San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera has decided to withhold a proposed stormwater funding measure from the November 2024 ballot, he announced Friday.
Elo-Rivera, along with Council President Pro tem Joe LaCava and a coalition of community advocates, decided to withdraw efforts to place the item on the ballot because of "substantial changes" to ACA 1, a proposed state ballot measure which, if approved by voters, would have set the threshold for voter approval of local infrastructure funding at 55%.
"Revenue specifically dedicated for our stormwater system is the best way to address longstanding needs and make San Diego a cleaner, healthier and safer city," Elo-Rivera said. "The two-thirds voter approval threshold for infrastructure revenue is undemocratic and has stood as an impediment to San Diego making critical improvements. Our coalition saw real hope in the proposal to change the threshold to 55% and were confident voters would strongly support the ballot measure we were advancing.
"Unfortunately, the rules we thought we would be playing by were changed and our coalition decided the most responsible thing to do is to pause, continue growing our coalition and create a plan for securing the dedicated revenue needed to provide San Diegans with clean and safe neighborhoods, beaches and bays."
Following the Jan. 22 storm and flooding that devastated portions of Southeast San Diego, Elo-Rivera proposed the ballot measure to adequately fund the city's stormwater infrastructure, intending to clear a substantial project backlog and preventing a similar flood.
The city has a $1.6 billion stormwater deficit, meaning repairs and restructuring of outdated infrastructure have been delayed due to lack of funding.
"Aging infrastructure, flood prevention and clean waters remain immediate, yet underfunded priorities within our existing stormwater system," LaCava said. "Though a dedicated revenue stream for stormwater is the ultimate goal, the development of this measure highlighted the value that tackling the billion-dollar infrastructure backlog will have for our neighborhoods.
"I remain committed to not losing this momentum as we develop a stormwater system that meets the needs of our neighborhoods and today's climate challenges."
Other organizations, such as Climate Action Campaign and San Diego Coastkeeper, vowed to keep fighting even if the math for an electoral victory wasn't adding up this year.
"While I support the decision to withhold our measure from this year's ballot, we've seen the consequences of disinvestment in the devastating historic floods this year, and we must do everything we can to triple down on solutions to protect community health, safety and clean water — particularly in underserved communities," said Nicole Capretz, founder and CEO of Climate Action Campaign. "I look forward to working with our growing coalition to bring forward a permanent solution."
