Mayor Todd Gloria on Tuesday issued line-item vetoes of several items included in the 2025-26 budget approved by the City Council last week.
Though he supported restoring hours at recreation centers, libraries and two reservoirs, in a statement, Gloria’s office said the mayor’s vetoes deliver “core neighborhood services for residents while supporting the city of San Diego’s long-term fiscal stability and meeting his commitment to confront the city’s long-standing structural budget deficit.”
The changes, according to the mayor’s office, adjust “the proposed revenue levels to reflect operational realities and realistic implementation timelines.” The spending plan now protects public safety and preserve jobs and neighborhood services, while making it less likely the city will face a deficit in the coming years.
“I urge the City Council to accept this compromise,” Gloria added.
The council on June 10 voted 7-2 to approve a $6.09 billion budget that cut library hours on Sundays while not filling certain executive positions, but it restored some recreation center hours, Monday library hours at select branches and lake access.
The restoration of those items and others, such as homelessness services and beach fire rings, would depend on new, uncertain revenue streams. Gloria said the council’s decisions were “built on shaky assumptions.”
According to his office, Gloria’s action “was guided by credible warnings from the Independent Budget Analyst, Department of Finance and City Attorney’s Office about the financial and operational risk of some of the changes the City Council made during their June 10 budget hearing.”
Gloria vetoed several expenditures approved by the council, including
$900,000 for Community Projects, Programs and Services; the sum is “better reallocated to citywide priorities,” according to Gloria’s office; $450,000 for Arts, Culture, and Community Festivals, a discretionary fund for individual council offices; $225,000 for the chief operating officer position, which Gloria eliminated in February; $450,000 for two management positions in the Office of Race and Equity, which Gloria’s office said are unnecessary to maintain progress; $757,156 for stormwater contingency funding, which Gloria’s office said “lacked an identified need at this time.” $1.1 million for brush management enforcement, which Gloria’s office said the council didn’t identify as a majority-supported expenditure modification; $250,000 for the multi-disciplinary outreach team, which the mayor said he doesn’t support, adding that outreach base funding will remain in the new budget; $208,000 for recreation programming at city lakes, other than Miramar and Murray, which are heavily used, $95,000 for a short-term rental occupancy study, which “is premature,” Gloria’s office said.Gloria also vetoed a number of City Council-approved personnel reductions “to preserve five positions he has determined to be critical to operations, four of which are currently filled by city employees,” according to his office.
The positions are the media services manager and coordinator in the Communications Department, costing $327,000, the Compliance Department deputy director, $278,713, and two deputy chief operating officers, $800,000.
According to the Gloria’s office, the City Council’s changes added $19.2 million in general fund spending to the city’s $2.15 billion general-fund budget.
The mayor’s line-item veto “shrinks these additions by $4.91 million,” according to his office. “In all, the revenue for the new sources were adjusted downward by just under $3.55 million,” officials said.
The City Charter gives the council five business days, or until June 26, to sustain or override the veto. An override will require the approval of six of the nine council members.
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