Hi Neighbors,

As the holiday season approaches and the year comes to a close, we look forward to the opportunities to gather as a community and to cherish time with our families. Our office’s work to serve our residents doesn’t stop this time of year – especially as we are already looking toward next year’s critical budget cycle. 

As many of you might recall, this year, my Council colleagues and I came together to adopt a budget that reduced cuts to numerous core services that the public fought for. Through the override of several Mayoral vetoes, the adopted Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Budget included the restoration of all recreation center hours, Monday hours at many libraries, access to lakes, as well as key funding for community events and cultural partners. 

This has been a challenging year for many San Diegans – from rising costs of living to uncertain economic outlooks – and we remain proud of our record of fighting for both our communities as well as the City’s needs when faced with difficult decisions. We especially recognize that residents continue to seek improvements to our core City services as well as permanent solutions to solve the underinvestment in our Citywide infrastructure. With these issues in mind, my recent budget memo emphasized the need to receive consistent updates on the implementation of the FY 2026 budget before sharing my budget priorities, mitigation strategies, and potential funding sources.  

I remain committed to advancing important projects throughout the District in the year ahead, and I plan on submitting a comprehensive list of District 6 priorities for FY 2027 in January 2026. With that in mind, I am gathering input from as many constituents as possible to ensure the Proposed Budget is responsive to our community's needs. Please share your feedback here: sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd6/budget. 

Heading into the holiday season, I want to acknowledge that enduring the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history has created many real and difficult impacts on our community, and many of our neighbors may be in need of help. Please continue reading below for details on how residents can sign up for our District 6 Turkey Distribution event on November 23rd and our annual Trees for Troops event on December 6th. Please feel free to share these opportunities with any families who may need them this season. We hope that these events will help maintain joy and connectivity in our community, and we look forward to seeing many of you at community gatherings in the month ahead.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season, 

Councilmember Kent Lee