As expected, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders today vetoed the City Council’s $4.3 million budget modifications of last week, which included the restoration of 62 city jobs.
Sanders said the restorations, which council made on the recommendation of Independent Budget Analyst Andrea Tevlin, are not “fiscally prudent” given the state budget deficit, the city’s own budget deficit and the slowing economy.
Sanders acknowledged that the modifications represent less than one-tenth of 1 percent of his $3.2 billion proposed fiscal year 2009 budget, and he credited City Council with going along with the other 99.9 percent of his spending plan.
“This is now the third year in a row that the council has made similar investments is areas that were previously ignored or underfunded,” Sanders said. “I want to congratulate council for steadfastly supporting this critical reform.”
In his budget, Sanders proposed cutting 125 positions. Tevlin recommended restoring 62 of the jobs, many of which are in the parks and recreation and library budgets. Last week, City Council voted 6-2 to add the jobs back into the budget, with Jim Madaffer and Kevin Faulconer voting no.
The council now has five days to vote to override Sanders’ veto. Time for the vote has been set aside on June 23, said Pam Hardy, spokeswoman for Council President Scott Peters. The council can override the mayor’s veto with a simple 5-3 vote.