City leaders face difficult tradeoffs as they navigate budget decisions. City tax revenue must cover essential services and infrastructure needs. At the same time, city government aims to fulfill legal obligations and environmental responsibilities, all while respecting the will of voters. Increasing Mission Bay’s vanishing wetlands uniquely meets all these criteria and constraints, using funds already earmarked by voters specifically for this purpose. San Diego voters passed Proposition C (2008) and Measure J (2016) creating a clear roadmap for Mission Bay Park Improvement Funds. Binding priorities in the City Charter Section 55.2 direct taxpayer investments first toward navigable waterways, then environmental restoration and protection, and last to deferred maintenance projects. These dedicated funds cannot be diverted to address any other citywide needs, no matter how pressing.
–Written by Jim Peugh, a founding member of the ReWild Coalition and conservation co-chair of the San Diego Bird Alliance, and Nan Renner, Ph.D., the senior director of strategic partnerships at Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.