Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee Meeting – April 11, 2019
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Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee Meeting – April 11, 2019
The Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee met on April 11, 2019, at 2:00 PM. Present were Chair Ward, Vice Chair Montgomery, Councilmember Bree, and Councilmember Kercy (arriving later). Staff included Deputy City Attorney Kate Malcolm, Adrian Grand from the Mayor's Office, Jordan Moore from the Independent Budget Analyst, and committee consultant Lucas O'Connor. The meeting covered five agenda items including approval of minutes, Business Improvement District (BID) budgets, the Tourism Marketing District (TMD) budget and supplemental funding, an amendment to the Horton Plaza Owner Participation Agreement (OPA), a state legislative update, and a presentation on child care needs.
Consent Calendar
- The minutes from the March 7, 2019 meeting were approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Non‑Agenda Public Comment: Becky Rapp expressed concerns about the committee's goals regarding marijuana and tobacco businesses in neighborhoods, and asked whether committee members attend planning group meetings.
- Item 3 – Horton Plaza OPA Amendment: Approximately 30 public speakers addressed the item. Many expressed support, including representatives from the Downtown San Diego Partnership, Gaslamp Quarter Association, BOSA Development, Unite Here Local 30, San Diego Building Trades, and others. Opponents and those with concerns included: Amy Hayes (Save Our Heritage Organization) raised historic preservation concerns; OPO Dupree (Macy's) stated that Macy's has contractual rights and has not approved plans, and criticized Stockdale's lack of communication; Jimbo Somek (owner of Jimbo's) and his attorney Cynthia Morgan Reed argued that the process has lacked sufficient detail and that their lease rights are not being respected; Gary Smith (San Diego Downtown Residents Group) urged the committee to send the proposal back until all tenant and park issues are resolved.
- Item 5 – Child Care Presentation: Several speakers addressed the child care crisis, including Kelly McCormick (working mother, youth program manager), Robin Leighton (CEO of Educational Enrichment Systems), Courtney Baltiyski (YMCA Child Care Resource Service), Jordan Latchford (San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce), Rodney Carey (Neighborhood House Association), and Catherine Johnson (San Diego Foundation). They highlighted the need for affordable, quality child care and called for city action on zoning, facilities, and coordination.
Discussion Items
- Item 1 – FY2020 Business Improvement District (BID) Budgets: Elizabeth Studebaker (Neighborhood Investment Manager) presented the annual appropriations process. The city has 18 active BIDs, collecting an estimated $1.6 million from approximately 15,000 businesses. Staff requested approval to forward the FY2020 budget package to the full City Council. Chair Ward praised the BIDs for their work on small business support, public safety, and community events.
- Item 2 – FY2020 San Diego Tourism Marketing District (TMD) Budget and Supplemental Funding: Meredith Dibden Brown, Colleen Anderson (SD TMD Corporation), and Carrie Capuch (SD Tourism Authority) presented. The TMD covers lodging businesses with 70+ rooms assessed at 2%. Estimated FY2020 funds are about $46.5 million, with a supplemental request of $6.9 million from a litigation reserve (now fully resolved). The funding would support SD Tourism Authority and 12 events, including new events like ANOC World Beach Games and Wonderfront. The projected ROI for the Tourism Authority is 21.7:1. Colleen Anderson noted that all litigation has been concluded. Vice Chair Montgomery proposed an amendment to set aside $500,000 of the supplemental funds for community‑based tourism marketing, which was accepted.
- Item 3 – Horton Plaza OPA Amendment: Mike Hanson (Planning Department) and Dan Michaels (Stockdale Capital Partners) presented. The proposal would reduce the minimum retail requirement from 600,000 to 300,000 square feet, allowing conversion to a mixed‑use technology office campus with up to 772,000 square feet of office. In exchange, Stockdale would provide enhanced park security and programming, redevelop the Bradley Building, add four stories to the Nordstrom building, extend the Lyceum lease, and achieve a minimum FAR of 4.0. Discussion focused on tenant negotiations (Macy's, Jimbo's, Lyceum), historic preservation, and the need for a comprehensive agreement. Councilmember Bree moved to approve staff recommendations with amendments: (1) park lease to come back for final council approval within six months; (2) an update on tenant negotiations, especially with the Lyceum, before full council approval; (3) all offsetting benefits applied to extended terms for the Lyceum as long as park security is covered. Chair Ward added an amendment prohibiting a hotel on the site unless approved by the City Council. The motion passed unanimously.
- Item 4 – 2019 State Legislative Update: Moira Topp (City's Legislative Representative) provided an overview of key state bills and budget priorities. Topics included homelessness and housing (SB 50, SB 5, AB 11), neighborhood services, transportation, border economy, water sustainability, environment and energy, jobs and the economy, public safety, cannabis, and veterans' affairs. The committee took no action; the item was informational.
- Item 5 – Child Care Needs and Economic Development: Tessa Tinkler (University of San Diego, Castor Family Center) presented data from a 2017 county study showing that 44% of working parents have no licensed child care spot (148,000 children vs. 83,000 spaces). High unmet need exists in areas like Logan Heights, Paradise Hills, and College Area. State reimbursements do not cover the full cost of care. Rick Richardson (Child Development Associates) and Eduardo Velazquez (San Diego Regional EDC) emphasized the link between child care and workforce development. The committee discussed possible city actions including zoning changes, streamlining regulations, and convening stakeholders. Chair Ward announced plans to form a working roundtable and bring actionable proposals later in the year.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1: Motion to forward the FY2020 BID appropriation package to the full City Council passed unanimously.
- Item 2: Motion to approve the FY2020 TMD report of activities, supplemental funding request, and third amendment to the operating agreement, with the amendment to set aside $500,000 for community‑based organizations, passed unanimously.
- Item 3: Motion to approve the Horton Plaza OPA amendment with amendments (park lease within six months, tenant negotiation update, Lyceum lease extension, and prohibition on hotel without council approval) passed unanimously. Staff will prepare documents for full council consideration.
- Item 4: No action taken; informational only.
- Item 5: No formal action; Chair Ward will lead a working group to develop city policy recommendations.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. All right, good afternoon, everybody. We are at two o'clock and we have a forum, so I'm gonna welcome you all to the April 11th, 2019 meeting of the Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee. We'll let the record reflect that Vice Chair Montgomery and Councilmember B are present with Councilmember Kercy on his way. Also in attendance today are Deputy City Attorney Kate Malcolm, uh Adrian Grand from the Mayor's Office, Jordan Moore from the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst, and our committee consultant, Lucas O'Connor. We will begin today with the approval of the minutes, and so I will entertain a motion from a committee member about the March 7, 2019 minutes moved by Vice Chair Montgomery, seconded by uh Councilmember Bree. All in favor. Passes unanimously. And then next we will move on to non-agenda public comment for members of the public to speak on any issues on within this committee's jurisdiction, not on the agenda. Let me see if we have any non-agenda slips. So we will welcome uh is it Becky Rapp. Thank you, Ms. Rapp. You'll have two minutes. Great. My name is Becky Rapp. I thank you for the opportunity to share my concerns regarding the goals for the economic development and intergovernmental relations committee. As a mother of six and a small business owner, I appreciate your attention to the opportunities and support that local small business owners seek and to the value that we can provide to a neighborhood. I also attend the City Heights Planning Group, and I wonder if the committee members attend it or the Southeastern Planning Group when marijuana businesses were being considered. Or tobacco retailers or marijuana stores and businesses in their neighborhoods. We're going to go in order today, the FY2020 Business Improvement District Budgets, our annual appropriation project process. I'd like to welcome back our staff from the economic development department. And when you're ready to begin the presentation, just introduce yourselves and uh be underway. Okay, good afternoon. Chair Ward and committee members. My name is Elizabeth Studebaker. I'm the neighborhood investment manager with Economic Development Department and also interim Bear Division Manager. The item before you is the start of the fiscal year 2020 appropriations process for the business improvement district budgets or bid budgets, as we commonly for commonly refer to them. This is the annual review that comes before committee and council and is required by state law and is relatively consistent year to year. As many of you are aware, the city's bid program is authorized by the parking and business improvement area law of 1989 and the parking and business improvement law of 1965 as a means to strengthen small business communities, uh, create new jobs, attract new business, and revitalize older older commercial neighborhoods across the city. The City of San Diego has a total of 18 active bids that are individually managed by 17 nonprofit associations. Bids provide resources to businesses, develop marketing campaigns, and enhance public improvement projects in partnership with the city. This year, an estimated 1.6 million dollars will be collected from approximately approximately 15,000 businesses located within these assessment districts. Bid Association Management Association Managers, some of whom are present here today, have developed a variety of successful marketing activities that generate businesses business for their districts. These activities range from hosting special events such as restaurant walks, block parties, art fairs, farmers markets, to developing uh public relations and marketing materials. Bid associations also promote their districts to potential businesses in an effort to reduce vacancies, provide a mix of business types, and strengthen their districts. Today we are requesting your approval to move the fiscal year 2020 bid budget appropriation package to the full city council for the following bids seen here on this screen. Uh the process at City Council will require two separate hearings. At the first hearing, City Council will be asked to adopt a resolution appointing an advisory board and approving the FY 2020 budget reports for each bid, declaring council's intention to levy and collect assessments for each specified bid, and set May 21st, 2019 as the notice public hearing date. The second meeting includes the public hearing for receipt of testimony. During this meeting, council is requested to adopt a resolution confirming the 2020 bid budget reports and the levying and collection of assessments, authorizing the CFO or designee to appropriate transfer and expend assessment revenues for each bid, uh approving a first one-year extension to the current FY19 management agreement for each bid, and authorizing the mayor or designee to execute necessary documents to implement that first one-year extension to the FY19 agreement. Additionally, just a note in response to the fiscal year 2016 audit of the city's bid program. Currently, we are working with bid managers and city staff are also uh required to provide annual performance metrics as part of this report to you. The metrics you have before you today are from fiscal year 2018 since we're still in the middle of fiscal year 19. And uh with that, we're requesting approval to forward the fiscal year 2020 uh bid appropriation package to city council and begin the process outlined here. And we're available to answer any questions you might have. Thank you. Great. Thank you for the presentation, Miss Studebaker. And do we have any members of the public that wish to speak?
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