San Diego’s Fil-Am mayor to lead California’s Big City Mayors coalition

The influential bipartisan group composed of the mayors of the 13 largest cities in California by population recently selected San Diego’s Mayor Todd Gloria as its leader. SD.GOV

SAN DIEGO, California – California’s Big City Mayors selected San Diego’s Filipino American mayor to lead the statewide coalition in 2023 and 2024.

The influential bipartisan group composed of the mayors of the 13 largest cities in California by population recently selected San Diego’s Mayor Todd Gloria as its leader. The coalition is composed of the mayors of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, Oakland, Bakersfield, Anaheim, Stockton, Riverside and Irvine.

In assuming this new role in statewide leadership Gloria has opted not to seek the chairmanship at the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and supports County Supervisor Nora Vargas for the role.

“California’s cities face daunting challenges, and I’m humbled by the trust my colleagues in the Big City Mayors Coalition have placed in me to lead them,” Mayor Todd Gloria said in a press statement.

“Since taking office, I’ve worked with the Big City Mayors coalition to secure funding to get thousands of people off the streets into housing and to pass the Governor’s CARE Court proposal, enacting badly needed reform to the state’s mental health system. I’m committed to working with federal and state leaders to leverage our voice to get results on homelessness, housing costs, and mental health for all Californians.”

The Big City Mayors Coalition represent nearly 11 million residents in the state, more than a quarter of its population. The bipartisan coalition was successful over the last several years in securing dedicated funding to address homelessness in the state’s big cities through California’s Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program.

The group will continue to strengthen HHAP’s focus on accountability for the funding that goes to cities, counties and continuums of care, highlighting the successes cities are having with the funding and conveying the need for continued investment at the local level to help the state address its most critical challenge.

The coalition also was a powerful voice in securing federal pandemic relief and economic recovery funding for cities, ensuring continuity of critical neighborhood services and positioning California’s residents and businesses on a path to faster recovery.

It was also a driving force in pushing for the passage of SB 1338 (Umberg) last year, the bill that carried Governor Newsom’s CARE Act, to reform California’s approach to mental health to help people struggling with mental illness access services.

Additionally, the group secured a dedicated allocation through the state’s CaliforniansForAll Youth Jobs Corps program to fund public-service job opportunities for underserved youth ages 16 to 30, engaging them in the workforce.