The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members and the general San Diego public informed about important Council and Planning Commission hearings and other city public meetings.
Budget Review May 4 — May 8
The Council will spend all five days this week (May 4–May 8) in one continuous meeting to review the proposed FY2027 budget. Here’s the link to the week-long agenda of city department budget presentations
A quick review shows that Mayor Gloria is making good on his threat that the defeat of the 2024 Measure E sales tax increase would result in cuts to community services.
The “Community Services Branch Expenditures Summary” lists a reduction of 38 positions or 8.8% ($3.4M) out of 434 in the Library Department; 94 positions or 8% ($8.8M) out of 1,168 in Parks and Recreation; and 33 positions or 4.3% ($2.8M) out of 760 in Engineering and Capital Projects.
The Office of the Mayor, according to the Independent Budget Analyst (IBA) report, is adding 1.5 Deputy Chief Operating Officers positions ($668,000) that were eliminated last year.
The IBA notes: “While the Proposed Budget includes many budget adjustments, and many are detailed similarly to how they have been in prior years, three significant adjustments – library hours, recreation center hours, and homelessness services – have limited detail associated with them.”
The only opportunity for non-agenda public comment is during the 6:00 p.m. session on Monday, May 4. Written comments can be submitted via the public comment form:
Thursday, May 7: City Council, 6:00 p.m.
Item 600: Senate Bill 79 Phased Implementation and Exempting Non-Transit Oriented Development Areas
Why it matters: This is the long-awaited Council discussion of implementation of the density-on-steroids SB 79. Neighbors for a Better San Diego has once again shown leadership on this issue by reviewing the City’s proposal. Here is their statement:
“The City has to adopt a resolution to implement SB 79 before the July 1 effective date to apply the bill’s allowed limitation to no more than 1-mile walking distance to a transit stop and phased implementation of SB 79 in low-resource areas, high-fire hazard zones, areas subject to sea level rise, and historic sites.”
“The proposed phased approach gives the city the most flexibility as it follows the initial implementation with a detailed SB 79 Alternative Plan. In short, this proposal makes the best of a bad bill, and for that reason, we are supporting it.”
