San Diego Activists Win a More Equitable Budget
Community activists successfully lobby the city to roll back cuts
Some of the June gloom lifted last week as progressive activists in San Diego scored a big win by successfully advocating for rolling back cuts that had been included in Mayor Todd Gloria’s budget for the upcoming year.
Andrea Guerrero took to social media to celebrate the news posting that:
Today was a good day for democracy!
The San Diego City Council unanimously passed a budget that restores much of the funding that had been cut by the mayor. It was an unbelievable day and it had everything to do with exercising our voices in a democracy.
Alliance San Diego worked in coalition with the Community Budget Alliance to voice our concerns about equity and called for the restoration of cuts to youth programs, homeless prevention programs, climate equity programs, flood recovery and more. We accompanied community members to tell their truths at city council meetings and we spoke up again and again about a budget that should reflect our values.
Thanks to the leadership of Budget Committee Chair [Kent Lee] and Council President [Sean Elo Rivera], city council created additional space this year for the community to be heard. Under their leadership, there was more community and council engagement and deliberation than ever before. The end result — the community was heard. Outstanding!
A big shout out to community members who spoke up for an equitable budget. We didn’t get everything we needed, but we got a lot. It was a good day. Democracy worked, and we’re all the better for it.
Onward and upward!
As the San Diego Union Tribune reported:
The final budget reverses many cuts proposed by the mayor in April that critics said would have disproportionately impacted low-income neighborhoods, homeless San Diegans and people of color.
That includes restoring $3.1 million for victims of the Jan. 22 floods, $1 million for youth drop-in centers and $5.2 million for rental subsidies that can help prevent homelessness . . .
Council President Sean Elo-Rivera said he was pleased the final budget didn’t hurt low-income San Diegans nearly as much as the mayor’s first proposal in April.
“Just because it’s a tough budget season doesn’t mean it needs to be the toughest for those that have the least,” he said.
As the Voice of San Diego outlined, the new budget managed to avoid cuts by drawing on funds for short term money and other sources, but the long-term scenario will be grim unless the city solves its revenue problem. As the SDUT piece observes, “the city’s independent budget analyst, said next year’s budget cycle will be ugly unless city voters approve proposed new revenue streams likely to appear on the November ballot . . . Those include a one-cent sales tax hike and a parcel tax to fund flood prevention projects.”
It should be noted that this kind of victory for progressive activists fighting to ensure that San Diego’s budget was not balanced on the backs of the poor and traditionally underserved communities is historically remarkable.
Back in the good old Republican days that many of the loud, nostalgic NIMBY chorus frequently evoke, the simple fact is that there was no concern for equity in either the mayor’s office or on the City Council aside from a few outliers. The formula then would have been outsourcing, privatization, pay and workforces cuts, and the routine neglect and/or evisceration of any city infrastructure serving the working class and communities of color.
Thus, community activists are right to praise the City Council President and Council members who stood up for the needs of those who usually get the shaft when the opportunity presents itself. That said, the current fix is temporary, and San Diego will only really turn the corner away from its history of systemic inequity if the larger community stands up and passes all the pending revenue measures and activists continue the struggle to advocate for more stable, progressive funding for cities from the state.
In other words, stay tuned, San Diego.