A proposal that would have delayed San Diego County's budget approval process until October — allowing input from a newly elected county supervisor — failed Wednesday on a 2-1 vote.
The budget delay request was proposed by Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe to allow the winner of a special District 1 election to have input on the spending plan, which is typically approved by the end of June.
Montgomery Steppe and Terra Lawson-Remer voted in favor of the proposed delay Wednesday, while Joel Anderson was opposed, and Supervisor Jim Desmond was absent. Three votes were needed for passage.
In Tuesday's District 1 primary election, Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre advanced to a July 1 runoff. They are vying to replace Supervisor Nora Vargas, who announced in December that she would not serve her second term despite winning re-election in November.
Montgomery Steppe wanted the board to approve a "recommended budget" in June that could be amended after the fifth member of the board is elected.
In an emailed statement, Montgomery Steppe said she was disappointed by the outcome.
"As elected officials, we are often tasked with making difficult decisions, and this was one of those moments," Montgomery Steppe said. "Approving a budget without fully understanding the fiscal landscape or anticipating potential cuts is not a prudent approach. It is fiscally irresponsible.
"I urge my colleagues to consider what is truly at stake: our constituents in the unincorporated areas and throughout the county rely on our ability to govern effectively and responsibly," she added. "We will continue working closely with the chief administrative officer to ensure the county remains fiscally sound and prepared to meet the needs of all residents."
She said several California counties, including Los Angeles, "follow a two-step budget process."
Montgomery Steppe told City News Service earlier that "the primary reason for this two-step proposal is that it will provide the supervisors the chance to take in the impact of federal actions.
"We administer and are required to administer services such as Medi-Cal and SNAP," she added.
More than 900,000 county residents use Medi-Cal, California's version of federally funded Medicaid. The county also receives more than $200 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. These programs, and more, will likely be impacted by cuts from the Trump administration, the supervisor said.
The proposal called for "temporarily suspending operation of sections 116 and 117 of the San Diego County Code of Administrative Ordinances relating to the process for approval and adoption of the fiscal year 2025-26 county budget."
Desmond posted on X Tuesday that he has been in Washington, D.C., "meeting with top federal officials, pushing for real solutions to some of San Diego County's biggest challenges: Stopping the Tijuana sewage crisis, restoring sand to our eroding beaches and expanding treatment-based approaches to homelessness."
"With how quickly the (Trump) administration is moving on matters like tariffs and other national policies, I felt it was imperative to be there in person to ensure San Diegans' voices are heard and to work toward real solutions that benefit our region," Desmond said in an emailed statement Wednesday.
It was unclear if Montgomery Steppe's proposal would return on a future agenda.
During public comment Wednesday, some residents supported the proposed delay, while others urged supervisors to approve a budget by late June.
Bob Lehman, vice chair of the county Arts & Culture Commission, said giving the budget process more time "is about equity and good governance" to ensure that businesses, organizations and District 1 residents "have a seat at the table."
Malcolm Gettman, vice chair of Spring Valley Community Planning Group, asked why the county would want to disenfranchise more than 600,000 residents by adopting a budget without a full board. He said a delay would let the board carefully examine all the options presented to them and make informed choices.
A woman calling herself Oliver Twist was opposed, based on "the fiscal cliff this county is on," citing the county's budget deficit.
"You need to get your act together and get the budget in now," she said, adding those claiming disenfranchisement can blame Vargas, "who chose to knowingly run for an office, and then resign."
According to county officials, the county is facing a "funding gap" of between $138 million and $140 million.
Shane Harris, president of the People's Association of Justice Advocates, said that while the proposal was well-intended, District 4 residents "didn't get this same courtesy or opportunity" in the 2023 special election to replace Nathan Fletcher, who resigned following sexual harassment allegations, which he has denied.
In December, Vargas said she was resigning "due to personal safety and security reasons."
It was unclear what those reasons were, but board meetings have become increasingly rowdy in recent years, and Vargas was away from the board several times for unspecified reasons and had dealt with health issues resulting from nodules on her vocal cords.
On Monday, Anderson joined Harris to reject the proposed delay, saying the board couldn't wait on election results.
"I think that ultimately what we're asking for is a fair and an on- time balanced budget that seeks to deal with some of those long-standing services: spaces of behavioral health and homelessness; spaces of child welfare; and senior programs; and on and on and on," Harris said.
Harris said he was concerned that by pushing the timeline back, the county's looming budget deficit would continue to grow, leading to more cuts for less-affluent areas of the county when the rent finally comes due.
Anderson noted that more than 600,000 residents live in unincorporated areas of the county and rely on the county as their only form of government, making it unfair to kick the budget down the calendar.
"The Board of Supervisors are responsible to those constituents to provide for their law enforcement, fire safety, emergency services, road maintenance, building permits, animal shelters, parks, libraries, mental health, homelessness and more, services that even some of the cities contract with the county to provide," Anderson said Monday. "Our constituents in the unincorporated communities shouldn't be punished or shouldn't be denied the services they rely on because the Board of Supervisors refuses to compromise and work together."
Harris praised Wednesday's vote and said he was "calling for the Board of Supervisors now to allow the new District 1 supervisor (who) is elected later this year to make adjustments to the budget to fit their priorities which is allowed under county law."
Montgomery Steppe earlier denied claims that a deficit would continue to grow and that people in the unincorporated areas of the county would be denied services. She said the whole first step of her two-step proposal was to approve that recommended budget to continue services countywide.
"No one from the unincorporated areas will experience any negative effects from this," she said. "This is about good governance."
