Nonprofit NIMBYs

Growing up, I could count on a field trip to Balboa Park almost every school year. At least by the time I was in high school, we’d split into groups and walk around the grounds, probably slipping into an art museum or maybe the Museum of Us (which I’m pretty sure was called the Museum of Man when I was a kid), or the surprisingly engaging Railroad Museum. The high point (at least to a kid–it’s been a long time since I’ve been there) was almost inevitably the Air and Space Museum.

It turns out that the various institutions at Balboa Park have come together with the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, a 501(c)(3) organization that, according to its 990, exists to “advancing Balboa Park cultural organizations through collaboration and advocacy.”

And what does this advocacy look like? In a truly California way (and I can say this because I was born and raised in Southern California), it turns out that it’s at least partly NIMBYism, in the worst possible way. See, San Diego has been looking for places to set up a campground for unsheltered residents. (Is that a good idea? I’d argue that a better social safety net and affordable housing would be better than trying to shove people into a place where they won’t offend the sensibilities of passers-by. But San Diego didn’t ask me.) One option the city is looking at is an underused parking lot along the edge of Balboa Park. And BPCP is against it.

Look, I understand that not every nonprofit, and not every tax-exempt organization, has as its central mission helping the poor. And honestly, I’m fine with that. I’m a fan of arts organizations and educational institutions and amateur athletics and all of that. And I’m comfortable with tax-exempts flexing an insubstantial amount of political muscle.

But I’m not thrilled about them using that political muscle to entrench their interests at the expense of people in need. And BPCP doesn’t seem to be suggesting better solutions to homelessness in San Diego. It’s not necessarily that they want people to remain unhoused.

It’s just that they don’t want to see unhoused people. Not in their backyard.

Samuel D. Brunson

Photo by Michael Seljos. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0