Hello everyone.

Just a quick update.

We are um working with uh Councilmember uh Moreno.

Um she is running just a little behind.

Um unfortunately, uh Council Member Shawnee Lou Rivera Reverend got called away.

Um with on a family situation, so um we'll give uh Councilmember Moreno a little more time um to see if we can take care of the business at hand that we need to today.

Um and we will go from there.

Thank you.

Just a quick update.

Oh, we're here.

Be ready to give uh a couple more minutes, let the council member get set up, and then we will uh go up the night.

All righty.

Good morning, and welcome to the budget and government efficiency committee meeting, January 14, 2026.

Our committee liaison, Natalie Kessler will provide information and instruction for the public to participate in today's meeting.

Thank you, Chair.

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 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 virtual 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 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.

We appreciate the public's cooperation.

Chair.

Natalie, please call the role.

Vice Chair Moreno.

President.

Council President Pro Tem Lee.

Here.

Councilmember Eli Rivera.

And Chair Foster.

Here.

Also attending the meetings today is Charles Monica and Lisa Byrne from the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst, Chief Deputy City Attorney Brett Badarlotta from the City Attorney's Office.

Rolando Charvel, Chief Financial Officer, Matt Gek Yagan, Director of Policy from the Office of Mayor Todd Gloria, and Daniel Horton, Chief of Staff.

If you're in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of chambers and place it on top of the box indicated at the speaker's lecture and near the public comment microphone.

Please do so in a timely manner to ensure proper meeting management.

Members of the public can join the webinar by computer, tablet, or smartphone by accessing the link listed online in the preamble language of the agenda on the city's webpage.

If you need to participate by phone, please dial 1669, 2545252.

Webinar ID is 160408338 pound.

This information is also available on the agenda.

Please note that if you're watching via City TV channel 24 or online, there may be a delay, so please participate via the audio on your phone and mute your TV or computer when it is your turn to speak.

If you wish to speak on a particular item, wait for that item to be called and then raise your hand to speak by tapping the raise your hand icon.

Or if you're a call and participant, press star nine on your phone.

If you raise your hand during a non-comment period, your hand will be lowered.

Thank you so much.

A quorum is now present.

We will now take up non-agenda public comment.

The council members respect and appreciate the public's input and are fully committed to protecting every participant's free speech rights at council and committee meetings.

Terry Ann Skelly, please unmute and begin.

As a mother of three adult sons, I've noticed that your responsibilities include interest in creating a living wage and human resources.

So I'm hopeful that this committee will continue to advocate for internship programs for teens and young adults as part of its economic development platform.

The journey from high school into college or employment training is far more complicated and stressful than ever.

And decisions about life after high school are confusing, expensive, and sometimes very demanding.

I've appreciated the city's past emphasis on reaching young people, 16 to 30 years old who might be low income, involved in the justice system, transitioning from foster care, or engage with the mental health or substance abuse abuse treatment.

So I must say, as a parent that it is disheartening for parents to battle against marijuana advertising promotions that arrive in the mail and the city's billboards all suggesting the use of marijuana is a solution to young adults' anxiety and stress.

Parents would be thankful to this committee as you make important financial decisions that they include moving our young adults into a positive direction, perhaps towards public service and away from using marijuana or profiting from its sale.

Thank you for hearing my concerns this morning.

Thank you.

And chair with no other hands raised in the virtual queue.

This concludes non-agenda public comment.

Thank you so much.

We will now move to committee members, mayoral staff, city attorney, and IBA for comment.

Do we have any comments?

Hearing none.

Do we have any requests for continuance?

Hearing none, we will now dispense with approval of our consent agenda.

Natalie, please proceed with any public comment.

Thank you, Chair.

The public comment period for the consent agenda is now open.

The consent agenda includes item one approval of the committee minutes from December 10th, 2025.

And we have not received any speaker slips and chambers for item one, and we do not have any hands raised in the virtual queue.

So this will conclude public comment.

All righty, thank you so much.

I will now turn it over to committee members for questions and comments and to entertain a motion.

Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda?

First by uh council president Pro Tem, second by Council Member Moreno.

Bear with me for a quick second.

Uh with that, uh Natalie, please register the members' vote.

If I can have the committee members register their vote on the voting screens.

And that passes 3-0 with committee member Ela Rivera absent.

Alrighty, thank you so much.

We will now move to our discussion agenda.

Natalie, please introduce item two.

Item two, authorization to extend the current sole source agreement with Highland Software Incorporated for two one-year options.

And if you are watching on City TV and would like to call into the meeting to speak to item two, the phone number is 1669-2545252.

Webinar ID is 1604 30838 pound.

Chair.

Alrighty.

Thank you so much.

Staff, please introduce yourselves for the record and let us know how much time you need for your presentation.

Sure, good morning.

Uh Megan Cannis from the Docket Office, Dr.

Lee's on, and with me is Haley Lesser, assistant Dr.

Lee is on.

We'll need a five, seven minutes, maybe.

Okay, so we're here today to uh request authorization to extend our current sole source agreement with Highland Software Inc.

Um for two optional one-year periods.

Um Highland is the company that produces the on-based software, which I'm sure you're much more familiar with rather than the word Highland.

Um so they provide us both a workflow application that the majority of the city uses to push items through the system.

Um they also provide an agenda um application that tie Natalie and Sarah and the city clerk uses to produce and publish council agendas.

So the first application or client, those are interchangeable, um, is the unity client.

Um so this is the one that we have about over 2,000 users, I think, that use this application to create items for council and committee route them through the necessary clearing authorities depending on what type of item it is.

Um, so EOC purchasing, environmental analysis, the attorney, depending on the item.

Umce they get through with it with receiving all of those um necessary approvals, they are then able to submit their item for either committee or council, which is when the agenda application comes in.

So again, the agenda application is is only really used by the city clerk and council admin at this point.

them through the necessary clearing authorities depending on what type of item it is um so EOC purchasing environmental analysis the attorney depending on the item um once they get through with it with receiving all of those um necessary approvals they are then um able to submit their item for either committee or council which is when the agenda application comes in so again the agenda application is is only really used by the city clerk and council admin at this point um I think we have maybe 20 people that that use that application so once they receive the items for your meetings um they receive them an agenda they populate the agenda based on you know the chair's recommendations for placement or the council president's recommendation for placement on a council agenda um both applications are are really critical to ensure that your meetings occur um and that you know are available to the public and you know before the Brown Act deadline um so they're they're super critical for this function to kind of occur um we have an amazing little team from various offices that sort of make this whole um process possible so that's made up of my office the docket office city clerk's office um council admin so tie and outline Sarah primarily um and the council president's office primarily lose and and heidi um so we talk on a near daily basis um with with everybody to make sure that we're all sort of moving in the right direction being successful um and and making sure that meetings um go on so in May 2026 um sorry may 26th of 2016 the city and highland entered into our first five year agreement it was a sole source master software license services and support agreement for implementation of and licensing and maintenance for the use of Highlands on base on premises um software solution and the amount of 544 thousand dollars 580 um once that expired well leading up to it expiring we considered amending it to add the extra time after that because so much work went into moving from our previous electronic software which I think maybe two people remember sire um in this room so moving from that software to Highland was a a huge effort um mostly a a huge training effort to train thousands and thousands of people so that there wasn't sort of a hiccup in being able to in being able to produce these these meetings um we decided to ask for a new sole source five year instead of amending that one because the scope was going to significantly change not the services they were providing but at the time I think still is the case that the um the endeavor to move whatever on premises city hosted software move to a cloud solution so that is what we did with the second contract so we migrated to Highlands Cloud they now maintain all of the data you know um keep us online all of that so um so that's what we decided with the second set five year agreement instead of continuing on with um the first agreement um this current agreement we're in the fifth year expires on May 25th of 2026 um so in anticipation of that in um early January myself and the city clerk's office um began working on a scope of work because after nearly 10 years we knew some things that we wanted to have improved or maybe some new features had come out that we wanted to you know make requirements so we started working on that um in January because we knew obviously that we needed to to go out to the marketplace after so long of just having one company um so subsequent to us starting the RFP process we discovered that um an RFP was simultaneously being crafted by the communications department for the services that Granicus provides so the live streaming of meetings tagging archiving of meetings that sort of thing um at the same time after some research we discovered that other municipalities both locally and and otherwise um combine all three of those functions so the workflow the agenda management and the video solutions in one RFP for a number of reasons and so we spoke with the communications department um and PNC and the city attorney's office and discover and sort of determined that that would likely result in the best value for the city is to have all of those services under one agreement there's a potential that one gets a piece and the other gets the two pieces or we're gonna leave it open like that but even if that happens the requirement will be that all of those technologies work together out of the box for example when we upgrade Onvase every 18 months or two years it's not always in line with where Granicus is so people much smarter than me work code to make sure they communicate with each other so the ideal is we get one company to produce all three but either way having them on the same contract timeline upgrade timeline means that there will be less sort of customization that are needed.

So the ideal is we get one company to produce all three, but either way, having them on the same contract timeline upgrade timeline means that there will be less sort of customization that are needed.

So we decided to combine those three solutions into a more robust RB so RFP.

So that is the reason that we um are here today looking for a contract extension for the Highland contract so that we can put together uh um a larger RFP um and you know, hopefully get the the best value for the city.

Um so our effort um is to engage with city departments, council offices, obviously, um, to learn about any suggestions that you might have, any um comments or nice to have, or something that would be good to see for agenda improvement or or whatever.

So our intent is to meet with each of you, the the remainder of the council members as well, um, and to hear if you've heard anything from constituents that that they are having issues with or anything that we can applicably include into the RFP as a requirement or um you know um mandated or preferred or you know, whatever the appropriate language is.

Um I will take the lead um for the docket office.

I've managed this contract for nearly 10 years now.

Um, and so I will I will be the lead on the process with obviously close consultation with council admin, um the city clerk and the council president's office, and and most importantly the communications department, because I don't do anything with the at this point.

So um, so all of us sort of together will will own the RFP, but I'll be the one that sort of um take it forward.

So uh the requested actions are authorizing the mayor or does it need extent to execute an extension to the current sole source agreement with Highland uh for two one-year options.

Um so we'll definitely need the first year for sure.

Um I don't know whether we'll need the second year, but they're optional, so we're not sort of guaranteeing them the second year if we don't need it.

Um then authorizing the chief financial officer to expend an additional 391,000, almost 400,000, um, increase in total not to exceed to 1.4 million dollars from the Department of IT's non-discretionary application development and maintenance or ADM budget.

Um so with that, I'm um happy to answer any questions, take any comments, um, and just thank you to to all of your staff for working so closely with us and the remaining council members as well, and Ty and Ali and Sarah, all of us on our little team.

So thank you.

All righty.

Thank you for that.

Natalie, do we have any public comment?

Thank you, Chair.

The public comment period for item two is now open, and we have not received any speakers' lips from individuals in chambers, and we do not have any hands raised in the virtual queue, so this will conclude public comment on item two.

All righty, thank you so much.

Um I don't see any members on the lights.

Um, I'll go ahead and uh step out here and just say thank you to staff for um bringing this item forward.

Um my team did have an opportunity to review this.

Um I do agree that um to have the ability to maintain some continuity amongst all three systems um is important.

Um also this, you know, as we all know on this diocese system is very critical to our operational needs and that of the clerk um in the docketing office.

So I'm gonna appreciate everything that goes into this and um always uh want to be a proponent of um the clear benefits of increasing accuracy and transparency as we talk about interfacing three different systems to conduct our business.

So with that, um I will move staff's recommendation, and we have uh pro tem on the lights.

We'll go to Tim Lee.

I'll I'll second the item and echo, I think I think for me just the significance of trying to consolidate um seems not just reasonable, I think, but expected given what we see with other agencies and their ability to sort of have at least the public facing functions of the video and um agendas and minutes and all sort of archived in one spot.

So um appreciate that.

Thank you.

All righty with that, uh we have a uh motion on the floor with a second by um pro Tem Lee to move staff's recommendation.

Natalie, please call for the vote.

I've started the voted the voting screen.

Thank you.

And that passes three zero with committee member Ela Rivera absent.

All righty, thank you so much.

That concludes item two.

Natalie, please introduce item three.

Item three, state revolving fund loan to the city of San Diego's sewer system for the Alvarado Trunk Sewer Phase 4 project package A.

Chair.

Thank you so much.

Staff, let us know how much time you will need for your presentation, and please introduce your team members.

Thank you.

My name is Kevin Warner.

I'm with uh the Department of Finance.

I'm a financing coordinator.

To my right is uh Jothie Pantelew.

She's the assistant director of Department of Finance.

And on our Zoom, we also have uh Adam Jones.

He's the Deputy Director of Finance from Public Utilities Department.

We will need five minutes.

This item is uh involves the state revolving fund loan to the City of San Diego sewer system for the Alvarado Trunk Sewer Phase 4 project package A.

Uh a little bit of background on um what the SRF loans are.

Uh the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, or SRF as it's commonly known, offers low-cost loans to help local agencies affordably construct sewer projects throughout the state.

Uh the program is administered administered by the State Water Resources Control Board.

Uh the last uh sewer SRF loans that we have entered into or uh four pure water loans back in 2022 for the sewer um credit.

And this program offers low interest rate loans and favorable repayment terms.

The city regularly submits applications for standalone projects that meets eligibility requirements.

And the city uh uh the loans are limited to 50 million dollars per project.

Uh the project overview is about the Alvarado Trunk Sewer Phase 4 package A.

Uh this project will increase sewer capacity by replacing outdated trunk sewer infrastructure.

Uh this is uh uh the Alvarado Trunk sewer phase four, I believe is uh three and a half miles.

This package A uh encompasses uh one mile, and we have Adam Jones here to uh on on the Zoom to answer any other questions about the project.

The city can receive a SRF loan up to 50 million, so we're asking for authorization for up to 50 million.

This project has not been bid out yet, uh so we just wanted to caution and let people know that this uh project has not been bid out yet, but we would like to apply and get up to 50 million dollars the maximum for the SRF loan.

Um the uh state water resources control board included this project in the intended use plan for this year, uh so that's why we're looking to get an agreement this year.

Construction is estimated to start at the end of FY 2026 or at the beginning of FY 2027 and is uh estimated to be completed by uh FY 2029.

Uh the estimated loan terms and provisions.

The current interest rate is 2.2.

That is the rate set by the state water board based on a benchmark of 50% of the interest rate on California's average general obligation rate obtained by the state treasurer.

That basically just tells us that we have a lower interest rate loan than we we could uh achieve here at the city with bonds.

Uh the loan will have a senior lien position.

Principal repayment begins after construction is done, and we will have a 30-year repayment term currently anticipated to be between fiscal year 2030 and 2059.

We estimate the cost of this to be 2.3 million dollars annually, but I want to caution that the interest rate and the uh annual debt service can change based on where the interest rate goes with the state, what depending on when we enter into this agreement.

Uh the existing loan and bond obligations of the sewer system require the sewer system to meet certain additional debt affordability tests when entering into a new obligation.

Under the language of the future loan agreement, the sewer system will be required to maintain a senior debt service coverage ratio of 1.2 times outstanding maximum annual debt service and aggregate debt service coverage ratio of 1.1 times of outstanding maximum annual debt service.

This uh loan is supported uh currently by uh sewer rates.

Uh for proposed actions, uh we would like um the uh committee to forward this on to city council where we would uh ask for authorization for the mayor to implement the clean water SRF loan for an estimated $50 million for the project, authorize the city to dedicate and pledge net revenues uh from the municipal sewer what revenue fund for the repayment of the loan, authorize the CFO to create a new fund for the project and authorize the CFO to appropriate and expend an estimated $50 million from the municipal sewer utility CIP funding sources funded via the municipal sewer revenue fund for the project.

And that concludes our presentation.

All righty, thank you so much for their presentation.

Natalie, do we have any public comment?

Thank you, Chair.

The public comment period for item three is now open, and we have not received any speakers' lips in chambers, and we do not have any hands raised in the virtual queue.

So this will conclude comment on item three.

All righty, thank you so much.

I will now turn it over to committee members for any questions and comments and entertain a motion.

Do we have anything from the IBA at all?

Alrighty.

With that, we have uh pro Tim Lee on the lights.

Uh don't have any questions, Secret Chair, but I'll um go ahead and move the item.

Thank you.

Alrighty.

Thank you so much.

We have a motion by Pro Tem Lee to move staff's recommendation.

Um I'll jump in here.

I just have one question.

Is it is the bidding process for the actual portion of this project that's going to be funded already gone out for solicitation and awarded?

I believe Adam Jones is on the Zoom if you can answer Adam.

Good morning.

This project is still out for posting or for uh forbidden and has not been awarded at this time.

Okay.

Um just a quick question, and I don't know it uh I'm sure this is a little difficult to answer at this point in time, but um, I guess I'll turn to Matt if we don't know the answer.

Um typically with these projects when we go for SRF loans.

Um, at one point in time there were very specific um processes that we would follow, um, especially when you look at state water boards and their minority business participation goals, I will call them.

Um, are those still applicable or have we figured out or understood what is coming down from the federal side and how we move forward when we do these projects?

Any clarity there?

I'll do my first to talk about this.

Um the SRF program is a joint program between the federal government and the state uh governments.

So generally the state would say that their rules still apply, especially if this is primarily state funded.

The program has two major funding sources, but as you mentioned, things are generally in flux, but I know all the preparation that we have been doing does follow the guidelines in the state SRF uh portfolio, which does include things like um uh the council member uh mentioned.

Yeah, typically the the funding comes through the EPA as we do these water type projects.

So just trying to understand if if um there's if we understand and we're all safe on good ground is as we execute, right?

That's all.

Thank you, Governor.

Did that answer your question?

Partly, I think there's still some more work to do.

It's more so how we are going to manage the risk of the um ineffectiveness, I guess I'll say of the federal government, right?

Just how we manage our risk.

So we'll fall back and have some additional conversation.

So with that, we have a first and a second.

Uh Natalie, please call for the vote.

And that passes 3-0 with committee member Elo Rivera absent.

All righty, thank you so much.

That concludes item three.

Natalie, please introduce item four.

Item four, ordinance approving contract with NeoGov for applicant recruitment, tracking, and hiring software.

Chair.

Thank you so much.

As you get settled, please introduce yourselves and let us know how much time you need for the presentation.

Good morning, committee chair Foster and committee members.

My name is Christia Davis, program manager with the personnel department.

Here with me today is Anne Lamina Bond, assistant personnel director and personnel director David Dallagar is in chambers.

I'll need approximately five minutes for our presentation.

Thank you.

The purpose of this item is to request authorization to approve an agreement to provide recruitment and applicant tracking services for a five-year term from the date of award with five additional one-year options.

I'll be providing a brief overview of the software product that we will be procuring as well as the contract terms.

On December 10th, 2024, the city released a proposal for an applicant recruitment tracking and hiring software.

We were looking for a software product that met the city's requirements as directed by civil service rules and personnel regulations.

Provided for the recruitment and certification of eligibles, allowed for reporting and data management, could integrate with job advertisement platforms and other systems such as SAP, and could adapt to new technologies in the field.

After review and evaluation of seven proposals submitted, the NEOGUP software was selected as the applicant tracking system that best meets the requirements specified in the RFP.

The city currently uses the NeoGov software as the applicant tracking system for classified positions, which comprises more than 91% of the city's workforce.

NeoGov is used to post job announcements for both classified and unclassified recruitments, but it is primarily used for classified position requisition, applicant screening, and applicant referral.

We have approximately 1,040 system users comprised of hiring managers in the various departments and personnel staff.

The current NeoGov agreement expires on March 31st, 2026.

The new contract will be effective April 1st, 2026 for five years with five additional one year options.

Approving this contract will allow us to have continuity of service.

The current NeoGov contract includes InSight, which is NeoGov's applicant tracking solution that provides for online job posting on governmentjobs.com, online applications, candidate scoring, and an applicant self-service portal.

It allows the city to create lists of eligibles and certify eligible lists to hiring departments to fill vacancies.

The online hiring center allows hiring managers to review applications, notify candidates, schedule interviews, and record interview results.

The Biddle software license allows the city to administer critical testing as part of the screening process for dispatcher positions.

The software provides unlimited critical licensing, enables the testing of candidates across multiple locations, and supports the recruitment needs for the police and fire rescue departments.

It also automatically uploads critical test scores, which improves efficiency, eliminates manual data entry, and reduces the potential for errors.

Candidate text messaging is used to notify applicants about the status of their application, send interview reminders, and send instructions for next steps in the application process.

The new contract will expand the NeoGov software to include the onboard module, which will streamline the process to onboard and offboard classified employees by digitizing workflows and tasks, automating paperwork, providing electronic forms, and establishing a portal for new employees to complete forms and access resources.

Attract is a candidate relationship management tool used to track candidate sources and help the city proactively connect with potential candidates, manage leads, and build a talent pipeline.

The personnel department is requesting to enter into a contract between the city of San Diego and NeoGov for an initial term of five years with five additional one-year options to renew for a maximum of 10 years total.

The amount to cover the initial five-year term is 1,889,566.

With the five additional one-year options increasing by 3% annually, the total for the 10-year contract is 4,183,203.

We are asking that the committee move this item forward to council so we can acquire an ordinance to enter into a contract with NeoGov.

We are available for any questions you may have.

Alrighty, thank you so much for your presentation.

Natalie, do we have any public comment on item four?

Thank you, Chair.

The public comment period for item four is now open, and we have received one speaker slip from individual in chambers, Corinne Wilson.

Please approach the electoral and you'll have two minutes.

Good morning, Corinne Wilson with the San Diego Municipal Employees Association.

I am here to support this item before you.

I see folks that are coming through new employee orientation, and these are folks that are getting their their foot on on the ladder to a job with good benefits and good pay, right?

And they're they're in our communities.

This is a good job, but we need to be able to recruit and sustain.

And currently the city is is relying on paper documents and uh manual entry, which other jurisdictions don't.

Um, we also need to be able to use all the recruitment tools possible.

This uh what they're bringing up is going to be able to create that process and really bring about much more efficiency and also um transparency and the ability to see where people are in the hiring process and have a better handle on the entire hiring process from the departments the appointing authorities, etc.

So everybody will actually know the pipeline.

So please we encourage you to approve this and thank you so much.

Thank you.

We do not have any additional slips in chambers.

We'll move to the virtual queue, and we do not have any hands raised in the virtual queues.

This will conclude public comment on item four.

All righty, thank you so much.

I will now turn it over to committee members for questions and comments and entertain a motion.

Um, not seeing anyone on the lights.

I will um go ahead and move staff's recommendation.

Um, and I appreciate the comments um from the public um and in you know, making sure we are um getting to uh the levels that we uh need to be at in order to operate efficiently.

So I appreciate this item coming forward.

We have a second.

Um actually, pro Tim Lee got on the lights, I'll turn it over to Pro Tim Lee.

I'll second the motion.

All righty.

Thank you for that.

We have a first and a second uh to move staff's recommendation.

Nellie, please call the vote.

And item four passes three zero with committee member Ila Rivera absent.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Alrighty, thank you so much.

This concludes item four, and this brings us to the end of today's agenda.

Thank you to members of the public and staff for your participation.

I will now adjourn this meeting of the budget and government efficiency committee to our next regularly scheduled meeting, which is on Wednesday, February 4th, 2026 at 9 a.m.

We are adjourned.

Thank you.