Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

The purpose of tonight's community meeting is to provide the public an opportunity to learn about the specific topics and the recommended 2026-27 Operation Command, commonly referred to as the Chief Administrative Author's Recommended Budget, and then to provide time, questions, and comments. Tonight, we will have a budget overview, including a short video, followed by an overview of topics and the recommended budget presented by the county's business groups. The topics covered today were selected based on community feedback. After the presentations, we will open it up to comments and questions from the public before closing. Before we get to the question and comment section of our time together, which will be directly after the presentation, I want to share some directions on how to provide comments and ask questions during today's meeting. To ensure everyone has an opportunity to be heard, we ask that you please use the raise your hand feature on the Zoom toolbar. Our team will notify you when you are up next, and at that time, please unmute yourself. For those dialing in, press star nine and unmute with star six when our team notifies you that you're up next. When you finish your comment or question, please press star six to re-mute. Another option for participation is to use the Zoom Q&A meeting feature on the toolbar. You can use this function anytime you're in the booth. Staff members are monitoring the Q&A and will reply to your questions. If you have a comment, also use the Q&A meeting feature to provide your comment. Time permitting, I will read the comments out loud. In the event we run out of time, Please be sure to provide your question or comment through the Q&A, and we will work to get your response. All questions with responses and comments will be captured and available in the after-meeting summary and posted on the budget website. Throughout the meeting, we ask that everyone be courteous and respectful on each other. On behalf of our Board of Supervisors, the Chief Administrative Officer, Assistant CAO and Chief Financial Officer, Deputy CAOs, we also call general managers department heads and all county staff i would like to welcome you to our virtual community budget meeting and thank you for joining us there are many pictures on this slide i don't expect you to be able to read everyone's names but all these faces are here to serve you you are our customers and we want to provide you with an exceptional experience in whatever way you interact with the company whether you take your kids to a county park for a fun outing drive to work every day on a county-maintained road, or look to the county as a resource in your time of need. All of this is supported by the county budget. Hopefully, you'll learn a little more about that tonight, and we hope to hear more about your experiences and answer some of your questions. Tonight, our speakers include our Assistant CAO and Chief Financial Officer, Joan Brachi, and leaders from our four county business groups, as well as Behavioral Health Services. Jennifer Bransford-Kunz, Chief Operating Officer for the Health and Human Services Agency. Nadia Pravara-Brams, Director of Behavioral Health Services. Andrew Strong, General Manager for the Public Safety Group. Carrie Ha, the Chief Operating Officer for the Finance and General Government Group. And Davia Lynch, General Manager for the Land Use and Environment. Before we hear from our students, we have a video that provides an overview of the budget. Please join me in watching the video.

The county's budget, also known as the County Operational Plan, is more than just dollars and cents. It's about building a brighter future for all of us. The county's multi-billion dollar budget supports everything from health to safety. It provides programs that help people so that everyone in the region has the opportunity to thrive. To do that, we use a strategic plan that supports the county's vision of a just, sustainable, and resilient future for all. We start with the county's responsibilities, those required by law. That includes providing services in the unincorporated area, services a local city would typically provide, everything from law enforcement and roads to building permits and animal protection. Some cities also contract with the county to provide services. And there are many other county services that support the entire county, including emergency preparedness, social and health services, often funded by the state and federal government, restaurant inspections, and so much more. The budget is guided by policies provided by the County Board of Supervisors along with public input and data. But there are challenges to consider, things like rising costs and changes at the federal and state level. federal, state, or grant funding can change and impact our services. That's a serious consideration because they provide nearly half of our funding. There are also requirements that go along with the funding and how we use it for services like mental health support, addressing substance use, food and medical assistance, and public health. The other half of our funding mostly comes from property taxes and service fees. Overall, a big portion of the budget goes to health and human services. Another large chunk goes to public safety like the sheriff, district attorney, public defender, fire protection, and emergency services. The rest covers services that affect almost all of us like elections, environmental protection, and safety inspections. the county's budget may seem like just a bunch of numbers but it's all about people and how we serve our community while reflecting our values and commitment to you this is why community input and public participation are so vital to everything we do all year long we partner with the people who call this county home to know what's important to you all this helps shape our county programs services policies and budget Find out how to get involved at sandiegocounty.gov slash budget.

Okay.

Thank you so much, Natalia, for kicking us off, and I hope everybody enjoyed that video. We'll start the evening talking a little bit more about county services, which is captured on the what we do portion of this slide. Regionally, the county offers social services, health programs, detention facilities, emergency preparedness, food and restaurant inspections, beach water monitoring and reporting, elections, and much more. In the unincorporated areas, the county provides services typically handled by city governments, such as law enforcement, fire protection, roads, parks, libraries, building permits, and animal shelters. When we plan for the budget, we consider our responsibilities with consideration for available funding, including how the growth in available funds is not keeping pace with the growth and the cost of doing business. And we also consider priorities of the board of supervisors, the communities we serve, and program and regional data, which is why we're here tonight. When we talk about available funding, The county's funding comes from various sources, including property taxes, grants, fees, and funding from other governments, as shown on the pie chart. Almost half of our funding comes from federal, state, and other governments, which is the orange slice of the pie chart. For the upcoming budget year, fiscal year 26-27, we are seeing 6% growth in the recommended budget, growth of $518 million to a total of $9.1 billion. The recommended budget is balanced. That is, for all of the costs we have planned for next year, we have funding to support these costs. Our commitment to fiscal responsibility ensures that we can deliver quality services even in the midst of uncertainty and transition. We recognize there are very real challenges that we face as a region, and working with the policy direction of our governing board, the county team is proposing a budget to help meet immediate needs without losing sight of long-term sustainability. When it comes to staffing, we are increasing staffing levels overall by half a percent, or 108 staff years, primarily in consumer protection, Prop 36 response, and HR1 implementation. These additions were offset by unfilled vacancies and consolidation and attrition. All told, the budget that is recommended for fiscal year 26-27 required thoughtful and intentional prioritization, some recalibration, and identification of efficiencies to manage costs, including a smaller facility footprint and shifting staff to address changing responsibilities while avoiding layoffs. We know more challenges lie ahead and this work will continue, but the aim is to provide the services you expect now and in the future. The recommended budget is a values-based budget designed for and by what matters most to the people we serve. To help shape the budget, we look to the county's vision of a just, sustainable, and resilient future for all. We are also guided by the core values shown on this slide, which shape our decisions and actions as we work to serve the community with integrity, equity, accessibility, belonging, excellence, and sustainability, with the community at the heart of all we do. This year, the recommended budget was released on May 18th. We have a community open house tomorrow at 5 p.m. at the County Operations Center in Kearney Mesa. and it's going to be a lot of fun. There will be similar information as this evening, but with booths set up that you can visit and see and experience county services in action. Next is the public hearing for the budget, which takes place at the Board of Supervisors meeting next Monday, June 1st, and is kicked off at 5 o'clock p.m. Budget hearings close at 5 p.m. on June 11th, when the revised budget will be available the next day on June 12th. and the board's budget deliberations and adoption are planned for June 25th. Now, I'd like to hand the presentation over to Jennifer Bransford-Kuhns with the Health and Human Services Agency.

Thank you, Joan. Good evening, everyone. The county plays an important role in expanding housing opportunities with some differences in how we support housing in the unincorporated communities and within cities. Regionally, the county helps finance new affordable housing Our investments require housing developers to keep rents low for low-income families. Since the inception of the Innovative Housing Trust Fund in 2017, the county has invested over $330 million in local, state, and federal funding to support affordable housing development across the region. Around 3,500 doors are open today, with 1,000 under construction and more upcoming. This year we plan to invest $93 million to sustain and expand housing resources. This includes financial support for the expanded 10 people services for tenants facing eviction and almost a million dollars to reduce housing barriers for veterans experiencing homelessness. It also invests $1.6 million to extend the LGBTQ plus innovative housing program. offering focused case management, support services, and housing navigation. In the unincorporated communities, which is outside of cities, the county governs how land is used to balance the built and natural environments. In these areas, we will invest $29.2 million for sustainable housing development, affordability programs, ADU and tiny home initiatives, homelessness cleanup, and assistance, inspections, and streamline use review. Our housing efforts go hand in hand with initiatives to prevent and end homelessness. The county leads homeless outreach and emergency shelter efforts in the unincorporated communities, where last year unsheltered homelessness dropped by 16%. To highlight just a few major investments, This year, we will spend $16 million for emergency housing options through the regional homeless assistance and inclement weather programs in the unincorporated communities. We will also continue to operate two safe parking sites, leveraging $1.6 million to provide people residing in their vehicles, like the senior picture here on this slide, the services and connections to housing. Many of our programs also support people at risk for homelessness region-wide. This year, we will spend $3.4 million on the Housing Our Youth program, which connects hundreds of young adults aged 18 to 24 with stable housing. $2.8 million will be used to launch a new round of Shell's rental subsidy program, which will provide 200 seniors at risk of homelessness with $500 monthly for a housing subsidy for up to 18 months. Homelessness is a shared responsibility across the county. And this year, the district attorney will use $600,000 to support its Shelter Ready app, which helps connect people experiencing homelessness with the emergency shelter and safe parking programs in real time. As the region's safety net provider, the county helps more than 1 million residents access benefits to support their basic needs. This year, the county will spend $852 million to make sure that residents can enroll in or renew their CalFresh, Medi-Cal, CalWORKs, and other public assistance in a timely manner. These interactions with residents happen in person at our Live Well and Family Resource Centers, online, over the phone, and at events with our Live Well mobile office. A portion of these dollars are for the assistance payments that residents receive directly. This investment is especially important this year as new federal rules from H.R. 1 go into effect that require people who get CalFresh and Medi-Cal to meet work requirements and to navigate more complex rules to get or keep their benefits. Nearly $24 million will go directly to address these impacts. Another key role of the county is to prevent child abuse and neglect by providing resources and supports to families. This includes efforts to help families before they reach a point of crisis and placing children in protective custody when they are unable to remain safely in their home. The budget includes $502 million for these services, with the goal of keeping at-risk families and children together. Part of that investment includes $163 million to cover the cost of care for resource families, like relatives, close family friends, and foster families who care for and or adopt a child involved with foster care. The In-Home Supportive Services Program is another significant responsibility and investment for the county. It provides roughly 50,000 older adults and people living with disabilities with in-home care so they can remain independent. The budget includes nearly $250 million for this program, which is 26 million more than last year. To further support vulnerable populations, the Public Defender's budget includes $13.2 million for the Immigrant Legal Defense Program, which includes an additional $8.2 million in new funding. This program provides legal representation to detained immigrants and unaccompanied minors in removal proceedings. I'll now hand it over to Nadia Prevera, Behavioral Health Services Director.

Thank you. Within Behavioral Health Services, we are proposing an increase of $140.7 million for broad enhancements across specialty mental health and substance use services, housing, and supports. First, we are enhancing services by $47.3 million to support the implementation of new state initiatives, including BH Connect, that will add new evidence-based practices and improve access to care for people of all ages. We are proposing an additional $23 million for substance use services and supports. which includes funding to support narcotic treatment programs and the new chemical dependency recovery services. Behavioral health services recommends $9.6 million to enhance crisis services to help divert people away from unnecessary hospitalization and law enforcement involvement, and instead connect them to person-centered care. This includes the new east region crisis stabilization unit pictured on the slide. We are also adding $2 million in new funding for early intervention services and crisis services that support our youngest beneficiaries. The budget will also include $1.1 million to connect people with serious mental illness to ongoing treatment and support. And as we build out services, we are also taking strategic actions to support our infrastructure. First, we are including nearly $88 million that supports a full continuum of housing options so people who are unsheltered can receive services, including $6 million to support new housing options such as the flexible housing pool as part of the transitional rent benefit provided by the managed care plans. We will also support our most critical resource, the workforce. Through a $15.2 million investment, we will fund the Elevate Behavioral Health Fund, which provides tuition reimbursement, 0% interest loans, and training for people pursuing careers within the public behavioral health system, and do a new program that will provide technical assistance to small, diverse community-based organizations in becoming Medi-Cal providers. We have allocated $14.4 million to strengthen community engagement and support Medi-Cal billing assistance to our network of community providers to help them support revenue opportunities and ongoing sustainability. Lastly, we have increased funding to support two new facilities, including the Children's Crisis Residential Care and Substance Use Residential and Treatment Services facilities. Our North Star remains improving the long-term mental wellbeing of our beneficiaries and our community. and the proposed budget reflects investments to support these priorities. Now, I'll hand it over to Andrew Strong, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for the Public Safety Group.

Thank you, Nadia. Our time contains investing in community safety and supporting the Sheriff's Office as it provides full-service law enforcement to more than 900,000 residents across unincorporated areas in nine contract cities. we are dedicating an additional $15.3 million to the Sheriff's Office to support Prop 36 impacts. This funding adds 23 full-time employees to meet increased jail bookings and related operational needs resulting from Prop 36. It ensures we have the staffing, capacity, and services to safely and effectively manage those changes. In addition, $3 million is being invested to begin planning, environmental review, and design for our new VISTA detention facility. This long-term project to replace the existing VISTA detention facility is critical to ensure our facilities can safely and effectively meet evolving operational needs. To reduce violence in our communities, the county is providing $250,000 for the community-led No Shots Fired program in Spring Valley. This supports outreach, mentorship, and wraparound services designed to reduce gun violence and gang violence. $227,000 is also being directed to our gun violence reduction program, which supports reducing suicide and domestic and community violence. These investments strengthen early intervention, crisis response, and collaboration across public health, law enforcement, and community partners. And we're also replacing the decades-old Ramona Sheriff Station with a modern facility through a $34.3 million investment, expanding and enhancing public safety and services in the region. Our recommended budget also strengthens preparedness and emergency response to keep communities safe and protect homes and property. This year's plan adds $8.1 million for a total investment of $84.5 million to enhance firefighting and emergency medical services in the unincorporated area. This includes adding staff for water tender trucks, which are critical for delivering large volumes of water to fight fires in areas with limited hydrant access. These investments ensure our crews have the resources to respond rapidly and effectively during peak fire conditions. We're also making important facility maintenance and safety upgrades at the County Emergency Operations Center. Strengthening this facility supports coordinated countywide response during major emergencies and disasters. And next, the county will dedicate $12.2 million to animal services, which includes a $500,000 increase. This covers enforcement, sheltering, and veterinary care in the unincorporated areas, along with the adoptions countywide. These services protect both community members and animals while ensuring safe, humane operations. We're continuing to support our Pet Health Express, the mobile veterinary surgical unit that brings spay and neuter services and basic pet wellness directly to underserved and high need areas. This program reduces overpopulation, improves public health, and makes essential veterinary care more accessible. And finally, our new night flying helicopter is expected to be operational in fiscal year 26-27. This is a major regional step forward, adding the capability to fight wildfires and respond to emergencies day or night. And together, these investments strengthen our readiness and expand our emergency response capabilities and help keep everyone in our community safe. We're investing significantly in health care, legal access and community reentry to support people involved in the justice system. First, the county is investing in health and medical care for people in our custody. with $198.9 million dedicated to adults and $14.3 million for our youth. These amounts include a total increase of more than $20 million to ensure that people receive essential care while in custody, which supports safety and well-being for both individuals and our staff. We're also strengthening legal representation by investing $4.8 million to add 18 full-time employees in the Public Defender's Office. This expansion is directly tied to Prop 36, which is driving higher caseloads and increasing the need for timely, constitutionally required legal defense. These additional staff help ensure the county can meet Prop 36 mandates while maintaining fair and accessible legal representation for people who can't afford an attorney. to address the unique barriers to housing that justice-involved people face. This year, the Office of Homeland Solutions will invest $5.5 million to connect people leaving custody with housing, treatment, medical care, education, and employment. These community care coordination and alternatives to incarceration programs help prevent homelessness and reduce the risk of people cycling in and out of the justice system. Additionally, $2.97 million is being invested in probation, adding 15 full-time employees to expand pretrial and felony supervision. Proposition 36 has a significant increase in the number of individuals requiring supervision, assessments, and connections to treatment and housing. This investment ensures probation can manage the higher workload effectively while maintaining strong support and accountability for people in the community. And finally, $4.5 million will strengthen prevention, diversion, and reentry services through the new resources and reentry hub. This hub provides treatment, healthcare, and tailored support for people reentering the community after jail or law enforcement contact. All of these investments work together to promote safety, fairness, and opportunity to every person in our justice system. And I'll now turn the presentation over to our Chief Operating Officer for the Finance and General Government Group, Kerry Hoffman.

Thank you, Andrew. I'd now like to highlight our investments in parks and libraries. County parks provide our residents with recreation, health, and wellness opportunities while also advancing environmental stewardship. We are recommending an investment of nearly $38 million to operate our parks, recreation centers, trails, and preserves, including great things to enjoy at the revitalized epicenter in Mira Mesa, which is reopening this summer as a major community hub for youth programs, arts, and arts. As for our county libraries, these neighborhood centers play a vital role in promoting lifelong learning and discovery. With more than $70 million from a special library fund, the county operates 33 community libraries, four electric outreach vans, five automated book kiosks, and the second largest digital library in California. This investment also supports the operation of the brand new building for the Casa de Oro Library building system. These libraries provide access to books, movies, Wi-Fi, computers, and welcoming spaces where community groups can come together. On top of these many resources, the county libraries also offer training to support residents pursuing citizenship and also operates a library high school program, which will allow adults to earn their high school diploma at their own pace. Moving beyond our parks and libraries, we would also like to highlight that the county is also allocating a total of $3.25 million as directed by our board to support arts and culture and for our film office. On this slide, we will focus on the county's public infrastructure. The county is committed to maintaining the spaces and places residents rely on, including investing $266 million to maintain 2,000 miles of county roads you drive on every day. and hundreds of traffic signals, curb ramps, crosswalks, and guardrails that enhance our road safety. For our county facilities, we are allocating a total of $73 million for essential repairs and major safety upgrades. From jails and health centers to parks, libraries, and county offices, we're making sure that these spaces are safer, more resilient, and ready to serve our community and protect county staff. We are also dedicating $62 million to help prevent flooding by keeping our culverts, channels, and storm drains clear and maintained, and to continue to provide reliable sewer and water systems for the unincorporated communities. I'll now turn the presentation over to our General Manager for the Land Use and Environment Group, Davia Lynch.

The County manages a wide range of programs that safeguard the region's natural resources and protect public health. For example, we invest $25 million to prevent pollution from entering our rivers and ocean through education, and through infrastructure that filters debris and trash and also beautifies county areas. We invest nearly $18 million to help educate and regulate hazardous material facilities to prevent spills and support our hazardous incident response team. Another $17 million allows us to incentivize the permanent preservation of farmland, protect habitat and manage open spaces, and stop pests from destroying local crops and greenhouse products. And we support long-term groundwater management to strengthen regional water security with a recommended allocation of $3 million. Together, these investments help keep our environment clean, our communities safe, and our water future resilient. The county works to build climate resiliency for San Diegans by reducing emissions and expanding clean energy across the region. We're investing $25 million to divert waste from landfills and cut greenhouse gas emissions. This also funds long-term monitoring of closed landfills to protect both air and groundwater quality. $15 million in this budget supports implementing and tracking 70 climate action plan. $15 million in this budget supports implementing and tracking 70 climate action plan actions, including planting 1,000 trees, continuing our progress towards a healthier, more sustainable region. Another $1.4 million advances green building practices and accelerates solar energy adoption throughout the county. We also invest just over a million dollars to advance the county's EV roadmap, replacing older fleet vehicles with electric vehicles and providing charging stations at county parks and other facilities. Altogether, these investments move us towards a cleaner environment, a lower carbon future, and healthier communities. Home health and well-being are a top priority for the county, and we invest significant resources to protect it. This includes $235 million to prevent the spread of disease and for public health centers, home visiting programs, and pharmaceutical services. Our environmental health experts ensure that where you eat is safe with $18 million for education, outreach, inspections, and investigations related to 14,000 permitted restaurants and food With $16 million, we monitor and treat more than 1,600 mosquito breeding sites, protecting residents from West Nile virus and other mosquito-borne illnesses. Nearly $2 million supports same-day beach water quality testing at 45 locations and public noticing to keep you informed and safe. This recommended budget also includes a new pollution chief to lead regional collaboration, identify resources, and drive long-term solutions for the Tijuana River Valley. Together, these investments strengthen our public health system and protect the well-being of families across the region.

I want to take a moment to thank all of our presenters and open it up to question and comment period. If you wish to speak, please use the raise your hand feature in the Zoom toolbar if you've not already done so. We'll call on you in the order that you are in the queue. To ensure we have enough time for as many people as possible, you will have two minutes to provide your comment or ask your question. If we run out of time, please submit your question or comment in writing. We will respond to all questions in the after meeting story and post it on the budget webpage. You can also submit your feedback after the meeting through the channels shown on the screen.

Looks like we have Julie in the queue.

Will you help me unmute?

Joey, we will come back to you. We have a V. Gutierrez in the queue. Feel free to unmute. I'm gonna take the opportunity to remind everyone how to unmute if you are calling in. If you are calling in and you don't, dialing in, sorry, press star nine and then you can unmute with star six once you're notified that you're up next to speak. And then when you finish your comment or question, we ask that you please press star six again to re-mute. I will be rotating between the people raising their hands to speak, the phone speakers, and the Zoom Q&A submissions.

Can you hear me now?

Hello, Julie?

I think we heard you for a second, Julie. I'm going to move to a Q&A question from Jerry Hall that we received about the timing of community engagement and the budget and the availability of the detailed budget information. Jerry, the county gathers community input throughout the year across several community engagement processes. These all inform the budget. Beyond today's meeting, we will have a community open house that was mentioned earlier tomorrow from 5 to 7 at the Community Operations Center and a budget hearing at the Board of Supervisors meeting at 5 p.m. on June 1st. We are consistently and constantly looking for ways to improve our community engagement process. This year we hosted a community workshop in January for an earlier touch point, digital engagement opportunities from March through April, and a pop-up outreach and focus group in April. Detailed budget information can be found at sandiegocounty.gov slash budget and you can click on Expenditures for greater detail.

Hello?

Can you hear me?

Please proceed. We can't hear you.

Hello? Good evening. Thank you for calling in. Yes.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay. All right. This is, this is Vika Pieris. Okay. So I want to first thank the County for putting together the budget thus far. I also would like to ask that the county also consider supporting Planned Parenthood health centers with funding in the 2026-27 budget. Planned Parenthood has been a safety net provider and really a vital part of the San Diego County's healthcare ecosystem for many, many years. And recent cuts and upcoming coverage gaps as a result of the federal funding bill last year will mean that more patients are and will be seeking care without insurance, and that gap is only going to get wider as changes to Medi-Cal eligibility requirements go into effect in a few months. Despite a loss of millions of dollars in Medi-Cal reimbursements as a result of the provision in H.R. 1 that specifically called for quote-unquote defunding Planned Parenthood, The local organization has continued to deliver on its commitment and providing health care to vulnerable and underserved communities, including people with Medi-Cal insurance, despite not getting reimbursed for those services. And so as a trusted health care provider that serves tens of thousands of San Diego County residents each year, I urge the county to include funding in the budget for Planned Parenthood so they can continue to be a resource to the community. Thank you for the opportunity to speak and sorry about my technical difficulties earlier.

Thank you for commenting and we have staff here taking notes, so we appreciate your input this evening. I'm going to try Julie one more time. You had your hand raised. I don't know if you're there. Julie, we'll come back to you. I'm going to go back to the Q&A and we have a question from anonymous asking when the recording of the meeting would be available. The recording in both English and Spanish will be available tomorrow at engage.sandiegocounty.gov and you can click on county budget 2026-28. Another anonymous comment or question about the Vista Detention Center. wanting to know what it is and if it will be used to house ICE detainees. The detention center in Vista will replace an existing 50-year-old infrastructure. It is not for ICE detention. It is for individuals charged with a crime, as well as those . I have another question from Gladys in the Q&A. How much money is going toward protecting agricultural lands from development through permanent conservation easements and land acquisition? Looks like we have our Director of Planning and Development Services, Vince Nicoletti, who provided an answer in the Q&A tool. But Vince, can you please unmute and respond for everyone now?

Thanks, Natalia. So the county has two allocations of funding in the budget this year for those two questions in the budget. For preservation of agriculture and conservation easements, PDS has $700,000 in our budget for it. And then the Parks Department has $2 million for conservation easements for habitat conservation.

Thank you so much, Vince. I hope that answered your question. We have another question from Anonymous. Does the county have a contract with FLOC? Is it planning to provide more money to FLOC in the upcoming budget cycle? Anonymous, I would ask for your patience as we look into this, and we will try to get you an answer shortly. In the meantime, I wanted to come back to see if Julie is there. I believe she had her hand up still. It looks like we might have an answer for you on Flock. I'm going to turn it over to our undersheriff.

Natalia, can you hear me?

Go ahead.

Yes, we still do have Flock.

Thank you. It looks like we have Joe Garbanzos with a question, raised hand. And we'll come back to Joe. No. Tonight, it seems like our Unmuting is a little slow even on our end, so we're all working on that. But if you want to continue to comment, make sure your hand stays up, and I'll come back to you, Joe. We do have a question in the Q&A from anonymous related to employees. And actually, it looks like several questions included this. We'll start with asking our interim director of HR, Brandy Winterbottom, to answer. Brandy, are you available? What are the processes in place to ensure employees are fairly compensated?

I was just replying in the chat, but I just wanted to share since I'm on. Thank you so much, Natalia, for the question and from our folks who wrote in during the chat. So we use a variety of methodologies to look at compensation for our staff, including market data, benchmarking, and we also monitor vacancies and turnover to really identify areas where we are seeing some difficulties or some challenges with our staffing. Unrepresented employees are going to be getting their on-cycle increases coming up effective June 26. So I'll message this person privately and see if they want to connect for more information as well.

Thank you, Heidi. I appreciate that. I know that that individual has additional questions, so if you could connect with them and we can get their questions answered. I appreciate it.

Yep.

Now we're going to go back up to Joe Garbanzos, if you're available now and would still like to speak. Oh, sorry, Joe, it looks like you have entered your question for us. Joe says, thanks, a lot of data to unbuckle. I know, Joe. Which sector of the county budget got a reduction in funding? I am going to turn to our Director of the Office of Financial Planning, Damian Quinn, to answer that question.

Thanks for the question. So I think the answer is that we'll see reductions throughout all business groups, so all departments were really looking into and finding ways to output the Sears budget.

Amy, will there be more information provided during the, on the website, or can you find more detail?

More on the website and then next Monday at the public hearing, more information will be shared by groups in our department. of what's actually in the budget for further, deeper value.

Thank you, Joe. And that information is also available on the budget portal to reach your website. Thank you for this presentation. I also have a question. Are county funds supporting survivors of domestic violence? Are there dedicated funds in the fiscal year 26-27 budget to maintain or expand emergency shelters and transitional housing specifically for DV survivors? I'm going to turn this one to the Chief Operations Officer for the Health and Human Services Agency, Jennifer Ransford Jones.

Thanks, Natalia, and thank you for that question. It's an important one. I'd like to turn it over to Deanna Beck, who is the Director of our Office of Homeless Solutions in the Department of Housing and Community Development Services to answer your question. Deanna?

Thank you for that question. So the answer is yes. We have a very long-standing item in our budget for support of the domestic violence shelter-based programs. This has been a An allocation that we receive through the budget for many, many years, and generally the funding comes through the marriage license fees, and it's usually about $600,000 a year, which we then put into the contracts with our local domestic violence shelter-based providers. We also supplement that funding to make it about a million dollars a year. And so that goes to the three local providers, which are SBCS, the Center for Community Solutions, and the CRC in North. We also, in addition to that, are contributing in the next fiscal year a million and a half towards a city-operated domestic violence and human trafficking victim shelter, and that is $1.5 million for that particular operation. Thank you.

I answered live and then the person commented again, so I just put the answer in the chat as well.

Thank you. And just for anyone following along, if you would like to go to the chat to reference that, it was Brady did answer, how does the county ensure that non-represented classifications are being taken care of? Apologies. I'm losing my space. And then, are there any studies being done for fairly compensating analysts? So, thank you, Brady, for providing that answer. The answer is the county evaluates compensation for its employees through a variety of methods, including reviewing market data, benchmarks, and monitoring vacancies in turn. And then unrepresented employees will be receiving a passport increases as well as market adjustments effective June 26th. So hopefully I wanted to read that because I know I had moved away from that question earlier and just to allow for Brandy to be able to answer it. So we are back to looking for hands. If anybody would like to comment this evening. as we wait for anyone and it might have an additional question i will revisit that we will have a number of opportunities for you to engage with us not just this evening but tomorrow again at our county operations center um there will be a budget open house i believe that starts at 5 p.m so we look forward to anyone like to join us there and of course we always invite you to participate at our board hearings and the one where we will be presenting the budget especially opening the budget hearing is on June 1st at 5 p.m. there's also opportunities to comment online or you can always send us an email and you can share feedback and engage San Diego County. For anyone who hasn't had an opportunity yet to post a question or a comment. Derry Hall.

there um thanks for the presentation i'd love to hear it all um i'm just wondering if the county has considered and i'm not sure if this is a best practice or if it's it's proven not workable but um i've seen participatory budget processes where the county i think i the one i recall is cook county i believe in illinois But they basically gave or allocated $10 million and said, here's $10 million, here's scenario A, here's scenario B, which one do we fund? And it helps the community learn the trade-offs that you have to make to, you know, prioritize things and to fund things. And I just think some kind of process where... the community, especially marginalized communities, are able to come in and actually help make decisions over a certain amount of money. And then the following year, you know, hear the evaluation and reports about it and maybe continue that for a few years. I think that would be a tremendous way to get people involved in learning how the budget works and the dilemmas that the departments all face every year. Thank you.

Thank you, Gary, as well. idea, then I want to turn it over to our Chief Financial Officer, Joan Brachi.

All right, thank you so much for your comment and suggestion. We will definitely go check out the Cook County, Illinois website. So for the County of San Diego, we do have that Engage webpage that Natalia has mentioned, and there is, I guess we call it a tool, but there is a a tool on the webpage, and there is an opportunity for interested members of the public to go and allocate by being identified priorities. But we're always looking for better ways to communicate the budget, so we'll definitely check out. Thank you for that.

I'm not seeing any more comments or hands raised. I'm going to take a moment to reiterate that here at the county, we value and center our work on community engagement. And for that reason, on behalf of the entire county team, thank you for participating in this evening. On the screen, we have a reminder of upcoming key dates if you would like to continue your participation in the budget process. And more information can be found at sandiegocounty.gov slash budget. You can also follow us on social media for more updates. Thank you all again and good night.