Nearly $40 million of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed $100 million in budget cuts would hurt the city’s recent efforts to boost low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, according to a new report.
The 241-page report from the city’s independent budget analyst gives new impetus to demands from community leaders and some City Council members for Gloria to reverse many of the cuts.
Critics say proposed cuts to programs serving youth, the homeless, immigrants and neighborhoods vulnerable to climate change would roll back progress on social equity and erode morale in affected areas.
“The mayor’s proposed budget cuts are a devastating blow to low-income neighborhoods and communities of color,” said Genevieve Jones-Wright, who leads a group called Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance. “These areas already face serious challenges and lack critical resources, a direct result of the city’s systematic lack of investment in communities south of Highway 8.”
Keara O’Laughlin, head of a group called the Community Budget Alliance, said Gloria must find another way to close a gaping deficit that city officials have blamed in part on the exhaustion of federal aid in cases of pandemic.
“The mayor’s failure to find better solutions and address the problems facing San Diegans continues to favor wealthy individuals, businesses and corporations,” she said. “It creates a city that pushes workers and working-class families out of their homes, their jobs and their communities. »
The comments echo complaints last week from three City Council members who represent the city’s low-income areas and communities of color: Sean Elo-Rivera, Henry Foster III and Vivian Moreno.
They said Gloria’s proposed cuts would unacceptably hit the neighborhoods they represent and that San Diego cannot abandon its commitment to boosting long-neglected communities simply because of deficits.
Gloria said last week he didn’t like the cuts, but he called them necessary to close a significant deficit and make progress in combating homelessness and the housing crisis.
In addition to making cuts of just over $100 million, it would balance the city’s $2.15 billion budget with one-time financial measures like canceling $30 million in reserve contributions planned and borrowing $25 million to finance infrastructure projects instead of paying for them upfront.
The mayor said he was open to alternatives, but warned council members that reinstating cuts they don’t like would force them to find matching cuts elsewhere in the budget, which could be even more painful.
The independent budget analyst’s new report comprehensively details for the first time all of the mayor’s proposed cuts for the fiscal year that begins July 1, including $39.8 million that would affect social equity programs helping low-income areas and communities of color.
In its general comments on Gloria’s approach to equity, the report hails what it calls significant progress in reducing disparities in recent years, when the city had sufficient resources for new programs and initiatives.
“In the context of decreasing or limited resources, however, questions of equity should shift from ‘where additional resources can do the most to address or reduce disparities’ to ‘where budget cuts or budget reductions will help- do they least increase existing or long-standing inequalities? disparities,” the report states.
The largest portion of the $39.8 million in cuts affecting equity programs is a $15 million reduction in the city’s annual contribution to the Housing Commission, a gap Gloria says she hopes the commission will close with reserves or other resources.
The report says this qualifies as a reduction in equity because the money would be used to create affordable housing for low-income households or for homelessness programs that help the poor.
Another $8.5 million would come from waiving the city’s contribution to its climate equity fund for one year to make that money available for other spending.
Money from this fund is spent on parks, sidewalks and traffic lights that enable underserved communities to better respond to the impacts of climate change, the report says. But the report notes that $1.5 million of the $8.5 million would be spent on a flood prevention project in council District 9.
The mayor’s proposal to free up $5.8 million by forgoing the transfer of proceeds from the sale of Tailgate Park to the Bridge to Home subsidized housing program is also one of the cuts affecting equity.
The report says eliminating funding for the city’s eviction prevention program, which provides educational and legal services to low-income tenants facing eviction, should also be considered a reduction in equity. The program received $3.3 million in the current fiscal year.
Another $3.1 million would come from the Community Equity Fund, a new initiative expected to help eight to 10 community organizations create job readiness, child care and other programs in low-income areas. low income.
The current fiscal year’s budget included $3.1 million for the program, but selection of recipients was delayed and the money was never spent. Gloria proposes not funding the program in the next fiscal year.
The mayor would cut $1 million in funding for youth shelters, safe places for young people in low-income neighborhoods. Similar to the Community Equity Fund, this program put funds in the current fiscal year’s budget that were never spent.
A $900,000 reduction would come from eliminating all after-school programs and teen centers, which primarily affect youth in underserved communities, the report said.
Another $700,000 would come from cuts to homeless funding – $500,000 in reduced funding for a homeless day center, which would likely require reduced hours of operation, and $200,000 from the shelter budget provisional.
The independent budget analyst also includes in the equity reductions $562,000 in savings from eliminating the city’s Office of Immigration Affairs, which the report said could make it harder for immigrants to access key resources.
Another $417,000 would come from eliminating the city’s cannabis equity program, which would have helped eligible equity applicants by providing technical support, regulatory compliance and obtaining capital to launch a cannabis company.
The mayor would cut $250,000 from the No Shots Fired intervention and prevention program, which provides outreach and resources to known gang members and offers them the opportunity to leave gang culture and life.
“Gun violence disproportionately impacts communities of color who have long suffered racial marginalization and disinvestment,” said Melissa Hernandez, founder of the nonprofit Phatcamp San Diego.
Other equity-related cuts include $78,000 from the Come Play Outside youth recreation program, $57,000 from the SD Access 4 All digital literacy program and $50,000 from the Office of Child and Youth Achievement. youth for focus groups and community outreach.
The report notes that the mayor proposed increasing some equity-related spending, including $6 million to expand an internship program focused on low-income youth.
Public hearings on the city’s budget began Wednesday and will continue until the council adopts a final spending plan, scheduled for June 11.
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