Bridging the Gap isn't about speaking for the community—it's about making sure the community has the knowledge, confidence, language access, and opportunity to speak for itself.
County's Budget 27-28
Each year, the County of San Diego develops a two-year Recommended Operational Plan (County Budget) that outlines how public resources will be invested to provide services and address community priorities. Guided by the County's Five-Year Financial Forecast, the budgeting process begins months before the budget is adopted. From January through April, the County hosts budget workshops and community meetings to gather public input and identify priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. In May, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) releases the Recommended Budget, beginning the official public comment period. Throughout June, the Board of Supervisors conducts Public Budget Hearings before adopting the final budget.
In partnership with the County of San Diego, Little Saigon San Diego hosted a Vietnamese-language County Budget Focus Group to ensure Vietnamese residents could meaningfully participate in this important public process.
Understanding a government budget can be challenging, particularly for residents unfamiliar with the County's responsibilities, programs, and budgeting process. To help community members make informed decisions and provide meaningful feedback, Little Saigon translated budget materials, produced Vietnamese voiceovers for educational videos, and explained the County's areas of responsibility, public services, funding priorities, and how budget decisions affect both individual residents and the overall health and well-being of the community.
The focus group was only the beginning of the engagement process. Throughout the budget cycle, Little Saigon continued supporting Vietnamese residents by participating in County public meetings and community open houses, assisting with language access, helping residents submit online comments, preparing public testimony, and providing interpretation and accessibility support during Board of Supervisors meetings. These efforts enabled community members to remain engaged throughout the entire budgeting process—not just during a single meeting.
The County budget is one of the most direct ways residents can help shape the future of their community. By participating in the budgeting process, community members not only influence local priorities and services, but also gain a deeper understanding of how public budgets are developed at every level of government, from cities and counties to the state and federal government.
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FOOD JUSTICE Community Action Plan
In June 2024, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors directed the development of the Food Justice Community Action Plan (FJCAP) to identify actions the County could take to improve food access, reduce food insecurity, and strengthen collaboration with communities throughout San Diego County.
Developed by the County's Office of Sustainability and Environmental Justice (OSEJ), the plan was shaped through community roundtables, public engagement, and ongoing stakeholder input. The resulting action plan identifies strategies to support food sovereignty, strengthen community agriculture, expand nutrition education, improve access to medically tailored meals and "Food Farmacies," and build a more equitable local food system.
In partnership with the County of San Diego, Little Saigon San Diego hosted a Vietnamese-language focus group to ensure Vietnamese residents had an opportunity to participate in this countywide effort.
One of the greatest challenges was not the discussion itself, but creating a shared understanding of what Food Justice means. The concept is relatively unfamiliar within the Vietnamese community, and the commonly used Vietnamese translation is a direct translation that does not fully convey its intended meaning. Without a common understanding, meaningful participation becomes difficult.
To help bridge this gap, Little Saigon San Diego developed and published a series of educational articles before the focus group took place. Each article built upon the previous one, gradually introducing the concepts behind Food Justice through practical, everyday examples that connected with the lived experiences of Vietnamese residents. Rather than asking the community to respond to unfamiliar policy language, we first created opportunities for learning, reflection, and understanding.
That additional preparation made a meaningful difference. Participants arrived informed, engaged in thoughtful discussions, and understood why their voices mattered in shaping future policies and programs. Their feedback reflected not only personal experiences but also a broader understanding of how food access, health, culture, and community are connected.
Senate Bill 707
On October 3, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 707 (SB 707) into law, marking one of the most significant updates to the Ralph M. Brown Act in decades. Effective in 2026, SB 707 is intended to modernize public meetings, expand meaningful public participation, and encourage broader community engagement in local government.
As the County of San Diego prepared for these changes, it recognized that language and cultural barriers may prevent some residents from fully participating in the public process. To better understand these challenges within the Vietnamese community, the County partnered with Little Saigon San Diego to conduct Vietnamese-language focus groups with Vietnamese residents.
The focus groups were designed to identify barriers that may discourage or prevent meaningful participation in the County Board of Supervisors' public meetings, while also providing participants with practical information about County government. Community members learned about County services, how to navigate the County's website, the many ways to participate in Board of Supervisors meetings, and how to request free translation and interpretation services for public meetings.
To ensure meaningful participation, every aspect of the project was conducted in Vietnamese. Facilitators, discussion materials, note-taking, and supporting resources were provided in both Vietnamese and English, creating a culturally and linguistically accessible environment where participants could comfortably ask questions, share their experiences, and provide honest feedback.
By sharing their experiences, voicing their concerns, and identifying barriers to participation, Vietnamese residents played an important role in helping the County better understand the community's needs and improve the accessibility of its public engagement process. At the same time, residents gained a better understanding of County government, available services, and the many ways they can participate in decisions that affect their community.
Meaningful civic engagement requires participation from both government and the communities it serves. As public agencies continue working to make their processes more accessible, and residents continue sharing their voices and perspectives, together they move one step closer toward reducing barriers, closing gaps in civic participation, and building a more inclusive and representative community.
Trash Service
In response to Measure B, approved by San Diego voters in 2022, which amended the People's Ordinance of 1919 and authorized the City to establish a fee for residential waste and recycling collection services, the City of San Diego launched a comprehensive public engagement process to help determine a reasonable fee structure. The process evaluated the City's residential solid waste services, explored opportunities for service improvements, and gathered community input on the cost of providing these services.
The City conducted an extensive public engagement process that included dozens of community meetings, presentations, and events, gathering input from more than 10,000 residents and reaching an estimated 2.3 million people through multiple communication channels.
From the beginning of the public outreach effort, Little Saigon San Diego worked alongside the City of San Diego to help engage the Vietnamese community. Through our trusted community networks, we shared project information, encouraged residents to stay informed, and created meaningful opportunities for participation. Our outreach included promoting the citywide survey to affected residents, encouraging participation in Open House meetings and community events, helping community members attend City Council meetings to provide public comment, and reviewing outreach materials and videos to help ensure they were clear, culturally appropriate, and accessible to Vietnamese-speaking residents.
By helping bridge language and cultural barriers, more culturally and linguistically diverse residents had meaningful opportunities to understand the proposal, participate in the public engagement process, and contribute to decisions affecting their community.
Creative City
The City of San Diego's Creative City Cultural Plan is a 10-year roadmap that will help shape the future of arts, culture, and creativity across San Diego's diverse communities.
The plan establishes a shared vision and actionable strategies to strengthen San Diego's vibrant creative ecosystem, where arts and culture foster dialogue, drive development, and celebrate diversity—helping define San Diego as a global creative capital.
After nearly a year of community outreach and public engagement, the City of San Diego gathered public input from nearly 1,800 participants through more than 70 events and activities. However, it became apparent that participation from San Diego's Asian communities remained limited, despite Asian residents representing approximately 17.6% of the City's population.
Recognizing this gap, Price Philanthropies partnered with Little Saigon San Diego to help engage Vietnamese- and Chinese-speaking residents. Little Saigon hosted a community input workshop in Vietnamese and Chinese, providing a culturally and linguistically accessible opportunity for community members to learn about the Creative City Cultural Plan and share their perspectives.
The workshop generated 23 community responses, helping ensure that Vietnamese and Chinese voices became part of the public input that helped shape the City of San Diego's 10-year Creative City Cultural Plan.
