Dozens of arts and culture organizations spoke out against proposed cuts to arts and culture grants at the San Diego City Council budget review meeting Wednesday.
The meeting got heated at points between the council and Mayor Todd Gloria's staff over the proposed cuts.
"There is no vision as of now outside of what lies in the strategic plan, which is, 'A world-class city for all.' That is what it says in the document," Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said. "That doesn't mean a lot."
"Councilmember, I disagree with that assessment," Christopher Ackerman-Avila, the mayor's senior policy adviser, said.
"I'm not going to play a game of semantics with you, Chris. I'm just not gonna do that," Elo-Rivera said.
The mayor's proposed budget slashes arts funding by $11.8 million. Councilmember Kent Lee, who ran the nonprofit Pacific Arts Movement before being elected, said the cuts would devastate the arts community in San Diego.
“I cannot envision a city where structurally balanced (budget) does not include arts and culture,” he said.
Representatives of arts organizations said the cuts would be disastrous, not just to the programs themselves but also to the city's cultural vibrancy.
“If we really want to be an important city, the arts and culture have to be part of it," said San Diego Symphony president and CEO Martha Gilmer. "There is no important city that doesn't have a vibrant arts and culture community, and the city has to recognize that and support it.”
She said this budget is symbolic of the city not valuing arts and culture.
According to the city’s latest Arts and Economic Prosperity report, the nonprofit arts and culture sector generated $1.2 billion in economic activity in 2022.
That’s part of the reason why Councilmember Lee was upset that the mayor’s office did not do an economic analysis before deciding to cut arts funding.
“If we're going to be making cuts, we need to think about what the potential impact is and how we ensure that we don't just decimate one part of our economy here in San Diego, just in the name of accomplishing a reduction in numbers,” Lee said.
These arts and cultural institutions help to increase tourism, which generates revenue to support other city services, he said.
Cutting arts funding also hurts the city in other ways, said Ana Hernandez, executive director of El Centro de Cultural de la Raza.
“(When) you remove the funding for a system, it's not like it goes to sleep and wakes up when next you decide to put the money into it,” she said.
Hernandez said that creates an artistic poverty that’s hard to rebuild back from.
The City Council will continue to review the budget until Friday. The mayor is expected to release his revised budget proposal by May 13.
