SAN DIEGOSAN DIEGO — Nearly $40 million of the $100 million in budget cuts San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is proposing would damage recent city efforts to boost low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, a new report says.
The 241-page report from the city’s independent budget analyst is giving new momentum to demands from community leaders and some City Council members that Gloria reverse many of the cuts.
Critics say the proposed cuts to programs for youth, homeless people, immigrants and neighborhoods vulnerable to climate change would roll back progress on social equity and erode morale in affected areas.
“The mayor’s proposed cuts are a devastating blow to low-income neighborhoods and communities of color,” said Geneviéve Jones-Wright, who leads a group called Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance. “These areas are already grappling with severe challenges and lack essential resources as a direct result of the city’s systematic lack of investment in communities south of the 8 freeway.”
Keara O’Laughlin, leader of a group called the Community Budget Alliance, said Gloria needs to find another way to close a gaping deficit city officials have blamed partly on running out of federal pandemic aid.
“The mayor’s choice not to find better solutions and confront the issues San Diego residents face continues to favor wealthy people, businesses and corporations,” she said. “He is creating a city that pushes workers and working-class families out of their homes, jobs and communities.”
Those comments echo complaints last week from three City Council members who represent the city’s lower-income areas and communities of color: Sean Elo-Rivera, Henry Foster III and Vivian Moreno.
They said Gloria’s proposed cuts would hit the neighborhoods they represent unacceptably hard and that San Diego can’t abandon its commitment to boosting long-neglected communities just because of deficits.
Gloria said last week that he doesn’t like the cuts, but he called them necessary to close a large deficit and make progress fighting homelessness and a housing crisis.
In addition to making just over $100 million in cuts, he would balance the city’s $2.15 billion budget with one-time financial moves like canceling $30 million in scheduled reserve contributions and borrowing $25 million to fund infrastructure projects instead of paying for them up front.
The mayor said he’s open to alternatives, but warned council members that restoring cuts they dislike will require them to find corresponding cuts elsewhere in the budget that might be even more painful.
The new report from the independent budget analyst comprehensively details for the first time all 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 general comments about Gloria’s approach to equity, the report applauded what it called significant progress made toward reducing disparities in recent years when the city had ample resources for new programs and initiatives.
“In the context of decreasing or limited resources, however, questions of equity should shift from ‘where can additional resources do the most to address or reduce disparities’ to ‘where will cuts or budget reductions do the least to increase existing or long-standing disparities,’” the report says.
The largest chunk of the $39.8 million in cuts affecting equity programs is a $15 million reduction to the city’s annual contribution to the Housing Commission, a gap Gloria says he hopes the commission will cover with reserves or other resources.
The report says this can be characterized as an equity cut 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 canceling the city’s contribution to its climate equity fund for one year to make that money available for other expenses.
That fund’s money gets spent on parks, sidewalks and traffic signals 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 waiving the transfer of Tailgate Park sale proceeds to the Bridge to Home subsidized housing program is also one of the cuts affecting equity.
The report said the elimination of funding for the city’s Eviction Prevention Program, which provides education and legal services for low-income renters facing eviction, should also count as an equity cut. The program got $3.3 million during the ongoing fiscal year.
Another $3.1 million would come from the community equity fund, a new initiative that was supposed to help eight to 10 community-based organizations create job readiness, child care and other programs in low-income areas.
The budget for the ongoing fiscal year included $3.1 million for the program, but the selection of recipients was delayed and the money was never spent. Gloria is proposing not to fund the program in the upcoming fiscal year.
The mayor would reduce funding by $1 million for youth drop-in centers, safe places for young people in low-income areas. Similar to the community equity fund, this program got money in the budget for the ongoing fiscal year that was never spent.
A $900,000 cut would come from eliminating all after-school and teen center programs, which primarily affect youth in underserved communities, the report says.
Another $700,000 would come from cuts to homelessness funding — $500,000 in reduced funding for a daytime homelessness center, which would likely require a reduction in hours, and $200,000 from the budget for interim shelters.
The independent budget analyst also includes in the equity cuts $562,000 in savings from eliminating the city’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, which the report says could make it harder for immigrants to connect with key resources.
Another $417,000 would come from scrapping the city’s cannabis equity program, which would have helped eligible equity applicants with technical support, regulatory compliance and securing capital to launch a cannabis business.
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 opportunities for them to exit gang culture and life.
“Gun violence disproportionately impacts communities of color that have suffered from long-standing race-base redlining 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 & Youth Success for focus groups and community outreach.
The report notes that the mayor proposed to increase some equity-related spending, including $6 million to expand an internship program focused on low-income youth.
Public hearings on the city budget began Wednesday and will continue until the council adopts a final spending plan, which is scheduled for June 11.
