Budget and Government Efficiency Committee Meeting – September 11, 2019
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Budget and Government Efficiency Committee Meeting – September 11, 2019
The Budget and Government Efficiency Committee met on September 11, 2019, at 5:00 p.m. with Chair Bree presiding. A quorum was present including Vice Chair Kate, Councilmember Montgomery, and Councilmember Moreno. Also in attendance were IBA Andrea Tevlin, CFO Rolanda Sharval, and City Attorney Brett Bartolotta. The meeting began with a moment of silence in memory of September 11th. The committee approved the July 17, 2019 record of actions unanimously and then proceeded with non-agenda public comment and three action items.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Josephine Clausen (landlord in Mountain View area) described ongoing drug activity, shootings, noise, and trash near Willie Henderson Park at Newton Avenue and South 45th Street. She requested more funding for neighborhood cleanup, police presence, and park improvements including a newer playground to attract families.
- Marcia Lyon (Say San Diego) spoke in support of allocating funds for upgrades to Willie Henderson Sports Complex. She noted that the annual San Diego Unity Games event has been held there for four of the past five years, promoting safety and well-being in southeastern San Diego. She stated that the neighboring community currently does not come to the park and that city investment would show the city cares.
- Virginia Parrish (resident near East Cake Village off 45th Street) expressed interest in starting a neighborhood watch to help clean up the area. She noted drug selling within the gated community and requested support from police.
Discussion Items
Item 1: Review of IBA Report on FY2021 Budget Development and FY2020 Budget Monitoring Key Dates
Angela Colton (Office of the IBA) and new Research Analyst Brady Bellalong presented proposed key dates for budget development, developed with input from multiple departments. Highlights included: the call memo to go out this week; five-year financial outlook for the General Fund and Public Utilities Department in November; proposed budget release on April 13, 2020; IBA review on April 27; budget review committee hearings on April 30; May revised on May 19; council budget priority requests due May 22; IBA final report June 3; council budget vote June 8. Two late revisions were requested: move the salary ordinance introduction from April 13 to April 14, and add a 6 p.m. council meeting on May 11 for public input. The committee voted unanimously to forward the item to full council.
Item 2: Proposed Revisions to City Council Budget Policies
Adrian Del Rio, Trisha Tackey, and Nicky Shell Font (Department of Finance) presented updates to the city’s budget policy. Notable additions included adding the Public Utilities Department’s five-year financial outlook (per Councilmember Kate’s request) and including language on vacancy factors in the operating budget. Technical adjustments reflected charter and code updates, organizational changes (merger of departments into Finance), and readability improvements. IBA Andrea Tevlin noted that the mayor’s veto language was updated to match the charter: the mayor can change any items, not just council modifications. The committee voted unanimously to forward the item to full council.
Item 3: Appropriations of Additional Funding and Budget Revisions for CIP Projects
Andy Field (Interim Director, Parks and Recreation) and Elief Chitten (Deputy Director, Public Works) presented a consolidated request to reallocate approximately $9.3 million across ten capital improvement projects. Of this, $4.9 million came from savings on completed projects, $1.4 million in new funding, and $3 million from Mission Bay improvements. Key projects included: City Heights Pool Reconstruction ($4 million additional to reopen by June 2020), Bonita Cove Playground Improvements, Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center ($40,000 additional), and Balboa Park Bud Kearns Aquatic Complex ($750,000 additional). Four new CIP projects were created: Willie Henderson Sports Complex Improvements, Ruffin Canyon Trail, Pacific Highlands Ranch Pump Track Fence, and Choyas Triangle Park ($400,000 for a general development plan). IBA Gillian Cassie asked why City Heights pool was prioritized over other underfunded projects; staff responded that the pool has been closed for two summers and needs to reopen by June 2020. Councilmember Montgomery discussed district equity concerns and the process for reallocating funds; staff noted they honor council budget priorities but do not distribute funds evenly across districts. Councilmember Moreno supported the Chicano Park Museum funding, noting that no money was taken from other CIP or General Fund projects. The committee voted unanimously to approve the appropriations.
Key Outcomes
- Unanimous approval of the July 17, 2019 record of actions.
- Unanimous vote to forward Item 1 (FY2021 budget key dates with two revisions) to full city council.
- Unanimous vote to forward Item 2 (budget policy revisions) to full city council.
- Unanimous vote to approve Item 3 (CIP appropriations and budget revisions totaling $9.3 million).
- Meeting adjourned; next committee meeting scheduled for October 16, 2019 at 9 a.m.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. I will now call the budget and government efficiency committee meeting to order. A quorum is now present, consisting of myself, Vice Chair Kate, Councilmember Montgomery, and Councilmember Moreno. We also have our IBA, Andrea Tevlin, our CFO, Rolanda Sharval, and City Attorney Brett Bartolotta. In memory of September 11th, we will now have a moment of silence. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve or amend the committee record of actions from the July 17th, 2019 meeting? No. Is there a motion? A motion by Vice Chair Cage, second by Councilmember Montgomery. All in favor? Aye. Great. That motion passes unanimously. 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 a few members who want to speak. Each person will have two minutes. Sure. Yes, please. Okay. I've never been here before. So my name is Josephine Clausen. I'm a landlord in uh Mountain View area. I have several units there. And I just uh moved in in the area myself and uh I bought a triplex. I live in two units before I fix it and move out. Uh I live really close to Willie Henderson's park and the intersection between Newton Avenue and South 45th Street. Uh it's a lot of drug activity, and there's um deadly shootings several times recently a few months ago. Um there's a lot of noise, 24-7. It's like a party song. We can't sleep, there's hardworking people. I work for myself, but my neighbors are mainly Hispanic and they get up early and they need to sleep, and so do I, and you know, we get just get disturbed, there's trash, they sell sex out of cars, they're just coming out pulling up nice cars, buying drugs, and you can see this activity just going on. It's so appearant and so I mean it's obvious what they're doing. And and I keep asking the police to come out, they come out, you know, and then they keep on doing what they're doing, and the police has kind of given up, it seems like they say we arrest them, they come out this the next day, and that's what they they told me. And and I don't think that's uh the right way to handle it. I would like to have more um funding to clean up the neighborhood. It's not safe for for for us and for the children walking to the schools and and um it's just really trashy. The park needs uh also some funding to get some more fun activities for the children, a newer playground. I think that will attract more families and have more of a you know, attract the right people and uh get the police out there, put some focus on it because all these neighborhoods close to downtown, it's gonna get eventually cleaned up. But this one needs attention. So I'm I'm asking you to help out. Thank you. Good morning. I'm Marcia Lyon with Say San Diego. I'm here to support the request to allocate funds for upgrades to Willie Henderson's sports complex. We have an annual San Diego Unit Games event, which has been held the last four of the five years at Willie Henderson. The event's theme is unity in the community and includes a softball tournament, health and resource fair, entertainment, food and prizes, all free to the community. Community organizations, faith-based entities, and law enforcement agencies compete in a single elimination softball tournament. Being able to utilize the two large softball fields and have a large space for the entertainment and resource fair, make this park ideal for the Unity Games event.
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