DATE:
6/25/2026
10
TO:
Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT
Title
SECOND CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE:
MODERNIZING THE SAN DIEGO COUNTY CHARTER TO STRENGTHEN TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND INDEPENDENT OVERSIGHT (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
On May 19, 2026 (24), the Board of Supervisors took action to further consider and adopt the Ordinance on June 25, 2026.
San Diego County has grown into one of the largest and most complex county governments in the nation, managing more than $8.6 billion in annual public spending and delivering essential services to over 3.3 million residents. With that scale comes an even greater responsibility to ensure public dollars are used effectively and decisions reflect the needs of the people we serve. As the County has grown, public expectations for transparency, accountability, and independent oversight have grown as well, yet the County's governing framework has not kept pace with that reality.
For many years, community organizations, civic leaders, and residents across the region have consistently called for greater transparency, clearer performance reporting, and stronger independent oversight of County decision-making. Together, these concerns make it harder for the public to understand how decisions are made, whether programs are working, and how their tax dollars are being spent. These concerns point to a widening gap between the scale and complexity of County government today and the oversight systems designed to ensure accountability to the public.
Key decisions affecting County budgets, programs, and service delivery are often shaped through internal staff-level analysis, with limited independent capacity to verify assumptions, evaluate performance, or assess policy alternatives. This creates two related challenges: it makes it harder for the public to clearly understand how decisions are made and how public dollars are spent, and it limits the ability of the Board of Supervisors, acting on behalf of...
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