Dear Neighbor, 

The City Council is continuing to review my proposed 'Getting It Done' budget” this week.

To highlight the kind of road work San Diegans can expect to see under my fiscal year 2024 proposal, last week we highlighted the long-awaited repair of La Jolla Parkway. 

The La Jolla community has been waiting a long time for this work – even longer than expected because of delays caused by rain and cold temperatures this winter and spring. Originally, this project was scheduled to begin in March, but asphalt can’t cure when it’s wet or the temperature is below 50 degrees. Because this work needs to be done at night to minimize traffic disruption, we had to wait until the overnight temperatures warmed up a bit.

Now that the sun is (mostly) shining, we’re out there getting things done – and my proposed budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 will ensure we can do even more across the city. We’re allocating nearly $140 million dollars toward street repair and repaving in my “Getting It Done” budget. 

This investment will allow us to resurface 157 miles of city streets. For context, 157 miles is approximately the distance from here to the Arizona border.

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

A Safe Place for People in Tents to Sleep and Connect to Care   

Alongside road repair and public safety, one of the main priorities of my proposed “Getting It Done” budget for FY24 is addressing homelessness. 

It proposes $78 million invested on homeless programs and services, including $5 million for a new Safe Sleeping program that will provide a clean, safe place for people to sleep in tents.  

This morning, I announced the two Safe Sleeping locations: 20th and B streets and O Lot in Balboa Park. 

Like all our shelters, these new Safe Sleeping sites will be operated by an organization that provides supportive services, with the ultimate goal of helping people get moved into long-term housing. 

We anticipate opening up 20th and B in July and O Lot this fall.  

Our Safe Sleeping program is moving forward in tandem with the Unsafe Camping Ordinance proposed by Councilmember Stephen Whitburn. 

The bottom line is: The street is not a home. Neither are our parks, canyons or the San Diego River.

Attracting and Retaining City Workers Means Better Services For All

San Diego is a world-class City, and our residents deserve world-class services.   

But when I took office, approximately 1,700 jobs were vacant, including more than 100 firefighter jobs and 200 police officer jobs. We’ve been working hard to fill those vacant positions at the City, because put simply: More workers mean better and faster services for San Diegans.  

We recently reached tentative agreements with two employee unions representing about 62 percent of our workforce that, once approved by City Council, will help the City recruit and retain workers. Right now, 18 percent of the positions represented by these two unions are unfilled – a result of more than a decade without pay increases, comparably low wages and benefit cuts.  

Not having enough people to do the work has had noticeable impacts on services for residents, delaying or diminishing the level of service across City functions. We need more dispatchers (pictured), pool guards, recreation center workers, code compliance officers and customer services representatives in the City’s Public Utilities Department to help better serve San Diegans.  

I’m confident the new agreements will help attract new workers and keep the ones we have by making San Diego more competitive with other jurisdictions – finally bringing our workers up to median pay for their roles. 

Our workforce truly is the City's most valuable resource, and I'm committing to making the appropriate investment in our people to ensure San Diegans get the level of service they expect and deserve.  

City Crews Clean Up More Than 500 Tons of Trash and Debris Around Encampments  

Last year, we started taking additional steps to keep Downtown sidewalks and streets clean by launching a new “hot spot” litter removal service.

Since we started this effort last fall, crews from the city’s Environmental Services Department have removed more than 500 tons of trash and debris from public rights of way.

San Diegans want and deserve clean and safe neighborhoods, and the City is closely monitoring areas experiencing disproportionate impacts of illegal encampments and the discarded garbage that accumulates on the streets and sidewalks around them.

The City's main focus on addressing homelessness and encampments is always on offering services and shelter to those living in them, with the goal of getting folks on a path to permanent housing. At the same time, we’re working to make sure sidewalks and parks are clean and free of litter and trash. 

Bringing Down the Pothole Backlog 

Pothole crews have been out in full force after a very wet winter and spring in San Diego.

I am happy to report that, as of last week, City crews have cleared the backlog of pothole reports awaiting repair in our Get It Done app. Because Mother Nature is now cooperating, we are able to better keep pace with the new pothole reports as they come in.

This work is never done – potholes will always emerge, especially in wet weather. We’re grateful to the thousands of San Diegans who log reports on the app; we can’t fix the potholes we don’t know about. Keep those reports coming through Get It Done!

Arts and Culture for Every Neighborhood

Part of what makes San Diego so great is our vibrant and diverse arts and culture scene. The arts boost our economy and enhance San Diego’s quality of life. 

For decades, the City has funded hundreds of local arts and culture organizations that serve our residents and make San Diego a more exciting and interesting place for all of us. I want to keep that support going – but I also want to ensure that the City is investing in a way that is smart, strategic and ensures that everyone in every neighborhood in San Diego can access arts and cultural entertainment. 

Last week, we launched a City-wide effort to engage communities on how we should invest in arts in culture across our city. It’s San Diego’s first-ever cultural planning process, and once it’s complete it will guide our investments in arts and culture in every community. 

Called “The Creative City,” this cultural planning process will result in a seven to 10-year plan aligning art and culture with the priorities of the City. 

I encourage all San Diegans to get involved in the engagement process, which starts in June and will include two Creative City public forums. Public discussion pop-ups will also be held in all nine City Council districts through July, along with the launch of a public survey. 

The final plan is expected to be completed by March 2025.