San Diego City Council Meeting - June 30, 2025 - Budget Adoption and Policy Amendments
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San Diego City Council Meeting - June 30, 2025
The San Diego City Council met on June 30, 2025, to finalize the fiscal year 2026 budget, approve the appropriation ordinance, establish tax limits, and address several policy items including cannabis operating hours and a bikeway easement vacation. The meeting included closed session, public testimony, and votes on multiple agenda items.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Robert Johnson spoke on cybersecurity, infrastructure maintenance, and litigation concerning storm drain covers and sidewalks, urging the city to prioritize upkeep and refocus on national security threats.
- Joy Sunyata (via phone) supported the appropriation ordinance, emphasizing the importance of cybersecurity, prioritization, and risk management, and urged attention to infrastructure repairs.
- Blair Beekman expressed concern about automated license plate readers (ALPRs), stating that language suspending contractual expenditures while allowing continued police use is disingenuous and lacks oversight.
- Cesar Javier (representing 74 residents) questioned the lessons learned from past years in the Gann limit calculation, criticized leadership failures, and raised concerns about accountability and the impact of tax adjustments on economically disadvantaged communities.
- Blair Beekman (on zoo tax) reflected on the historical impact of Prop 13 and suggested exploring county-level taxes to support San Diego services.
- Joy Sunyata (on HUD action plan) supported funding for Urban Core and Monarch School, and urged reading articles on housing aid.
- Rebecca Rader (Voices for Children) urged approval of CDBG funds for foster youth services.
- Jarrett Thompson (Serving Seniors) supported funding for transitional housing and wellness center improvements, noting a 90% success rate in placing seniors into permanent housing.
- Hassan Adderman (Somali Family Service) supported CDBG for economic resilience and small business empowerment.
- Multiple speakers (on cannabis hours) expressed opposition citing public health risks, youth access, and inadequate tax revenue, while others (Maribel Mackenzie, Phil Rath, Jimena Villasenor) supported the extension for competitiveness and revenue.
- Cesar Javier opposed the bikeway project, citing unintended consequences and safety concerns.
Discussion Items
- Item S401: Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriation Ordinance – Staff presented updates to align the ordinance with the adopted budget, including new TOT funds for homelessness, street repair, and convention center, and restrictions on ALPR contracts pending council review. Councilmember Foster highlighted restored library hours, lake restoration, and small business programs. Councilmember Von Wilpert defended police oversight of ALPRs. The motion passed 7-1 (Councilmember Moreno opposed, Campbell absent).
- Item 201: Fiscal Year 2026 Tax Appropriations Limit (Gann Limit) – Staff recommended a 12.19% increase to $6.24 billion, with appropriations of $1.69 billion well below the limit. The motion passed unanimously 8-0 (Campbell absent).
- Item 200: Fiscal Year 2026 Tax Rate Ordinance for Zoological Exhibits – Staff proposed maintaining the half-cent per $100 assessed valuation rate, generating ~$21.8 million for zoo maintenance. Councilmember Ilo Rivera questioned the public subsidy without detailed breakdowns and suggested the zoo should charge non-residents for parking. The motion passed 8-0.
- Item S400: FY26 Annual Action Plan for HUD Programs – Staff presented allocations for CDBG ($12M), HOME ($30M), and ESG ($990K) to support affordable housing, homelessness services, and community development. Councilmember Ilo Rivera noted potential federal budget cuts to CDBG. The motion passed unanimously 8-0.
- Item 203: Amendment to Hours of Operation for Cannabis Outlets – Staff proposed extending hours from 7am-9pm to 6am-10pm to align with state law, estimating $1.7M in additional cannabis business tax and $170K in sales tax. The planning commission and ED&IR committee recommended approval. Supporters cited competitiveness and reduced illicit market; opponents cited public health risks. The motion passed 7-0 (Campbell and Von Wilpert absent).
- Item 202: Bayshore Bikeway Barrio Logan Pedestrian Overpass – Public Service Easement Vacation – Staff recommended vacating a 0.095-acre easement to remove a non-ADA compliant pedestrian bridge and replace with at-grade crossings. The Barrio Logan Community Planning Board approved with contingencies. The motion passed 7-0.
Key Outcomes
- S401: Approved FY26 appropriation ordinance 7-1, codifying the budget and adding TOT funds; ALPR expenditures contingent on council review.
- 201: Approved Gann limit resolution 8-0, setting the FY26 limit at $6.24 billion.
- 200: Approved zoo tax rate ordinance 8-0, sustaining the half-cent levy.
- S400: Approved FY26 annual action plan for HUD programs 8-0, with allocations for CDBG, HOME, and ESG.
- 203: Approved cannabis outlet hour extension 7-0, allowing operation from 6am to 10pm.
- 202: Approved public service easement vacation 7-0, enabling bikeway improvements.
- Non-Agenda Public Comment: Speakers addressed racial equity, police oversight, youth substance use, and the need for a local ordinance banning intoxicating hemp products.
- Closed Session: No reportable actions.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. I will now call the city council meeting of Monday, June 30th, 2025 to order. Deputy Clerk, please call the roll. Councilmember Campbell. Councilmember Whitburn. Here. Councilmember Foster. Councilmember Von Wilpert. Council President Pro Tem Lee. Here. Councilmember Campillo. Here. Councilmember Moreno. Present. Councilmember Ilo Rivera. And Council President Lacava. Present. Also attending the meeting are senior Deputy City Attorney David Carlin, independent budget analyst, Charles Modica, Council of Affairs Advisor in the Mayor's Office. Coda Seizer. And myself, your assistant city clerk, DeG Pantaleon. All right, thank you. A quorum is now present. We will begin this morning with an invocation by Deputy Clerk Pentaleon, followed with the land acknowledgement and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilmember Whitburn. Grant those who hold office in the city the spirit of wisdom, charity, and justice that with steadfast purpose, they may faithfully serve in their offices to promote the well-being of all people. Thank you, Mr. President. We respectfully acknowledge that the Kubia Day should are the original inhabitants of the unceded land now known as San Diego. Despite adjuring the horrors of genocide and colonization, the Kumai spirit remains unbroken. We honor the resilience of their ancestors who fought to protect their culture and land. Today they carry their legacy forward, ensuring that their traditions continue to thrive in gratitude and strength. We stand with a Kubiai nation, connected to our past and committed to a thriving future. Please face the flag, put your hand over your heart, ready begin. For better meeting management purposes, each speaker will have one minute per item per person. Conference with security operations officials, critical infrastructure information relating to cybersecurity pursuant to California Government Code Section 54957A. CS1 critical infrastructure information relating to cybersecurity. Oh my apologies. Okay, we will go to Robert Johnson. Please please state which items you'd like to speak to. But like when you were speaking, it went silent. So with this cybersecurity stuff that you're dealing with, this is something that I've been talking to you guys about as far as concerns with being hacked into the technology and accessing critical infrastructure and or um uh you know data or you know, shutting down an emergency system. Um and I feel like this could potentially have to do with um ice and things like that. Um, and I feel like you guys are looking in the wrong direction because you're tending to be more concerned about ice and going after people that have come and breached our border instead of looking at the people that shouldn't be here outside of those people that are just saying that they're seeking asylum. There are there are people here who um shouldn't be here who have ill intentions for our nation and would be the ones to be accessing this type of um infrastructure and potentially doing harm to it. So I feel like you need to really refocus off of ice and onto the people that are to potentially be doing something harmful to our nation and and will, um, especially after a 9-11 type of a thing. And then with this um your continued litigation about um, you know, this is an injury to a bicyclist involving a storm drain cover, it's like, you know, just seems to be whether you fail the infrastructure for the storm drains um by not upkeeping it, you know, or just like having something like this where a gate cover um is going to put somebody um, you know, have them be injured because of you know not being able to ride their bike in a conducive manner. So I just feel like we're continuing to time and time again just constantly spend money because you guys don't want to um upkeep everything, and just this other one is is another dangerous sidewalk. And you know, as you guys get into this whole, you know, wanting people to take this particular type of transit, you need to really be making sure that you know, especially the elderly can walk in um in a safe manner and not um put themselves in danger just by you like walking down the road or somebody just by riding their bicycle um you know over a storm drain cover. Um it's just unfortunate that you know, I don't really see anything like necessarily being done in the on the roads to make sure that the sidewalks downtown are actually you know getting better. I mean, it's you see these litigations coming in on a regular basis, but it's not like you can actively see with your eyes stuff being done about the roads. So, you know, I don't know what's going on here, but it's pretty unfortunate because you know, there should be something being done, and obviously you guys are gonna be worried about your money because of all of the you know choices that you have made to lead to federal funding cuts and kind cuts from you know across the nation because of choices that have been made.
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