San Diego City Budget Review Committee Meeting - May 8, 2017
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San Diego City Budget Review Committee Meeting - May 8, 2017
The Budget Review Committee, chaired by Councilmember Barbara Bree, met on May 8, 2017, to review proposed budgets for the City Attorney's Office, Fleet Operations, Purchasing and Contracting, Information Technology, Human Resources, Personnel, City Clerk, and City Auditor. Discussions centered on staffing requests, budget reductions, and service impacts. Public testimony was heard on wage theft enforcement, fleet staffing, and living wage compliance.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Martha Welch (opposition to city attorney budget) expressed frustration about missing agenda pages, but stated she liked the city attorney's plans for parks and other initiatives.
- Marco Brionis (for Raise Up San Diego Coalition) read a letter supporting funding for earned sick leave and minimum wage enforcement positions in the city attorney's office, emphasizing the need for effective investigations and recovery of back wages.
- Anna Aldama (for Raise Up San Diego Coalition) described systemic wage violations at major employers, noted that only $30 million of $70 million in back wages had been recovered, and urged the city to fund enforcement positions.
- Peter Zicy (for Raise Up San Diego Coalition) argued that wage theft is a property crime affecting all districts, called for the city attorney's office to act as a deterrent (like a CHP officer on the highway), and stressed that enforcement would benefit honest employers and workers.
- Vincent Blanco (AFSCME Local 127) spoke in favor of fleet operations, requesting 15 additional FTE positions (5 assistant fleet technicians, 10 fleet technicians) to reduce the red tag list (average 40 vehicles per day non-operational) and improve preventative maintenance.
- Emily Howe (Center on Policy Initiatives) supported the purchasing and contracting budget, noting that fully staffed living wage enforcement had recovered $400,000 in FY 2015, but with vacancies only $5,700 was recovered in the past year. She opposed moving a position out of the living wage program.
- Martha Welch (second appearance) criticized the city clerk's office for not providing full agenda backup materials, questioning transparency.
Discussion Items
- City Attorney's Office (Mara Elliott) : Presented a request to restore five positions that were cut from the budget (to be kept vacant) and add six deputy city attorneys and one investigator. Highlighted a 22% increase in domestic violence/sex crime cases over two years, a 60% increase in child abuse trials, and the need for prosecutors in the neighborhood justice unit (one per police division). Noted that the office's aggressive defense strategy saved $20-30 million in seven trials. Requested an advisory attorney for climate action plan implementation. Councilmembers expressed support for domestic violence, neighborhood justice, and SMART program funding. Councilmember Cole stated she would include funding for two DCAs for neighborhood justice and two for domestic violence/sex crimes in her budget priorities. Councilmember Alvarez inquired about wage theft enforcement; the city attorney indicated it could be done with resources.
- Fleet Operations (Elizabeth Corey) : Reported 4,300 vehicles, conversion to renewable diesel (80% less GHG), new CNG fueling station, and a new fire repair facility. Operating budget $57M (up 2%), replacement fund $42M (up 40% due to one-time facility costs). Proposed reductions of 1.6M from efficiencies and 14 vehicles removed. IBA noted SB1 impact on fuel costs. Councilmember Kate asked about SB1; FM director said revised budget would include updated fuel costs. Councilmember Gomez asked about CAP goals; fleet plans to expand low/zero-emission vehicles to 30-40% of fleet over two years.
- Purchasing and Contracting (Christina Peralta) : Budget of $6.6M, reduction of 3 FTEs (including one senior management analyst moved from living wage to minimum wage program). 13 vacancies; IBA recommended monitoring resources for potential equal pay ordinance. Councilmember Ward expressed concern about vacancies and living wage enforcement. Councilmember Cole asked about declining contracts to African American firms (from 5% in 2013 to <1% in 2016); department cited increased outreach efforts.
- Information Technology (Jonathan Banke) : Budget highlights include $1M savings in network circuits, 611 computer replacements, 2 new FTEs for cybersecurity, and 99.999% radio availability (only 168 seconds downtime). IBA noted network services RFP issued and cybersecurity study request ($50k) not funded.
- Human Resources (Judy Von Kalinowski) : Consolidation of 11 positions from other departments, no employee displacement. Budget reduction of $74k and one public information specialist position. Councilmember Alvarez clarified that the labor relations manager position will be eliminated and replaced by a deputy director from Fire.
- Personnel (Hadi Degani) : Presented FY18 budget, requesting restoration of one associate personnel analyst position added in FY17. Highlighted 255 recruitments, 40,000 applications processed, 82 police recruit exams (19 out of town). IBA recommended discussion on impact of eliminating the analyst position. Councilmember Alvarez asked about impacts; personnel director noted delays in classification studies and special salary adjustments.
- City Clerk (Liz??) : Budget increase of $11k, one position added from citizens assistance program consolidation. Reduced printing costs by $20k. Public speaker Martha Welch complained about missing agenda materials.
- City Auditor (Eduardo Luna) : Proposed budget of $3.989M for 22 FTEs, slight increase of $106k. Issued 13 performance audits and 3 hotline investigations, seventh consecutive Knighton Award. IBA had no additional comments.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; the committee received presentations and discussed budget priorities.
- Councilmember Cole committed to including funding for two deputy city attorneys for the neighborhood justice unit and two for domestic violence/sex crimes in her budget priority memo.
- Councilmember Ward, Alvarez, and others expressed support for restoring the five city attorney positions and adding requested positions, as well as funding wage theft enforcement.
- Councilmember Alvarez noted that keeping positions vacant provides the same savings as elimination, but the administration argued for ongoing reductions due to future pension obligations.
- The IBA recommended that the council discuss the impact of eliminating the personnel analyst position and that purchasing and contracting provide an update on vacancies if the equal pay ordinance is considered.
- The meeting was adjourned with plans to reconvene the following day at 9:00 a.m.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, good afternoon. Um, we actually just barely have a quorum with Councilmember Ward, Council President Pro Tim Kercy, uh, Councilmember Alvarez, Councilmember Gomez, and myself, um, Barbara Bree, the chair. Um, so clerk, um, please introduce the next item. Yes, our next item is a presentation on the city attorney's office. We have city attorney Mara Elliott as presenter. We do have one public speaker, and it's my understanding that Ms. Elliott would like eight minutes for her presentation. I will put that on the clock. Good afternoon. It's the mission of the city attorney's office to protect the city and the people who live in it. Our office is unique in that so much of our workload is dictated by factors outside of our control and outside of your control. We advise city officials and departments on following the law. We help them address the constantly evolving needs of our city, and we keep them informed on new state and federal regulations that affect their work. We defend the city against all lawsuits, but we can't control how often the city is sued, nor can we go into court to ask for delays because we need more staff. We prosecute misdemeanors, but of course cannot control the number of crimes committed or the number of cases brought to us for review. And whenever a city department takes on new work, in all probability, our attorneys do as well. It's fair to say that every new program, every initiative, even plans to streamline processes and increase efficiencies add to my office's workload. As you know, the city charter assumes that the functions in my office my office performs will be fully funded. And with a few changes to the mayor's proposed budget, I think we can get there. In addition to domestic violence and sex crimes, which include indecent exposure and groping, these prosecutors handle child abuse cases. The number of cases this unit receives from law enforcement agencies has increased 22% in the past two years. Last year, there were 12 attorneys in the unit. Each attorney reviewed about 240 cases, and together they made 10,000 court appearances. These attorneys don't just review the cases, they prosecute them. In the last two years, the number of child abuse trials increased by about 60%. There's also a need for two additional prosecutors in our neighborhood justice unit. This unit operates the community justice initiative, the SMART program, and works with the collaborative courts and special programs like the Serial Inebriate program. These attorneys work with our police and community groups to identify solutions to criminal behavior that is undermining the quality of life in our neighborhoods. For instance, if a neighborhood park has been taken over by drug dealers and their customers, we'll work with the community and law enforcement to drive out the drug dealers, thereby restoring the park for use by families. In order to succeed with these targeted anti-crime efforts, we need to have a prosecutor assigned to each of the nine police divisions. This ensures that every part of the city gets equal service. They will help share the increased workload resulting from the office's newly aggressive stance in defending the city. As you know, since I took office, we're settling less and going to trial more. This shift in strategy has the full support of our city's leaders, but it cannot succeed without adding experienced trial attorneys. Just in the past few months, you've seen how our success at trial has saved the city millions of dollars. In just seven trials, we estimate we save the city 20 to 30 million dollars in judgments and attorney fees. The cost of these positions is a pittance by comparison, and adding them in the most cost effective, adding them is the most cost effective way to proceed. As you know, when our office lacks the resources to handle litigation, the city must hire outside counsel, which is far more expensive. As this chart shows, the savings and hiring an attorney versus contracting out can be as much as $850,000 over the course of a year. To demonstrate how quickly outside council costs can add up, in one year, our city spent close to 11 million dollars in outside counsel. Those funds do not come out of my budget, but rather from risk management's budget. I'd like to keep that work with the city attorney's office, but I need the personnel to do it. Our final request is to add an advisory attorney to handle the huge increase in work that is expected as we implement the climate action plan. This need was identified by the city's chief sustainability officer based on the expected workload created by such programs as community choice aggregation and the city's goal of using 100% renewable resources. Per the independent budget analyst, the mayor's budget identifies 128.1 million in spending on climate action plan activities, yet the one city attorney position request we requested to advise departments on all that work has been denied. As I discussed earlier, every city initiative has a corresponding effect on our office's workload. This slide is an example of the effects of city priorities on our workloads. The ballot measure to raise hotel room taxes, seven deputy city attorneys, affordable housing, two deputy city attorneys, homelessness solutions, six deputy city attorneys, the Qualcomm Stadium redevelopment issue, ten deputy city attorneys, Balboa Park Projects, three deputy city attorneys. One deputy city attorney spends all of her time on the Mission Bay Park Improvement Plan. Enhanced infrastructure financing districts, three deputy city attorneys.
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