Just as the full Council returned from legislative recess this week, so have its policy committees. The Budget and Government Efficiency Committee and the Rules Committee both meet on Wednesday, while the Environment Committee meets on Thursday.

For background on the agenda items mentioned here, click on the agenda, then click on the item and find the staff report and supporting documents over on the right. Committee meetings take place on the 12th floor of City Hall, 202 C St., Downtown. You can watch them on Channel 24 on Spectrum and Cox cable, or stream them on CityTV.

Budget and Government Efficiency Committee -- Wednesday, March 11

The agenda for the Budget Committee, chaired by Council President pro Tem Barbara Bry, kicks off with a proposal from the Purchasing and Contracting Department to make 17 language changes to the Municipal Code relating to procurement. The purpose would be to get rid of language referring to obsolete processes, update language to reflect current realities, clarify and add new definitions, etcetera. Think of this as Purchasing and Contracting doing some general maintenance and spring cleaning.

Next, the committee will entertain a request from the Fleet Operations Department to replace 38 firefighting vehicles with shiny new models, at a cost of up to $58.5 million over the next four years. The contract would be with South Coast Fire Equipment for vehicles built by Pierce Manufacturing. Here are the vehicles that would be replaced, when they'd be replaced, and how much each would cost:

Lastly, Fleet Operations would also like the committee to endorse its request to enter into a five-year contract with Parkhouse Tire to provide tires, tire maintenance, recapping, tire inspections, and tire installation services to the City’s fleet of 138 refuse and recycling collection trucks. Parkhouse outbid two other companies for the contract, which would not exceed $4,226,927 over the five-year term.

The meeting starts at 9 a.m.

Rules Committee -- Wednesday, March 11

The agenda for the Rules Committee, chaired by Council President Georgette Gómez, is limited to consideration of two proposed ballot measures.

The first one would issue general obligation bonds to to finance the construction of affordable and permanent supportive housing. In January, the City Council took the first step on this measure, approving what's known as a "resolution of necessity," which makes legal and factual findings that the public interest demands the acquisition and construction of affordable housing for vulnerable populations in the city. Up for discusson on Wednesday is whether the City Attorney’s office should be tasked with conducting a legal analysis and drafting bond measure language.

The second one is a ballot measure proposed by Councilmembers Chris Cate and Vivian Moreno. In 2016, San Diego voters approved Measure E, which allows the City Council to initiate an election to remove the mayor, the city attorney, or a Council member if that person is convicted of a serious crime or found to be physically or mentally incapacitated, or if there has been a dereliction of duty. Councilmembers Cate and Moreno's proposal would make it so that members of the San Diego Unified School District's Board of Education are also subject to that process.

The meeting starts at 2 p.m.

Environment Committee -- Thursday, March 12

The agenda for the Environment Committee meeting also has but two items up for discussion.

The first is a proposal from the city's Environmental Services Department to raise the fee that refuse haulers pay to dump recyclable materials at the Miramar Landfill. The increase would be $2 per ton on July 1, 2020, and another $2 per ton on July 1, 2021. The fee is authorized under AB 939, the landmark 1989 law that regulates the management and diversion of solid waste in California. The proposal to increase the fee was prompted by recycling-processing costs associated with recent major changes in the international recycling market, particularly in China, which has established new restrictions that reduced the volume of recycled waste it buys.

Secondly, the committee will review its work plan for 2020, which is generated from input by committee members.

The meeting starts at 1 p.m.

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