Following several back-and-forth exchanges among San Diego City Council members, the council voted 6-3 Monday to override several of Mayor Todd Gloria's line-item vetoes and pass the $6 billion 2025-26 municipal budget.
Last week, Gloria announced several line-item vetoes of measures included in the budget passed by the council on June 10, while maintaining restored hours at recreation centers, libraries and two reservoirs from the council's modifications.
"I don't take this lightly, and I know none of you do either," Gloria said before council deliberations began. "I'm asking you to sustain my veto.
"If not, we have the prospect of having to make deeper cuts. We rise and fall together as one city."
Gloria cautioned that he would not sign onto any budget which overrode his vetoes.
As a result, several members of the council greeted the mayor's proposal — and a concurrent campaign by his office to describe the council as reckless — with outright hostility.
"These vetoes have undermined our efforts," said Councilman Henry Foster III, the council's budget committee chair. "The council, not the mayor, have restored library and recreation center hours."
Monday's action caps a budget season far more contentious than in recent years. Following Gloria's veto announcement, the city's communications office several times posted opposed to the council's June 10 action, which balanced restored services partially on projected revenue sources such as Balboa Park parking fees and digital billboard advertising.
"To say I'm disappointed with the mayor's veto action might be an understatement," Councilman Kent Lee said. "Budgets always include projections."
"Slashing and burning is one way to balance the budget, or we can plant seeds and grow our way to a better future," said Councilman Sean Elo- Rivera. "Austerity is the wrong choice.
"Abundance is in our future."
Foster initially proposed a full override of the mayor's vetoes, but that motion lost 4-5. A second attempt that restored funding for the city's lakes, brush management, and would put the city's Office of Race and Equity under the purview of the city's Independent Budget Analyst passed 6-3.
"Today, some members of the City Council attempted to fully override my line-item veto, and they failed," Gloria said in a statement after the vote. "That outcome affirms the need for fiscal responsibility and a realistic approach to budgeting — something I've committed to and San Diegans deserve. Let's be clear: a full override would have doubled down on unrealistic assumptions, unsustainable spending, and decisions that put our city's future at risk. That path was rejected.
"While the council has now chosen to partially override certain vetoes, I remain concerned that these actions could still weaken our ability to stay on stable financial footing. If their assumptions don't hold, they'll be responsible for the fallout: midyear cuts, layoffs, facility closures, brownouts, and broken promises to the communities we all serve. I did not run for mayor to repeat the mistakes of the past. I have been honest with San Diegans about our finances and made every effort to fix the structural deficit, making tough decisions necessary to build a stronger future.
"This is a moment for steady leadership, which I will continue to provide for all of us. San Diegans deserve no less."
The council was far from universally opposed to Gloria's vetoes. Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell urged the council to accept the mayor's final revisions as-is, warning of legal ramifications of passing an unbalanced budget.
"We must not get into silly legal complications," she said.
Charles Modica, the city's Independent Budget Analyst, assured the council that — on paper at least — Foster's revisions did represent a balanced budget.
Councilman Stephen Whitburn, one of the mayor's staunchest allies on the council, said his gravest concerns with overriding the mayor came down to charging for parking at Balboa Park — in his district. According to Modica, 80% of those who park in the lots at the San Diego Zoo and elsewhere in the park are San Diegans. An accelerated timeline (as soon as September 1) to not only charge a fee for parking there, but some way to mitigate costs for locals, was deemed unrealistic by Whitburn, who voted no both times.
Councilwoman Vivian Moreno was focused on one issue — stormwater. The Jan. 22, 2024, storm ravaged portions of Council District 8, which Moreno represents, and she said she could not support a budget which cut funding from maintenance and repair for that infrastructure.
Council members Raul Campillo and Marni von Wilpert agreed with some of the mayor's points, but were ultimately persuaded to vote for the amended budget with the addition of public lake funding and brush management for wildland-adjacent areas of the city, among other items.
If, as Gloria and Modica suggest, some of the revenue sources passed in the budget do not come to fruition or represent smaller sums of money than expected, the council will face mid-year budget cuts or need to raid rainy-day funds.
