There was a mic drop moment at a Council Committee meeting last week that people are still buzzing about.
Michael Zucchet, the general manager of the city’s largest employees union, asked, “Is anybody running this city?”
His question came during a Budget and Government Efficiency Committee meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 5, where Councilmembers were getting a mid-year budget update. Officials shared that this year the city is about $20 million behind in budgeted revenue and about $5 million ahead in spending. In other words, money is going the wrong way in both directions.
And things aren’t projected to get better.
We already know the city is facing down a roughly $250 million budget deficit next year and cuts are expected. But, as Zucchet said during his public comment, officials haven’t given a clear indication of where those cuts will be, and time is of the essence.
On this week’s show, our hosts and special guest Andrew Keatts with Axios San Diego explain what’s going on with the city’s current budget and what this for means for next year’s budget.
20 Years of Impactful Journalism: We’re celebrating our 20th anniversary! The crew goes through their favorite memories and some weird moments in our organization’s history.
Plus something new: The crew announced the launch of a new podcast segment, Dear VOSD. During the segment, our team or crack journalists will answer any questions listeners have. Leave us a voicemail at (619) 800-4669 and you may hear your question or comment on an upcoming episode of the pod.
REGARDING: “Mayor Gloria’s trip to the Philippines” Why is this provincial story on the front
page? So, the Mayor spent eight thousand dollars of taxpayer money on a trip to the Philippines. The City
of San Diego has squandered untold millions on unused bike lanes, draining the liability fund by personal
injury claims due to dangerous scooters, giving money away to nonprofits like a drunken sailor in a
Spanish Port and more. As Carl Luna stated, “Gloria is a lame duck.” As for Mr. McDonald, it appears he
needs any work to keep his job.
Daniel Smiechowski Bay Ho