SAN DIEGO — There’s hope that the backlog on the 'Get it Done' app will ease as San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria signed off on a $5.17 billion dollar budget on Friday, which includes increased spending for things like street repairs.
"Budgets are unambiguous statements of a city’s priorities, about what a city wants to be, and how we will get there, what we’ll choose to invest in and what we want to fix," said Mayor Gloria during a news conference Friday morning.
The budget includes increased money for police and fire, as well as more funding to address the homelessness crisis.
At CBS 8, we receive a lot of e-mails from viewers about dangerous potholes in their neighborhoods as well as streetlights that have been out. People often complain that they file reports on the city's 'Get it Done' app, but it takes a long time for repairs to take place.
Mayor Gloria said the app isn't the problem, but the city just hasn't had the staffing levels it needs to address the issues.
For example, he said the city only has a handful of electricians to fix the thousands of street lights that are out in the city.
He acknowledged sometimes it can take 300-plus days for one to be fixed.
"So what does this budget do? First off, we’re increasing pay for electricians, we're restoring some of the benefits that were removed, and we're actively and aggressively hiring for those positions so we have the hands that can do the repairs that come in via the 'Get it Done' app," said Mayor Gloria.
In addition to that, he said the city has authorized some short-term contracts with businesses in the private sector so they can address reports they receive faster.
He said San Diegans should continue to file reports on the app.