San Diego City Council Meeting: June 17, 2025 – Proclamations, Consent, and Eminent Domain
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San Diego City Council Meeting – June 17, 2025
The meeting began with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Presidio Palms, a new affordable and supportive housing development. The city council then convened at 10 a.m. to consider proclamations, consent items, and several discussion items including the renewal of the PRISM joint powers authority membership, a resolution of necessity for eminent domain to acquire property for a trunk sewer project, and the approval of recreation center fund budgets.
Consent Calendar
- Item 10 (Meeting Minutes): Approved.
- Items 50-54 (Various): Approved, including item 51 (parking reform) – Councilmember Von Wilpert voted no on item 51.
- Items 100-106 (Contracts, Appointments, etc.): Approved, including item 104 (settlement) – Councilmember Von Wilpert voted no on item 104. Item 105 (Commission for Arts and Culture appointments) approved.
- Items S502-S507 (Funding, Agreements): Approved, including S502 (Downtown San Diego Partnership operating agreement) and S507 (Tourism Marketing District budget).
- Item S500 (Military equipment use policy): Returned to staff; not heard.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Proclamations (Items 30-34): Multiple speakers spoke in support of Juneteenth, World Refugee Day, and honoring Paul Downey, Dennis Otsuji, and Sgt. Thomas Carlton. One speaker opposed the framing of Juneteenth and refugee issues. A resident shared a personal story of homelessness.
- Consent Items: Public comment focused on tourism funding (S507), parking reform (51), emergency declarations (106), and transnet infrastructure (101). Speakers urged transparency and expressed concerns about low-income impacts.
- Non-Agenda Public Comment: Speakers criticized the city’s handling of homeless encampments, immigration enforcement, and marijuana policies. Several called for stronger smoke-free policies and improved notification processes.
- Item 330 (PRISM): One speaker criticized the city’s risk management and litigation record; another suggested tech accountability practices.
- Item 332 (Eminent Domain): The property owner’s attorney argued the city’s offer was insufficient and the process lacked notice to tenants. One public speaker opposed eminent domain.
- Item 331 (Rec Center Funds): Speakers supported increased funding for recreation centers, emphasizing their role in youth development and senior services.
Discussion Items
- Item 330 – PRISM Membership Renewal: Risk Management Director Angela Colton presented the request to continue membership in the Public Risk Innovation Solutions and Management (PRISM) joint powers authority through FY2030. The city pays $47.4 million annually for insurance premiums across seven coverage areas, with an estimated $7.5 million savings in general liability and property costs. Council discussed efforts to reduce litigation by improving claims handling and data analytics. The item passed unanimously (8-0).
- Item 332 – Resolution of Necessity for Eminent Domain: The city seeks to acquire a permanent easement and temporary construction area over property at 3755 Murphy Canyon Road for the Murphy Canyon Trunk Sewer Rehabilitation Project. The existing sewer line runs under a commercial building and needs relocation. The city offered $650,000, which the owner rejected, claiming over $2 million in damages. The property owner’s attorney argued the appraisal was outdated and that tenants were not properly notified. Council debated the valuation and legal precedents. The resolution passed unanimously (8-0), authorizing litigation and expenditure of $650,000.
- Item 331 – FY2026 Recreation Center Fund and Opportunity Fund Budgets: Deputy Director Sarah Irazo presented budgets for 61 recreation center funds and one new fund for age‑well services. Total projected expenses are $8.8 million, with $5.1 million in revenue. The Opportunity Fund allocates $400,000 to 11 sites, with individual awards up to $65,000. Council highlighted the importance of therapeutic and senior programs and approved the item unanimously (8-0).
Key Outcomes
- Proclamations (Items 30-34): Approved unanimously (8-0) with Councilmember Campbell absent.
- Consent Agenda: Approved 8-0 with Councilmember Von Wilpert voting no on items 51 and 104.
- Item 330 – PRISM: Approved 8-0.
- Item 332 – Eminent Domain: Approved 8-0; authorized litigation and $650,000 from the Murphy Canyon Trunk Sewer CIP.
- Item 331 – Rec Center Funds: Approved 8-0; established a new age‑well services fund and transferred funds from therapeutic recreation.
- Item S500: Returned to staff; not voted on.
Meeting Transcript
A safe, affordable home is essential to supporting stability and self-sufficiency. That's why the county is uh investing record amounts of funding in building and preserving affordable and supportive housing. Presidial Palms is a significant step in this effort with an investment of 17.8 million dollars in county American Rescue Plan Act dollars and more than eight million dollars in county funding for supportive services to help make this development a success. Since the county's local innovative housing trust fund was launched in 2017, we have supported over 6,000 new units of affordable housing, including more than 1,100 permanent supportive housing units by assisting with the creation of affordable housing and providing crucial supportive services. We're improving the health of future residents, creating a safe and stable living environment, and cultivating opportunities for those residents to thrive. On behalf of the chief administrative officer of the county, Ebony Shelton, and Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Kimberly Giardino, I want to sincerely thank the Board of Supervisors for their commitment to bringing innovative housing solutions to the entire county region. I also want to thank the county team who tirelessly work to get this deal to where it is today. The county behavioral health services housing and homeless team under the leadership of Dr. Brenda Sarabia, along with my HCDS team, with special thanks to Tina Cobarrubias for leading this closing. I'd like to also thank the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the San Diego Housing Commission, the City of San Diego, the Regional Town For Task Force on Homelessness, and the State of California, and all the community stakeholders for working together to find solutions to expand affordable housing and support our most vulnerable San Diegans. Presidial Palms is the fifth affordable housing development partnership between the county and city of San Diego and San Diego Housing Commission. And we were very fortunate to take advantage of the home key funding that was available here. It's always a great day when we can stand by stand side by side to open new homes. And we want to thank all of you for your partnership. It takes all of us coming together to get people in a safe, stable housing. Um that are part of our community and its future. Congratulations again to everyone who has worked tirelessly to get to this moment and to the future residents. Welcome home. Now it's my pleasure to introduce Tamara Kohler, uh, director and CEO of the Regional Task Force on Homeless. Welcome. You know, the hard thing about being last is everybody took all the talking points, but I think that uh one thing that wasn't mentioned is we were here in October of last year to go from that commitment to moving people into housing was something that I commented on. It's great to come together to start this activity, but the joy comes in cutting that ribbon, getting your key, and moving into your own home. I left my home this morning to get here. I got ready, I ate. I don't need breakfast, um, but I had a little caffeine, and I started my day. And that's what the residents have to look forward to. They return to work, they return to health, they return to purpose. And that's why we do this work. So often in this work we are told we're not working together, you guys are siloed. This is proof that we are not siloed. We're united in our efforts and our approach in what we do. The continuum of care represents local providers, it's HUD's approach of really leaning in in what is happening in our local community and bringing together all of our partners in a really intentional way. And we are really the envy of the nation when people go, Do you know your mayor? And I was like, I know Todd. I text him. Do you know your city council member? Yeah, I knew Sean really well. I text him. I know Joe really well, I'll text him. I know David Estrella incredibly well and will text him. Lisa Jones, Jeff. We are united in this work. And what is lost sometimes is our purpose and our sense of urgency is rarely seen at the forefront. Too often it's you're not doing enough, you're not working hard enough, you're not getting things done. Not only is this proof that we get things done, but we are equally committed and driven every day to try and figure it out faster, better. The changes at the city of moving things faster, the changes at the county of really leaning into new ideas like diversion and prevention and shallow subsidies for seniors, conversion of properties. Conversion of properties. We put 1.1 million of our hap dollars into this project, and we don't receive a lot. But that hap dollars coming from the state that the mayor talked about are critical.
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