A proposal that would have extended San Diego County’s budget approval process to allow time for a new county supervisor to take office failed Wednesday.
The proposal by Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, to allow the winner of a special District 1 election to have input on the spending plan, failed on a 2-1 vote.
The county Board of Supervisors typically approves the budget by the end of June. The plan would have extended the period to October.
Montgomery Steppe and Terra Lawson-Remer voted in favor of the proposed shift on Wednesday, while Joel Anderson – who had pushed in an opinion piece to finalize the budget in June – was opposed.
Supervisor Jim Desmond was absent Wednesday. Three votes were needed for the proposal to pass; several measures have failed in recent weeks, though, on 2-2 ties. Board members, though officially non-partisan, often vote along party lines – Montgomery Steppe and Terra Lawson-Remer are Democrats while Anderson and Desmond are Republicans.
In Tuesday’s District 1 primary election, Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, Republican, and Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, a Democrat, advanced to a July 1 runoff. They are vying to replace Supervisor Nora Vargas, who announced in December that she would not serve her second term despite winning re-election in November.
Montgomery Steppe wanted the board to approve a “recommended budget” in June that could be amended after the fifth member of the board is elected.
In an emailed statement, Montgomery Steppe said she was disappointed by the outcome of Wednesday’s vote.
“As elected officials, we are often tasked with making difficult decisions, and this was one of those moments,” Montgomery Steppe said. “Approving a budget without fully understanding the fiscal landscape or anticipating potential cuts is not a prudent approach. It is fiscally irresponsible.”
She said several California counties, including Los Angeles, follow a similar “two-step budget process.”
The proposal called for “temporarily suspending operation of sections 116 and 117 of the San Diego County Code of Administrative Ordinances relating to the process for approval and adoption of the fiscal year 2025-26 county budget.”
During public comment on Wednesday, some residents supported the plan, while others urged supervisors to approve a budget on the traditional timeline.
Bob Lehman, vice chair of the county Arts & Culture Commission, said giving the budget process more time “is about equity and good governance” to ensure that businesses, organizations and District 1 residents “have a seat at the table.”
Malcolm Gettman, vice chair of the Spring Valley Community Planning Group, asked why the county would want to disenfranchise more than 600,000 residents by adopting a budget without a full board. He said a delay would let the board carefully examine all the options presented to them and make informed choices.
Community activist Shane Harris, however, said District 4 residents “didn’t get this same courtesy or opportunity” in the the special election to replace Nathan Fletcher, who resigned under pressure in March 2023.
Budget talks could be fraught this year as the county faces a “funding gap” of between $138 million and $140 million.
Desmond was away on county business. He posted on X Tuesday that he has been in Washington, D.C., “meeting with top federal officials, pushing for real solutions to some of San Diego County’s biggest challenges: Stopping the Tijuana sewage crisis, restoring sand to our eroding beaches and expanding treatment-based approaches to homelessness.”
City News Service contributed to this report.
