San Diego City Council Special Meeting - April 22, 2025
San Diego City Council Special Meeting - April 22, 2025
The San Diego City Council held a special meeting on April 22, 2025, addressing a wide range of topics including proclamations, consent items, selection of a new city flower, adoption of the Mobility Master Plan, speed limit reductions, a crime briefing, and implementation of Measure A for independent legal counsel. The meeting ran from morning into the afternoon with a noon recess.
Consent Calendar
- Proclamations: Approved unanimously after an amendment to item 628 (Sexual Assault Awareness Month) to add "testing every rape kit" to the final whereas. Proclamations included Denim Day, Torrey Pines Conservancy 75th Anniversary, Municipal Clerks Week, and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity 75th Anniversary.
- Consent Agenda (Items 607-617, 624-625, 629-633): Approved with Councilmember Von Wilpert voting no on item 608 (unstated). Key items included appointments to boards/commissions, a contract with Jewish Family Services for safe parking at the H Barracks, and honorary street naming of "Lucky Lane" for Lucky Wong.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Proclamations: Several survivors and advocates testified about the untested rape kit backlog, urging an audit. Speakers including Lori Saldaña, Latham Staples, and Susan Morse detailed years of inaction and called for meaningful enforcement.
- Consent and Other Items: Public comments addressed concerns about transparency, homelessness programs, and the safe parking contract. On the city flower, many supported blue-eyed grass, including a student from Barona Charter School. Non-agenda comment covered lead emissions at Montgomery-Gibbs Airport, homelessness, marijuana health risks, and support for the audit committee.
Discussion Items
- Item 634 – Official City Flower: The San Diego Bird Alliance presented a public voting process (7,750 votes) that selected blue-eyed grass as the new city flower, replacing the carnation. The council adopted the resolution on Earth Day, unanimously (8-0 with Von Wilpert absent).
- Item 620 – Mobility Master Plan: Staff detailed a plan prioritizing equity, safety, and sustainability with 11 focus areas and 377 projects. Councilmember Campillo added friendly amendments to track street light installations and traffic signal upgrades. The plan passed unanimously 9-0.
- Item 619 – Posted Speed Limits (AB 43): Transportation staff proposed reducing speed limits on 11 business activity district corridors and retaining speeds on 72 streets to prevent speed creep. Council adopted the ordinance unanimously 9-0.
- Item 623 – Crime Briefing (2024): Chief Scott Wall reported overall crime down 1.5%, with homicides down 22%, nonfatal shootings down 32%, and motor vehicle thefts down 20%. Hate crimes decreased 9%, but anti-Black bias remained high (41% of racially motivated hate crimes). Council discussed technology, enforcement challenges, and the need for state law changes on prostitution.
- Item 618 – Independent Legal Counsel for Auditor: Implementing Measure A, the council adopted amendments to the municipal code allowing the audit committee to retain independent legal counsel. Passed 8-1, with Councilmember Whitburn voting no citing budget concerns.
Key Outcomes
- Housing Authority Items: Approved minutes and heard updates on the Housing Commission's strategic plan, HOME program MOU (passed 8-1), and grant report.
- Franchise Transfer: Item 626 (chilled water franchise transfer) passed 9-0.
- Next Steps: Annual surveillance reports on police technology due in June; citywide speed management plan by early 2026; further implementation of Measure A subject to budget decisions. The crime briefing highlighted ongoing work on hate crime reduction and no-shots-fired programs.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good morning, everyone. We're going to get started. If you could find your seats. I will now call the special city council meeting of Tuesday, April twenty second, twenty twenty-five to order. Clerk, please call the role. Thank you, Council President. Council Member Campbell. Here. Councilmember Whitburn. Here. Councilmember Foster. Here. Council Member One Wilbert. Council President Pro Tem Lee. Here. Councilmember Campillo. Councilmember Moreno. Present. Councilmember Elo Rivera. And Council President Lacava. Present. Also attending the meeting are City Attorney Heather Ferber, independent budget analyst, Charles Monica, Council of Affairs Advisor in the Mayor's Office, Coda Zizer, and myself, your city clerk at the end of Wenthes. Thank you, Council President. All right, thank you, City Clerk. Excuse me, a quorum is now present. We will begin this morning with the land acknowledgement and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Von Wilbert. Please stand if you are able. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God and divisible with liberty and justice for all. All right, City Clerk, please review how to do public testimony. Thank you. I will now highlight the slide on the screen that reveals how the public can offer their public testimony during today's meeting. Please note the time allocations for proclamations and consent items for meeting management purposes. The order can be found on the agenda summary found online or at the table in the back of the room. If you are in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of chambers and bring it to the front of the room in the clear box. Council ambassadors are also available near the entrance of chambers and can assist with questions and speaker slips. No further in-person testimony will be taken once the council begins virtual testimony. Thank you, Council President. All right, thank you, clerk. For the first order of business this morning, we will be returning item 62, which is the approval of a contract with Concentra Health Services for Wellness Services for the San Diego Fire Rescue Department back to staff. Item 622 was scheduled to be heard during today's 1 p.m. session, but now it has been returned to staff and will be heard at a later date. With that, we will now dispense with the approval of the proclamation items. Before we take public comment, I would like to know for the record that item 628 will now include Councilmember von Wolpert as the presenter. Clerk, please proceed with public comment on the proclamations. The public comment period for the proclamation items is now open. Each speaker will have one minute per item per person if you would like to speak on three or more items. You will have a maximum of three minutes. The proclamation items being approved are items 600 through 603, 605 through 606, 621, and 627 and 628. I would like to note that we did receive a public comment web form in opposition for item 600.
openpublica.com