Here's something you might be interested in.
The Community Budget Alliance, a coalition consisting of environmental, faith-based, labor, and community groups, has announced a list of priorities and suggestions “designed to create a fair and equitable budget for the City of San Diego.” The group released its recommendations in a letter to Mayor Jerry Sanders and the city council on Monday.
Areas of concern highlighted by the group include promotion of the creation of jobs that provide employees a basic self-sufficiency wage, cost-recovery plans including actions such as levying fines on banks that allow foreclosed properties to fall into disrepair and require increased city attention, and a need for expanded community input when developing city budgets.
Other budget-specific goals include calls for clearly written and detailed budgets in order to allow for their review by citizens and increased accountability on capital improvement projects.
“We are a diverse group that strongly believes the City's budget discussions need to be much more open and understandable, and must include the voices of people affected by those decisions,” says Diana Ross, the collaborative director of Mid-City Community Advocacy Network, itself a collective of community groups and one of 24 signers to the Alliance recommendations letter.
“Investing in the future of San Diego includes empowering citizens to be partners in creating a vision for the budget,” the letter concludes, also requesting meetings be scheduled to discuss the group’s recommendations.
The Community Budget Alliance, a coalition consisting of environmental, faith-based, labor, and community groups, has announced a list of priorities and suggestions “designed to create a fair and equitable budget for the City of San Diego.” The group released its recommendations in a letter to Mayor Jerry Sanders and the city council on Monday.
Areas of concern highlighted by the group include promotion of the creation of jobs that provide employees a basic self-sufficiency wage, cost-recovery plans including actions such as levying fines on banks that allow foreclosed properties to fall into disrepair and require increased city attention, and a need for expanded community input when developing city budgets.
Other budget-specific goals include calls for clearly written and detailed budgets in order to allow for their review by citizens and increased accountability on capital improvement projects.
“We are a diverse group that strongly believes the City's budget discussions need to be much more open and understandable, and must include the voices of people affected by those decisions,” says Diana Ross, the collaborative director of Mid-City Community Advocacy Network, itself a collective of community groups and one of 24 signers to the Alliance recommendations letter.
“Investing in the future of San Diego includes empowering citizens to be partners in creating a vision for the budget,” the letter concludes, also requesting meetings be scheduled to discuss the group’s recommendations.