OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

San Diego City Council Meeting: Proclamations, Consent, and Golf Audit (August 25, 2026)

City Council — Tuesday, August 25, 2026
BodySan Diego, California
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, August 25, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 5:26:41

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Is ready to once again serve the families of San Yasidro.

0:05

This 5.8 million dollar investment reflects our commitment to ensuring that every neighborhood has access to safe, modern, and welcoming public spaces.

0:15

So really it was an honor to be able to secure this money.

0:20

There are tough budget times in Washington, there's no doubt about that.

0:23

We were able to get this four million dollars because this had to get done.

0:28

For years we thought we were the forgotten corner of San Diego because we are in the corner by the border in the beach.

0:34

And then this project came about.

0:36

Look around and it is top of the line.

0:38

It's as good as any other project in the entire county.

0:42

So I want to start by thanking our park and recreation department and our engineering and capital improvements department.

0:48

These two departments working together to deliver this high quality project for the community.

0:54

Round of applause for all of our construction workers, engineers, designers, permitters.

0:59

It takes a village to do a community project.

1:02

This project demonstrates what we can accomplish when local and federal governments work together to deliver for our communities and their residents.

1:22

We're doing a ribbon cutting today, and you'll see why.

1:29

So we fixed it up.

1:31

Thanks for joining us today.

1:33

And after nearly two years of construction, this park will now be back in service for the residents of Claremont and everybody else in the city who comes to use it and in the county and all our tourists and visitors.

1:46

So I want to start today by thanking everyone who was involved in getting to this point today.

1:51

The staff from the city's park and rec department, especially engineering and capital projects department, and the engineers, the contractors, the construction workers who brought this vision to life.

2:02

This park is very popular, used by many San Diegans and visitors.

2:07

And so it was first built in 1970.

2:10

So it's been here a long time, but it was last updated in 1998.

2:16

That was a long time ago now, almost 30 years ago.

2:20

Oh my gosh.

2:21

So this was a very big project for the city to undertake.

2:25

The improvements made here include paved walkways, renovated restroom facilities to make the park more ADA compliant, as well as to bring it up to date and more modern.

2:38

In addition, there is a new playground, new grass fields, and resurfaced basketball courts and the parking lot.

2:47

Thank you.

2:48

This park has had incredible support from the Claremont community as well.

2:53

And we are joined today by the president of the Claremont Town Council, Carrie Munson, and members of her board are here also with her who supported this project in its final stages, and all the previous board chairs and members of the Claremont Town Council that have supported this.

3:40

After we cut the ribbon, the park will be enjoyed by neighbors and residents and visitors who will use this space and give it the love it deserves.

3:48

And now I'd like to introduce our wonderful director of the park and rec department who is responsible for so much, including over 620 parks in our city, Andy Field.

4:03

Thanks.

4:05

Thank you so much.

4:06

Oh, you're so good.

4:08

Thank you.

4:11

Welcome everybody to Olive Grove Park here in beautiful Claremont.

4:14

It's great to see you all here today.

4:16

As we know, it's been a little while to get us to this point, but we've had a lot of great opportunities here for play and experience for our young people here in the park.

4:27

With the renovations of the field off here to the right, the new play area that's directly behind me, upgrades for accessibility for our restroom, and this new plaza area that we're standing in here today are among the many improvements that you see here in Olive Grove Park.

5:00

But please uh be sure to thank them as you look around the new play area here in Olive Grove Park.

5:07

With the accessibility improvements that you see around the park today, we anticipate that the usage will increase and as a beautiful new field here.

6:05

Uh, chief amongst those include our Claremont Community Recreation Group and also the Claremont Town Council.

6:14

And we're really fortunate today to have the president of the Claremont Town Council here.

6:36

Uh, to our council member for giving a plug to our organization.

6:39

We meet on the first Thursday of the month at the Kathy Hopper Senior Center.

6:43

So we'd love to have you come by at 6 PM and learn about things happening in Claremont.

6:49

So it seems like just yesterday we were here for the groundbreaking at this park.

6:53

It was two years ago, but it seemed like yesterday.

6:55

Um, it's just beautiful.

6:56

The playground is is so beautiful.

6:58

The pl the courtyard, the the the fields.

7:02

So we're really excited to be here for this ribbon cutting event, and thanks to Engineering and Capital Projects for your efforts on this and to Parks and Rec.

7:10

Thank you.

7:10

I'd like to bring Councilmember Campbell back up.

7:22

Okay, I think we're gonna get ready for the ribbon cutting and we'll get it done.

7:27

Three, two, one.

7:38

San Diego, we are preparing for El Nino weather conditions, and you should too.

7:42

This could bring heavy rain, flooding, and other weather impacts in every neighborhood.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Comment███████████████████████23%
Procedural██████████10%
Emergency Management███████7%
Public Safety███████7%
Educational Policy█████5%
Real Estate█████5%
Public Trust█████5%
Public Engagement████4%
Public Land Management████4%
Summary of Proceedings

San Diego City Council Meeting - August 25, 2026

The San Diego City Council met Tuesday, August 25, 2026. The transcript also includes a morning ribbon-cutting for Olive Grove Park in Clairemont before the formal session, highlighting a $5.8 million investment and nearly two years of construction. The formal council meeting opened with proclamations, followed by the consent calendar, a noon recess, an afternoon reconvening at 2 p.m., the second reading of the Southwest Village Specific Plan, and a performance audit of the city's leased golf properties. The council adjourned to Monday, August 31, 2026, at 10 a.m.

Proclamations

  • Item 30 - MEA 100th Anniversary Day: Recognized the San Diego Municipal Employees Association's centennial. MEA president Michelle Ciccarelli and attorney Ann Smith spoke about the organization's history, including its long legal fight against Proposition B. Councilmember Foster was added as a co-presenter. Approved.
  • Item 31 - Transgender History Month: Declared August 2026 as Transgender History Month, marking the 60th anniversary of the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria riots. Councilmembers expressed support for transgender San Diegans. Public comment included both support and opposition. Approved.
  • Item 32 - Cindy McNary Day: Honored retiring legal administrative assistant Cindy McNary for more than 40 years of city service. Approved.

Consent Calendar

  • The consent calendar included items 10, 50-62 (minus item 55), and 100-112. Item 112 appointed Kay Hobson and reappointed Nick Galino to the Consolidated Plan Advisory Board.
  • Item 55 (Southwest Village Specific Plan) was pulled from the consent calendar and heard after the afternoon discussion item.
  • The consent calendar was approved. Roll call showed item-specific no votes: Council Districts 5 and 8 voted no on item 53 (fleet vehicle lease financing); Districts 4 and 9 voted no on item 54 (military equipment); Districts 4 and 5 voted no on item 58 (waste cart contract amendment with RFID readers); and District 4 voted no on item 111 (settlement).
  • During council comment, Councilmember Moreno said he would vote no on item 53 because he was uncomfortable with the city perpetually issuing debt for vehicles. Councilmember Von Wilpert questioned RFID readiness and was told a pilot result would be shared around December.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Proclamations: An organized MEA presentation expressed appreciation for city support and recounted MEA's role in restoring defined-benefit pensions. Additional speakers supported MEA and Transgender History Month; some speakers opposed the transgender proclamation and one raised concerns about public-employee benefit costs.
  • Consent calendar: A speaker asked the council to amend the FY 2027 budget to fund the Neil Daygood Center, saying federal money should not be used as a weapon. Joy Sonata supported several technology and environmental-services items and urged transparency on a $40 million settlement. Multiple speakers opposed item 54, citing militarization of the police, and questioned items 53 and 58 on vehicle financing, JP Morgan, the $106 million contract amount, and RFID trash tracking. A La Jolla Terrace resident said a $10 million settlement for damaged units was insufficient. Other speakers commented on parking-meter zones and on large settlement payouts.
  • Item 330: Speakers supporting the resolution included First Gen Scholars executive director Jonathan Burgos, UCSD undergraduate student Jackson Williams, and several residents who stressed academic freedom and scientific integrity. Opponents called the resolution symbolic, argued campus speech was already one-sided, or expressed suspicion of universities and federal funding.
  • Item 55: Public commenters raised concerns about a road bridge over parkland, possible transfer of units to investors, the developer's track record, impacts on historical/Kumeyaay land, and the pace of the project. One speaker registered neutral and thanked Councilmember Moreno for recusing.
  • Item 331: Public commenters said the Fairbanks Ranch Country Club lease was unfair, with one former city real estate employee alleging the operators were underreporting revenue and another urging the city to triple rent. Others called for more oversight of all lessees, affordable golf access, and consistent high-school golf policies.
  • Non-agenda comment: In-person morning speakers raised the Neil Daygood Center, lifeguard first-responder reclassification, and concerns about Midway development, sea level rise, and stormwater. Virtual afternoon comment included cannabis public-health speakers, a Penasquitos Canyon fire-erosion complaint, and a Torrey Pines Glider Port request from community organizations.

Discussion Items

  • Item 330: Councilmember Von Wilpert introduced a resolution condemning the Trump administration's attacks on higher education and affirming San Diego's commitment to academic freedom, institutional independence, scientific integrity, diversity, free speech, and constitutional protections. The resolution directed the city clerk to transmit it to the governor, California's congressional delegation, UC/CSU/community college leadership, and local institutions. It passed 7-0, with Councilmember Campillo and Councilmember Foster absent from that vote.
  • Item 55: This was the second reading of the Southwest Village Specific Plan, project PRJ 0614791. Council President Lacava waived the presentation because it had received robust public participation at the first reading on July 6. Councilmember Ilo Rivera moved the staff recommendation, Councilmember Whitburn seconded, and the item passed 5-2, with Councilmember Moreno recused due to a property conflict and Councilmember Campbell absent.
  • Item 331: City Auditor Andy Hano and staff presented an informational performance audit of the city's leased golf properties. The city owns 11 golf courses; eight are leased to third-party operators. In 2024, leased courses generated about $3.7 million for the city: $2.1 million to the water fund and $1.6 million to the general fund. The audit found the city does not collect or report performance data consistently, and that leased golf courses were inspected on average every 3.4 years, with four leases in holdover and one in holdover for 11 years. It identified Fairbanks Ranch Country Club as paying about 5% of gross revenue, compared with 22% at Mission Trails and 25% at Tecolote. EDD agreed to all seven recommendations. Economic Development Director Christina Bibler reported that a Fairbanks Ranch reappraisal produced a 41% rent increase, effective July 18, adding about $375,000 per year and bringing annual rent above $1.2 million. Councilmember Moreno requested the Independent Budget Analyst to review the appraisal. Council members also discussed real-estate staffing, legacy leases, holdovers, and transparency; EDD said lease documents would be made available online by the end of next month. The meeting was briefly paused when the virtual Zoom feed was lost; no city business was conducted while offline.

Key Outcomes

  • Proclamations 30, 31, and 32 were approved.
  • The consent calendar was approved, with recorded no votes on items 53, 54, 58, and 111.
  • Resolution item 330 was approved 7-0.
  • Southwest Village Specific Plan (item 55) was approved on second reading 5-2, with Councilmember Moreno recused.
  • The golf lease performance audit was received; EDD agreed to implement all seven recommendations. The Fairbanks Ranch rent increase took effect, and an IBA review was requested.
  • The council paused for a technical outage and resumed; it adjourned to the next scheduled council meeting on Monday, August 31, 2026, at 10 a.m.

Meeting Transcript

Is ready to once again serve the families of San Yasidro. This 5.8 million dollar investment reflects our commitment to ensuring that every neighborhood has access to safe, modern, and welcoming public spaces. So really it was an honor to be able to secure this money. There are tough budget times in Washington, there's no doubt about that. We were able to get this four million dollars because this had to get done. For years we thought we were the forgotten corner of San Diego because we are in the corner by the border in the beach. And then this project came about. Look around and it is top of the line. It's as good as any other project in the entire county. So I want to start by thanking our park and recreation department and our engineering and capital improvements department. These two departments working together to deliver this high quality project for the community. Round of applause for all of our construction workers, engineers, designers, permitters. It takes a village to do a community project. This project demonstrates what we can accomplish when local and federal governments work together to deliver for our communities and their residents. We're doing a ribbon cutting today, and you'll see why. So we fixed it up. Thanks for joining us today. And after nearly two years of construction, this park will now be back in service for the residents of Claremont and everybody else in the city who comes to use it and in the county and all our tourists and visitors. So I want to start today by thanking everyone who was involved in getting to this point today. The staff from the city's park and rec department, especially engineering and capital projects department, and the engineers, the contractors, the construction workers who brought this vision to life. This park is very popular, used by many San Diegans and visitors. And so it was first built in 1970. So it's been here a long time, but it was last updated in 1998. That was a long time ago now, almost 30 years ago. Oh my gosh. So this was a very big project for the city to undertake. The improvements made here include paved walkways, renovated restroom facilities to make the park more ADA compliant, as well as to bring it up to date and more modern. In addition, there is a new playground, new grass fields, and resurfaced basketball courts and the parking lot. Thank you. This park has had incredible support from the Claremont community as well. And we are joined today by the president of the Claremont Town Council, Carrie Munson, and members of her board are here also with her who supported this project in its final stages, and all the previous board chairs and members of the Claremont Town Council that have supported this. After we cut the ribbon, the park will be enjoyed by neighbors and residents and visitors who will use this space and give it the love it deserves. And now I'd like to introduce our wonderful director of the park and rec department who is responsible for so much, including over 620 parks in our city, Andy Field. Thanks. Thank you so much. Oh, you're so good. Thank you. Welcome everybody to Olive Grove Park here in beautiful Claremont. It's great to see you all here today. As we know, it's been a little while to get us to this point, but we've had a lot of great opportunities here for play and experience for our young people here in the park. With the renovations of the field off here to the right, the new play area that's directly behind me, upgrades for accessibility for our restroom, and this new plaza area that we're standing in here today are among the many improvements that you see here in Olive Grove Park. But please uh be sure to thank them as you look around the new play area here in Olive Grove Park. With the accessibility improvements that you see around the park today, we anticipate that the usage will increase and as a beautiful new field here. Uh, chief amongst those include our Claremont Community Recreation Group and also the Claremont Town Council. And we're really fortunate today to have the president of the Claremont Town Council here. Uh, to our council member for giving a plug to our organization. We meet on the first Thursday of the month at the Kathy Hopper Senior Center. So we'd love to have you come by at 6 PM and learn about things happening in Claremont. So it seems like just yesterday we were here for the groundbreaking at this park. It was two years ago, but it seemed like yesterday.

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