Hey there, San Diego. Two committees in action for your public-policy pleasure on Wednesday, Feb. 5 -- the Budget and Government Efficiency Committee and the Rules Committee. 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, Feb. 5

First up on the B&GE Committee agenda is a combo item -- a mid-year budget assessment and a fee waiver for sidewalk repairs. The mid-year report, assembled by the city's Department of Finance, assesses five months of actual spending and revenue-collection data, and uses statistical projections to predict what will happen in the final seven months of the fiscal year. The committee will consider certain budgetary adjustments recommended by the Department of Finance to keep things ship-shape.

One of those proposed adjustments is a complete waiver of fees that property owners pay when they want to repair the sidewalk in front of their property. The City has been paying out too many settlements stemming from trip-and-fall lawsuits, and the high cost of obtaining repair permits is seen as a contributing factor. The fee waiver is proposed to last until the end of 2020. If it's implemented, property owners who want to repair their sidewalk will save more than $2,000. On the flip side, the City will need to make up for a loss of around $100,000 in fee revenue.

Also on the agenda:

• Master Lease Agreement to Finance Vehicles and Equipment. The committee will act on a request from the city's Debt Management Department to approve a lease agreement, through Banc of America Public Capital Corp, of up to $27 million to replace vehicles and equipment through June 2022


• Fiscal Year 2019 Business Diversity Annual Report. How is the City of San Diego doing when it comes to diversifying the universe of local businesses that it uses as contractors for goods and services, construction, and consulting? You and the committee can find out together when the Purchasing and Contracting Department and the Public Works Department present their statistics for the period from July 2018 through June 2019 and share their future goals


• Fiscal Year 2019 Living Wage Ordinance Annual Report. For the past 15 years, companies that have contracts with the City of San Diego must pay their employees a living wage -- that is, enough so that they're not living in poverty ($15.41 per hour as of July 1, 2018, rising to $15.93 a year later). According to the city's Purchasing and Contracting Department, between July 2018 and June 2019, there were 770 active contracts (with 296 employers) subject to the Living Wage Ordinance, totaling $167.6 million in value. Businesses found in violation were assessed more than $291,000 in remedies on behalf of 18 employees, and restitution worth $5,579 was recovered. The committee will get the full lowdown.

The committee meeting starts at 9 a.m.

Rules Committee -- Wednesday, Feb. 6

It's the first Rules Committee meeting of the year! Woo-hoo! Highlighting the agenda is a proposed ordinance stemming from the passage of Measure J in November 2018. Passed with 85.3 percent of the vote, Measure J requires anyone who enters into a contract with the City of San Diego to disclose the identities of everyone who will receive more than 10 percent of the contracted amount or who owns more than 10 percent of the entity contracting with the city.

The ballot measure applies to contracts that are submitted to the City Council for approval. The Rules Committee will consider a proposed ordinance that expands the requirements under Measure J to additional contracts:

• Contracts for the transfer of interest in real property for longer than three year


• Grants or renewals of franchises


• All other contracts worth more than $500,000

Also on the agenda:

• Rules Committee priorities for 2020. Council rules state that each policy committee must develop an annual work plan and post it online by Feb. 1. The Rules Committee will review its 2020 work plan on Wednesday.


• Presentation from the Funds Commission. The Funds Commission oversees seven trust, perpetuity, and investment funds: the Cemetery Perpetuity Fund, the Edwin A. Benjamin Memorial Fund, the Effie E. Sergeant Memorial Fund, the Gladys Edna Peters Memorial Fund, the Jane Cameron Fund, the Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve Fund, and the Phillip L. Green Memorial Fund. The committee will get a status report on these funds.


• Get It Done Program Update. Get It Done, a public-facing app and website, launched in 2016 as a way for residents to report potholes. Since then, it's grown to 52 different services overseen by nine different city departments. The last time the Rules Committee got an update on how the program is functioning, how it's grown, and what's coming next was October 2018. Time for a status report.

The committee meeting starts at 2 p.m.