Budget and Government Efficiency Committee Meeting - June 19, 2019
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Budget and Government Efficiency Committee Meeting - June 19, 2019
The Budget and Government Efficiency Committee of the San Diego City Council met on June 19, 2019, to discuss and vote on the fiscal year 2020 appropriation ordinance and an extension of a parking meter contract. The meeting was chaired by Councilmember Bree, with Vice Chair Kate and Councilmembers Montgomery and Moreno present. Andrea Tevlin (IBA), Rolanda Charval (CFO), and Brett Bartolotta (Deputy City Attorney) also attended.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ms. Welch (member of the public) spoke during non-agenda public comment. She criticized the city for waiving a portion of government funding for libraries each year, claiming libraries receive less money for books. She also expressed concern that Mission Bay funds designated for parks by voter vote were instead going to the general fund, and that Balboa Park suffers because of this. She argued the city does not follow voter-approved rules, making government inefficient.
Discussion Items
Item 1: Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriation Ordinance
- Staff from the Department of Finance (Tracy McCraner, Comptroller; Adam Jones; Trisha Tackey) presented the appropriation ordinance (AO). The AO defines legal spending levels for the FY2020 budget and must be adopted by June 30, 2019. Changes include a new delegated authority for the City Attorney’s prosecutorial function to accept and spend grant funds without prior City Council approval, and technical updates to lists of Mission Bay and Regional Park projects, gas tax fund language, and fiscal year updates.
- Councilmember Moreno requested that staff provide a memo before the AO goes to City Council detailing how each authority was used in FY2019 and might be used in FY2020. Staff agreed.
- Councilmember Moreno also proposed an amendment to Section 18: adding the sentence “The CFO shall report all actions that are taken using this authority to the city council.” This was modeled after similar reporting language in Section 2C4. Staff and the City Attorney’s office indicated they could provide reports quarterly or annually.
- Councilmember Montgomery asked for clarification on the definition of “prosecutorial function” and requested that reports include partnerships with other city departments and charter/municipal code references. The City Attorney’s office gave examples (e.g., SMART program grant for drugged driving prosecution, Violence Against Women Act grants) and noted the city attorney’s independent authority under the charter. Staff agreed to work with the city attorney on reporting and language.
- Vice Chair Kate sought clarification on whether reports would be prior to or after accepting grants. The motion maker (Moreno) clarified reports would be after the fact, but Vice Chair Kate expressed interest in prior knowledge; however, no amendment to require prior review was made.
Item 2: Extension of IPS Group Incorporated Cooperative Procurement Agreement
- Interim City Treasurer Liz Carey and Parking Administration Program Manager Jonathan Carey presented a request to extend the single‑space parking meter contract with IPS Group (a local San Diego company) for an unspecified additional term beyond the current expiration on July 15, 2019. The extension locks in current pricing. The city has spent $3.6 million on the contract since July 2014. IPS provides repair, maintenance, wireless connectivity, back‑office software, and supports smart‑meter features (e.g., TAP, Apple Pay, Android Pay, vehicle detection sensors). A 99%+ meter uptime has been maintained.
- Councilmember Moreno asked what services IPS provides beyond the city’s own parking meter operations. Staff explained that IPS handles repairs beyond technician capabilities (e.g., board/chip failures) and provides software and per‑transaction costs.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1 (Appropriation Ordinance): The committee approved staff’s recommendation with the amendment to Section 18 requiring the CFO to report all actions taken under that delegated authority to the City Council. The vote was unanimous (4-0). Staff will also provide a memo on authorities used in FY2019 and how they may be used in FY2020.
- Item 2 (IPS Contract Extension): The committee approved the extension unanimously on a motion by Councilmember Moreno, seconded by Vice Chair Kate.
- The next meeting of the Budget and Government Efficiency Committee will be on July 17, 2019 at 9:00 a.m.
Meeting Transcript
I will now call the budget and government efficiency committee meeting to order. Quorum is now present, consisting of Vice Chair Kate, myself, committee members Montgomery Moreno. Also present are Andrea Tevlin, our IBA, Rolanda Charval, our CFO, and Brett Bartolotta, our deputy city attorney. Is there a motion to approve or amend the committee record of actions from the March 15th meeting? Okay, second. We have a motion by Councilmember Montgomery, a second by Vice Chair Kate. All in favor? Aye. That motion passes unanimously on a 4-0 vote. We will now proceed with non-agenda public comment. This portion of the agenda provides an opportunity for members of the public to address the committee on items of interest not on the agenda. We have one member of the public who wishes to speak. Ms. Welch, you will have three minutes. Good morning. It's not a fitness library, but we may be voted for our library. Six percent of government. Each year we waive that. You waive it every year. Library has less money books. Also went to the clerk's office and I looked at the 2015. You waive books, and that's not right. New York Times, you don't have that right now, also. And cookbooks, you're selling them all the time. I think what you like to do is maybe private or state or federal us pay to uh us that. I also in the meeting I found out the money for mentioning mission bay fund goes to the um general fund. But uh that's not right. We voted for to go to the park. It's not efficient, also. Everything we vote for stuff doesn't you don't follow the rules because we've voted for that also the park to get the money. And that's why they don't have that's why Balboa is so bad because you don't get the money to them also, and uh and also uh Mission Bay. Um that's the problem with that also because uh it's polluted. Um so that's what you do here. You don't you don't you don't follow the rules we vote for all the time, and that's not efficient government. We think if we should vote for something, we should get it, not you changing the rules all the time inside inside. And so why is it why do the people vote for something if they don't get it? That's not right. Thank you. Uh do we have any committee member mayor, IBA or city attorney comments today? Okay. Uh do we have any requests for continuance? No. Uh as we have no consent agenda, it's consent agenda items. We will now proceed to the action agenda. Uh we'll start with item number one to review a report from the Department of Finance regarding the fiscal year 2020 appropriation ordinance. Um please introduce yourselves and let us know how much time you need. Good morning, Chair Bree and members of the committee. I'm Tracy McCraner, your Comptroller and Director of Finance. And with me are two members of my management team, Adam Jones and Trisha Tackey, and we're going to start off with Adam Jones. Thank you very much, uh Chair Bree, members of the committee.
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