Dear Neighbor, 

Our city has an unfortunate history of letting infrastructure work like road repair pile up, and I’m adamant that we make real progress on tackling the enormous street-maintenance backlog that’s been decades in the making.

In my “Getting It Done” budget for the coming fiscal year, which starts on July 1, I’ve proposed enough funding to resurface 157 miles of roadway – substantially more than any year prior, with five times the funding allocated last year to full repaving.

Right now, the City has two Automatic Road Analyzer vans driving around San Diego gathering up-to-date, comprehensive data on the nearly 3,000 miles of roadway across San Diego — the results of which will help the City prioritize road-repair projects. 

The data these vans capture will help us be strategic to stretch taxpayer dollars and improve as many roads as possible while keeping others from falling into disrepair.

The last time this kind of detailed assessment was done in San Diego was 2016. We’re already about halfway done with the street assessment and expect the analysis to be completed this fall.

As always, it’s an honor to serve as your Mayor.

Conservatorship Reform Takes a Big Step Forward 

The number of people with untreated severe mental illness we see out on our streets every single day is simply unacceptable.

We can't ignore people who are having clear mental breakdowns in public, or the families desperate to get help for their loved ones but can’t because the current threshold for conservatorship is almost impossibly high.

That’s why I’m so focused on working to reform California’s outdated and inadequate conservatorship laws. 

Last week, we took an important step in this ongoing push. Sen. Susan Eggman's Senate Bill 43 passed the Senate's Judiciary Committee. It’s one of many steps to passage but is encouraging progress.    

I testified on behalf of the California Big City Mayors, a bipartisan coalition of the mayors of the state’s 13 largest cities. The group, which I chair, is unanimous in its support of this reform. California's mayors are on the frontlines of the state’s homelessness and mental health crises, and we need tools like conservatorship to help our most vulnerable members. We are excited to continue to work on this bill on behalf of the families and people who desperately need and deserve mental healthcare. 

By passing Sen. Susan Eggman's Senate Bill 43, the Senate's Judiciary Committee has advanced a truly significant behavioral health policy reform and given these folks hope. 

An Exciting Future for San Diego’s Civic Core  

The Civic Center Revitalization project is underway!  

The City Council last week voted to approve a solicitation for proposals to redevelop five of six city-owned blocks in the heart of Downtown that are currently occupied by City Hall, Golden Hall and the Civic Theater. The proposals must have affordable housing as their main component, but will also include public amenities that will give this currently underused central space a sense of place and offer benefits for the entire region. 

When I imagine the future of this space, I see an iconic Civic Core filled with people enjoying themselves – picnicking on a plaza or eating at open-air restaurants. I imagine a possible transit hub and arts and cultural attractions for visitors, residents and workers. I envision cutting-edge architecture that reflects San Diego and the unique Cali-Baja vibe of our region. 

Mostly, I see a future in which these Downtown blocks transform from underused and decrepit into a vibrant and exciting place. My hope is that it will become one of the must-see spots to experience in Downtown San Diego. 

The Rady Shell on our Downtown waterfront (pictured) is a great example of how to transform a space into something iconic and memorable that everyone can enjoy.  

I look forward to seeing what ideas development teams and architects propose for our Civic Core and all this publicly owned land can do for San Diego.  

Renter Protections for San Diegans  

The City Council has passed a Tenant Protection Ordinance that will provide a measure of housing security for renters. 

This is a particularly important step now more than ever given the tight housing market and when losing your apartment can mean ending up on the street. The Regional Task Force on Homelessness reports seeing more newly homeless people on our streets than ever before, and loss of housing is a key element of that.

This ordinance will work to safeguard San Diegans against homelessness by offering extra protections to tenants who face no-fault evictions. It ensures relocation assistance totaling two months of rent (three for seniors and people who are disabled) when lease-compliant tenants face eviction. 

The City Council will consider this ordinance one more time in the coming weeks (what’s known as a “second reading”) and I anticipate signing it into law once it is sent to my desk.

Have Your Say: Fiscal Year 2024 “Getting It Done” Budget 

This week is an important one for my proposed “Getting It Done” budget.  

The City Council will be convening its Budget Review Committee to evaluate my Fiscal Year 2024 budget proposal starting this Wednesday, May 3. These hearings will run through May 9.  

The proposal is balanced, prudent, and reflects our City’s top priorities: Solving homelessness, fixing streets, improving City facilities, parks and libraries and keeping communities safe.  

My proposed budget provides funding to resurface 157 miles of city streets — that's the distance from San Diego City Hall in Downtown to the Arizona-California border.  

It has $24.5 million in ongoing funding to maintain and operate our homeless shelters, including $5 million to establish a new Safe Sleeping program that will establish secure sites where people experiencing homelessness by living in tents can be.  

Additionally, it fully funds our public safety departments for the third consecutive year, which will help ensure San Diego remains one of the safest big cities in the country. 

The Budget Review Committee will host individual hearings on our operational departments' budgets and I’d encourage you to participate. You can find a detailed schedule of hearings here.