Supervisor Jim Desmond

Tomorrow my colleagues want the Board to approve $2.75 million with no deliverables. $1 million for "individual artists." $250,000 for "binational creative economy" projects nobody can define. $500,000 to one specific group in the City. Where is the money going? Who's getting it? What are we buying? That's not a budget. That's a blank check.

Tomorrow my colleagues want the County to bail out a program the City of San Diego chose to defund. The City cut its arts budget. They cut it because it wasn't a priority. They cut it because they've mismanaged their money for years. Now $500,000 of this proposal goes to one specific group in the City. That's not regional investment. That's a bailout. The County is not the City's ATM.

Same party runs the State. Same party runs the County. Same party runs the City. Same ideas. Same bills. Same results. Highest taxes in America. Highest gas prices. Highest cost of living. People leaving in record numbers.

This is a black mark on San Diego. Everyone here knows it's been a problem for decades. The state hasn't fixed it. Politicians have thrown money at it. Nothing changes. It only stops when Mexico is held accountable. The federal government is finally stepping up. In the next few years, San Diegans should be able to enjoy our beaches again.

California has the highest gas tax in America. The highest income tax in America. Some of the worst roads in America. A $35 billion structural deficit. 1.4 million people who left since 2020. One party has held the Governor's office, the Assembly, and the Senate the entire time. This is not bad luck. This is the policy.

$2.75 million in County taxpayer dollars. That's what two of my colleagues want to spend on a new arts bureaucracy. $1.5 million in cash grants to "individual artists." $500,000 headed straight to one neighborhood in the City of San Diego. Look at what the City looks like right now. Flooded streets. Closed libraries. Encampments the City refuses to clear. When the floods hit Southcrest and Mountain View, the County opened the shelters and cut the checks. We bailed the City out because the City couldn't do its job. Now they want us to do it again. That money could put more deputies on patrol, cut fire breaks before the next wildfire, and fund psychiatric beds for the fentanyl crisis killing our kids. I am not against arts and culture. I am against the County bailing out a City that won't govern itself.

Democrat politicians just voted to give themselves more time in office. Three of my colleagues on the Board voted to extend our term limits from two to three. I voted no. In 2010, 68% of voters set our limits at two. We all ran knowing the rules. Now they want to rewrite the deal for themselves. That's not reform. That's self-dealing. They buried it in a package with ethics rules and auditors, knowing a straight extension would never pass. If they believed in it, they'd have applied it to future Supervisors only. Not one was willing. We're hearing this item one more time on May 19th. We have a chance to stop it. Write your Supervisor. Tell them no.

Diapers cost hundreds of dollars a month. For a young family, that's groceries. That's gas. That's rent. So we're doing something about it. Join me Saturday, May 9th at 10 AM for a FREE Diaper Drive. Pick up diapers, meet your neighbors, no strings attached. Sign up 👉 SupervisorJimDesmond.com/DiaperDrive

San Diego City Council: 9-0, one party, four years. The results: $146 million budget deficit Paid parking at Balboa Park New trash fees Library and rec center cuts Arts funding slashed from $14M to $2M 62% of city voters say we are on the wrong track. Elections have consequences.

New CBS News/YouGov California poll just dropped. 70% of Californians say the cost of living where they live is unmanageable. In 2021, that number was 61%. Things are not getting better. They are getting worse. And one party has run this state the entire time.

We have the highest gas taxes in America. Some of the worst roads in America. A $35 billion structural state deficit. 1.4 million Californians have left for other states since 2020. This is what happens when one party runs everything for a decade. California needs balance. California needs accountability. California needs a real exchange of ideas before it is too late.

Evacuation Orders have been issued for Zones SDC-0100, SDC-0101, & SDC-0102 on the Genasys Evacuation Map. These zones can also be viewed on the Watch Duty map.

Our crews are on scene of a vegetation fire in the area of the 2500 block of Live Oak Park Road in Fallbrook.

Yesterday I stood with the firefighters of Vista Fire Rescue at the grand opening of Station 3. These are the people who run toward danger when the rest of us run away. They deserve modern stations, modern equipment, and a government that funds them first, not last. Politicians in Sacramento and right here at the County spend recklessly, then turn around and threaten to cut police, fire, and paramedics unless you agree to another tax hike. That is backwards. Public safety is not a bargaining chip. It is the first job of government. You fund the firefighters first. The cops first. The paramedics first. Then you figure out the rest with what's left, just like every family in this district has to do at their own kitchen table. Congratulations to Vista Fire Rescue on Station 3. North County is safer because of you.

Yesterday, three of my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors voted to put a measure on your ballot to extend their own term limits from two terms to three. Sitting politicians. Voting to give themselves more time in office. I voted NO. In 2010, 68% of San Diegans voted to limit Supervisors to two terms. We all ran knowing the rules. Now they want to rewrite the deal — and they buried it inside a package with ethics reforms and auditors, hoping you wouldn't notice. If a third term were really good policy, they could've applied it to future Supervisors only. Nobody was willing to do that. That tells you everything. Below are part of my comments at the Board meeting.

Balboa Park — the heart of San Diego — is losing visitors. Museum attendance is down. Families are staying home. Small businesses are hurting. Why? Because our 9-0 Democrat City Council decided the fix for their own budget mismanagement was to charge working San Diegans to park at a public park. Policy after policy, this Council has shown they'd rather squeeze residents than balance a budget. Balboa Park shouldn't be a piggy bank for City Hall's incompetence.

Sitting politicians voting to give themselves more time in office, and dressing it up as reform. That's what happened today. Now this Board wants to rewrite the rules and hand themselves a third term. If anyone truly believed in this on its merits, they'd exempt themselves and apply it to future Boards. Nobody is willing to do that. That tells you everything. And they buried it. The term limit extension is sandwiched between an ethics commission, independent auditors, and fiscal transparency, good ideas I support, none of which require a charter amendment. It's on the ballot for one reason: to give cover to the term limit extension. Even the ballot question is written to mislead. It asks voters to "set" term limits at three. Term limits are already set. The honest word is "expand." I voted no. I'll keep saying no. And I trust the voters of San Diego County to see this for what it is.

Politicians extending their own term limits isn't reform. It's self-preservation.

Quick heads-up. We've got a Board meeting today, and two items I'll be focused on. 1. Using your tax dollars to fight deportation cases. Two of my colleagues want San Diego County to partner with the Mexican Consulate to fund legal defense for people here illegally, run through our libraries, health clinics, and social services offices. I believe in due process. Every person in this country has constitutional rights. But that's not the same as a taxpayer-funded operation, coordinated with the Mexican Consulate, to help people avoid federal law. San Diegans didn't break the immigration system. The previous administration did. 2. Extending term limits, proposed by the people who'd get the extra years. In 2010, more than 70,000 of you signed petitions by hand to put term limits on this Board. 68% of voters said yes. Two terms. Eight years. That was the deal. Today, two Supervisors want to put a measure on the ballot extending their own terms to twelve years. Proposed by the people who'd get the extra four. I'm not arguing eight versus twelve. I'm arguing about who gets to ask the question. If folks want the rules changed, do it the way voters did in 2010. Gather signatures and make the case to your neighbors. Not from the dais. I ran under the current rules. So did everyone up there. I'll keep you updated on our meeting!

In 2010, San Diego County voters capped Supervisor terms at 8 years. 68% said yes. 70,000 neighbors signed petitions by hand to put it on the ballot. That rule came from the people. This Tuesday, 3 Supervisors will vote to extend their OWN term limits from 8 to 12 years. Yes, it goes to the voters. But there's a difference between a citizen movement and 3 officials writing their own rules from inside the building. Every one of them ran under the current rules. That was the deal. You don't win under one set of rules and then vote yourself a longer stay. If they really think 12 years is better, there's an honest path. The same one voters used in 2010. Gather signatures. Make the case. Let the people carry it. Anything else is officials voting on their own jobs.