San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott says anyone running vacation rentals in San Diego isn't allowed within the city's current zoning rules. In a memo released this week, Elliott clearly states that short-term vacation rentals are not allowed in residential or commercial areas. Her city attorney predecessors, however, said things weren't nearly as black and white. Councilman Chris Cate joined hosts Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts and shared his reaction to the big short-term rental shift. He said he was taken aback by the opinion, partly because it was so blunt in saying the use is illegal without much attempt to explain why Elliott's two predecessors were wrong. A City Council committee will meet next Friday to discuss short-term rental rules, and Cate shared details of his proposal, which, among other things, would separate whole-home rentals and home-sharing and allow them but require permits and  fees that would help pay for enforcement. "Even if you ban them, you're still going to need the enforcement because otherwise they're going to go underground," he said. Gonzalez: Time to Reform SANDAG Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez joined the podcast this week to talk about the details of her SANDAG reform bill. Gonzalez introduced AB 805 after Voice of San Diego revealed that SANDAG leadership knowingly overstated how much money a sales tax hike would bring in and understated costs of transportation projects voters approved in 2004. The bill proposes sweeping changes to how the region's transportation planning agency makes decisions and would also change who audits the agency. Gonzalez said the VOSD series on SANDAG hammered home the need for a new leadership structure at the agency. "Where's the accountability here?" she said. "It's time to reform it. It's time to take it on and not pussyfoot around." Also on the podcast, the density battle over building new homes around new trolley stops rages on, and Lewis shared a story about his friendly beach encounter with local Syrian families, some of whom left the war-torn country just months ago. Hero of the Week The San Diego Hall of Champions sports memorabilia museum gets the nod this week for agreeing to move to Petco Park to make room for the new Comic-Con museum. No goat this week, sorry folks.