As I reflect on this year, I am filled with gratitude, purpose, and pride in our community. Amid a global pandemic, racial injustice, and an economic crisis, I am amazed by how we as a community have found ways to be together while apart, to show up, and to support each other.
On behalf of all of us at CPI, thank you for your support. Whether you donated, signed a petition, shared a post, or signed up to stay informed, your support means the world to us. Thank you for putting your faith in us to lead the fight for social, economic, and racial justice, and build a more equitable San Diego region. We hold ourselves accountable to you, to the people, to the community and we couldn’t do this work without you. We are humbled and honored.
I’m excited to share some of our accomplishments and highlights from this year. While we celebrate this year’s wins, we also know it’s a constant fight and there’s much more to be done. Together, we can build the world that we know is possible — a world where everyone’s voice counts, and where our families, our communities and the people we love are safe.
We hope that you and your loved ones are safe and well. Wishing you a joyous holiday season and a happy new year.
Yours in solidarity,
Kyra R. Greene, PhD
Executive Director
We do research that is driven by what the community wants. It’s important to us that research is as accessible as possible. We research the facts and produce reports on issues of working poverty and economic inequity, laying the groundwork for policy development.
We bring people and organizations together to build the power to make things happen. We communicate what we learn in ways that reach diverse audiences and persuade decision-makers. We conduct trainings and support so that our constituents have the tools, opportunities and support to speak effectively for themselves.
Activism around police accountability, greater awareness of the critical and myriad functions of public education, and clarity about racial and socioeconomic disparities has given CPI an unusual opportunity to speak to an engaged public about ways that we can improve well-being now and in the future. More people are paying attention to local budgets and governance and are joining CPI and the coalitions we lead in the fight to advance policies around living wages, affordable housing, healthcare, community-directed education, and workplace health and safety.
CPI Executive Director Kyra R. Greene tells KPBS that policing is our problem.
We partner with Black, Indigenous, People of Color and with low and middle income working communities of all races, genders and regardless of citizenship status or disability. We work to change systems so that people can participate in the decisions and lead the institutions that impact their lives. Our advocacy happens through in-person and online actions.
On June 25, 2020, CARB unanimously voted to pass the most recent ACT Rule meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California by requiring manufacturers to increase the percentage of their zero-emission truck sales to be 55% of Class 2b-3 truck sales, 75% of Class 4-8 straight truck sales, and 40% of Class 7-8 truck tractor sales by 2035. The ACT Rule also requires companies with 50 or more trucks to report on their existing fleet operations to help identify future strategies for reaching zero emission fleet goals.
CPI joined local and statewide partners in November 2019 to revise and strengthen the original proposal. After over six months of hard work, this is a huge win for environmental justice communities. We’re proud to have been part of the team leading this effort.
On Tuesday, July 28th, the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adopt our Community Schools Coalition Resolution.
For the past two years, CPI and our partners in the coalition have researched the effectiveness of community schools, held community forums to discuss the challenges, opportunities, needs and resources of the SDUSD, drafted this resolution, and advocated for its adoption. Though our work on community schools existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, this crisis has highlighted why community schools are precisely what our communities need.
Now that the Board of Trustees have adopted our resolution, we are going to begin the work to implement the vision laid out in the resolution, so that communities can begin the work of creating their community schools in San Diego. You can read the full resolution here.
After months of public pressure from the Invest in San Diego Families (ISDF) coalition, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors made changes to the County Budget that will address some vital community needs. The budget adopted at August 25th’s hearing contains nearly $32 million in community investments that center social equity a change from the County’s historical spending practices, including:
$24 million for rental assistance
$1 million for tenant counseling
$2.5 million for translation services across county departments
$2 million for income replacement for essential workers impacted by COVID-19
$2 million to ensure internet access for low-income families
$150,000 for an equity study
$90,000 for menstrual products
In a 7-2 vote on Tuesday, September 8, 2020, the San Diego City Council passed an emergency recall and retention ordinance for hospitality and commercial maintenance workers in the city, ensuring that laid-off workers who have given the most years of service return to their jobs once businesses begin to rehire. This is a victory for some of the hardest hit workers in San Diego, protecting approximately 148,000 workers.
This win was a collaborative effort with our Raise Up San Diego coalition partners (UNITE HERE Local 30, SEIU-USWW, and the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council).
In another victory for working families on Sept 8, 2020, the City Council voted to support an expansion of sick leave that would close a loophole in the federal leave policy, Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The City of San Diego’s ordinance would implement temporary, supplemental paid sick leave of 80 hours for full-time employees of businesses with 500 employees or more, left out of the federal policy. On September 9, 2020, Governor Newsom signed AB 1867, which not only closes the gap statewide, but also gives every CA employee that has been exposed to or tests positive for COVID-19 access to paid sick days for the rest of the 2020 calendar year.
Because of COVID-19, we had to rethink how we conduct our trainings and events while prioritizing the safety of our community. We moved our community events to a virtual setting and provided translation services in multiple languages to make them as accessible as possible. We were able to reach even more people this year by going virtual, giving community members the opportunity to participate in the safety of their homes.
Nothing we do is done alone. We’re grateful to our coalition partners, ally organizations, foundation funders, individual donors, and community members who make our work possible. We are humbled and honored to serve the San Diego region.
At the Center on Policy Initiatives, we fight every day to reduce inequality and build a community where working families thrive. Your support helps carry on CPI’s work for economic justice throughout the San Diego region.
Written by
CPI San Diego
