All in a day’s work: addressing a $200 million budget shortfall and the impacts of a popular neighborhood bar

By Councilman Todd Gloria

From large-scale citywide issues to concerns voiced by neighbors, being a council member is a balancing act. I am pleased to report significant progress to solve a neighborhood issue and provide you with an update on the city of San Diego’s budget deficit.
Fixing the city’s finances will require service cuts, efficiencies and new revenues. The most important element, however, in this equation is you.  San Diegans are of critical importance to the conversation of how to best address the city’s budget deficit that is projected to be $179 million to $200 million for the next fiscal year.
A shortfall of this magnitude is difficult to comprehend for a lot of people.  Understanding how we reached this point and understanding what this big number means are necessary.
It is now common for constituents to be called upon by their city leaders to brace for service cuts because of financial challenges. Through almost a decade of threats of service cuts, San Diegans have been largely shielded from impact and now may be turning a deaf ear, considering there must not be that much difference between the $84 million shortfall last year and this year’s deficit hovering around $200 million.
While it is true that 90 percent of American cities are seeing similar financial challenges due to the economic recession, San Diego’s situation is heightened by a structural budget deficit. Even in the best local economic times, our city’s expenses are designed to be greater than our revenues.
I was recently invited to discuss our city’s budget at the quarterly Community Coalition Breakfast at the LGBT Community Center and took the opportunity to lay out this road map of how we reached this point and some options that will get us back on stable financial footing. Before attendees left, they were each asked to rank their top three priority city services, list any city services they felt could be reduced or eliminated and choose two potential sources for additional revenue. Though elementary, the exercise provided interesting results that will help shape my view as I start assembling a workable solution. Your thoughts on high and low priority services and new revenues are encouraged, and I hope you will share them with me at one of my upcoming community coffees, at a City Council Budget and Finance Committee hearing or by contacting me directly.
As we move forward to address the budget deficit, I ask for your continued input and feedback, and I will provide to you timely and honest information.  When we fully address our budget challenges over the next two years, we will have built a solid foundation from which to move our city forward.
Now, for the good news. North Park’s business district is growing and thriving. With the new energy and excitement have come some negative impacts to the surrounding neighborhood. After hearing of concerns about True North, I worked closely with proprietors and local residents to resolve issues of noise and trash. To return peace to the community, several remedies have been implemented.
• The city’s Redevelopment Agency has installed cameras on the North Park Garage and is preparing to install more on the North Park Theatre that will cover the surface parking lot behind the garage.
• Signage will soon be added to the surface parking lot informing people they are under surveillance.
• Full-time security will patrol both the garage and surface lot Thursday through Sunday every week.
• The garage will stay open later Thursday through Sunday. True North’s owners are beginning a validation program for the garage.
It is anticipated that these efforts will result in more patrons using the garage instead of parking near homes in the surrounding residential area.
I have requested usage statistics of the garage to see if it is up during bar hours. Additionally, the owners of True North now send their security team out to pick up trash around closing time and urge people to quiet down and move along. According to a resident on Ray Street and other business owners, this is having a positive effect.
I look forward to the community’s ongoing participation and partnership on both the neighborhood and citywide scale and remain confident that progress will continue.
Councilman Todd Gloria can be reached at the District 3 office at (619) 236-6633; Fax (619) 595-1481; e-mail:toddgloria@sandiego.gov.