San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria took a decisive step to address the city's looming budget deficit by rolling out a new plan to streamline operations and cut costs. In a move announced earlier today, Gloria outlined a series of consolidations and spending reductions detailed in a statement provided by the City of San Diego. The plan is projected to save over $5 million and minimize the impact on public services.
Embracing the role of a fiscal hawk, Mayor Gloria has meticulously reviewed the city's finances along with the Department of Finance and department heads. His mission is to strategically identify areas that can immediately generate savings without adversely affecting essential services provided to residents. "The measures I am enacting today will significantly cut costs, enhance efficiency and reflect a full implementation of the Strong Mayor form of government," Mayor Gloria stressed in his announcement, as per the City of San Diego. This series of cuts includes eliminating redundant positions and consolidating departments not just to balance the books but to keep critical city services operational.
The mayor is set to absorb the role and responsibilities of City Manager, a move that eliminates the need for a Chief Operating Officer and directly impacts how the Executive Team operates, now reporting straight to the mayor himself. In gratitude for his services, Mayor Gloria extended thanks to the outgoing COO, Eric Dargan. Subsequent consolidations will see the merging of the Mayor’s Office with other administrative branches, resulting in the reduction of five unclassified positions, equating to an annual savings of more than $925,000.
Additional reorganizations include assimilating various departments into existing city divisions. The work of the Sustainability and Mobility Department will now be spread across several areas, namely City Planning and Transportation, allowing the effective reduction of seven vacant positions, which is touted to save at least $914,000 annually. Similarly, transformational steps have been taken with departments focused on equity and culture. By shifting functions to the Department of Human Resources, the city estimates an annual savings of over $460,000. Moreover, further streamlining comes with the Mayor's broader strategy to reduce the number of unclassified management positions by 16, slated to save $2.8 million.
