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    Center on Policy Initiatives

CITY OF SAN DIEGO PEOPLE'S BUDGET

The recession is being fueled and deepened by extreme inequality, low-paying jobs, eroded worker protections, and irresponsible budget cuts.

In order to bridge the many gaps created by systemic racism and oppression we must prioritize and invest in the people, communities and neighborhoods that have been excluded.

Our Demands:

Redefining Public Safety

  1. Dismantle the racist Street Gang and Gang Intervention Units
  2. Fund and implement the Independent Commission on Police Practices
  3. Reallocate police funding to secure support for CBA budget priorities
  4. Diversify and strengthen alternatives to police
  5. Fund community groups to respond to emergencies with trauma-informed approaches, de-escalation and harm reduction techniques

Create a Transitional Age Unit that provides age-appropriate and trauma-informed responses, support, and accountability mechanisms for youth.

The task force and plan must actively include and center Black-led groups and people impacted by police violence.

Pass and implement the PrOTECT (Preventing Overpolicing Through Equitable Community Treatment) ordinance.

Develop a youth violence prevention program that provides evidence- based programming, travel opportunities, mental health services, youth development activities, job training programs, 24-hour crisis line support to victims of violence, program case managers, and job opportunities.

$1 of every $3

of City of San Diego spending is spent on policing

Housing & Tenants' Rights

Allocate an additional $50,000,000 in rental assistance for all San Diegans, regardless of immigration status. Eviction protections granted to tenants by the state of California are set to expire in February 2021.

Eviction protections granted to tenants by the state of California are set to expire in February 2021. This fund is critical to stave off a wave of evictions that could leave people without housing during a public health crisis.

Allocate $5,000,000 annually for community organizations to conduct housing education, counseling, and outreach to tenants and landlords in multiple languages.

Commission a nexus study to analyze the costs and feasibility of establishing a rent registry with an associated registry fee. Revenue generated from the rent registry fee should be specifically allocated to support a tenant board, maintenance of the rent registry, and local rent control measures to enforce AB1482.

Why do we need a nexus study? State law, AB 1600 (1987), requires any local agency proposing an impact fee to conduct a nexus study.

Revenue from the vacancy tax should be set aside in a special fund for rental assistance, legal services for tenants, and tenant outreach.

Pre-COVID 53% of renters in the City of San Diego were housing burdened

Democratizing Power

Program that would fund youth employment, scholarship opportunities and youth ambassadors to disseminate information about programs & services.

The Office of Immigrant Affairs should house the City’s language access initiatives. 

Every service provided in the City of San Diego should be accessible to all, regardless of the language someone speaks. 

Black, Indigenous, and POC communities must shape strategic plans and priorities for the Office of Race & Equity (ORE). 

The City should implement participatory budgeting so the community can decide how the Community Equity Fund should be spent.

This new office would enable the City to maximize resources and leverage intergovernmental and community partnerships to make sure those who are born, grow up, come of age and choose to raise a family in San Diego thrive.

"No es justo que no pueda entender las conversaciones en las reuniones del grupo de planeación de mi propia comunidad."

Environmental Justice

  1. Decriminalize fare evasion.
  2. Guarantee MTS does not cut services or routes in transit-dependent communities.
  3. Prioritize electric buses in transit-dependent communities.
  4. Provide access to bathrooms and appropriate amenities near bus stops.
  1. Emerald Hills Park (District 4)
  2. Boston Avenue Linear Park (District 8)
  3. Berardini Field (District 9)
  4. Chollas Creek Watershed Regional Park
  5. Castana Street Natural Park (District 4)
  6. Kelly Street Neighborhood Park (District 7)
  1. Creation of local green jobs
  2. Increased access to low-cost and efficient transit
  3. Secure clean energy provision
  4. Establishment of a long-range plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045
  5. Prioritization of projects in Environmental Justice communities
  6. Development of accountability metrics
  7. Equitable implementation – hiring a full-time grant writer for the City of San Diego Sustainability Department and a full-time transportation justice planner

Create street-calming infrastructure on Beardsley St. (from Logan Ave. to Harbor Dr.) and Boston Ave. (from 28th St. to 32nd St.) to divert toxic air from Barrio Logan and enforce the City’s Truck Route.

Create a clear, low-cost/no-cost event permitting process for nonprofit and community organizations hosting activities and group events within City Parks and Recreation to increase park access for low-income communities and communities of color.

Allocate $75,000 to ensure meaningful community engagement (per SB1000 requirements) on the City’s General Plan, Environmental Justice (EJ) Element. City staff should work with the community to develop a robust public outreach plan.

90% of census tracts with the worst air pollution due to diesel emissions are located in Environmental Justice communities.

People's Economy

Provide income replacement or direct cash aid to workers excluded from state and federal benefits. The City must step in where the state and federal government has failed.

Workers without citizenship are among the most impacted by the pandemic, simultaneously having some of the highest rates of job loss and working in essential jobs that pay low wages and have dangerous working conditions. 

To fight wage theft and protect workers rights and safety this office should proactively investigate industries with high rates of wage theft and health and safety violations. 

At a time when workers are putting their health and safety at risk every day, the City should do everything it can to  protect the rights of essential workers.

Targeted and local hire jobs programs prioritize outreach to and hiring people who have faced systemic barriers to employment and people living in low-income neighborhoods.

These programs would provide pathways to careers outside of the City’s traditional path.

  1. Additional funding for the Small Business Relief Fund, specifically for BIPOC small businesses in these areas.
  2. Create a specific fund for street vendors, with support in navigating City requirements.
  3. Create a San Diego Promise Zone Equity Investment Fund.
  4. Waive small business permit fees for all businesses making less than $25,000 per year.

30%

of non-citizen immigrant workers in California lost their jobs due to the pandemic

Written by CPI San Diego

Justice for Warehouse Workers/ Justicia Para Trabajadores de almacen

join the fight against wage theft/ Unéte a la lucha contra robo de salario