insurance policies. The companies want a complete rate analysis. Some places could have lower rates if people have hardened properties, while other places may get increased rates. But rates have been frozen by the commissioner...now companies are leaving the state. When the first company left, State Farm, they were not writing new policies. Since then, others have completely left the state.
In a letter to insurance commissioner Richard Lara, Jones laid out these priorities: “Everyone knows the hard truths of what has to happen: there need to be rate adjustments; reinsurance and prospective catastrophic modeling need to be authorized; the rate review process needs to be accelerated; insurance discounts for home-hardening must be authorized; we need to modernize the insurance market.”
Q: In an AP interview, you called for the aging El Capitan Dam in Lakeside to be retrofitted to get it back to full capacity. This aging earthen dam has been rated dangerous with high potential for loss of life were it to break, so when we have heavy rains they have to release most of that water to runoff to the sea. The runoffs have also caused issues for residents downstream, who have complained of odors and mosquitos. What can be done to expedite retrofitting or upgrading this dam so that it can be at full capacity and safe?
A: I think the County Water Authority and the City of San Diego are working on that now. It’s a great recreation area; I went fishing there as a kid. The water level is way down. San Vicente is a great example (San Vicente’s dam was renovated in the nation’s tallest dam raise). I think that’s something we should look at...Voters approved Proposition 1 in 2014, (allocating $2.8 billion for investment in water storage), but none of the money was used for new infrastructure....If we did a dam raise at El Capitan and others, it would increase storage capacity.
Q: Homelessness is one of the top issues facing our region, and a shortage of affordable housing is another. You have called for compassionate clearing of homeless camps and introduced SB 31 that would have mandated this statewide, something that the all-Democratic San Diego City Council recently approved. You’ve said you also support connecting homeless people with services and have called for an audit of state spending on homeless programs. While probably nobody wants to see homeless people camping out in public spaces, as long as there is not enough shelter space or more importantly, long term affordable housing solutions, where are those in homeless camps supposed to go?
A: In these homeless camps, there are lots of individuals. There is a criminal element, some with severe mental illness or drug addiction. They can’t make rational decisions. We need to reform conservatorship programs, like the Care Court, which I support. First and foremost, we should be addressing the criminal element—dealing drugs, sexual assaults, battery. It’s a small part of the population, but it’s causing the biggest part of the problem. We need to repeal AB 109 (prison realignment initiative), Prop 47 (which reduced theft penalties) and Prop 57 (early release of prisoners).People causing crime problems need to go to jail, especially if they are dealing fentanyl...then we need to help those who are left and get them help.
Q: Do you support more safe parking areas, such as the one the County opened in El Cajon which has serve 104 people, 30% of whom were seniors, and nearly half have exited the program into stable housing; with over10,000 meals served there.
A: I support safe parking if there is a level of accountability...I oppose housing first, which doesn’t work. (The Senator clarified that he believes shelter should be contingent on getting treatment for those with addictions.) We need to lock up drug dealers.
Q: You supported the bipartisan SB 6, which allowed owners of property zoned for retail and office space to build multi-family housing, as well as AB 2011, which allows multi-family housing on commercially zoned properties. What more is planned to ease the affordable housing crunch?
I have two sons who still cannot afford a home.We need to build more houses.. There’s no middle class housing. I didn’t vote on SB 8. I voted no on SB 9, which did not have enough local control. I voted yes on SB 10, which did allow local control. I’m going to support common sense local rezoning, as long as local control is maintained. Incentivizing makes sense. I don’t support mandates. Developers will figure things out. Here in Mira Mesa and Santee, La Mesa, older neighborhoods, grandma and grandpa are living in a three bedroom house. If they had a place to go, such as Lantern Crest (a senior living facility in Santee) it would free up housing stock. I was on the Santee City Council when that was approved. It was to be 47 single family homes. Lantern Crest continues to expand.
Q: Nationwide and here, investors are buying up vacation short-term rentals, which is reducing housing stock for sale and driving up prices. Do we need limits on short-term rentals?
A: We need to allow more hotels to be built.
Q: What else would you like our readers to know?
A: I want the constituents to know that I’m still in the 40th district, focused on my constituents even though I’m the minority leader. We’ve had wins. We secured $1 million for the Sheriff for fentanyl enforcement. We’ve got an audit of Liberty Healthcare (which oversees housing of sexually violent predators) approved by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. We got $750,000 for Sweetwater Water Authority for improvements. (Senator Jones’ aid, Andrew Hayes, notes that they are hosting a workshop in Alpine for constituents to help write a grant for restoring recreation at Loveland Reservoir.)
Q: In an era of often divisive politics particularly in Washington D.C., you’ve often managed to work across the aisle to enact important legislation despite being the leader of the minority party, which in California happens to be Republicans. Do you think we need to see more bipartisanship in the U.S. capitol to solve our nation’s problems, instead of constant threats of government shutdowns and obstructionist tactics?
A: Absolutely, and I’m hoping voters in California will give Republicans a super voice in Sacramento...I didn’t go there to do nothing. Communicating is key...Now I have the most followers on Instagram, over 25,000, of any state legislator.
Updated 1/24/24 with clarification on Senator Jones' views on homeless shelters and a correction on his bill number, SB 31.
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