By Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher, San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper
Right now, the City of San Diego is engaged in several activities that will impact the way we all live, at least during the next calendar and budget year. Interviews are underway for a new Fire Chief. With all the talk about equity and inclusion there appears to have been few questions about the makeup of the City of San Diego Fire Department and what it will look like going forward.
While we are told there will be community hearings in several parts of the City going forward, most of us have no idea as to who the candidates are and on what basis they are being selected.
Questions: How many women and men makeup the workforce? What’s the racial composition and how is recruitment being handled? Most of these questions will not be asked or answered until after the new person is hired.
Whose fault is that? Our fault as citizens in not demanding accountability.
The same questions should be asked at the County. There is a desire to have more public input in the selection process for the new County Administrative Officer. We have not had a Black Chief Administrative Officer since Clifford Graves, who was formerly with the Office of Management and Budget before taking that position. So there are African Americans qualified to do the job, but have any applied or been asked to apply? We don’t know. Again, that’s our personal fault for not asking the questions.
Now that the Mayor’s proposed budget is out and the Independent Budget Analyst (IBA) reviews are available, it’s time to look at the two documents and begin to make some recommendations to save those programs we feel are being sacrificed while some others may not feel the same levels of cuts. Both budgets are online and can be pulled up at your local library if you don’t have internet access. WE must come together now, not after the June vote on a budget you didn’t read or approve. In the end, those elected get away with what we the people allow through our ignorance and apathy.
For people of color, the crisis is even more real since we have less to start with. This paper welcomes your comments and suggestions concerning both budgets and will share those views with our readers in print and online. Please let us hear from you, the citizen and voter, before the budget is finalized and before the November election.
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