Climate Equity

May 8, 2024

Mayor Todd Gloria

City Administration Building
202 C Street, 11th Floor
San Diego, CA 92101

Re: Protecting the City’s Ordinance Climate Equity Fund in the FY 2025 Budget

Honorable Mayor Gloria,

We, constituents of the City of San Diego, united members of the Black and African Women Rise Democratic Club along with various allied clubs, groups, and organizations cannot over emphasize enough the importance of safeguarding the City of San Diego’s equity programs, underscoring the Climate Equity Fund ordinance and its original intent. During a time when thousands of San Diego residents experienced the worst flood impacts on record, the City of San Diego should leverage all possible resources to help uplift our community, not take away from it. The restoration of homes and neighborhoods is a monumental task, and the City of San Diego’s unanimous approval of the Climate Equity Fund ordinance on March 11, 2021, aligns with its responsibility and within its authority to address residents remaining needs from the devastating floods consistent with California’s Senate Bill 1000 passed in 2016.

There should be no debate on where the approximately $8.5 million Climate Equity Fund is allocated, considering the excessive, ongoing significant needs resulting from the widespread devastation caused by the floods impacting thousands of constituents in San Diego. According to California Senate Bill 1000, cities are required to have an Environmental Justice policy in their General Plan. Additionally, California Government Code section 65302(h)(4)(A), defines “disadvantage communities” pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 39711 or a low-income area that is disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and other hazards that can lead to negative health effects, exposure, or environmental degradation.

This is a Call To-Action urging our City leaders to prioritize and address the needs of constituents in the upcoming budget and demonstrate accountable governance. The Climate Equity Fund is an integrated resource designed to alleviate the effects of climate change for the under-resourced communities. To defund the City’s Climate Equity Fund, a designated resource for Communities of Concern that clearly have outstanding needs from recent climate impacts, and identified within the City’s Climate Equity Index, runs counter to the City of San Diego’s Environment Committee core principles, which are:

Advance ambitious climate goals.
Lead with equity.
Acknowledge past harm and need for environmental justice.
Ensure transparency and promote inclusion.
Ensure high quality job standards while expanding a skilled and trained workforce for a green economy.
Partner with government agencies and community organizations to improve strategies and leverage resources.

According to the City’s Climate Equity Index, it largely represents city council districts 4, 8, and 9, which have the most diverse residents respectively. Notably these districts were at the epicenter of the devastating floods on January 22, 2024.

The overwhelming outstanding needs that remain indicates the need to enforce the City’s Climate Equity Fund for its intended purpose. This entails directly addressing the existing impacts. Any deviation from this course represents a clear act of climate justice resistance, rather than advancing the strategies, and leveraging resource utilization outlined in the 2024 Environment Committee Work Plan. We urge you to honor the City’s ordinance regarding the Climate Equity Fund, and for the City of San Diego to continue to make targeted investments in these communities, as originally intended. The investments from the City’s Climate Equity Fund for FY 2025 will bolster climate change resilience for the communities within the City’s Climate Equity Index spanning from 0 up to 60.

Our city is made up of people, each with their own stories, challenges, and aspirations. The proposed budget cuts would not be benign, yet it would threaten to inflict lasting harm on the lives of our residents. Therefore, we ask that all equity programs continue to be funded for fiscal year 2025. It is imperative that you maintain support and continue to fund the following programs;

Climate Equity Fund: Resolution R – 2021 – 313454, ordinance passed March 11, 2021.
After-School Programs: 17 sites would be impacted with After-school and Teen Center programs.
Office of Child and Youth Success Programming: Programs include college and career readiness workshops, and community outreach for women of color.
Youth Drop-in Centers: Previously approved funding for mental health counseling, trauma-informed care, jobs skills and youth development activities.
Eviction Prevention Program: Program underscores California’s recent approved legislation SB 567, The Homeless Prevention Act.
Eviction Notice Registry: Resolution passed in May 2023, is a requirement of the Tenant Protection ordinance.
Community Equity Fund in the Office of Race and Equity: Provides grants to community-based organizations addressing racial equity projects in the city.
Cannabis Equity Program: Eliminating this program would require the City of San Diego to return $900,000 to the state of California.
SD Access 4 All Digital Equity Program: Program helps mitigate the digital divide.
Library Staff: Library staff cut would impact over 10 full time positions.
Office of Immigrant Affairs: Eliminating this office will impact resources needed for immigrants.
Community, Projects, Programs & Services: Funds several grassroots nonprofit organizations that is vital for their operations to serve the community.

As constituents, we insist that our needs are prioritized and are firmly entrenched in the City’s fiscal budget for 2025.

Regards,

Alyce Pipkin-Allen, Founder & Co-President, Black and African Women Rise Democratic Club

Sonja Robinson, Principal Consultant, Resolution Specialist | Chief Equity Officer, Sustainable Urban Network LLC

Cc: Councilmember President, Elo-Rivera
Cc: Councilmember Pro Tem LaCava
Cc: Councilmember Campbell
Cc: Councilmember Whitburn
Cc: Councilmember Foster III
Cc: Councilmember von Wilpert
Cc: Councilmember Lee
Cc: Councilmember Campillo
Cc: Councilmember Moreno