Voting Our Values – Prioritizing San Diegans’ Needs

By Rebecca Bowman, ACLU-SDIC volunteer

I’m a new member of the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties’ (ACLU-SDIC) advancing justice (AJ) volunteer steering committee, an evolution of my activism with this organization. Over the years, I’ve volunteered with the ACLU-SDIC during election seasons to get out the vote and bring attention to specific ballot initiatives I am passionate about.

I was motivated to join the AJ volunteer steering committee to take on a more meaningful role with a multiracial collective of San Diegans committed to strategic activism for addressing issues with the criminal legal system within our region. Our team recognizes that San Diego’s municipal governments were established and evolved in the early 1900s, during a time when “We the People” was narrowly defined as the white, non-Jewish, heterosexual and cisgender population.

The idea that our system is a meritocracy, where people hold power on the sole basis of their hard work and ability, is a harmful myth which completely disregards the systemic inequality engrained in the foundation of our country. Any one of our loved ones can fall through the cracks of the existing, but insufficient, social support systems. I’ve seen firsthand how these systems built on inequality negatively impact all of us.

My sister, who is paraplegic, is an amazingly resourceful and loving single mom. She spent countless years on the waiting list for subsidized housing due to the inadequacy of social support systems. When my dad needed care, the conditions in his Medi-Cal-funded nursing home were so bad, we opted to care for him at home. When my brother was incarcerated, I had to pay a for-profit company to speak with him on the phone, and often the phones didn’t work. Additionally, my family and I faced unnecessarily difficult hurdles when visiting my brother, making an already challenging experience more stressful.

When the needs of the community are not prioritized, we all suffer the consequences. Understanding the way these systems work is crucial to creating the change our communities need.

This summer, the ACLU-SDIC advancing justice volunteer steering committee hosted County 101 events where we presented information on San Diego County’s structure and budget. Participants were invited to reflect on county services that make us feel safe and supported. Members of the community came together in a lush backyard in Bay Park, a senior center in La Mesa and a library in Ramona, where we enjoyed a meal and connected with our regional neighbors.

The event included an activity were we each “allocated” funds to public-facing county departments and compared the resulting, combined “People’s Budget” with the actual current budget allocation for San Diego County. Facilitating the County 101 meetups confirmed for me that San Diegans crave civic engagement, will show up for each other and want their county representatives to invest in our communities.

Facilitating the County 101 events was a profound personal reminder that although our communities are impacted by federal policies and budgetary decisions, many of the services and facilities that can create a flourishing community are funded at the local level. Our local system of policing and incarceration was not designed for the safety and well-being of all San Diegans. It was designed to enforce systemic inequality. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors holds significant power in shaping our county’s future. They make key budgetary decisions that can either address systemic injustices or perpetuate them.

Our County 101 presentations highlighted that prior to 2018, four deeply entrenched supervisors had been in office for more than 20 years. During this time, they rarely used their power to meet the needs of many of their constituents. With the passage of Measure B, supervisors are now limited to two four-year terms. Measure B’s term limits were critical in reshaping the makeup of the board.

With the opportunity Measure B presented, voters showed up in 2020 and voted their values. Now, our current board better reflects San Diego County’s diversity and is more responsive to the community’s needs.

With three of the five county supervisor offices on the ballot this year, we encouraged County 101 participants to once again vote their values, as having supervisors who share our values is critical in securing services people need to thrive. And it’s equally important in eliminating programs that harm county residents.

This year’s election is one of the most important in our lifetime. This is why we’re bringing the “People’s Budget” and the values voiced at the County 101 events to our next big event on October 5 in Sorrento Valley: Vote Your Values | The (True) Price of “Public Safety.”

At the event, the ACLU-SDIC will share information on why voting our values and voting down the ballot are essential to protecting people’s rights in San Diego County and key statewide ballot measures that will impact the future of marriage equality, forced labor and mass incarceration. We encourage you to join us and stay connected to the ACLU-SDIC community.

I look forward to our October 5 event and voting my values in the November election!

Paid for by the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties