Economic Development & Intergovernmental Relations Committee Meeting - April 7, 2016
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Economic Development & Intergovernmental Relations Committee Meeting - April 7, 2016
The Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee convened on April 7, 2016, at 10:00 AM. Chair Cole presided, with Vice Chair Kersey and Councilmembers Kate and Alvarez present. The agenda included updates on the World Trade Center San Diego and the revitalized filming program, as well as an action item to advance FY2017 business improvement district (BID) budgets to the full City Council.
Consent Calendar
- The minutes from the March 10, 2016 meeting were approved by unanimous consent.
- A consent agenda item from the Commission for Arts and Culture, recommending reduction of the mayor's appointments from seven to six to allow a nominee from Council District 9, was moved by Councilmember Alvarez, seconded by Councilmember Kate, and passed unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Non‑agenda public comment: A speaker criticized the city for being anti‑business, referencing fees, loans, and cable company payments. He stated that the city takes money from businesses without proper use.
- World Trade Center: No public comments were offered.
- Film update: Richard Disbrough, a business agent for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) in San Diego, spoke in strong support of the revived film office. He provided data on the pilot "Pitch" (20th Century Fox): 14 filming days in San Diego, a cast of 60, a base crew of 125, a budget allocation of $7.3 million, and an estimated $6 million spent locally. He urged the committee to hire a strong executive director with Los Angeles ties to attract major network series. Ben Nichols also spoke in support.
- BID budgets: Martha Welsh spoke in opposition, arguing that street cleaning and maintenance are city responsibilities and that BID assessments are unfair. Several others (Sheila Fortune, Richard Stigner, Lise Gorshkin, Ricky Ganderillo, Enrique, Ben Nichols, Michael Trimble, Sarah Burns, Christopher Gomez) expressed support but did not speak.
Discussion Items
- World Trade Center San Diego Update: Nikia Clark (Director, World Trade Center) reported on the relaunch of the World Trade Center under the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC). She highlighted global trade trends (shift from goods to services/data, emerging markets) and San Diego's position: 110,000 jobs directly linked to foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports; 20% of local R&D from foreign companies; top trade/investment partners include UK, Japan, France, Sweden, Canada, Mexico, China, and Australia. The World Trade Center’s three work streams are: (1) export pipeline (MetroConnect program, which provided 15 companies with $10,000 each to globalize, funded by JP Morgan Chase through the Global Cities Initiative), (2) FDI attraction and retention (trade missions, protocol network, Invest San Diego collateral in Japanese, Chinese, Spanish), and (3) global identity (media placement, rankings project, brand alliance). Eric Calwell (Economic Development Director) added that San Diego is geographically positioned to access Pacific Rim markets. Councilmembers asked about collaboration with other entities (e.g., Biocom, Clean Tech San Diego), measurement of export growth, and outreach to underrepresented districts. Vice Chair Kersey praised the initiative and the new collateral materials.
- Special Events and Filming Department Update: Carolyn Wormser (Director, Special Events and Filming) and Brandi Shima Bukuro (Filming Program Manager) presented. Since the FY2016 budget funded a film program, they have: hired Brandi in December 2015; renamed the department; authorized over 1,200 filming days in the past fiscal year; benchmarked 34 top filming destinations; launched a Real Scout location gallery with more than 600 locations region‑wide (in partnership with the city, county, and port); developed an advertising campaign for four trade publications (e.g., Locations International, Movie Maker); and improved online resources. Highlights include the TV series "Monica the Medium" (second season) and the pilot "Pitch" (which features San Diego as itself). A future RFP is anticipated in early FY2017 to supplement outreach to studios and industry events. Councilmembers asked about staff size and budget comparisons, regional coordination, next steps (strategic plan, RFP, resources). Councilmember Alvarez emphasized that budget hearings are approaching and urged staff to identify funding needs.
- FY2017 Business Improvement District Budgets: Elizabeth Studebaker and Alicia Martinez Hicks presented the request to move the FY2017 budget appropriation package for 17 BIDs to the full City Council. The package includes Adams Avenue, City Heights, College Area, Diamond, Downtown, East Village, El Cajon Boulevard Central, El Cajon Boulevard Gateway, Gaslamp, Hillcrest, La Jolla, Little Italy, Mission Hills, North Park, Ocean Beach, Old Town, Pacific Beach, and San Isidro. The process requires two hearings: one for advisory board appointments and preliminary approval, and a public hearing to confirm budgets and levy assessments. Chair Cole asked about assessment levels (set by business community vote, would require disestablishment to change) and how to add businesses outside boundaries (they can become associate members voluntarily). Councilmember Cole also raised the impact of homelessness on BIDs, noting that low assessments prevent some from contracting outreach services; staff indicated BID funds are typically not used for homeless services.
Key Outcomes
- World Trade Center update was informational; no action required.
- Film program update was informational; no action required.
- BID budgets: Motion by Councilmember Alvarez, seconded by Councilmember Kate, to move the FY2017 budget appropriation package to the full City Council. Passed unanimously.
- The next committee meeting is scheduled for April 28, 2016.
All actions and discussions were conducted in accordance with the agenda, and no discrepancies between agenda, minutes, and transcript were noted.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. We're gonna go ahead and start. Welcome to the April 7th, 2016 meeting of the economic development and intergovernmental relations committee. Let the record reflect that Councilmember Kate and Councilmember Alvarez are present, and I'm sure that Vice Chair Kirsey will be coming here shortly. I'm sure he's gonna be walking in the door any second. Also in attendance today, our deputy city attorney Nate Slagers. Kristen Tilquist representing the mayor's office, Jeff Quarr from the office of the IBA, and our committee, our wonderful committee consultant, Pam Ison. And as I stated, he's right on cue. Right on cue. Welcome. Our Vice Chair Kercy. I should say we should applaud, but I'm just not gonna do that. We will begin today with approval of the minutes. The committee record of actions from March 10th, 2016 will be approved by unanimous consent. And let's pull for discussion. We will now hear from the public with non-agenda public comment, and I believe we have one speaker wishing to speak. Umergy, a three pen three uh three uh a pen to uh to you also. And also cable and um cox and turner, um AT and turn uh uh has to be five percent off their gross. Everybody knows this now because I can complete everybody I can do this because no there's no media in this in this county. You know that? You know, uh it seems like yesterday that last year you was your your all your money was uh um revolving um um loans from the sit from the count from the state. What happened? You don't pay them, but we pay them. So lawsuits all the time with you with the city and everything, you don't do that stuff, you don't pay anything. Every time I see this, uh I think you're against business. On Turco I said uh I heard that uh a dog place is gonna open up all the fees you have to do it, they didn't open up. I think you're against business in this county. If you have a lot of partners have uh their money to you, cable has the money to you, the the energy has money to you. Everything has goes to you, but not to business. Everywhere in this state that doesn't happen. Only in this county, it's San Diego's rules, and I think it's wrong what you're doing. It's unfair to people and also uh fair to business because you're taking money from the business to you and not using the right place because you talked, you and the post the county yesterday said 200 more through the rent. Thank you for those comments. Any um committee member comments? Okay. Any comments from the city attorney, IBA or mayor staff. We'll now take up the consent agenda. We have one considered item from the Commission for Arts and Culture related to the composition of the commission. In short, staff is recommending to reduce the mayor's appointments from seven to six in order to provide nominees from council district nine. Could I have a motion to approve that I have a motion from uh council member Alvarez, second from Councilmember Kate, all in favor? That passes unanimously, the consent agenda is approved. We'll move to the information agenda. Our first informational item is regarding the recently relaunched World Trade Center San Diego, which aims to help businesses improve their international presence and reach. Here to provide an update is Director Nikia Clark, and joining Nakia is our economic development department director, Eric Calwell. The floor is yours. Thank you. Thank you, all members of the committee. Thank you, Chair Cole. Delighted to be here today to give you all an update on the newly relaunched World Trade Center. And I just want to preface these comments by thanking all the members of this committee for all the hard work they and the city of San Diego have done to make this a reality and to sort of unify the international trade and investment architecture of this region all together under one umbrella.
openpublica.com