Good morning, and welcome to the budget and government efficiency committee meeting of July eighth, twenty twenty-six.

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

Thank you, Chair Foster.

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.

Council President Pro Tem Lee.

Council Member Ela Rivera.

And Chair Foster.

Also attending the meeting today is Charles Monica and Tricia Tack from the Office of the Independent Budget Analysts, Deputy City Attorney David Powell from the City Attorney's Office, Rolando Charbell, Chief Financial Officer, Matt Yekagan, Director of Policy from the Office of Mayor Todd Gloria, and Catalina Cifuentes, Associate Policy Advisor.

If you're in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of the committee room and place it in the box indicated at the front of the room.

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

Once organized presentations have concluded, no further organized presentations will be taken.

No further in-person testimony will be taken once the committee begins virtual testimony, and 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 16692545252.

The webinar ID is one six zero, four three zero, eight three three eight pound.

This information is also available 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 meet 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.

Chair.

Thank you for that.

A quorum is now present.

Just some quick housekeeping before we go to non-agenda public comment.

Um looks like item six, the user fees to support the Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement will be returned to staff for further analysis.

So with that, 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.

Natalie, please proceed with non-agenda public comment.

Is an opportunity for members of the public to comment on items that are not on the agenda but within the subject matter jurisdiction of the committee.

Each speaker will have two minutes.

And Chair, we have not received any speaker slips here in the committee room.

We have three hands raised in the virtual cue.

So I've I've started the five-minute timer.

Becky Rapp, please unmute and provide your non-agenda public comment.

Good morning, members of the budget and government efficiency committee.

My name is Becky Rapp.

I want to begin by recognizing the council's action yesterday to increase penalties for those who illegally deliver marijuana within the city.

That was a positive step in strengthening enforcement and sending a clear message that illegal activity will not be tolerated.

However, I believe we have an opportunity to build on that decision.

If we're serious about protecting public safety and following the law, we should consider increasing penalties across the board for retailers, including smoke shops and vape shops that knowingly sell illegal or unlicensed products.

As you're aware from yesterday's discussion and other previous meetings, illegal products often bypass the safety testing, labeling, and regulatory standards that exist to protect consumers.

Stronger penalties would help discourage unlawful sales and reduce the availability of these unsafe products.

Um consistent enforcement makes sense, and it also makes good fiscal sense.

When penalties are applied across all types of illegal sales, we create a more effective deterrent and um make better use of our city's enforcement resources.

So yesterday's vote was an important first step, but I encourage this committee to consider a um broader enforcement that applies meaningful penalties to all businesses engaged in the illegal sale of regulated products.

Um doing so would strengthen public safety, support businesses, and reinforce that the city's commitment um to providing public safety for all in our neighborhoods.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, Blair Beekman.

Um, yeah, to add on to that uh public comment.

Uh I've been learning that um, as important as it is for the public being allowed to sue the government and take government to court, um, having good uh laws and ordinances created by the government and community is also important.

I think we have to uh be considering that a bit more.

It's been questioning lately for a number of issues, including the future of technology use, and I think uh it's the law process that needs uh a bit more consideration.

Uh good luck in those efforts.

I um I'm uh, you know, I have important concepts to consider about the future of tech.

How we're gonna talk about tech for San Diego.

I mean, really, really harassed by um persons around my life who are kind of bullying my life.

I wish they'd stop so I can be working here and doing the job, trying to be a part of the community process.

I hope they're learning important lessons at this time so I can talk and work freely about really important subjects to myself.

Um we have to be addressing, you know, the future of PLOC.

I understand um this fall it may be difficult with uh election campaigns going on and such, but if we're just aware of the subject and talking about it with each other, that's an important first step, I think, at this time.

We have to be clear that we can have different choices besides PLOC.

And we have to be clear that we're actually considering these concepts in terms of peace and not war.

We're trying to develop a future without war.

And that's an awesome concept to consider, and how we apply that to our technology practices is incredibly important.

So good luck in the efforts.

What we're really trying to build right now.

I think it's something really amazing that um we can do it, it's possible, and we just have to be um open and um we can have choices in that way.

Um I have more to say on this subject.

Um, thanks for your patience today with myself.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Terry Ann Skelly.

Please unmute and begin.

Good morning, budget and government efficiency committee chair Foster.

My name is Terry Ann Skelly.

Those of us who advocate for policies that enhance good public health and safety would say that the city's budget money is well spent there.

Good public health and safety policies center on basic prevention principles of stop self-feeding behavior before it actually begins or mitigate as soon as possible once self-defeating behavior has begun.

Certainly, the city's tobacco retailer's license program ordinance and the associated enforcement efforts associated with it is an example of good public health and safety policies.

As a parent, I applaud your efforts to reduce tobacco product sales to those under the age of 21 and to remove unauthorized tobacco products from the shelves, like illegal flavored tobacco products and prosecute those who continue to sell them.

This is money well spent.

As we know, a whole lot of other smoking and vaping products are being sold that are illegal, such as intoxicating help-derived cannabinoid products like Delta 8.

These are sold in traditional retail tobacco markets like vape stores and gas stations.

Of particular interest to us is the prolification of small vape stores located around our San Diego schools.

Parents would encourage law enforcement to concentrate their tobacco retailer licensing program ordinance efforts there, remembering how the fines from these law-breaking stores could bring back into the budget while diminishing the supply of these products to our youth.

Thank you for hearing my concerns this morning.

Thank you.

The five-minute timer has concluded.

We have two hands remaining in the virtual queue.

We will take no additional callers after these two.

Judy Strang, please unmute and begin.

Good morning, budget and government efficiency committee.

I do appreciate your work, and we all know how interrelated the budget is to government efficiency, or perhaps government efficiency to the budget.

There's been a great deal written lately regarding their interplay.

Most recently, this yesterday's article in the Wall Street Journal entitled How Government Spending Enriches the Wealthy.

Now, this isn't meant as a critique, but it does point out that just simply increasing the amount of staff that you have or funding to the staff doesn't necessarily mean we and the public benefit from it, nor does the money that you put into the public works really improve the lot of those you're trying to serve.

I've been thinking a great deal about how money really reaches people in most in need and those communities of concern that are important to you.

And I'm not sure that we've analyzed that well, and I appreciate your increased efforts to have independent analysis of our how our money is spent.

But I'd like to just respectfully ask could we have an independent audit review of how the money is being spent on enforcement on the tobacco retailers, as previous people have mentioned on law enforcement efforts with our marijuana storefront.

And let us know whether we're receiving first their taxes as we are expected to, and what enforcement is finding regarding their interaction in the community.

Are they a plus or a minus?

It would be useful from a budget point of view to understand when we put money into enforcement what we're getting back from it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And our final speaker in the queue is Madison.

Please unmute and begin.

Hello, good morning, budget committee.

I'm here to encourage you to prioritize funding and policy development for smoke-free multi-unit housing.

This is a budget issue because smoke-free housing reduces fire risk, lowers maintenance and turnover costs for property owners, decreases health care spending associated with secondhand smoke exposure, and helps prevent costly chronic diseases before they begin.

For families living in apartments and condominiums, there is often no way to keep smoke out of their own homes.

Smoke travels through walls, vents, hallways, and shared spaces, exposing children and other vulnerable residents without their consent.

This is also an equity issue.

Lower income families are more likely to live in multi-unit housing and are disproportionately exposed to secondhand smoke.

Clean indoor air should not depend on a family's income or housing type.

As San Diego plans for continued housing growth, investing in smoke-free multi-unit housing policies is a fiscally responsible way to protect public health while reducing long-term costs.

Prevention is far less expensive than treating tobacco related illness or addressing preventable fire damage.

I encourage this committee to support the resources and policies needed to ensure every San Diegan has the basic right to breathe clean air in their own home.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes non-agenda public comment.

Alrighty, thank you for that.

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

Do we have any comments?

Seeing none, do we have any requests for continuance?

All right, hearing none.

We will now dispense with the approval of our consent agenda.

Natalie, please proceed with any public comment.

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

The consent agenda includes item one, approval of the committee minutes from June 17th, 2026.

Item two, approval of the second amendment to the agreement between the city of San Diego and Revelation Software Concepts for RevTrack software licensing maintenance and support.

No organized presentations were submitted for these items.

So we will move to in-person public comment.

We have received one speaker slip from an individual in the committee room.

Maximilian Schmidt, please approach the lectern.

You've indicated that you wish to speak to items one and two, so it's one minute per item, so you'll have two minutes to speak to items one and two.

Hi, um, I just wanted to say good morning to city council and um I do not consent to the approval of the minutes because I believe that we could be getting in uh we could be getting um poor information and even um unfair corruption and uh even um illegal underground genocide by Freemasons, so in the minutes there should be an asterisk by anyone who's speaking who's a Freemason due to the genocide.

So I do not consent to item one.

To item two, um I do not consent.

I'm actually what's called a lauddite, meaning I'm opposed to all technological advancement, and believe that we should not have monopolies, but maybe a market where we promote um maybe marketing tools instead of spending hundreds of million dollars to put all the power lines underground.

Use some um very cheap marketing could do for a few thousand dollars to say buy a flip phone, not a smartphone.

And those are things that Luddites often talk about.

So I do not consent to item two because it's for it's a um uh revelation software concepts.

I'm sure it's just a different software company than the one we're using, possibly, but as a Luddite, I'm opposed to all new um contracts with technology companies, including revelation software concepts for the Rev Tract um software license licensing maintenance and support.

I believe that we should de-evolve.

I believe we should go back to more handwritten of things, and that could open up more jobs too.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This concludes in-person public testimony.

We will now move to the virtual queue.

There's one hand raised in the virtual queue for the consent agenda.

I've started the five-minute timer.

Blair Beekman, can you please unmute and indicate which item or items you wish to speak to?

Uh items one and two.

Thank you.

Um, to first speak to the meeting minutes and the appropriation ordinance.

You're gonna have an item discussing your uh fiscal fiscal responsibilities.

Um today.

Um, how does that item uh, you know, and it's and it's um ideals relate to the um uh appropriation ordinance things.

Um, appropriation ordinances aren't supposed to talk about the ideals of fiscal responsibility.

I hope the upcoming item we can talk about ideals and and really apply them to the uh initial model of fiscal responsibility in the appropriation ordinance.

There are um, boy, there was a real chance uh that we could have uh left flock for uh and ended the contract completely, but we didn't.

There was also the options that I heard was talked about within internally that you you could have had an RFI process to look for a new ALPR vendor, and um and leaf lock in the next few months.

How is that process proceeding?

I think uh if nothing else, we've been proving that it is possible that we can leave lock and for a new vendor and that a better principled vendor.

Good luck in those efforts, and that all my words on the subject lately have been with the idea of an overall, you know, approach we can take.

I hope it adds to the conversation of what can be an approach, how to leave, and how to have better principled practices uh for our future of technology.

Uh that's my goal, and uh I hope that can help.

Uh, to go on to item number two really quickly.

Um, I guess this is uh accounting software in a lot of ways, and that's important for ourselves and um it's meaningful, meaningful work and and good luck with um cyber security measures that can work in ways that um invite the community, believe it or not.

There's ways to do that.

Uh good luck in working towards such just ways to work.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm sure this concludes public comment on the consent agenda.

Thank you so much.

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

I will begin with um council member Moreno.

Happy to move staff's recommendation.

Thank you.

Alrighty, we have a motion to move the consent agenda.

Oh second, Lee.

We have a second by uh Pro Tem Lee.

We will now have each committee member register their vote.

That passes three zero with council member Ila Rivera absent.

All righty, thank you so much.

We will now move on to our discussion agenda.

Natalie, please introduce item three.

Item three proposed fiscal year 2027 statement of budgetary principles.

And those participating virtually that are part of an organized presentation should raise their hands in the virtual queue at this time.

Chair.

Thank you so much.

Staff, please introduce yourselves for the record and let us know how much time you'll need for your presentation and feel free to begin.

Great.

Thank you, Chair Foster.

I'll kick us off really quickly and then turn it over to Sergio Alcalde, who will walk you through our presentation.

Um, this is the annual statement of budgetary principles each year.

This is a document that Sergio will describe that describes the relationship between the executive branch and the council throughout the year in terms of how the budget is implemented and developed.

Uh, largely consistent from what we had last year.

Over the last several years, we have made a number of adjustments to it.

There is one adjustment that is also proposed to be made that takes into account the discussion this committee had at its last meeting that relates to a report on judgments and claims against the city.

With that, I'll kick this over to Sergio to walk you through those principles, but we are certainly here and available for questions, comments, and discussion.

Thank you, Charles.

Um we'll take six minutes for the presentation.

Last Tuesday, our office released the proposed fiscal year 2027 statement of budgetary principles and IBA report 26-18.

Since the statement of budgetary principles is an annual agreement between council and the mayor, our office obtained review and input from the Department of Finance as well as from the City Attorney's Office.

We appreciate their collaboration.

We're asking the committee to review and forward the principles to the full council for approval.

By way of background, the statement of budgetary principles represents an agreement between council and the mayor for administration of the budget.

It clarifies budgetary authority and facilitates communication regarding the budget.

The need for the principles came with the transition to the strong mayor, strong council form of government.

At that time, there was a lack of clarity between the executive and legislative branches about budget administration and handling of related fiscal matters.

The statement of budgetary principles was put into place in fiscal year 2008 as an accompanying resolution to the fiscal year 2008 appropriation ordinance.

Since then, it has been adopted each year, and we recommend it continuing for fiscal year 2027.

The principles can be broken down into three sections.

First is the communication and budgeted programs and services.

The second is the appropriation ordinance, and third, principles for an effective collaborative and transparent city budget process.

I'll provide highlights for these sections later in this presentation.

The proposed fiscal year 2027 principles largely mirror those of fiscal year 2026, with most revisions consisting of updated dates and technical adjustments.

This adjustment stem from a request that came out of the June 17th budget and government efficiency committee meeting.

Moving on to the three sections of the proposed principles.

The first outlines how communications should occur regarding budgeted programs and services.

The principles require that the mayor provide quarterly reports to council, which are done through the quarterly budget monitoring reports.

The mid-year budget process is also included in this requirement, under which the mayor may recommend to council how to budget any projected surplus or how to address any projected deficit.

For the third bullet, the mayor must provide written notice to council before implementing any significant reduction or delay to a funded program.

This written notice must include justification and a description of service level impacts, including potential unintended consequences that create a disproportionate inequity for communities of concern.

We emphasize the importance of both clear communication and making any reductions thoughtfully.

The next section sets out principles for the appropriation ordinance or AO.

The principles preserve the intent that the AEO is a document to implement the adopted budget and does not provide policy direction.

The principles also state that neither the mayor nor council have unilateral authority to make changes to the spending authority in the budget.

Accordingly, council cannot change the budget without first receiving a funding recommendation from the mayor.

And finally, the mayor must in good faith fulfill the legislative intent reflected in the budget.

The principles further include council's intent that services be implemented equally and equitably.

The final section in the principles applies to an effective city budget process.

This slide lists some of the principles for a fiscally responsible budget process, including eliminating the structural budget deficit, pursuing service delivery efficiencies, maintaining reserves, and planning for deferred capital infrastructure and its maintenance.

Other principles for an effective city budget process include limiting programmatic supplemental positions the principals note that programmatic supplemental positions should only be requested after the fiscal year's first quarter unless the need for the for these positions could not have been anticipated during the budget adoption process and waiting until the end of the first quarter would restrict the city's ability to provide critical services.

Other principles include having council committees review key performance indicators or KPIs and ensuring collaboration in carrying out council's policy directives including the programs council has included in the adopted budget and the city's labor negotiating negotiation policies.

The principals also include also encouraged council members to discuss any proposed adjustments with our office before council's final budget adoption meeting so that we may provide feedback as we noted earlier there is one proposed substantive change to the principles this adjustment would require the risk management department to give city council an annual presentation on the city's settlement and judgment payments including related expenses and claim details for the city's police department again this proposal reflects a request made at the June 17 BNG committee committee meeting following a similar presentation from risk management with that our office is requesting the committee to review the proposed fiscal year 2027 statement of budgetary principles and forward it along with any desired changes to full council for review and adoption note that since this this is an agreement between city council and the mayor any proposed revisions to the principals will be subject to my oral approval that concludes my presentation chair and we're happy to answer any questions.

All right thank you so much for the presentation now we please proceed with public comment.

The public comment paper item three is now open and we have not received any organized presentations for this item so we will move to in-person public comment we have received one speaker slip from an individual in the committee room Maximilian Schmidt please approach the electoran you'll have one minute to speak to item three um the United States of America is one of the least corrupt countries in the world and I believe that for the um transparency principles for mayor council form of government to make sure that um maybe a hundred years down the road there's not more uh globalization we should try to every business tra every business deal we do and every contract we make with a foreign company we should have more transparency on how the American company was less expensive and slowly work towards a more protectionist city council and for the bullet point plans limit eliminate any structural budget deficit I think that we should focus uh unnecessary projects to help with that such as hundreds of millions of dollars to put the power lines underground when the library doesn't open till 11 30 a.m on Monday and Tuesday so unnecessary projects and then for budgetary authority we should question again if there's a Freemason involved in authority position.

Thank you that says conclude your time we will now move to the virtual queue I've started the five minute timer there's one hand raised in the virtual queue Blair Beekman please unmute and beginning all right thank you uh Blair Beekman uh thanks I'm getting a sense that um I hope we can be applying good ideals to this to uh budgetary principles um I think I'm hoping that you know we're a lot of council persons were talking about maybe a shift in how we're going to be talking about our budgets from the past few years in the upcoming years um just in my layman's terms you know I've been talking about how the city of Oakland focuses on on health and human services and then addresses the deficit issues.

And I hope that uh you're learning something of that same approach.

Um, that's how we can be working more uh coordinated together next year at budget time.

And it seems like we possibly have turned a corner in that in how to understand that and work towards that uh in the coming year, which is hopeful, uh which is uh an interesting because we're we're prioritizing uh equity and social services first instead of economics, and that's interesting.

So good luck in such an approach that we can all be understanding that and working together in that towards our future.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And with no more hands raised in the virtual queue.

This concludes public comment on item three.

Alrighty.

Thank you for that.

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

Uh, not seeing anyone on the lights.

I will um one move staff's recommendation, but just want to thank the IBA's office um for the work on this as this is a document that we typically put in place on an annual basis.

Um, we can see um that the document um we are continuing to enhance the document, enhance the um communication between the mayor's office and the council.

Um, and so I do want to um say thank you for those efforts.

Um, Rolando, thank you to the Department of Finance.

You play a big role in that communication process.

Um, also just want to thank for the add of the risk management um information um and specifically highlighting the San Diego Police Department um liabilities that we find ourselves continuing to have to um deal with.

Um, I see the POA has been active.

Um, I hope they can understand um that accountability is important, and uh we need to make sure that we um have some accountability as we are continuing to um expend taxpayer dollars for um police misconduct.

Um so with that um we have a motion on the floor.

I'll now turn it over to Pro Tim Lee.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the IBA as well for making updates to the document each uh year.

Thanks to the chair for adding the additional uh risk management component and uh I'll second the motion.

Thank you so much.

Um, not seeing any other members on the lights.

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

Natalie, please call for the vote.

And that passes three zero with Councilmember Elo Rivera absent.

Thank you so much.

That concludes item three.

Natalie, please introduce item four.

Item four exemption of a program coordinator position in Department of Information Technology from Classified Service.

And those participating virtually that are part of an organized presentation should raise their hands in the virtual queue at this time.

Chair.

Thank you so much.

Staff, please introduce yourselves for the record and let us know how much time you will need for your presentation and feel free to do that.

Yeah, about three minutes.

Uh good morning, Chair Foster and committee members.

I'm Jonathan Bakey, CIO of the Department of IT, along with Brendan Daly, our Chief Information Security Officer.

And we're here today to request approval of an ordinance exempting one program coordinator uh from the classified service.

And this is a new position in the fiscal 27 budget that will help the department to reduce overall contract spending and reduce the ongoing IT budget by insourcing the work in the Department of IT.

And I'll turn it over to Brendan to provide the details on this item.

Thank you.

Good morning, committee members.

The uh FY27 Department of IT budget included a budget reduction proposal of 145,000 dollars that could be realized by insourcing cyber cybersecurity role that was being provided through a managed service contract.

The new position will administer and oversee cybersecurity policies and controls that govern security management of systems of span across all city departments.

Uh responsibilities of the position will include delivering cybersecurity strategy and decision making support to department staff, business units, and project teams.

The Civil Service Commission uh did approve uh the exemption in uh June of 2026, and the approval by city council will allow the department of IT to hire the position and capture the budget savings in fiscal year 27.

The move to in-source will save the city over a hundred and forty-five thousand dollars annually and will provide greater visibility and strategic control of cybersecurity services.

Other recommendation is to authorize the ordinance exempting one program coordinator position from classified service, and happy to answer any questions.

Alright, thank you for your presentation.

Natalie, please proceed with public comment.

Thank you, Chair.

There were no organized presentations submitted for this item.

So we'll move on to in-person public comment.

So the public comment period for item four is open.

And we did receive one speaker slip from an individual in the committee room.

Maximilian Schmidt, please approach the lectern.

You'll have one minute to speak to item four.

Hi, I just wanted to say I don't want to be one to question the priority of discussion agenda items, but I just wanted to say it could be a slippery slope over time to put more emphasis on maybe more menial discussion agenda items that have to do with technology.

And I don't mean to say that this one wasn't was not important.

However, you could find some discussion agendas with technology.

We don't even have any um PowerPoints or talk about at all, and then also no comment, and then uh this one is short short and no comment.

And I just wanted to say, as a Luddite, I support um less resources being spent by the um Department of Information Technology for Cyber Security and for all technology.

I believe that we cybersecurity has been around for decades.

We shouldn't be constantly changing things around, have to do with it.

We should just keep it the same.

Thank you.

This concludes in-person public comment.

We will now move to the virtual queue.

There's one hand raised in the virtual queue.

Blair Beekman, please unmute and begin.

Hi, thank you, Blair Beekman.

Uh, I think information sharing is important.

So it was nice to learn about this item to have uh a whole bunch of little items like this, maybe can be helpful in the future.

It was really nice to a really nice approach how you're addressing it.

Uh good luck in its efforts, what it can accomplish.

Um, I think it can actually work well with the concepts of however it is to work with the public towards creating cybersecurity policies they can understand and connect with and ask about.

Uh, this sort of new job title and purpose, uh, may lend itself to that and do some nice work.

Uh it builds uh a local process of understanding our issues of tech.

So it's interesting.

Uh good luck in its efforts, what it can be doing.

Um, yeah, I guess just a quick comment with three more items, and there's not very many public speakers.

Is it possible to get uh a minute 30 or two minutes for public speaking time?

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes public comment on item four.

Thank you so much.

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

Um, not seeing anyone on the lights, I'll kick it off.

Um, I'll move staff's recommendation.

Um, looks like we have a second um for from Pro Tim Um Lee.

Any other um committee member comments?

Seeing none, um Natalie, please call for the vote.

And that passes three zero with Councilmember Ila Rivera absent.

All righty, thank you so much.

This concludes item number four.

Natalie, please introduce item five.

Item five, approval of the fourth amendment to the agreement between the city of San Diego and the San Diego Futures Foundation to provide accessible community-based digital skills training through the digital literacy program.

Chair.

All righty, thank you so much, staff.

Please introduce yourselves for the record and let us know how much time you will need for your presentation and feel free to begin.

Uh about 10 minutes for the presentation for the record.

Good morning, uh, Chair Foster and committee members.

I'm Jonathan Banke, Chief Information Officer in the Department of IT, along with Ian Brazzle, Assistant Deputy Director, and Maureen Medvedev, uh Deputy Director.

We are here today to request approval of an ordinance that will help us continue the work of bridging the digital divide for thousands of residents who've benefited from the city's Tech on the Go Digital Literacy classes through an amendment for a five-year uh extension of the partnership between the city and the San Diego Futures Foundation, as well as an increase in the contracts not to a seat authority.

This amendment allows us to continue to provide accessible community-based digital skills training to residents across San Diego, particularly in our digital equity priority areas where digital literacy gaps remain pronounced.

I'll turn it over to Ian to provide details on today's item.

Good morning, Chair Foster and Committee members.

The City of San Diego's SD Access for All program has provided resources to San Diegans to bridge the digital divide since its inception in 2020.

The city's digital literacy program, known as Tech on the Go, is delivered in partnership with the San Diego Futures Foundation, or SDFF, and provides a wide range of digital skills training throughout the year.

Each week, six two-hour classes are offered at libraries, recreation centers, and community-based organizations throughout the city.

Topics include basic computer and smartphone skills, personal data and password management, online safety, professional email conduct, virtual interview skills, and accessing critical digital government services and more.

At least one class each week is dedicated specifically to workforce development, developed in partnership with the San Diego Workforce Partnership, ensuring residents gain the competencies needed for education, employment, healthcare access, and other essential online activities.

These bilingual classes are currently held at six locations across San Diego.

Class locations are designed to meet residents where there is the highest need, identified as digital equity priority areas.

An interactive map of these priority areas can be located on our program's website as well as within our recently released broadband master plan.

Attendees of the San Diego Futures Foundation's digital literacy classes regularly state how impactful these sessions have been on their lives.

In FY26 alone, they reached more than 1,500 attendees with survey feedback reflecting high attendee satisfaction.

Feedback showed that 94% of respondents felt that they had made progress towards their technology goals.

84% reported feeling more confident in their use of technology.

86% were satisfied with the program, and 87% stated that they will be applying what they've learned in their daily lives.

Residents regularly show their appreciation in our feedback forms following their sessions.

We'd like to highlight one in particular, which we believe encapsulates why this program is so critical to San Diegans.

I was promoted to manager and have been training for a new position.

I attribute all of this good news to Tech on the Go.

You all gave me the confidence I needed.

I will continue attending classes until I have fully mastered both my phone and laptop.

The city became partners in digital equity with the Futures Foundation back in 2022.

At the time, services included Tech on the Go classes, Digital Navigator Support Services, and a helpline.

These programs became such a huge success that the city made the decision in FY25 to move several of these programs in-house, including digital navigation and the helpline.

As a result, the city brought on a team of digital navigator interns funded through the Employee and Empower Program, as well as three permanent lead digital navigators who were formerly employing and power interns.

Our digital equity team has been lucky to work with a total of 55 employee and power interns total.

They've conducted 5,000 digital navigation sessions in fiscal year 26 alone and have now expanded services to a total of 11 sites this summer.

This program has grown to be extremely popular and was recently highlighted in the city's recently released broadband master plan as a crucial component to the city's efforts in closing the digital divide, along with recommendations to continue expansions of the program as resources allow.

Looking ahead to FY27, our efforts with the Futures Foundation will include the addition of AI awareness and literacy to the available list of classes, as well as efforts to bring additional awareness to SDFF's programs within their service areas.

Efforts will include new promotional videos, social media ads, and high-quality posters.

In addition to digital literacy classes, SDFF also partners with the city on their comprehensive computer distribution program.

SDFF provides a one-year hardware warranty for all of their devices, which includes technical support and comprehensive computer repair services.

SDF has refurbished and distributed over 65,000 computers to San Diegans in need.

This successful partnership is making a difference for San Diegans and comes at no cost to the city.

The San Diego Futures Foundation is a local tax-exempt 501c3 nonprofit organization that has been dedicated to improving the lives of San Diegans through digital inclusion since 1999.

The San Diego Futures Foundation, as stated in the previous slide, has already provided over 65,000 computers to those in need and has provided over 15,000 training sessions.

They've served over 2,500 nonprofits and kept over 6.5 million pounds of e-waste from our landfills.

This partnership will help the city in avoiding potential recycling costs while improving the lives of hundreds of San Diegans each year.

The partnership with STFF is one of many digital equity initiatives that the XC Access for All program has created to bridge the digital divide in San Diego.

Other services provide uh provided include our expansive public Wi-Fi program, reaching over 350 locations and over 60 parks, additional device refurbishment efforts with our partner Computers to Kids, the creation of our recently released broadband master plan, region wide collaboration efforts for various digital equity focused services, and hotspot and Chromebook lending programs through our public libraries.

Our recommendation today is to approve the ordinance for the Fourth Amendment to the contract with the San Diego Futures Foundation in order to extend the agreement over a total of five one-year options, as well as to increase the not-to-exceed limit to a total of 1.485 million.

That concludes our presentation and we would be happy to answer any questions.

Well, thank you for your presentation.

Natalie, please proceed with public comment.

Thank you, Chair.

No organized presentations were submitted for this item.

So we will now move on to in-person public comment for item five.

We have received two speaker slips for item five.

Maximilian Schmidt, please approach the lectern, and you'll be followed by Brandon Harrison.

I just wanted to um speak bluntly.

If you do not have the finances to have technology, you can with your um EBT card get free phone, a free smartphone, and free internet unlimited.

And also there's many YouTube videos that do similar things to tech on the go.

So the um structural budget deficit is really important.

We could possibly also reallocate to help closing the digital divide, where the library is kind of the main um the main thing.

I think we should prioritize to close the digital divide by um, it only opens at 11 30 a.m.

on Monday and Tuesday, and it also has much shorter hours than most cities, and also um, I think we could throw throw up maybe 10 to 20 more computers on uh one of the other floors in the library because it can also be crowded there.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Brandon Harrison.

Hello, good morning, everyone.

My name is Brandon Harris, I'm the executive director of the San Diego Futures Foundation, and I've been the executive director for about a year now.

Started in June of last year and came from the San Diego Workforce Partnership.

It was an honor to be here today to speak on the approval of this fourth amendment.

And the one thing I just wanted to share is they already gave some great data on.

I just want to share two quick stories from people who've attended our classes.

Since 2022, we've had about 6,900 people check into the classes.

We had two that really stood out.

So in 2023, we had a young lady named Heidi, she was 85 years old that came to the class and she wanted to learn about Microsoft Word and really understand how to use her laptop.

And with those classes, she got one-on-one hands-on attention from our instructors, and she was able to publish a book on Amazon, and she published that in 2024.

And that's something that was really just one achievement from many stories that we've got people who came with low digital literacy skills but wanted to have something that they could produce based on the classes that they've come in person to really get that one-on-one learning.

And we have uh one hour is instruction and instructured lesson, but then one hour to actually get to ask their questions that they otherwise wouldn't be able to get to add and get that one-on-one attention.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

This does conclude your time.

We will now move to the virtual queue.

I've started the five-minute timer.

We have one hand raised in the virtual queue.

Blair Bakeman, please unmute and provide your comments.

Hi, Blair Beekman.

Uh really nice public comment previously.

Thank you.

Uh, I need that was good learning lessons for myself.

Coming from tech accountability, um, I can't stress enough the importance that to me uh bridging the digital divide is is a holistic approach uh with many parts to it.

And I think tech accountability, um, like our older senior citizens and young people learning, you know, through like BACLU, what can be good tech accountability practices to share those kind of uh concepts in bridging the digital divide, I think builds a more holistic approach to community.

It isn't carrying down the community, it's building up our best democratic practices for our future.

That I think when people, when they first read the ALCU ideals and what they want to be working towards, I think most people are pretty amazed by it, and they kind of get uh a thinking going that uh it's important for our future.

Good luck how to in involve and integrate uh those concepts of tech accountability in the future of this program.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Kathleen Lippett, please unmute and begin.

Good morning, budget committee.

I just like to thank you for this item because this is one of the occasions where we can where the public can concur that this is a great idea.

We've got a lot of people that are unemployed, and technology is a difficult transition for many to make.

So this is practical, and it's wonderful to see you increase the technical uh capacity of people to be able to navigate some of these systems that are difficult.

So thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes public comment for item five.

Alrighty, thank you for that.

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

We will start with council member Moreno.

Wonderful.

Um, thank you for the presentation, and let me start off uh by first making a motion to approve staff's recommendation.

Um the digital divide uh I've spoken about uh in numerous occasions is absolutely real.

Uh, the city of San Diego um stipulated that about 10% of my population in district eight are without access to the internet.

So um considering that you don't have internet, the likelihood of you knowing what Microsoft Word is or Excel or anything like that is very very low.

Um I do have a few questions.

Um, first off, where is the funding coming out of uh the funding is part of the uh the IT's general fund budget for uh for digital equity?

For digital equity, okay, wonderful.

Have we uh or I would highly recommend um one?

I think this is good use of our just general fund.

I'm assuming this is just general fund uh dollars.

I think this is a very good use of our general fund dollars.

Uh, but this also sounds like something that we potentially could be getting grants for, uh, whether it's at the state or the federal government.

You guys know I'm always pushing for grants, um, and uh to help um with the funding of this program.

Um the other question I have is where are the instructions held and also do we have a break a breakout?

I know we like data, and so where is the breakout of of where the classes are being held, what residents are being captured, um, all that information.

Yeah, so we we can provide uh a lot of that data uh in your district right now.

We're uh providing classes at Sherman Heights Community Center, uh and the OTI Mason Nestor Library.

Wonderful, wonderful.

Um and we can provide you with attendee uh figures as well.

Yeah, I think this is something that I would absolutely love to partner with the office to help get the word out.

Um are you providing uh this in this instruction in Spanish?

Yes.

Awesome.

You guys are you guys are so awesome.

You it was engineering, that was my favorite.

Then it was park and wreck, and I think I just added IT.

So I'm very happy to make this motion.

Thank you for what you guys are doing.

You're crossing all your T's or dotting all your I's uh and um I think I made the motion, right?

So I'm done.

Thank you.

Thank you for that.

We have a motion to move staff's recommendation by council member Moreno.

We will now go to Pro Ten Lee.

I'll second this motion.

Alrighty, we have a first and a second.

Um I will just um close uh real quickly.

I do appreciate um council member Moreno's request for data.

Um I think that's important because I would like to know um the locations in my district and and also what the the attendance is.

Um I do have one other question.

As I saw the um in the slide presentation, there was an individual um that uh indicated using the services for employment purposes.

Are there any potential synergies here with San Diego Workforce Partnership?

Um, and so that folks know that this um resource is available as they are trying to improve their uh skills when it comes to uh technology in certain aspects.

So is there any potential for that?

Has that been thought of?

Is that been discussed at all?

Yeah, I can speak uh with staff more about uh the awareness aspect of it, but we are working with the partnership right now for our classes, so one class per week is specifically developed with them for uh workforce readiness, um, and so we we make sure that that's integrated into the class schedule.

Um, to answer your question about the locations, although I'll just uh answer that now.

So um for your district it's Valencia Park or Malcolm X Library and Mountain View uh Beckworth Library.

Okay.

All right, and I saw on the slide that it expanded to 11 sites typically.

Correct.

In my research, I saw typically we would have seven.

Do we typically expand over the summertime?

Does it go flexible?

Yeah, we actually had nine sites, and then this summer we're expanding to two pop-up sites.

Okay, all righty, very good.

We'll follow up um and and look for that data and um see where we can um make sure we're utilizing maximizing our opportunities and utilization for this.

And um, John, this is something you know that the digital divide, as uh my colleague has said this it's real.

Um it's something that the district four office has been um really advocating for.

I want to say going back now, probably seven years or so, six, seven years.

So um thank you for your continued efforts on this, and uh that will um bring us to the next step.

Um, if we can have each committee member register their vote, and that motion passes three zero with committee member Ila Rivera absent.

Alrighty, thank you so much.

This concludes item five.

Um item six was returned to staff.

Natalie, please introduce item seven.

Item seven, authorization to enter into and sign the first amendment to the cooperative procurement contract with Nixon Eggley Equipment Corporation for the purchase of WITGEN, WERT GEN, America Incorporated roadway paving equipment.

And those participating virtually that are part of an organized presentation should raise their hands in the virtual queue at this time.

Chair.

Well, thank you so much.

Staff, please introduce yourself for the record and let us know how much time you will need for your presentation, and feel free to begin.

Good morning.

Um I'll need about two minutes.

Uh good morning, Chair Foster and members of the budget and government efficiency committee.

My name is Gina Dulley.

I'm a deputy director in the Department of General Services.

With me today is program manager Rex Progukos.

As many of you are aware, General Services Fleet Division maintains and repairs over 5,000 vehicles and pieces of motive equipment, including roadway equipment.

The item before you today is seeking authorization and approval to execute a first amendment to the city's contract with Nixon Eggley Equipment Company.

The amendment includes increasing contract capacity by 1.2 million for a total not to be exceed amount of 4.2 million, as well as exercising the option to extend the contract for one year through August of 2027.

Roadway equipment is critical to the Transportation Department's daily operations, and the equipment purchased from this contract supports the Mill and PAVE team.

It's also important to note that the budget for this contract is available in the vehicle replacement fund.

And we intend to use the budget to purchase a milling machine due for replacement in fiscal year 27.

We did explore renting the equipment versus buying and found the break-even point would occur within two years.

Buying far outweighs renting, considering the useful life of this type of equipment is typically eight years.

That concludes the presentation.

I'm available to take your questions.

Alrighty, thank you so much.

Natalie, please proceed with public comment.

The public comment period for item seven is now open, and we have not received any organized presentations for this item.

So we will move to in-person public comment.

We did receive one speaker slip from an individual in the committee room.

Maximilian Schmidt, please approach the lector.

You'll have one minute to speak to item seven.

Um, I just wanted to say that um one point two to four million dollars uh for new roadway equipment when the um construction at um Santa Fe Depot seems like it's been going on for uh for so long.

Um I think it's been close to being finished or finished.

Um I think we should probably have different priority priorities concerning um the roadways.

And also I wanted to say that this is a strange form of uh illegal harassment that's usually not talked about, but there are walking through the city, you walk past many um roadway equipment, and at least once um I personally have been harassed by one of one of these construction workers who was a Freemason, uh trying to make me feel crazy by um using telepathy to um harass me and say my thoughts out loud.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This concludes in-person public testimony.

We will now move to the virtual queue.

There's one hand raised in the virtual queue.

Blair Beekman, please unmute and provide your comments.

Hi, thank you, Blair Beekman.

Uh, thanks for this item.

Thanks for the words of Max.

Uh, he offered some good information I needed to have to have.

Um, I've been trying to get a grasp on you've had a lot of paving issues on councils and committees lately.

Um, you know, down at the beach, you know, there are like at Ocean Beach, there's 10 tons of, you know, huge trucks that come in with, you know, the sand issues there, moving the sand around.

So I mean, I understand you guys have uh needs, uh, but I'm I'm a bit surprised of the um additional 1.2 million that's needed for for paving and such um for equipment.

That is a lot.

Uh I'm trying to get a grasp of San Diego as both a small city and yet a really, really large city, and how that works together.

And I guess that's what I'm trying to learn with an item like this.

So um good luck in um, I guess for myself and trying to better understand these things and uh and how you can uh treat these items uh responsibly uh in this budget year.

Good luck.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Chair, this concludes public comment on item seven.

Thank you so much.

I will now turn it over to committee members for questions and comments and entertaining motion on item seven.

We will begin with Pro Tem Lee.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you for the presentation.

Uh, especially last month uh uh since we had the analysis uh of renting versus purchasing equipment and appreciate that that work was done here as well.

Um I know all of us within each of our districts really appreciates the millennial work that we're able to do in-house.

Um, and especially knowing that there's a cost savings in purchasing the equipment and that it's planned out for uh all of that sort of ties in well.

My only question might just be how long does it take these days once putting an order in for equipment like this to actually be fulfilled?

Uh, thank you for your question, Pro Tem.

Um, we recently placed an order for a similar piece of equipment that will be replaced with this extension.

Um, and the vendor has uh given us a timeline of twelve months.

Okay.

Good to good to know.

Uh and with that, I'm happy to move the item.

Thank you so much.

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

Second.

All right, we have a second by Council Member Moreno.

Um I too just quickly uh thank you.

Um I appreciate the analysis on the rental versus purchase.

Um totally makes sense.

Um lead time does seem you know, I think we're still the lead time is what it is, and the challenges that we are constantly going through.

Um you know uh I always push for more, um, looking for ways to do more.

Um, and I just totally appreciate our in-house uh mill and paved team.

Um I really feel that's really um it's really um being focused on those um what I call um failing roads in in my district.

Um, we have quite a few and and we are seeing the progress um in our streets and roads, so thank you for that.

Um, with that, um I'll turn it over to Councilmember Moreno.

I was um I felt compelled to to speak out and say that this the mill and pave team was something that was brought forward uh from the um audit committee and from the auditor's office, and I think has been an extreme success for the city of San Diego, not only saving the city of San Diego money, but also bringing uh bringing our city workers to do the work instead of outsourcing, which is something that I've had um major concerns over how much um the city of San Diego is uh farming out a lot of uh a lot of the work that can be done by city workers and in essence the institutional knowledge not being um left within the city of San Diego.

So um I just wanted to put that on the record and happy to second the motion.

Yes, thank you so much, and thank you for your continued advocacy in making sure that we are um meeting our obligations in the most efficient way we can.

And and thank you to our city auditor.

Um, so with that, um we have a a motion by Pro Tem Lee, a second by Councilmember Moreno.

Uh we will now have the committee member register their vote.

And that motion passes three zero with committee member Ila Rivera absent.

All righty, thank you so much.

This concludes item seven.

This brings us to the end of today's agenda.

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

I will now adjourn this meeting of the budget and government efficiency committee uh to our next regularly scheduled meeting, which is on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2026, at 9 a.m.

We are adjourned.