{"id":2522278,"date":"2025-12-17T15:39:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T20:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/san-diego-city-overtime-increased-despite-a-89m-deficit\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T15:43:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T20:43:25","slug":"san-diego-city-overtime-increased-despite-a-89m-deficit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/san-diego-city-overtime-increased-despite-a-89m-deficit\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego city overtime increased despite a $89M deficit"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsan-diego-city-overtime-increased-despite-a-89m-deficit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2522278&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Between 2019 and 2024, San Diego city&#8217;s overtime payments increased by 65%, despite facing a notable budget deficit projected to reach $89 million for teh upcoming fiscal year. An investigation revealed that the number of city employees earning over $100,000 solely in overtime almost doubled during this period, with first responders comprising the vast majority of these high earners. Mayor Todd Gloria has ordered a halt to non-essential overtime to address the budget shortfall, but the effectiveness of this measure is uncertain given the large overtime expenditures among public safety personnel. critics, including former city council member Carl DeMaio, argue that excessive overtime is used to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >circumvent costly pension expenses<\/a>, leading to taxpayer waste and potential compromises in public safety. Additionally, tensions exist between the mayor and city council regarding budget cuts and staffing decisions. The highest overtime earners in 2024 each made more than $250,000 from overtime alone, highlighting concerns over overtime management amid fiscal challenges.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">San Diego city overtime increased 65% 2019-2024 despite a $89M deficit<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2447710\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash; Overtime paid by the City of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/san-diego\/\">San Diego<\/a> increased&nbsp;65% between 2019 and 2024, city records show, while the number of city <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jobs\/\">employees<\/a> earning $100,000 or more in just overtime nearly doubled, an investigation by The Center Square found.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The city faces a $18.1 million&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sandiego.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2025-12\/25-37-review-of-the-fy-2026-first-quarter-budget-monitoring-report_1.pdf\">shortfall<\/a>&nbsp;for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/most-of-bidens-1-9-trillion-coronavirus-relief-bill-has-nothing-to-do-with-public-health\/\" title=\"Most Of Biden\u2019s .9 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill Has Nothing To Do With Public Health\">current fiscal year<\/a>. City of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/voiceofsandiego.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Memorandum-FY-2026-Budget-Mitigation-Actions-FY-2027-Budget-Development-Guidelines.pdf\">ordering<\/a>&nbsp;a halt to non-essential overtime, but the city still projects a deficit of at least $89 million for the next year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3924289\/joe-concha-susie-wiles-vanity-fair-interview\/\">Wiles&rsquo;s interview was an attempt to put Trump administration &lsquo;in the proper light&rsquo;: Joe Concha<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3924300\/scott-bessent-ray-dalio-donate-trump-accounts\/\">Bessent announces hedge fund manager Ray Dalio will personally donate to &#8216;Trump accounts&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3924352\/watch-live-trump-first-lady-dignified-transfer-ceremony\/\">WATCH LIVE: Trump and first lady participate in dignified transfer ceremony<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Gloria&rsquo;s order targeted &ldquo;overtime that does not directly impact core City services or create public safety or health issues.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s unclear how much of an impact the order will have given first responders&rsquo; prominence in overtime reports.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>First responders were 208 out of 211 city employees who earned more than $100,000 in overtime in 2024. Two of the other three work for the city&rsquo;s water system. A third is a street lighting technician. The city&rsquo;s top five overtime earners in 2024 each earned more than $250,000 in overtime alone last year.<\/p>\n<p>California State Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, who previously served on San Diego City Council, said officials justify the use of overtime by citing high pension costs from having more first responders. The overtime comes at the expense of public safety, taxpayers and the first responders themselves, he said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Public safety is compromised while taxpayer money is wasted. If they actually did proper staffing and cracked down on overtime abuse, you&rsquo;d have fresher, more well rested police and fire, and we&rsquo;d have more police and fire personnel, not fewer,&rdquo; said DeMaio in an interview with The Center Square.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The justification for why they want overtime [over hiring more personnel]is, well, the pension benefits are lavish and they&rsquo;re expensive, we save money by giving people a quarter million dollars in overtime,&rdquo; DeMaio said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re fleecing us in both pockets: they get massive golden parachute pensions that are astronomically expensive, and then they use that to justify the massive payouts of overtime &mdash; it&rsquo;s an absolute scam, and the politicians allow it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>According to City Councilmember Vivian Moreno, who serves as vice chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, Gloria has refused to enact millions of dollars of job cuts passed by city council as part of this year&rsquo;s budget. The mayor&rsquo;s office says the cuts aren&rsquo;t being enacted to ensure compliance or meet &ldquo;critical priorities,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;These collectively carry a cost of over $1.5 million and I am confused about why these positions continue to be funded because they were reduced in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-one-of-six-states-with-long-term-deficits-study-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Illinois one of six states with long-term ...s: Study - Washington Examiner\">fiscal year &#038;lsquo<\/a>;26 budget,&rdquo; said Moreno in the committee&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/sandiego.granicus.com\/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=53\">latest<\/a>&nbsp;December 10 hearing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The administration has identified them as critical to city operations in order to implement compliance strategies or in order for us to ensure there is a proper management structure to move forward with the city&rsquo;s critical priorities,&rdquo; responded Gloria&rsquo;s Director of Policy Matt Yagyagan at the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Deputy City Attorney Brett Parlato noted that, should the city council not find the mayor&rsquo;s enactment of its budget to be satisfactory, they can summon the mayor for answers. If those answers prove unsatisfactory, the mayor can be voted to be removed for dereliction of duty.<\/p>\n<p>Gloria&rsquo;s order also requires official requests to fill vacant positions and suspends discretionary spending. It orders another zero-based review of external contracts, though with a similar such review ordered last year as well, the review&rsquo;s results may be limited.<\/p>\n<p>Gloria&rsquo;s office did not respond to repeated phone and email media inquiries from The Center Square. Moreno&rsquo;s office initially stated it was working on a response, but later declined to do so. None of the below city staff or their respective media contacts returned requests for interviews and comment.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the city employees who received the most overtime in the 2024 calendar year:<\/p>\n<p>1. Fire Captain Jason Hewitt, $274,721<\/p>\n<p>Hewitt also earned $53,131 in regular pay, $7,430 in lump sum pay, and $30,000 in &ldquo;other&rdquo; pay, for a grand total of $365,282.<\/p>\n<p>2. Fire Engineer Eric Dunnick,&nbsp;$260,139<\/p>\n<p>Dunnick&rsquo;s regular pay was $45,158. He also received $23,824 in lump sum pay, and $89,311 in &ldquo;other&rdquo; pay, adding up to $418,431.<\/p>\n<p>3. Fire Captain Jeffrey Cheek,&nbsp;$254,070<\/p>\n<p>Cheek was paid $54,893 in regular pay, and $19,888 in &ldquo;other pay,&rdquo; or $328,851 in all.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>4. Police Sergeant Gary Mondesir,&nbsp;$252,343<\/p>\n<p>Mondesir earned $136,783 in regular pay, $41,524 in lump sum pay, and $20,417 in &ldquo;other pay&rdquo;&nbsp;&mdash; $451,065 overall.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/3920072\/intifada-globalized-bondi-beach-anti-semitism\/\">HUGO GURDON: THE INTIFADA, GLOBALIZED<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>5. Police Officer Jason Costanza,&nbsp;$251,665<\/p>\n<p>Costanza&rsquo;s regular pay of $112,615, lump sum pay of $20,411, $24,969 in &ldquo;other pay,&rdquo; and overtime provided for total compensation of $409,660 in 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>San Diego city overtime rose 65% from 2019-2024 despite $89M deficit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2869,"featured_media":2522279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/37cd4545fc72827853c25c87dbc1efad-scaled.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[68981,42875,68980,68982,46595],"class_list":["post-2522278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-89m-deficit","tag-budget-deficit","tag-city-overtime","tag-municipal-finances","tag-san-diego"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/37cd4545fc72827853c25c87dbc1efad-scaled.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2522278"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2522282,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522278\/revisions\/2522282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2522279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2522278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2522278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2522278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}