By Dr. John E. Warren
Publisher
Many elected officials, if not most, like to acknowledge their first 100 days in Office, but few have been able to display the level of achievement that Mayor Kevin Faulconer put forth celebrating his first 100 days as the 36th Mayor of the City of San Diego. On June 10th, he returned to the Southeastern San Diego, at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation where he was sworn to office, and signed into law his first budget for the City of San Diego, which was passed only the day before on a 9 to 1 vote by the City Council. Before community leaders, city employees and news media, he shared, “I said on day one that we were writing a new chapter in San Diego, a chapter written by and for the people of San Diego. That chapter officially begins today with a budget that ensures all residents have equal access to economic prosperity, quality of City services and safe neighborhoods. There is something for every San Diegan and every neighborhood in this budget.” Highlights of his budget proved his statements to be true, and included (1) boosting library service hours to the most in 10 years adding 203 hours of library service per week citywide; (2) creating a new after-school program targeted to communities working to raise student achievement with one-on-one assistance to targeted K-8 students from area schools with their school-assigned homework; (3) rebuilding the San Diego Police Department adding 172 new officers by increasing four police academies and adding a $3.2 million police officer retention program. The budget also reflects the already announced funding for body cameras for Police Officers; (4) adding more Firefighters Emergency Equipment and fire stations. Faulconer is funding two additional Firefighter Academies and $700,000 for protective gear. This budget includes a set aside of $1 million to build a temporary fire station in Skyline while a permanent facility is being planned and proposed as a “Fast Response Squad” pilot program in Encanto to provide additional emergency response support to the community; (5) doubling down on Pothole Repairs by funding 16 additional workers for a total of nine crews citywide, including 14 for asphalt repair raising repairs to double the 200,000 square feet the amount of asphalt repaired annually; (5) more than 50 percent of major General Fund revenue growth is dedicated to infrastructure and neighborhood repair efforts including more and improved street lighting throughout the city; (6) his budget improves the services of Parks and Recreation and adds additional support to our lifeguards, especially for nighttime rescues and works to improve working with vendors and reducing backlogs in payments among other things. Faulconer did not forget the homeless by reallocating and increasing funding for homeless services.
This is perhaps the first time a city budget has been signed within 24 hours of passage and that such a ceremony has been taken out of City Hall. The Mayor concluded his presentation by saying “I am not tired. There is much more to be done.” Councilwoman Cole was on hand and acknowledged by the Mayor for hosting the budget signing in her district while acknowledging the programs mentioned in the budget that will be of direct benefit to the Fourth District.
