SUPERVISORS REVERSE TRADITION, REFUSE TO HOLD EVENING MEETING ON BUDGET FOR WORKING PEOPLE TO ATTEND

By Miriam Raftery

February 13, 2018 (San Diego) – If you work days and can’t get time off, four of the five San Diego County Supervisors don’t believe you should have an opportunity to testify on the County’s proposed budget

“I don’t want to sit here at night,” Supervisor Bill Horn stated in response to a proposal by Supervisor Greg Cox to schedule a special evening meeting on the budget, which the County has done in the past.

But Cox was unable to muster up any support from his colleagues on the board, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Supervisor Kristin Gaspar, the newest member of the board, blamed Service Employees International Union for supporting an evening meeting. Gaspar, who is running for the Congressional seat that Darrell Issa will vacate through retirement, noted that technology has enabled online comments to be submitted.

However, delivering opinions on the budget through in-person testimony to your elected officials on the Board of Supervisors is now an option only for those able to go downtown during business hours, the board majority made clear.

Four of the five Supervisors have served together on the board for decades, but that will soon change, due to term limits that will force two of them out of office after the 2018 elections and two more after voters cast their ballots in 2020.