Report From Lincoln Park Town Hall Forum on City Budget

In the second of four 2025 Budget Review Town Hall forums, San Diegans challenged their city government to distribute resources more equitably and asked why elected officials funnel money into projects that don’t deliver widespread benefits.

More than 20 people came out on a rainy night for the February 13 event in Lincoln Park. Independent Budget Analyst Charles Modica led off with a presentation. Also present were Chief Operating Officer Eric Dargan; Korral Taylor, Community Representative for Mayor Todd Gloria; and Tiffany Harrison, Director of Policy for District 4 Councilmember Henry Foster III.

Throughout the 90-minute forum at Porter Elementary School, the City was criticized for failing to remediate flood damage in Southeastern neighborhoods a full year after the January 2024 disaster. Community members also questioned why projects earmarked for Southeastern communities are put on a list for years but never undertaken.

The public also urged City Hall to be smarter and more creative in resource allocation – for example, using surplus land to meet infrastructure needs – and to stop the growth in personnel that seems correlated with a strong mayor form of government.

These excerpts from public comments provide highlights from the forum.

Jen Eastman, Webster

“Equity in [resources for] this neighborhood has to be key. Districts 1 and 2 get all the green lights. Districts 4, 8, and 9 get garbage. … Can we raise franchise fees on entities like SDG&E and Cox Cable that are basically monopolies? Why don’t we go to the County and ask them to take responsibility for homeless expenses?”

Eddie Price, District 4

“Are there any set-asides for the January 22 flood victims and all the processes they still didn’t go through? It appears that nobody except the communities that were affected are bearing the brunt of an emergency situation. It’s still going on. It’s not rectified; it’s not fixed. In all those slices of pies [in the slideshow], was there any money set aside for the flood victims?”

Dorene Dias, Jamacha

“The City needs to recognize the underserved communities that have been ignored, like Skyline-Paradise Hills, which has had a list of projects from 1986 that have never been done. … Every dollar saved, whether it’s $1 million or $10, could be going someplace else. Those stupid bike lanes in Jamacha that nobody wanted and are never used, all that money could have gone into sidewalks that we actually did want.”

Geoff Hueter, Talmadge

“The City has surplus land. We almost always allocate it for housing, but we never get infrastructure out of that, like parks and rec centers. Housing is super-important, but places where people can be outside and interact are also important. … There are a lot of underutilized or abandoned properties that over time blight our communities. If we could impose fees on those, that would generate more revenue and give the property owners some incentive to put the land to better use.”

Francine Maxwell, Southeastern:

“Is there a way to slice up the pie when it comes to the 31% [of city money] spent on the police and on how much we’re spending on the executive ranks? When Districts 4, 8, and 9 have signs made about the police, if there was a way that we could slice it more to help them understand and advocate? We know that public safety is very important across our city.”

Sue Taylor, Spring Valley

“It was recently announced that a developer has committed to convert 101 Ash to affordable housing. Why hasn’t the IBA or any elected official ask what it would take for the City to do the same thing and remediate the building?”

Mary Young, Alta Vista

“For homeless services, some of the money the City was hoping to receive was federal funding. Is that a maybe or a not-so-much?”

Jan Hinsman, Rolando

“My experience is that when we have a strong mayor form of government, we have continually increasing staff. Councilmembers are kind of limited when you have a strong mayor. Do we need strong councilmembers if we have a strong mayor – councilmembers whose potential is clipped by the authority of the mayor?”

The fourth and final Budget Town Hall forum takes place Thursday, February 20 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Mira Mesa Senior Center, 8460 Mira Mesa Blvd.