San Diego City Council Meeting Summary - November 3, 2025
San Diego City Council Meeting Summary - November 3, 2025
The San Diego City Council convened a meeting on November 3, 2025, addressing significant IT infrastructure amendments, city investment policies, and equipment financing. The session began with public comments regarding closed session transparency and police employment issues before recessing for a closed session. Upon reconvening, the Council approved a five-year SAP system extension and a mobile work management contract, debated the city treasurer's investment strategy which yielded the highest returns in the state, and voted on separate financing measures for fleet vehicles and solid waste bins. Public input focused heavily on workforce diversity, immigration enforcement concerns, and community needs in the San Isidro district.
Consent Calendar
- No items were processed via the Consent Calendar during this session.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Closed Session Transparency (Pre-adjournment): Lori Saldano expressed frustration that the public often only learns of settlements (e.g., slip-and-fall incidents, whistleblower retaliation cases) after they are paid, arguing this lack of transparency prevents meaningful public input before money is spent. She urged the Council to provide more information regarding discrimination and retaliation cases in the closed session agenda.
- Police & Employment Discrimination: Lori Saldano and another speaker supported Officer Jennifer Gregory's courage in reporting systemic bias and discrimination within the Police Department. Another speaker, a former recreation leader, highlighted personal experiences with race discrimination and hostile work environments, encouraging the Council to address systemic bias. Lori Saldano also expressed support for workforce diversity initiatives but condemned public comments advocating for the misuse of employee data to deport illegal aliens, stating she would not remain silent if discriminatory speech violates human rights.
- SAP Contract (Item 200): Bob Kaziski (7499) argued the $38.1 million contract was outrageous, advocating for open-source alternatives and criticizing the outsourcing of the city's "nervous system." Lori Saldano questioned the lack of accessible data on workforce diversity improvements for African Americans, Latinos, and women in management. Francine Maxwell questioned why racial equity reports were not presented by the Race and Equity Department as previously promised under the Independent Budget Analyst (IBA) review. The original speaker criticized the "not to exceed" mechanism and raised concerns about AI security and costs.
- Blue Works Contract (Item 201): Similar to Item 200, Bob Kaziski advocated for rejecting the $7.8 million Neptune Software contract in favor of open-source solutions and suggested creating an IT advisory board. Lori Saldano reiterated concerns about diversity discrepancies in the workforce and the ethical implications of sharing data with agencies that might harm residents.
- Investment Policy (Item 202): The original speaker contrasted the City Treasurer's $1.96 billion investment portfolio with the city's $258 million budget deficit, criticizing the portrayal of wealth while residents struggle with housing insecurity.
- Vehicle & Bin Financing (Item S400): Andrea Ebbing criticized the procurement of $42,000 Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles for meter maids and the replacement of 750,000 trash bins during a time of fiscal crisis and personal hardship. Lori Saldano raised concerns about the placement of women and Latinas in low-paid administrative roles within contracting firms and questioned the use of out-of-state (Texas-licensed) workers for trash bin pickup and delivery. Blair Beekman urged transparency regarding RFID technology in new trash bins and community input.
- Non-Agenda Public Comment:
- Community members from San Isidro (Kenya Perasa, Miguel Aguirre, Juan Garcia) highlighted neglected infrastructure, mental health resources, and a lack of investment in their border district.
- Blair Beekman expressed concern over the reduction of neighborhood parking commissions and increased surveillance via smart streetlights.
- Barbara Gordon and Kathleen Lippett advocated for stricter regulations on driving under the influence (DUI) of marijuana and alcohol.
- Lydia Morales (1384) reported alleged fraud, waste, abuse, and sexual exploitation at Tent City, alleging connections between contractors and Council members.
- Peggy Walker and Madison discussed the rising use of nicotine pouches among youth and supported local bans on tobacco sales.
Discussion Items
- Item 200: SAP System Amendment: The Department of IT proposed a five-year extension of the SAP contract up to $38.1 million. Staff explained the need for continuity during the ERP modernization to SAP S/4 HANA. The IBA recommended monitoring the 20% contingency fund for modernization to ensure it is not used for routine expenses. Councilmember Foster requested guarantees on periodic spending updates and efforts to address workforce diversity deficiencies, which were both affirmed by staff.
- Item 201: Blue Works Mobile App Amendment: Staff proposed a 1.5-year extension plus two option years for the Neptune Software contract (Blue Works) up to $7.8 million. The IBA noted the increase in spending authority and requested monitoring of modernization efforts to ensure alignment with the future ERP cloud transition. The motion passed unanimously.
- Item 202: City Treasurer Investment Policy: The City Treasurer's Office presented the annual delegation of authority and proposed minor policy updates. Highlights included a 4.49% annual yield (the highest in the state for similar funds) and a move to align commercial paper allocation limits (up to 40%) with new California state law (SB 585). Councilmember Campbell questioned the rationale for increasing the commercial paper limit to 40% versus 25%, which was clarified by the need for liquidity management during specific fiscal periods. The IBA's review was accepted.
- Item S400: Fleet and Bin Financing: Two separate master lease agreements with Bank of America were proposed: $40.5 million for 313 fleet vehicles and $41.5 million for 750,000 solid waste bins. Councilmember von Wilpert questioned the cost disparity between the per-vehicle cost and the per-bin cost, which was explained by the vastly different quantities (313 vs. 750,000). Councilmember Moreno expressed discomfort with perpetual debt issuance for vehicles but supported the bin financing as part of a cost-of-service study. Concerns were raised regarding the use of non-local workers for bin distribution.
Key Outcomes
- Item 200 (SAP Extension): Approved unanimously (9-0). Council received assurances that the Department of IT will provide periodic updates on spending and workforce diversity progress to the Budget Committee.
- Item 201 (Blue Works Extension): Approved unanimously (9-0).
- Item 202 (Investment Policy): Approved unanimously (9-0). Council confirmed the investment yield performance and the minor policy adjustments to align with state law and risk management best practices.
- Item S400 A (Fleet Vehicles): Approved 8-1 (Councilmember Moreno voted no).
- Item S400 B (Solid Waste Bins): Approved 6-3. Councilmembers Moreno, Campbell, and von Wilpert voted no, citing concerns over the timing, cost, and necessity of replacing all trash bins simultaneously and the preference for internal delivery of equipment.
- Meeting Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned in memory of Julio de Guzman Jr., a retired special agent and community leader.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you, Council President. Councilmember Campbell. Councilmember Whitburn. Here. Councilmember Foster. Here. Councilmember Von Wilper. Council President Pro Temley. Councilmember Campillo. Here. Councilmember Moreno. Present. Councilmember Ila Rivera. And Council President Lacava. Present. Also attending the meeting are City Attorney Heather Ferber, independent budget analyst Charles Matica, Council of Affairs Advisor and the Mayor's Office, Coda Zeiser, and myself your city clerk, Deanna Fuentes. Thank you, Council President. Thank you, City Clerk. Quorum is now present. We will begin this morning with an invocation by Clerk Quentus, followed with the land acknowledgement and the pledge of allegiance led by Councilmember Campillo. Grant those who hold office in this city the spirit of wisdom, charity, and justice, that with steadfast purpose they may faithfully serve in their offices to promote the well-being of all people. Hand over your heart. Ready? Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. That's accurate. Dispensation is not the right word to speak um generically about the closed session agenda. And specifically the item. I think we heard confirmation from the city attorney, and I wish I had the power for dispensation, but you can return for non-public honor to call in. Thank you. Thank you, sir. I'm sorry, the five-minute timer going to those participating remotely, starting with the original. If you can please unmute and let me know which item or items you wish to speak to. You'll have three minutes, please proceed. All right. So with the first one, it's a uh slip and fall that happened in January 2022 in a grassy area and Pacific Beach. Um, you know, the problem with you guys and your closed session is that we wind up paying out these settlements much of the time that we see on um, you know, the Tuesday uh meeting agenda. Um, and yet you report back saying that you know nothing is taking place. So I'm wondering, you know, are you going to be you know engaging in a settlement? We're gonna be paying, you know, potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars that you always report that nothing happened, and then the only way we find out is through it showing up on the agenda as a settlement payout. So I think you guys need to, when you're doing this, really think about uh providing the public with information, especially when a decision like that's been made, so that it's not as though we have to find out when the item comes um and is being paid out to the individual that's um engaged in the litigation. And um for the second one is this um a police officer who um I guess was reporting um other police officers engaging in discrimination for giving jaywalking tickets, one to a black man and refusing to do it to the white guy, and then you know, this woman didn't get a promotion and was you know having sexually um harassing comments made to her. Um so I mean I think we need to be making sure that this kind of stuff isn't happening. But you know, many times we find whenever there's any kind of whistleblower actions that take place, there is retaliation, and you know, um it doesn't you know leave people with a you know uh a desire to want to do that when you know they're the ones that are attacked for trying to expose fraud waste and abuse. Um, but we know it happens every day, and so you guys need to be making sure that not only um you know if there's a settlement that needs to happen, but that policies need to change and um things moving forward need to get better so that um that doesn't happen. And with the other one, this employment, this is with um um housing or or I don't know, something like that. And so this one's a little bit more um, you know, there's not as much information. So I think even in the Jennifer Gregory one, you could have put that um you know, more information regarding what the situation was. I feel like you guys sometimes it's a little ambiguous, and I mean, obviously, we don't want uh race discrimination or any kind of hostile work environments. Um, but I think that if you guys could put a little bit of more information so that the public has it again for transparency when you know it's our money that's being spent for these settlements, um, you know, as much information as possible needs to be provided so that we can also put in our opinion um to help you guys make your decision, even though you don't make your decisions off of what we say. You've already decided them, but at least it would look good to the people.
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