This post has been updated.
The San Diego City Council is set to vote on a final budget tomorrow.
Up until this point, councilmembers have had an opportunity to review Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget and bring forward their own budget priorities.
Tuesday’s discussion will be interesting. The city is dealing with a $118 million deficit. Last month, Council President Joe LaCava weighed in on cuts and revenue projections proposed so far.
What he’s not digging: LaCava wrote that “draconian cuts” to the city’s middle managers “has become a favorite talking point this budget cycle and reflects a misunderstanding of the critical role unclassified positions play in the city’s workforce.”
He also said he doesn’t support new revenues or fees “on the backs of hard-working San Diegans” and revenue projections that aren’t based on hard data or “a verifiable track record.”
The city’s Independent Budget Analyst Charles Modica raised similar alarms last year – that were mostly ignored. We’ll see how it goes.
Related: On Friday, Councilmember Kent Lee, County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, and Councilmember Henry Foster, who chairs the budget committee, announced a proposal to restore nearly all of the arts and culture budget with support from the Prebys Foundation.
The Politics Report this weekend had more on the budget negotiations and the big deal on arts.
Correction: We incorrectly attributed quotes on cuts and new fees to Charles Modica, the city’s independent budget analyst. The quotes belonged to Council President Joe LaCava and they were from a memo to the IBA. We changed the photo on this post.
Sacramento Report: Grand Old ‘Sigh of Relief’
Though redistricting redrew the competitive and traditionally Republican 48th Congressional District to favor Democrats slightly, votes counted first were very good for Republicans.
San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert proved to be the safer bet for Democrats hoping to keep Rep. Jim Desmond from taking the seat.
Read the full Sacramento Report roundup here.
Podcast Roundup of Election Results
The podcast hosts this week went through what they got right and wrong in their eight choices for races to watch this week. The spent some time on the 48th Congressional District and Ammar Campa-Najjar’s announcement that he’s done with politics after not making the runoff there.
Also: The money and trust issues in the city were too much for Measure A.
Check out the full podcast here along with more notes.
Speaking of the podcast, we’re hosting a live recording on Thursday, June 11, at Soda Bar at 6 p.m.
We’ll get into more results from the election, play games and talk with our special guest, San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera.
You can get your tickets here. (We are giving away Padres tickets, too. They’re going to be better soon. Scott believes.)
Note: This is a public 21+ event with valid ID required at Soda Bar in San Diego. (You can be as many years over 21 as possible.)
Waiting for the Next Update
The vote count will be updated at 6 p.m. Monday. We’re watching the county supervisor race in District 5, where San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones is comfortably advancing to the runoff. Democrat Kyle Krahel is clinging on to the second spot in the runoff by a margin of 2.42 percentage points or just less than 3,000 votes.
In District 8 of the San Diego City Council, Antonio Martinez has advanced to the runoff but its still unclear who will go with him: Gerardo Ramirez or Venus Molina. Ramirez has the advantage of 352 votes out of about 13,000 counted so far.
It won’t pass but: Measure A, the tax on empty second homes in the city of San Diego, has 45 percent of the votes counted so far.
Read the Sacramento Report here.
In Other News
- San Diego City Council restored some of Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed cuts to arts funding by redirecting $6 million away from a convention center expansion. A philanthropist filled in the rest. (Union-Tribune)
- Voters in Imperial Valley rejected a data center developer-backed candidate for the region’s water and power agency. (KPBS)
- The number of rabid bats in San Diego County is raising alarm. One was found outside the San Diego Zoo. And another inside a restaurant in Escondido. People that come into contact with one should contact County Public Health Services at 619-692-8499 immediately. (CBS 8)
- If you hit a road sign with your car, this is certainly one option for how to handle it.
now that Ammar Campa-Najjar has lost his third try for local office and has said he’s giving up politics, any thoughts about perhaps his gf (rep. Sarah Jacobs) might also dump him?