The Community Budget Alliance creates a People’s Budget every year that prioritizes keeping people housed, addressing climate change, reversing systemic inequities, and ensuring people have good jobs.

The reality is that we cannot continue to postpone action on housing, transportation, protecting youth, and raising wages in this region. The planet won’t wait, our lungs won’t wait, our young people are growing up no matter what, and the inequality gap is making it difficult for too many families to live here. Those families and all of our communities can’t wait.

It is very important to remember that economic recessions and deficits are fueled and deepened by policy choices that have favored the wealthy and well-connected and left the vast majority of workers and families behind. Mayor Gloria and many of the current Councilmembers opposed needed revenue sources like 2020’s Proposition 15, which would have required a handful of large corporations to pay their fair share in property taxes. Proposition 15 would have resulted in hundreds of millions of additional dollars for our region if it had been adopted.

Cutting departments and services created to increase social equity in our communities is unfortunately a predictable pattern of behavior that has led to our current situation. We’ve seen that a lack of investment and upkeep led to massive flooding and exacerbated the damage caused by the rains. The damage was caused by putting things off, using short-term bandaids, and refusing to invest in low-income areas, which has cost us more than what it would take to actually address these issues.

Mayor Todd Gloria’s choice not to find better solutions and confront the issues San Diego residents face continues to favor wealthy people, businesses, and corporations. He is creating a city that pushes families and working-class people out of their homes, jobs, and communities.