Budget and Government Efficiency Committee Meeting - September 11, 2024
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Budget and Government Efficiency Committee Meeting - September 11, 2024
The Budget and Government Efficiency Committee met on September 11, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. (the meeting started at 5:00 p.m. UTC, but the transcript indicates a morning start). The meeting was chaired by Councilmember Lee, with Council President Pro Tem Lakava, Councilmember Foster, and Vice Chair Moreno present. The committee approved minutes, took public comment, and discussed several items including contract amendments, cloud services procurement, SAP consulting contracts, and the fiscal year 2026 budget calendar. All votes were unanimous 4-0. The meeting adjourned to the next regular meeting on October 16, 2024.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1: Contract with SHERPA Government Solutions LLC for budgeting and forecasting system implementation and ongoing support. The IBA requested that a service level agreement be attached to the item before full council review.
- Item 2: Master lease agreement to finance one fire rescue helicopter and general fund vehicles and equipment. Council President Pro Tem Lakava raised concerns about Bank of America's compliance with the city's Responsible Banking Ordinance, noting that previous reports showed a nationwide rather than San Diego-specific approach. Councilmember Foster noted that Bank of America has refused to open a branch in District 4. Both councilmembers voted to move the item forward but indicated they may not support it at full council. The consent agenda passed 4-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Blair Beekman (multiple times): Spoke on procedural matters, the minutes not being on the agenda at the time (later clarified by Councilmember Lakava that they were available online), and raised concerns about the purchase of multiple helicopters, suggesting the city should review emergency preparedness alternatives like flood and earthquake readiness.
- Joyce Sanyata (District 3): Expressed support for SDPD overtime audit recommendations, condolences for the officer and teen killed in a pursuit, and supported the SHERPA contract, AWS contract, and SAP contract increases. She also asked about the number of city employees working remotely.
- Judy Strang (virtual): Discussed the costs of drunk and drug-impaired driving, referencing the county's proposed budget for toxicology data and the need for marijuana-impaired driving prevention.
- Million Mile Man (virtual): Attempted to speak about a subcontractor lien issue unrelated to the consent agenda; was redirected.
- Kathleen Higgins (MEA labor officer): Unusually supported the contract extensions for NV5 and Interwest, citing a good partnership with the Development Services Department and a focus on employee quality of life.
Discussion Items
- Items 3 & 4: Amendments to agreements with NV5 Inc. and Interwest Consulting Group for as-needed plan check and inspection services. Development Services Department (DSD) staff reported that permit demand remains high but queues have significantly decreased: submittal queue from 1,400 to 471, review queue from 3,000 to 1,757, issuance queue from 1,250 to 92. Vacancies dropped from ~25% to 2.4% (17 active vacancies). The contracts extend through March 2026 and increase not-to-exceed amounts by $1 million each to a total of $3.5 million. Councilmember Foster raised concerns about NV5's workforce underrepresentation (African American, Asian, female, Latino in various categories). NV5 responded with their DEI programs. DSD noted they are rightsizing positions through reclassification. Both items passed 4-0.
- Item 5: Cooperative procurement contract with DLT Solutions for Amazon Web Services (AWS) products and services, not-to-exceed $10 million through April 2026 with two optional one-year extensions. The contract provides a 10% discount with no monetary commitment, which Gartner considered excellent. The AWS services support city operations (Get It Done, permitting, call centers, SAP, document storage). Council President Pro Tem Lakava asked about climate action plan alignment; IT staff reported Amazon uses 100% renewable energy, achieved net-zero carbon goal early, and is water positive. Councilmember Foster noted workforce underrepresentations in Amazon's workforce report (African American, Latino, Asian, female in several categories). IT staff said they are monitoring and tracking supplier diversity. The item passed 4-0.
- Item 6: Increased expenditure authority for as-needed SAP consulting services contracts, from $21 million to $24.1 million, through October 2025. The contracts support the city's ERP system (SAP) for budget, HR, payroll, procurement, etc. Examples of past projects include COVID-19 solutions, telework workflow, and mobile app for field employees. Future projects include a manager's dashboard, ERP modernization (SAP S/4HANA), and automation of HR processes. Councilmember Foster asked about tracking spend with minority/women-owned businesses; IT staff reported they have developed a diversity spend report. Councilmember Foster also noted the significant historical investment in SAP. The item passed 4-0.
- Item 7: Fiscal year 2026 budget development and FY 2025 budget monitoring key dates. The IBA presented a proposed calendar with changes due to the November sales tax measure vote, shifting several report releases to later dates. The committee approved a modified calendar with an amendment by Chair Lee to move the May 15th BRC meeting to May 19th, combining the May revise presentation with the third quarter report. Councilmember Foster expressed a desire for the IBA's final report to be released before council member memo deadlines, but understood the timing constraints. The item passed 4-0.
Key Outcomes
- Committee Minutes of July 10, 2024 approved 4-0.
- Consent Agenda (Items 1 & 2) approved 4-0, with two councilmembers noting potential opposition at full council on Item 2.
- Item 3 (NV5 contract amendment) approved 4-0.
- Item 4 (Interwest contract amendment) approved 4-0.
- Item 5 (AWS contract with DLT) approved 4-0.
- Item 6 (SAP consulting contract increase) approved 4-0.
- Item 7 (FY 2026 budget calendar) approved 4-0 with amendment to move May 15th BRC meeting to May 19th.
- The next regular meeting of the Budget and Government Efficiency Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at 9:00 a.m.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, and uh welcome to the budget and government efficiency committee meeting of September eleventh, twenty twenty-four. Our committee lays on Natalie Kessler will go over instructions for today's meeting. Thank you, Chairley. While members of the public are able to attend the meetings in person, this meeting is being televised and live streamed on the city's website, and the council administration will continue to make arrangements for the public to comment using the Zoom webinar platform. Members of the public who wish to provide testimony must enter the virtual queue by raising their hand before the virtual queue closes. The queue will close when the last virtual speaker finishes speaking or five minutes after the in-person testimony ends, whichever occurs first. This will allow for better meeting management between the two platforms and ensure the committee is able to manage and conduct city business. Council President Pro Tem Lakava. Present. Councilmember Foster. And Chair Councilmember Lee. Also attending the meeting today, Charles Monica and Lisa Byrne from the independent budget analyst office, David Powell from the City Attorney's Office, Matt Vespey with the Chief Financial Officer, and Matt Ya Yagan, Deputy Director of Policy for Mayor Todd Gloria. If you're in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of the committee room and place it on top of the box indicated at the speaker's lecture at the front of the room. Please do so in a timely manner to ensure proper meeting management. In-person testimony will conclude before virtual testimony begins. Members of the public can also join the webinar by computer, tablet, or smartphone by accessing the link, which is listed online in the preamble language of the agenda on the city's webpage. If you need to participate by telephone, you may dial 1669-2545252. The webinar ID is 160074-2406 pound. This information is also available on the agenda and will appear on the screen during the public comment period for each agenda item. Chair. Thank you, Natalie, for reviewing those instructions for the benefit of the public. A quorum is now present. We will now dispense with the approval of the committee minutes of July 10th, 2024. Natalie, please proceed. Thank you, Chair. The public comment period for the past committee minutes of July 10th, 2024 is now open. And we have received one speaker slip from an individual in chambers. We will begin with that individual before we move to the virtual queue. Blair Beekman, please approach the elector, and you'll have one minute to speak to the past committee minutes. Hi, uh Blair Beekman. As a procedural matter, um, the uh uh agenda for the approval of the uh minutes is not on the agenda at this time uh on the uh online services. I just wanted to offer that um we're having some issues about uh procedure and and what is the public meeting space. I hope it can be uh a good discussion. Uh efficiency is important for our process. I hope uh a tradition uh that is in San in San Diego of uh of creating a good public dialogue and public space within the public meeting space. It has been a past tradition. I hope we'll want to practice that and to continue to want to practice that. Thank you. Thank you. This concludes in-person public testimony on the past committee committee minutes, and I do not see any hands raised in the virtual queue, so this will conclude public comment on the past committee minutes. Chairman Okay, thank you. Uh, we will now vote on the approval of the committee minutes of July 10th, 2024. Do we have a motion to approve the committee minutes? We do by uh uh Vice Chair Moreno. Um, I'll go ahead and second it and uh see no other comments. We'll go ahead and take oh with uh Councilmember Lakaba. Uh just real quickly, just for the record, uh the July 10th minutes are on the online agenda. If you click on July 10th, 2024, the minutes do show up. So just want to clarify that. Thank you for helping to clarify that.
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