Just as the full City Council returned this week from summer recess, so too do two of the Council's policy committees -- the Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee and the Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee.

Remember, 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.

Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee -- Wednesday, Sept. 9

The Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee (PS&LN), chaired by Councilmember Monica Montgomery, meets at 9 a.m. The agenda includes two consent items that are considered noncontroversial and won't be discussed unless someone wants to talk about them. There are four items on the discussion agenda:

• Smart Streetlights: The City of San Diego's Smart Streetlights program has a complicated history, and another chapter will be written on Wednesday, when the PS&LN Committee discusses it yet again. In a nutshell, the City struck purchase and lease deals with General Electric-affiliated entities to acquire and manage thousands of smart censors affixed to streetlights that would gather data on pedestrian and auto traffic mobility and air quality. The cameras that are part of the program would also end up being useful to the Police Department.

Since the program was launched, it has encountered multiple problems, including concerns from the community regarding how the images from the cameras are used, and by whom. GE sold the technology to a company called Ubicquia. This summer, the PS&LN Committee approved an overarching surveillance policy. Meanwhile, the City has decided to scrap the original intended use of the censors -- mobility and air quality monitoring -- and use them for crime solving exclusively.

On Wednesday, the City's Sustainability Department, which administers the program, will ask the committee to approve a series of budget appropriations worth more than $6 million over a four-year period, in order to fund the installation of the streetlights and censors that are currently sitting in storage, and make amendments the City's purchase agreement with Ubicquia.

• Seditious Language: From the City Attorney's office comes a proposal to repeal a section of the San Diego Municipal Code that makes it illegal to use "seditious" language -- defined by Merriam-Webster as "incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority." This was enshrined into local law 102 years ago to chill expressions of dissent against World War I, and the City Attorney believes it might be an unconstitutional violation of free speech.


• Joint Use Agreements with SDUSD: The City's Parks and Recreation Department is asking the committee to bless the establishment of five 25-year agreements between the City and the San Diego Unified School District for joint community and student use of school facilities and fields at Audubon K-8 (Skyline-Paradise Hills), Innovation Middle (Clairemont), Longfellow K-8 (Clairemont), Rolando Park Elementary (Rolando Park), and Sherman Elementary (Sherman Heights).

Design and construction of new joint-use facilities at Audubon K-8, Innovation Middle, and Longfellow K-8 Schools would be funded by the school district, while the district and the City would share costs at Rolando Park Elementary, with the City's contribution maxing out at a little more than $1 million. No new construction is planned at Sherman Elementary.

• Computer Aided Dispatch System: The implementation contract for the San Diego Police Department's computer-aided dispatch system, which has been in place since 2017, expires in October. So, the SDPD is seeking a master services agreement with Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure for annual maintenance and technical support. The agreement would be for three years plus two additional one-year options for an amount not to exceed $5.87 million.

Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee -- Wednesday, Sept. 9

The Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, chaired by Councilmember Chris Cate, meets at 2 p.m. There are four items on the agenda:

• Tourism Economy and COVID-19 Impacts: The San Diego Tourism Marketing District will give the committee a rundown on how the pandemic has affected the local tourism economy. Bottom line: The visitor industry is still at less than 20 percent of normal levels.


• San Diego Convention Center Corporation Update: The San Diego Convention Center Corporation will provide a presentation on what's been happening (and not happening) at the Convention Center. More than 100 conventions that were scheduled between March 2020 and the end of the year have been canceled. Instead, the facility has been used as a shelter for San Diegans experiencing homelessness.


• 2020 Federal Affairs Update: Members of Mayor Kevin Faulconer's Government Affairs team and a representative from Squire Patton Boggs, the City’s federal legislative consulting firm, will give the committee an update efforts to advocate the City's positions on priority issues at the federal level.


• Biocom’s 2020 California Economic Impact Report: Biocom is an advocacy organization that represents life-science companies. On Wednesday, it will present to the committee a report on the industry's economic impact. Spoiler: In fiscal year 2019, San Diego's life-science community’s impact resulted in $19.6 billion in economic activity, $11.67 billion in market value of goods and services, and $7.3 billion in labor income.

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Only City staff and credentialed members of the press may attend these meetings in person. However, anyone can participate 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 of Sept. 15.

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