With the close of the FY22 San Diego City budget cycle, we have mixed emotions about how our City is investing in our communities. For the past decade our coalition has advocated for a new way to budget. We believe the City budget is a statement of values and must prioritize the people, communities and neighborhoods that have been excluded.
Safe communities have good jobs, a clean and safe environment, quality housing that is affordable for all, access to health care for all, high quality education and other services that ensure individuals and families thrive. Community members have been advocating for this vision of public safety to no avail.
The CBA’s People’s Budget included proposals to cut the police department’s budget and invest in alternatives to policing, non-police emergency response, and youth violence prevention programs but the City failed to include any of these programs in the budget. Instead, the City of San Diego continues to spend more than ⅓ of its budget on policing, which disproportionately criminalizes and brutalizes Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color.
While we are frustrated, we are also encouraged by the many CBA budget priorities that were incorporated in this year’s budget, including:
✅ Full funding for the Commission on Police Practices
✅ Funding for park development in environmental justice communities, including Boston Avenue Linear Park, Berardini Field, Emerald Hills Park, and Kelly Street Neighborhood Park
✅ Funding to enforce the City’s Truck Route Ordinance with street calming infrastructure
✅ Additional funding for the Small Business Relief Fund with specific funding set aside for BIPOC-owned business and street vendors
✅ Creation of the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement
✅ Funding for the creation of the Office of Child and Youth Success
✅ Funding for the Youth Environmental/Recreation Corps Program
Thank you to the City elected officials who fought alongside us this budget cycle. Their commitment to the communities they serve and making City investments more equitable give us hope for San Diego’s future. While we are proud of these wins, we still have a long way to go.
CBA partner organizations will continue to advocate for the communities we represent. We will continue to show up to make our vision of transformative change in the City a reality. We will continue calling on the City to enact a People’s Budget, equitably invest public dollars, fight systemic racism, and prioritize people and care.
Thank you to everyone who fought with us this year. Help us grow the movement for a People’s Budget!
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Click here to check out our panel series and learn more about what we’ve been fighting for. Stay tuned for more ways to get involved as we gear up for the next budget cycle.
