June 10, 2020
Community Budget Alliance
RE: June 8, 2020 City Council Vote on the FY 2021 City Budget
We are disappointed in the City Council’s vote on Monday, but we also know that the fight is not over. There is still the budget monitoring process and due to COVID-19, the budget will be revised quarterly this year, so this is not the end.
The $15.1 million approved for rental assistance will help approximately 3,750 people but will leave tens of thousands of San Diegans out. This is not good enough.
We will fight for more. We will continue fighting for more legal protections and no-cost legal services for renters facing eviction. We will continue fighting to strengthen the eviction moratorium that is rapidly expiring. We will continue to fight for community focused investments in our City’s budget.
Every year the Mayor proposes cuts in core city services and increases in the police budget. Every year we have to fight to restore city services. The Mayor constantly says there is not enough money, but we know that’s not true because every year the police budget gets larger and larger.
Any victories we’ve had throughout the years have been hard won because we know the deep work is the work of dismantling racist institutions that uphold White Supremacy and Anti-Blackness.
One thing that is clear is that public safety means secure housing, good jobs, healthcare — not racist policing. There was an opportunity to begin divesting from policing and instead invest in real community safety measures. The thousands of community members who have raised their voices over the last week have echoed this fact.
It is unfortunate that the City of San Diego continues to invest more than 1/3 of its budget into the San Diego Police Department, which disproportionately criminalizes and brutalizes Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color.
We will continue calling on the City to do the right thing and invest in communities and enact a People’s Budget.
We will be posting and sharing other ways that we can continue the fight for a People’s Budget. This is a long fight and we hope you’ll continue to fight with us.
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In case you missed it:
In a letter to the community, our Executive Director, Dr. Kyra R. Greene, reflects on this moment we’re in. Read her full message here.
