SAN DIEGO — The City of San Diego is looking into boosting social equity and eliminating disparities.
City officials are working to create a budget for the next fiscal year.
Barrio Logan families who have lived here for years told CBS 8 improvements need to be made for all sorts of issues.
The city hopes to shift some focus onto neighborhoods south of Interstate 8. There's now a new approach in deciding the city’s $2 billion budget for the 2024 fiscal year.
Departments are under more scrutiny for every decision that could significantly favor some neighborhoods or demographics more than others.
According to the city, each department head has been assigned an “equity-centered” coach, all employees have been given equity training, and the city’s budgeting software has been upgraded to evaluate decisions based on equity.
The new approach is to make leaders more aware of the sharp disparities.
It also focuses on communities like Barrio Logan that have long suffered from underfunding.
“I think the mayor should put more boots on the ground and come out here and show his face. There’s a lot of projects they want to do like low income housing, but there’s other stuff we need as well,” said Domingo Cameros, a local in Barrio Logan.
Recent city reports show that northern communities generally have larger libraries and more parks.
“I think Chicano Park, the playground and the public bathrooms, I know they changed the parking here so they made more space to park here. but mainly just the park area,” said Odalys Gonzalez, who is also a Barrio Logan local.
Locals told CBS 8 about issues surrounding homelessness and the need for healthcare in the area should be top priorities for leaders.
“More public clinics and stuff like that, we are blessed that we have insurance through our employers but not a lot of people do,” said Cameros.
City officials said a new budgeting software is a key step because it allows departments to see where disparities exist.
The city council has a deadline of June 12 to finalize the budget for fiscal year 2024, which begins July 1.
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