San Diego Economic Development & Intergovernmental Relations Committee Meeting - March 10, 2016
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San Diego Economic Development & Intergovernmental Relations Committee Meeting - March 10, 2016
The Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee met on March 10, 2016, to discuss economic development initiatives, open data progress, a federal grant application, the city's economic development strategy, and a proposed charter amendment regarding SD SERS board elections. Chair Councilmember Cole presided, with Councilmembers Kate and Alvarez and Vice Chair Kersey present. The committee approved the previous meeting's minutes and heard public testimony on two items.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes of the February 11, 2016 meeting were approved by unanimous consent.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Open Data Program: Xavier Leonard, brigade captain for Open San Diego, expressed strong support for the city's open data program and praised Chief Data Officer Maxim Petursky's thoughtful execution. Joe Lacava, chair of the Pining Group, supported the program and highlighted the usefulness of Open DSD for responding to community inquiries; he urged increased budget for faster implementation. Jerry Hall also indicated support but did not speak.
- SD SERS Charter Amendment: Brett Lobner, general counsel for the Airport Authority, supported allowing port and airport employees/retirees to run for SD SERS board seats, citing ~1,800 employees and principles of representation. Ellen Gross, assistant general counsel for the San Diego Unified Port District, supported the measure, noting the port has $370 million in assets and 1,200 retirees/active employees in the system.
Discussion Items
- Convention Center & Tourism Authority Mid-Year FY2016 Update: The board chair, Rabbi Lori Koske, and CEOs Tom Mazako and Joe Tursey reported on sales and marketing performance. FY2015 set a record, exceeding room night goals by 116%. As of FY2016 mid-year, 34 citywide conventions had been booked, versus 13 in the prior year. The tentative pipeline includes three years of Comic-Con negotiations (2019–2021), contributing about 190,000 room nights. Lost business is primarily due to lack of space or preferred dates (over 60%). The board announced the hiring of new President/CEO Rip Rippetoe, starting April 18, 2016. This was an informational item.
- Open Data Program Update: Director Almus Idris and Chief Data Officer Maxim Petursky reported on implementation of the 2014 open data policy. The data inventory (dataSD.org) launched February 29, 2016, with 115 data sets. As of the meeting date, the site had received 194 votes from 66 unique voters and 919 unique visitors over 1,100 visits. The full data portal is slated for launch July 1, 2016, with at least 20 data sets initially. Petursky recently won a Sunshine Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for this work. This was an informational item.
- Resiliency and Economic Diversity Grant: Libby Day, Senior Business Finance Officer, presented a request to apply for and accept up to $1.8 million from the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment (increased from $1.5 million), with $221,650 in matching funds from regional partners. The grant would strengthen aerospace and defense industry resilience through research, asset mapping, and the Connectory database update. Committee members expressed strong support and praised the collaboration. The action was approved unanimously.
- Economic Development Strategy Update: Director Eric Caldwell and Lydia Moreno presented revisions to the 2014–2016 EDS. The update reflects completed actions, the city's new strategic plan, the Climate Action Plan, and global trade initiatives. They highlighted accomplishments including land development code reforms, California Competes tax credits (33 companies, $35.7 million in credits, $1.1 billion in capital investment), and workforce programs. Councilmember Alvarez raised concerns about losing the redevelopment focus and the need for metrics; Councilmember Kate requested metrics for each action. The committee voted to forward the EDS to full Council without recommendation, with the right to bring it back if major changes are made.
- SD SERS Charter Amendment Proposal: Susan Youngflesh, SD SERS Associate General Counsel, asked the committee to support amending the Charter to allow port and airport employees/retirees to run for four elected seats on the Board of Administration. Public speakers supported the change. Committee members debated the cost of ballot measures and governance implications. Vice Chair Kersey proposed an ex-officio non-voting member, but this was not adopted. Instead, the committee voted to return the matter to the Charter Review Committee without recommendation.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes of February 11, 2016.
- Unanimously approved the application for the $1.8 million OEA grant (motion by Councilmember Kate, second by Councilmember Alvarez).
- Unanimously forwarded the EDS update to full Council without recommendation, reserving the right to return for major changes (motion by Councilmember Alvarez, second by Councilmember Kate).
- Unanimously returned the SD SERS charter amendment to the Charter Review Committee without recommendation (motion by Councilmember Alvarez, second by Councilmember Kate).
- Next committee meeting scheduled for April 7, 2016.
Meeting Transcript
I can't stop thinking about you. I'm as heavy as my hang over. And I woke up in a sweat and I want him to explain that I'm aware to come and I'm aware of pain now to hate you sometimes to make me aware the love that keeps me saying Oh, and I don't see the point now say all that shape Noah train the oldest Sorry for whatever I'm whiskey in the water and there is death upon the vine. There is fear in the eyes of your father, and there is yours, and there is mine. So fair me so cool when it's black sun breathe on you. And there is hope within despair and there is beauty in a failure, and there are deaths beyond comparison of a lifetime, and there's a song yet to be sung, and there's a dumpster in the driveway of all the plans that came on done. There is grace within forgiveness. So fair be so cruel. Well black sun around you. Good afternoon, everyone. We're gonna go ahead and get started. Um welcome to the March 10th, 2016 meeting of the economic development and intergovernmental relations committee. Let the record reflect that uh Councilmember Kate and Councilmember Alvarez and our course, our Vice Chair Kirsey, are in attendance. Also in attendance today, our Deputy City Attorney joining us for the first time, Nate Slagers. Welcome, Nate. Thank you. Kristen Tilkworth representing the mayor's office, Jeff Quarr from the Office of the Independent Budget Analysts, and our committee consultant, our fabulous Pam Ison. I wanted you guys to applaud, but we we could hold on the applause for now. Just saying. Just saying. Thank you. We will begin today with approval of the minutes. The committee record of action from February the 11th, 2016 will be approved by unanimous consent and let's pull for discussion. I see no one's pulling it. We will now hear from the public with non-agenda public comments. None. Thank you. Any committee member comments? Okay. Moving on. Are there any comments from the City Attorney IBA or Mayor Staff? Moving on. Item number one is a report from the San Diego Convention Center Corporation and the San Diego Tourism Authority regarding the mid-year fiscal year 2016 update. Join us today our chair of the Convention Center Corporation Board, Rabbi Lori Koske. Hi, Rabbi. Execu Executive Vice President and CEO of the Convention Center, Tom Mazako. Okay, and President CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority, Joe Tursey. Welcome, welcome, welcome. The floor is yours. So together we are here to provide you with an update on our fiscal year 2016 sales and marketing efforts for the San Diego Convention Center. So even before our happy announcement, aren't these fabulous? You can stick them in your purse or your pockets, and we even can make them smaller. 2016 Fast Facts. Did everybody get one? If not, I have one more sitting here. And these are the things that you want to say at cocktail parties about your convention center. So I hope that you keep them all the time for every reception when people ask you. And we are in the news a lot if you hadn't noticed. So you want to talk about what an economic engineer convention center is, and we are helping you do that because these are the fast facts. So enjoy them.
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