Baby Steps Toward Progressive Progress in San Diego with the County Board of Supervisors
Freshman Nathan Fletcher Opens Up the Budget Process
It’s all too easy to be cynical about politics in San Diego, with a history of local governance known mostly for kowtowing to reactionary interests. And I’ll be the first to say we have a long way to go. But things are changing, thanks in part to last year’s ‘Blue Wave’ elections and the persistence of some dedicated local activists.
A decision by the Regional Airport Authority to require a project labor agreement with the contractor responsible for a planned $3 billion expansion of Terminal 1 signals that the days of unions not having a seat at the table are over. A change of leadership in the agencies charged with forethought about our transportation infrastructure means we’re looking at twenty-first century solutions instead of repeating past mistakes.
While these steps forward are each deserving of a more detailed analysis, right now we’re looking at promises to act. There are bureaucracies to reshape and political inertia to overcome, along with the passive-aggressive subterfuge that ‘concerned’ reactionaries will employ to maintain the status quo.
The County Board of Supervisors, a longtime bastion of opacity and backward thinking, is showing signs of waking up to its potential as a force for good. The county has the most influence on the administration of social programs, acting as the local conduit for state and federal dollars for everything from public health to programs for seniors to refugee assistance.
Today’s column will focus on the changes I’ve observed with that institution lately, with the caveat: I’d hold off on popping any champagne until we see how this plays out.
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By the time the 2016 primaries ended, there was a clear path for former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher to win over former DA Bonnie Dumanis. The (I’m not really a) Republican candidate attracted a mere 26.1% of the vote, despite a well funded effort to split Democrats in June. In November the Democratic candidate beat her by more than 2 to 1.
The demography of the electorate in the county is changing, and chances are good that the days of the County Supervisors being the last bastion of elected Republicans will end over the next few years.
One of the concerns discussed repeated in the 2018 campaign for District 4 County Supervisor was how effective just one Democrat on the Board could be up against four Republicans when it came to enacting better policies.
I have to say I’m impressed with what’s happened so far this year.
Despite studies showing SDG&E ratepayers have some of the highest electricity rates in the nation, the Supervisors haven’t shown much interest in the possibility of a community choice energy program, which cold open the door to competition. In March, the board agreed to launch discussions with as many as eight other local governments on a possible joint community choice energy program.
The Supes voted to create the Child and Family Strengthening Advisory Board of San Diego County, incorporating duties now held by the county Child Abuse Prevention Coordinating Council and working closely with the Polinsky Children’s Center Advisory Board, along with the county Foster Care Services Committee. The new board will focus on better care for abused or neglected children.
The Board’s decision to lease a vacant courthouse to non-profits assisting asylum-seekers in transit through San Diego is the sort of thing that would not have happened in past years. The decision of the Supes to sue the federal government for ending the programs that created this crisis stands in sharp contrast, to the vote they took just a year ago backing the Trump administration’s lawsuit challenging California’s sanctuary laws.
https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1114120499746025472
Steps are being taken to turn a dilapidated facility in Hillcrest into a regional behavioral health center, providing crisis stabilization, inpatient, residential psychotherapeutic rehabilitation, intensive outpatient, and other related services and programs. Anybody who’s ever seen the number of homeless people discharged from area hospitals on to the streets should be encouraged by this action.
Perhaps most encouraging are the steps being taken to open up the budget making process for input from the general public. Remember just one year ago, the Board of Supervisors voted to not hold an evening budget hearing.
Then-Supervisor Bill Horn stoked outrage by saying he would be willing to hammer out the budget over two daytime sessions, adding “I don’t want to sit here at night.” Multiple supervisors also argued that the county’s online feedback tools were sufficient for residents who couldn’t leave their jobs to attend one of the budget meetings.
This year, newly elected County Supervisors Nathan Fletcher and Jim Desmond (who replaced Horn) successfully moved for an evening budget hearing so people with regular jobs could weigh in.
Fletcher has taken the public access concept one step further by staging budget forums in April and May.
I attended the County of San Diego’s Budget forum at the Copley YMCA on Wednesday. It was a worthwhile endeavor, featuring an overview of what the County does and how the funding is allocated. Computers set up offering access to a budget portal (check it out) with more details, along with plenty of handouts about services offered in English, Spanish, Somali, and Vietnamese.
Division heads and plenty of staff to were on hand answer questions and give information. They appeared to be enjoying the opportunity to engage with the public. Activists and leaders with the SEIU, which represents many county employees, made their presence known throughout the evening. The union took the bold step of making improvements in county services part of their negotiations last year.
Tacos, beans, and rice were served to the 200+ people who attended. Mostly non-boring presentations were followed by a public comments section. Fletcher and the department heads sitting with him, answered questions and took notes.
One young Republican-type even showed up to troll the Supervisor, asking “Is socialism next?” Fletcher promised with a grin he’d get back to him on that.
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What I’m not impressed with about the County continues to be the role its law enforcement arm plays. Prisoners are dying in jails, lawsuits about excessive force are filed, and a series of tawdry stories about sexual misconduct all point to an institution in need of new leadership and more supervision. It was telling, with all the agency heads present at the budget forum, Sheriff Bill Gore sent an underling to represent his department.
We’re a long way from having a truly progressive county government. A door has been opened for more public engagement, no doubt in part because the handwriting is on the wall when it comes to the mood of the public. Change won’t happen without the public demanding it, so there’s work to be done.
Elections matter. And having a fresh face on the Board of Supervisors is already making a difference.
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