Three of the Council's committees -- Budget and Government Efficiency and Active Transportation and Infrastructure, and Land Use and Housing -- are meeting this week, taking up 14 different policy matters for action or discussion. 

If you'd like more detail on anything summarized here, click the agenda, then click on the item. Over on the right side of the page, you'll see links to a staff report and other pieces of supporting material.

Budget and Government Efficiency Committee -- Wednesday, Oct. 14

The Budget Committee meeting, chaired by Council President pro Tem Barbara Bry, begins at 9 a.m. The agenda consists of four items:

• Year-End Financial Performance Report: How did the City actually do financially from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020, compared with how the Finance Department projected it would do? We'll find out.


• Cooperative Agreements for Cellular Equipment and Services: The City's Department of Information Technology will ask the committee to consider a proposal to reach cooperative agreements with Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile for as-needed wireless services, which the City needs to support code compliance, graffiti removal, weed abatement, pothole repairs, library operations, parks and recreation operations, work orders, public-safety operations and applications, and the Get It Done app. This cooperative agreement is facilitated through the National Association of State Procurement Officials and initiated by the state of Utah. The cost would top out at $20 million for a period spanning from Jan. 1, 2021, to June 30, 2024.


• Cooperative Procurement Agreement for Radio System Infrastructure Network Equipment and Services: And speaking of cooperative agreements, the City currently has one with Motorola Solutions, led by the Houston-Galveston Area Council of Governments, to maintain our emergency public safety radio system (think 911). The current contract expires in March 2021, and the IT Department would like the committee to bless a proposal to re-up for five years and $25 million.


• City Treasurer's Investment Policy and Delegation of Authority to Invest Funds: The state allows the San Diego City Council to invest City funds and sell or exchange securities. In turn, the Council is allowed to hand this authority over to the City Treasurer for one year at a time. Each year, the Council most act to grant this authority and bless the Treasurer's Investment Policy. This year, the Treasurer is proposing five changes to the policy, which the Budget Committee will review before this item goes to the full Council.

Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee -- Wednesday, Oct. 14

The ATI Committee meeting, chaired by Councilmember Mark Kersey, begins at 2 p.m. The agenda comprises two consent items that will likely be approved without discussion, as well as these four action or information items:

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  CIP Budget Adjustments: The City's Engineering and Capital Projects Department (ECP) needs $8 million more than is currently budgeted to complete five emergency storm-drain repairs around town. The department proposes to take the money from other transportation projects to solve the problem. In addition to those, there are Parks and Recreation, Public Utilities, and Transportation Department projects that need funding. ECP staff is proposing to move money to and from various pots to fill those gaps.

  
  


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  Construction Change Orders for CIP Projects: ECP staff will also propose construction change orders totaling $4.7 million for three ongoing projects -- tunneling for a water main in Sorrento Valley, roadway resurfacing and bike improvements along 30th Street, and water-main installation in La Jolla.

  
  


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  Unimproved Streets and Alleys: Councilmember Vivian Moreno has proposed changes to City policies governing maintenance of unimproved (dirt) streets and alleys. Specifically, she would like to change Council Resolution No. 107424, which specifically excludes City employees from working on dirt streets and alleys, and Council Policy 200-01, which outlines who is financially responsible for maintaining and constructing various types of streets in San Diego but does not mention unimproved streets or alleys.

  
  

The ATI Committee discussed Councilmember Moreno's proposal on July 29 and asked staff from relevant departments to work with her staff to conduct financial and legal analysis of the proposed changes and return to committee within 45 days with the findings.

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  State of the Capital Improvement Program Report: How are things with the City's Capital Improvements Program? We'll find out.

  
  

Land Use and Housing Committee -- Thursday, Oct. 15

The LU&H Committee meeting, chaired by Councilmember Chris Ward, begins at 1 p.m. The agenda contains one consent item that will probably be approved without discussion, as well as these six action or information items:

• Rezone for Tailgate Park: The City wants to transform half of Tailgate Park from a parking lot to a mixed-use development full of jobs and housing. The area in question is two blocks bounded by Imperial Avenue to the south, 14th Street to the east, K Street to the north, and 13th Street to the west. To make that happen, the Council will need to rezone the land. The LU&H Committee will get the first look-see.


• Disposition of City-Owned Property: The City's Real Estate Assets Department is proposing a series of clarifying updates to Council Policy 700-10, which governs management, leasing, and sale of City-owned property. Also proposed is the repeal of Council Policy 700-12, which establishes criteria for leasing property to nonprofit organizations but will no longer be necessary because those criteria will be added to Policy 700-10.


• Declaration of City-Owned Properties as Surplus Land: Speaking of City-owned property, Real Estate Assets staff is proposing to deem 11 different pieces of City-owned property unnecessary for municipal use and, therefore, surplus. The City must officially and publicly declare land as surplus before it can sell or lease it. Three of the parcels are in Linda Vista; the others are in Encanto, Rancho Bernardo, Navajo, San Ysidro, Grant Hill, Logan Heights, Otay Mesa West, and City Heights.


• Sale of Cortez Hill Family Shelter: And speaking of selling City-owned property that's been declared surplus land and therefore ripe for the selling, Real Estate Assets staff is also proposing to sell the vacant Cortez Hill Family Shelter, located at 1449 Ninth Ave. (pictured), to the affordable housing developer Community Housing Works (CHW). The plan is for CHW to buy the property for the appraised value of $11,593, demolish the three-story building, and build a new one with somewhere between 75 and 110 affordable apartments -- 44 of which would be reserved for households earning 30 percent of area median income or less.


• Age Friendly Initiative: In 2019, San Diego became part of the AARP’s Livable Communities Network. Since then, the City’s Parks and Recreation Department has spearheaded the Age Friendly San Diego initiative, partnering with The San Diego Foundation, Live Well San Diego, AARP, and San Diego State University’s Social Policy Institute to better understand the community’s perceptions and concerns regarding San Diego's capacity to serve an aging society. The committee will get an update on how that's going.


• Land Development Code Update: This item is a sort of spring cleaning, except it's fall and this isn't about your garage or your closets. It's about the City's Land Development Code, which establishes rules and regulations for the development and use of property in San Diego. The City's Planning Department is proposing 46 different changes to the code that make corrections, streamline processes, create new regulations, and ensure compliance with state law. Two rezones are also proposed for the Downtown area.

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Anyone can participate in these virtual meetings and make comments by dialing 619-541-6310 and entering the access code 877861 followed by # when the item you're interested in comes up (full call-in instructions). Watch the meetings on cable TV channel 24 or AT&T channel 99, or stream them online.

Next up will be a post on the full City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 20.

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