Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee Meeting - June 28, 2018
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee Meeting - June 28, 2018
The Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee met on June 28, 2018 at 10:15 AM. Councilmembers Alvarez and Bree were present; Vice Chair Kercy arrived later. Staff included Deputy City Attorney Kevin Reich, Adrian Granda, Angela Colton, and Lucas O'Connor. The committee approved minutes, heard public comments on specific items, discussed several agenda items, and voted on two actions.
Consent Calendar
- The minutes and committee record of actions from April 26, 2018 were approved by unanimous consent.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 1 (PBIDs): A representative from North Park Main Street expressed support, highlighting the success of the first year and leveraging funds for median landscaping.
- Item 2 (Business Incentive Program): Multiple speakers expressed support:
- Cindy Gompergraves (South County EDC) supported the policy and requested an amendment to encourage reverse commutes.
- Mark Cafferty (SD Regional EDC) supported the policy's goals of inclusion and workforce training.
- Stephanie Benvenuto (SD Regional Chamber) supported providing tools for retention and noted productive conversations with staff.
- Daniel Fitzgerald (San Diego Imperial Small Business Development Center) supported the policy's flexibility and ease of implementation for small businesses.
Discussion Items
- 1. Fiscal Year 2019 Property and Business Improvement Districts (PBIDs): Staff presented annual reports for downtown San Diego and North Park PBIDs. The downtown PBID covers 275 blocks; North Park covers 522 parcels. Budgets include maintenance, sanitation, landscaping, administration, and commercial enhancement. Councilmember Ward asked about homelessness services (excluded per management district plan) and administrative fees. The item was approved and forwarded to city council.
- 2. Council Policy 900-12 Business and Industry Incentive Program Amendment: Staff presented revisions to the policy, reducing qualifying jobs from 25 to 10 and lowering capital investment to $5 million. The policy offers tiered incentives up to $100,000 administratively (above that requires council approval). Nine federal grants and extensive outreach were noted. The city auditor's office provided a memo with minor concerns on definitions and clarity. Committee discussion included:
- Councilmember Alvarez asked about alignment with economic development strategy and clarity on community goals.
- Vice Chair Kercy proposed amendments: incorporate auditor recommendations, biannual policy review, engage Small Business Advisory Board, and require council approval for modifications to council-approved agreements.
- Councilmember Bree supported the motion and suggested an 18-month report.
- Chair Ward added amendments: an annual cap of $700,000 on incentives, per-company cap of $100,000, removal of the "new activity" clause, and inclusion of reverse commute incentives in the work plan.
- Alvarez requested further discussion on reducing job creation thresholds for low-income areas.
- The motion as amended passed unanimously.
- 3. Business Cooperation Program: Continued to July at staff's request.
- 4. Open Counter and Salesforce Implementation: Information item; staff demonstrated the online business portal and CRM system. Metrics include 12,000 projects started, 1,161 hours of staff time saved. Vice Chair Kercy suggested improving search engine optimization.
- 5. 2018 Federal Affairs Update: Information item; presentation covered key federal priorities: $500 million WIFIA loan for Pure Water, UASI funding increase to $16.7M, opportunity zone designations, and efforts on the Point Loma wastewater waiver. Discussion included homelessness formula, border infrastructure, and impacts of federal policies.
- 6. San Diego Promise Zone Update: Information item; staff reported two-year progress, including 28 federal grants submitted, nine awarded ($4.8M total), and selection as a HUD Envision Center pilot. Challenges include lack of dedicated funding and uncertainty with federal support.
Key Outcomes
- Action Item 1 (PBIDs): Approved unanimously and forwarded to city council.
- Action Item 2 (Business Incentive Policy): Approved unanimously with amendments (incorporate auditor recommendations, biannual review, council approval for modifications, annual cap $700k, per-company cap $100k, remove new activity clause, add reverse commute incentives, and engage Small Business Advisory Board).
- The next meeting is scheduled for July 26, 2018 at 2:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
June 28, 2018 meeting of the Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee. Let the record reflect that Councilmembers Alvarez and Bree are present, and I believe Vice Chair Kercy is on his way. Also in attendance today are Deputy City Attorney Kevin Reich, Adrian Granda from the Mayor's Office, Angela Colton from the Office of the Independent Budget Analysts, and our committee consultant Lucas O'Connor. We will begin today with the approval of the minutes and the committee record of actions from April 26, 2018 will be approved by unanimous consent unless pulled for discussion. Seeing none, they're so approved. We next will have non-agenda public comment where members of the public will have up to two minutes. Do we have any non-agenda public comment? Well, we will move right along to committee member comment. Is there any committee member comments starting with that? Um committee member Alvarez. Thank you. Um appreciate the opportunity just to let people know that I will only um probably be around for the first four items, maybe the first three items. Um I'm a member of the Bay Shore Bikeway Working Group, and I have missed the last two meetings. And we're getting to the final leg of completing the 24-mile loop around the entire San Diego Bay, and um we have some important business today, so I apologize that I have to leave early, but I can't miss three meetings in a row over there. So but thank you. Appreciate the good work that you're doing over there. Um I'll take this opportunity to let everybody know we're gonna be continuing item number three, the business cooperation program. There at staff's request is going to be some more analysis they're gonna do. We hope to bring that back in July, but we'll keep you all abreast of that. So the uh agenda just got attached shorter. Uh, is there any city attorney, IBA, or mayoral comment? Nope. Seeing none, we are excited to move right on to our discussion agenda. We're going to begin with item number one, the fiscal year 2019 property and business improvement districts for economic development department. I'd like to welcome you here this afternoon, and we're looking forward to this presentation. Thank you. Good afternoon, committee chair ward and committee members. My name is Elizabeth Studebaker. I'm the neighborhood investment manager with the Economic Development Department. Um we are here this afternoon with the fiscal year 2019 Property and Business Improvement District Plans and Budgets. And uh with me is Luis Ojeda. He's our community development specialist responsible for the PBIT. And I'll hand it over to Luis Got it. Okay. A property and business improvement district, referred to as the PBID, is an assessment district formed using state laws to allow for the levying collection of property assessments to provide activities and improvements which confer special benefit to parcels within the district. There are currently two PBITs within the City of San Diego. Those are in downtown San Diego and North Park. The downtown PBIT was first formed in 2000 for a period of five years. Since then, it has been subsequently renewed for 10-year periods in 2005 and most recently in 2015. The North Park PBI was successfully formed during July of last year, 2017. The streets, uh California Streets and Highways Code requires a preparation of an annual report, which is the reason we are bringing these action items before you today. The PIDs provide a wide variety of services and improvements and activities. Here are some of the typical improvements and activities for fiscal year 2019. Maintenance typically includes removal of debris and litter from sidewalks, graffiti removal, tree trimming, water feature maintenance, and maintenance of new physical improvements installed by the district. Sanitation services provide a clean environment within the assessed parcels. Services include sidewalk part washing, regular emptying, and cleaning of district-owned trash receptacles. Landscaping services help provide media and maintenance and landscaping services within the public right-a-ways. Administration generally includes office rent, office supplies, insurance, auditing, administrative staffing, contingency reserves, and other general operations and administrative expenditures. The commercial enhancement program focuses on marketing efforts to encourage business attraction and retention. Installation and beautification may include parklets, cycling amenities, placemaking, hanging flower baskets, decorated lights, and planters.
openpublica.com