San Diego City Council Budget Review Committee Hearing on Infrastructure and CIP, May 5, 2016
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San Diego City Council Budget Review Committee Hearing on Infrastructure and CIP, May 5, 2016
The San Diego City Council Budget Review Committee convened on May 5, 2016, for the second day of hearings, focusing on infrastructure. The committee reviewed the State of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for FY2016 and the proposed FY2017 CIP budget, heard extensive public testimony, and directed staff to provide updates and funding solutions for several community projects.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Non-agenda comment: Catherine Rhodes expressed that the city is not complying with redevelopment dissolution requirements, citing Department of Finance findings that CAFRA reports are inadequate, and urged council to request information from the Department of Finance.
- Non-agenda comment: David Ross, who works with the less fortunate in the inner city, raised concerns about a 'rock garden' under an underpass, saying it was designed to deter homeless people and poses a liability risk; he urged the mayor's office and council to address it.
- On CIP status: Catherine Rhodes asked that CIP tables include completion dates as required by state law, and asked whether any CIP projects use successor agency assets or unencumbered bond proceeds.
- On FY2017 CIP budget: Multiple speakers from Bay Terrace/Tuma Park (including Cynthia Suero Gabler, Marcelo Patron, Regina Patron, Joe Quintanilla, Fem Ramirez, Rodolfo Bautista, Romy, Dion Maseda, Lon Jefferson, Juanito Daladin, and Francine Maiget) opposed the budget as proposed because it lacks funding for a Bay Terrace/Tuma Park community senior center at Bay Terrace Park, which has been promised since 1990 and serves about 200 seniors.
- On FY2017 CIP budget: Several speakers from San Carlos (Judy McCarty, Joan Hayes, Judith Williams) supported funding for a new San Carlos Branch Library, noting the project has been delayed 25 years and costs have risen from $9 million to $20 million.
- On FY2017 CIP budget: Many speakers from San Isidro (Alicia Jimenez, Michael Friedman, Alicia De La Torre, Anna Melgoza, Martha Garcia Jacobo, Grace Apodaca, Grace Kojima, Eddie Dunkel, Luciana Corrales, Esperanza Soria, Mary Rodriguez, and 12 others) supported funding for the Bayer Neighborhood Park, repeatedly citing a 33-year wait and asking that $372,000 in anticipated funding be converted to allocated funding.
- On FY2017 CIP budget: City Heights residents and advocates (an unnamed speaker, Anastasia Brewster, Sidney Michael, Sophie Tran, and Reverend Din Trong) requested funding for the Choice Triangle Master Plan implementation and sidewalk safety improvements on 54th Street, citing the death of 15-year-old Jonathan Cortez in October 2015; Anastasia Brewster read a letter from his mother, Veronica Cortez, urging the city to include sidewalk funding in the 2017 budget.
State of the CIP Six-Month Update
- Marnell Gibson, Assistant Director of Public Works, reported on the CIP Review and Advisory Committee update for July 1–December 31, 2015. Key points included four deferred capital bonds (1, 2, 2A, and 3) supporting over 350 projects; approximately $163 million expended and $337 million encumbered as of December 31; 49 construction contracts awarded with an average award time of 88 days; about 90 miles of street pavement completed; roughly 10 miles of water main and 15.5 miles of sewer awarded; and 6 of 13 streamlining measures completed.
- Council members praised the progress. Mark Kersey asked about commercial paper and deferred capital bond timing; CFO Mary Lewis said a deferred capital bond likely would not occur until Q4 FY17. Lorie Zapf asked about pooled contingencies; Michael Clark said a pilot in FY17 could free up $1.8 million. David Alvarez requested street light and sidewalk replacement lists, and staff indicated those lists might not be ready before budget adoption. Sherri Lightner asked for clarifications on exhibit definitions and dashboards.
FY2017 Proposed CIP Budget
- Michael Clark, Financial Management Department, presented the proposed budget: $372.7 million for 6 new projects and 76 continuing projects in a $7.4 billion multi-year CIP; an anticipated $261.4 million via separate council actions would bring total FY17 funding to $634 million. Funding sources included the general fund ($10.5 million), TransNet, enterprise funds ($318 million), and others including a new lease purchase fund. The budget also included a 'waterfall list' for reallocating project savings and a planned construction contract list of roughly 200 projects worth about $400 million.
- James Negelvoort, Public Works Director and City Engineer, celebrated 12 American Public Works Association awards for recent projects, including La Jolla Cove Lifeguard Station, Desert View Drive Slope Repair, and Fire Station 45.
- Council discussion included: Myrtle Cole highlighted the Tuma Park senior center need and requested updated cost estimates; David Alvarez questioned Bayer Park funding (noting $372,000 was misallocated as OTI Nestor instead of Otay Mesa/San Ysidro) and requested a breakdown of phasing and costs; Lorie Zapf asked about the waterfall list and OB lifeguard station design funding; Chris Cate asked about the bidding environment and Mira Mesa Community Park phasing; Scott Sherman asked about fire station standardization; Sherri Lightner asked about the UC Tot Lot, Coastal Rail Trail, and Del Mar Mesa park schedules; Todd Gloria suggested councils look for revenue offsets, noting the senior center cost was about $2.1 million in 2013.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; the committee heard testimony and directed staff.
- Staff to provide written responses to councilmember questions (e.g., street light/sidewalk lists, Bayer Park phasing/funding, EDCO fund breakdown, Balboa Park CIP accounting).
- Public Works and Park & Recreation to update cost estimates for the Tuma Park senior center and establish a CIP project.
- Staff to correct the Bayer Park funding allocation to the appropriate development impact fee area.
- Financial Management to continue exploring pooled contingencies and bond timing.
- The committee recessed about 15 minutes early at approximately 1:45 p.m. and planned to resume at 2 p.m. for department hearings.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Uh, welcome to the second day of our budget review committee hearings of the San Diego City Council. I'll call the meeting to order. Um, I recognize that members are kind of all throughout the chamber, but uh, we have uh a lot to cover this morning, and actually a lot of public speakers, so I don't want to waste a set a second more than we have to and be respectful of everyone's time. Uh, we do have a quorum present consisting of council members uh Leitner Cole, uh, Kate Sherman, and Alvarez. And I will start this morning, uh, as we always do with non-agenda public comment. This is an opportunity to address the committee about an item not on this morning's agenda. Uh, many of you are here for infrastructure projects, neighborhood uh projects of a particular kind. This is not the time to talk about that. Uh, we have your speaker slips, and I'd ask you if you do intend to speak, submit your slip as soon as possible. I'm trying to manage the time this morning. Uh, right now, uh, the volume of speakers suggest that we might have to start limiting people's time. Typically, we give three minutes an individual because of what I already have. I'm suspecting we're going to be to two. If I get a whole lot more, we might need to limit it down even more than that. Um, but if you can submit the slip sooner rather than later, it'll help me understand and give you as much time as possible to address the council. So uh don't hide on uh don't hold on to those slips. Uh, turn them in, please. So I have two uh speakers who want to speak on something not on this morning's agenda. We'll start with Catherine Rhodes, we followed by David Ross. Ms. Rhodes, please come forward. You'll have two minutes. Um so anyway, this was just what was in the reader yesterday. The City of San Diego says they compliant with the requirements of redevelopment dissolution. And so you guys actually think that you guys are following the law, but it's not true. And if we could go to the the next page. And so the next page was just from the Department of Finance, where they basically looked at your CAFRA reports and said they're not adequate. It just doesn't exist. And it's all your fiduciary duty because the successor agency is a fiduciary fund to know everything, to know the assets, the liabilities, the revenues, the expenses. You guys haven't known that for five years because for some reason you think that's a successor agency because it has zero employees, has a loophole to not have a budget. When the budget comes forward um next week for this assessor age uh assessor agency, it's only the administrative budget. It's not regarding any of the enforceable obligations. It doesn't talk about debt payments. There's so much money being wasted in this assessor agency and the low moderate income housing fund. And for Councilmember Alvarez, you said you're going to ask for it. You could actually ask this information of the Department of Finance at any time, but we need somebody, an elected official or the city to actually ask the Department of Finance because you're getting bad information. Thank you. There you go. Uh ladies and gentlemen. I'm David Ross. I've been working with the uh with the uh less fortunate challenge people in the uh inner city for 18 years. There were 2,000 when it started there. 10,000 now. Whether we like it or not, it's 10,000. Ventrants, homeless, mental, lost their jobs, living in cars, come to San Diego and get a good life. All of a sudden there's nothing there. So we have an uh an enormous amount of people. And we're building big buildings out of now. I spent 30 years with Mercedes Benz.
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