On June 11th, the Community Budget Alliance (CBA) came out strong to close out the Fiscal Year 2025 City of San Diego Budget cycle.
In his proposed budget, Mayor Todd Gloria cut $21,581,501 in funding to equity focused programs the CBA identified in the proposed budget. Large numbers of people showed up to city council hearings demanding support for programs and services that deeply impact our communities. City council members took notice of our size and power and stated that they had never seen as much robust community engagement as they had this year.
These demonstrations of collective power to restore the cuts effectively showed how important these programs and services are to San Diego residents, and won the restoration of the majority of the proposed cuts. Due to months of community advocacy, the Mayor and city council restored more than $20 million in cuts to programs that greatly impact our Black, brown, immigrant, refugee, working-class communities.
- Housing Instability Prevention Program -Provides short-term financial assistance for housing-related expenses such as security deposits, past-due rent, utilities, application fees, or furniture.
- Eviction Prevention Program– Funds legal representation and assistance to tenants facing eviction.
- Youth Care and Development Program also known as Youth drop-in centers- which will establish drop-in centers in the Mt. Hope and Memorial neighborhoods that provide mental health counseling, trauma-informed care, job skills and youth development activities to young people in the area.
- Teen and Youth Recreation Programs – re-establish existing city-led teen centers, youth activities at recreation centers throughout San Diego.
- Climate Equity Fund-Provides funding for infrastructure projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and congestion to help communities most impacted by climate change.
- Cannabis Equity Program -uses cannabis tax funding to repair harm to people unjustly criminalized during the War on Drugs.
- Community Equity Fund– provides grants to community-based organizations leading racial equity-focused projects in the city.
- SD Access for All Digital Equity Program – gives internet access and digital literacy for communities impacted by the digital divide.
Councilmembers and the Independent Budget Analyst (IBA) echoed our sentiment that the City needs to prioritize what is most important to our communities and our city. To us this means funding programs that will keep people housed, support workers, work towards addressing and preventing the impacts of climate change in our communities, and work towards making this city one where we can all live and thrive.
Restoring these cuts proposed by the Mayor is a victory, but we still have much more work to do. The Mayor eliminated the Office of Immigrant Affairs, demonstrating that the success, integration and voices of immigrant and refugee families do not really matter to him. He is choosing to continue making it hard for many immigrants and refugees to fully exercise their rights and to get access to the services they need to make San Diego their home. We will continue to fight to restore this office and to expand services for immigrants.
We are proud of the work we’ve done to restore the cuts, but we start every budget cycle demanding a People’s Budget — and this is far from a people’s budget. We need MORE investment and support, not less. The Mayor’s proposed budget showed a conscious decision to reduce the programs and services needed by our communities, and the $30 million increase to police funding — giving the department a full 30% of the entire general fund — demonstrates a commitment to the continued criminalization of our youth, families and neighbors.
The CBA will continue to advocate for the communities we represent and fight for a San Diego that will ensure we ALL can live and thrive in the city. Thank you to everyone that showed up and spoke up to ensure our communities were heard in this process.
CPI San Diego
