Good morning, everyone.

Welcome to the special economic development and intergovernmental relations committee meeting of February 20th, 2026.

Our committee liaison Sarah Jordan will provide information and instruction for the public to participate in today's meeting.

Thank you, Chair Kempio.

While members of the public are able to attend the meeting in person, this meeting this meeting is being televised and live streamed on the city's website, and the council administration will continue to make arrangements for the public to comment using the Zoom webinar platform.

Members of the public who wish to provide virtual testimony must enter the virtual queue by raising their hand before the virtual queue closes.

This queue will close when the last virtual speaker finishes speaking or five minutes after in-person testimony ends, whichever occurs first.

This will allow for better meeting management between the two platforms and ensure the committee is able to manage and conduct city business.

We appreciate the public's cooperation.

Chair.

Thank you.

I will now call the meeting to order.

Uh Vice Chair Lee will be absent today.

City uh councilmember Campbell.

Here.

Councilmember Foster.

Here.

And I am also present, present with us as well as Noah Fleischmann, our senior fiscal and policy analyst from the Office of the IBA, Deputy City Attorney Brian Bjun from the Office of the City Attorney, and Chris Ackerman, Avila, policy advisor from the Office of the Mayor.

Sarah, let's please continue with the instructions.

Thank you, Chair.

If you are in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of chambers and place it in the tray indicated at the front of the room.

Please do so in a timely manner to ensure proper meeting management.

In-person testimony will conclude before virtual testimony begins, and members of the public can join the webinar by computer tablet or smartphone by accessing the link which is listed online in the preamble language of the agenda on the city's webpage.

To join the Zoom webinar by telephone, please dial 1669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 160-340-6084 pound.

This information is also available on the agenda and it will appear on the screen during the public comment period for each agenda item.

Please note that if you're watching via City TV 24 channel, channel 24 or online, there may be delay.

Please participate via the audio on your phone and mute your TV or computer when it is your turn to speak.

If you wish to speak to a particular item, please wait for that item to be called and then raise your hand to speak by tapping the raise your hand icon, or if you're called participant by pressing start iron on your phone.

If you raise your hand during a non-comment period, your hand will be lowered.

Chair.

Thank you, Sarah, for reviewing those instructions for the benefit of the public.

A quorum is present, so we'll take up non-agenda public comment.

The council members respect and appreciate the public's input and are fully committed to protecting every participant's free speech rights at council and committee meetings.

Thank you, Chair Campio.

Good morning.

Thank you very much.

A lot of times you could use incentives.

Obviously, you go into different buildings, you have long term midterm leases.

But I know I think Gary London has looked at the possibility you could get in at a very reduced, well, obviously, you have to get it out of bankruptcy because of the number of liens, but it could be done.

That's probably not going to work.

So please look within your own uh budget restrictions.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for your testimony.

That concludes comment here in chambers.

So I'll begin the five-minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide non-agenda public comment.

We will begin testimony with Blair Beekman.

Please unmute and begin.

Hi, thank you.

Uh Blair Beekman.

Uh calling from another day in Hawaii.

Um I wanted to comment uh from the meeting yesterday, uh, Transportation Committee meeting.

There are issues on um capital improvement program things.

Um we're in a tough time.

It was my feeling, uh, capital improvements.

The capital improvement program, uh, they started a um uh a series of uh you've been having many discussions on capital improvement program items uh since about October of last year.

I felt they've been giving a fairly good report on what to expect of the program.

Um it's it's it's got a bit of hopeful and positiveness in its outlook uh compared to our other budget woes and concerns.

Uh, from my public comment yesterday, what I failed to mention was that it in in the uh hope and positiveness of what can't we can be working on for the capital improvement programs is what was presented previously.

Um the statistics seem pretty tough, but there is a positiveness about it.

Is there a way that that that's the sort of thinking that we can have to have a more uh creative outlook, the future of our budget issues and and just and how to deal with a uh future budget concerns that is not so much of a of a tax and spend and you know taxing people creating inflation in order to uh create new programs and revenue.

Um I hope you the the capital improvement programs is is looking towards creative ways towards budgeting in our future, basically, and good luck that we're working towards creative ways of budgeting in our future.

Uh we can do it not in a limited amount of time.

Hopefully, we can we can space it out a bit more.

With that said, um Paul Kruger has continuously stated that parking um items uh revenues that coming from Balboa Park are not going to Balboa Park issues, they're going to the general fund.

And we got to be clear on that.

Thank you.

Thank you for your concluding remark.

Terry Ann Skelly, please unmute and beginning.

Good morning, economic development and intergovernmental relations committee.

Chair Campillo.

My name is Terry Ann Scaly.

I'm a planning group member and a community volunteer who has worked in youth programs for decades.

Most important, I am a parent of young adult sons, and I know this group very well.

I've appreciated the focus of this committee on developing youth intern opportunities and your support for the employ and empower youth workforce program for youth ages 16 to 30.

I'm sure you were as thrilled as I was that the city's employee and a parary youth workforce program will be continuing this year in 2026.

This age group, especially males, continue to be the in the limelight because their entrance into post-high school jobs or training or college has been lower than the pat in the past for decades.

The reason for the situation are complicated and many.

However, higher rate of risk-taking behaviors, including marijuana and other drug use are factors.

The National Institute of Health, or NIDA recently announced that males, ages 19 to 30, drug use rates were historic, the highest rates in this age group in four decades.

As the NIDA director, Dr.

Nora Valco commented, and I quote, young adults are in a critical life stage, end quote.

So yes to the employee and empower youth workforce program and no to predatory marketing, including billboards and promotions that come from having marijuana businesses here in our neighborhoods.

Thank you for hearing my concerns this morning.

Thank you for your testimony.

Our next speaker is phone number ending in 8700.

You can unmute by pressing star six, and you will have two minutes.

Congratulations to you and Nadia on the birth of your daughter.

That was such wonderful news.

And I'm so glad the uh committee, the special committee meeting is happening.

We need our committees.

They're so vital and important to uh to the workings of our government.

So the work of our government affairs office does with the city council.

Read the impact of the state of California budget weaknesses.

It's so, so important.

And how that will affect our city budget for FY27.

Is the data open and shared with other departments on both the federal and the state level?

What is the status of the grant environment?

How do we allocate our limited revenue with the uncertain receipt of grant money?

To me, this is in itself a key performance indicator.

KPI.

Let's not wait for another perfect storm in another area of community.

This is a golden opportunity for Panda to match KPIs with clear budget needs and priorities via both qualifiable and quantifiable open data, in my opinion.

This is a big part of the transparency we all need now.

So much for your consideration and a beautiful tool.

Thank you for your comment.

The five-minute timer has concluded.

We have three hands remaining in the queue.

We'll take no other callers beyond these remaining three hands raised.

Continuing with Madison, please unmute and begin.

Hi, good morning.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

I'm here because what happens at the federal level, particularly with the proposed rescheduling of marijuana, has real implications for economic development policy here in San Diego.

As you consider issues related to business growth, intergovernmental relations, and regulatory alignment, I urge caution.

According to reporting by marijuana moment journalist Kyle Jager, former White House drug czar William Bennett has warned against rushing to embrace federal rescheduling.

He has described marijuana as a gateway drug and raised concerns about its impact on attention, motivation, and long-term outcomes for young people, calling it overall a net negative for youth.

Moving marijuana from Schedule One to Schedule Three would not make it federally permitted, but it would significantly normalize and financially benefit the industry, including through expanded tax deductions.

That shift would send a strong market signal, encouraging further commercialization and expansion at the local level.

As a mother of three young children and a community member, I ask this committee to weigh not just projected tax revenue or business opportunity, but the broader economic costs, workforce readiness, educational outcomes, public health burdens, and regulatory strain.

True economic development strengthens families and communities over the long term.

Before aligning our local posture with federal changes, please proceed thoughtfully and ensure that youth protection and community impact remain central to the conversation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Peggy Walker.

Please unmute and begin.

Good morning and thank you.

I've mentioned before that the New York Times, once a strong proponent of marijuana legalization, has backtracked saying that with 20 million Americans high on PT daily, we have a serious problem.

The Times admits former arguments for legalized weed were wrong, and the outcomes worse than expected.

Other media have joined in exposing brutal truths about legalization.

I bring this here because as the time states, it's time to question the real economic, social and public health costs of marijuana commercialization.

Marijuana isn't about ideology any longer.

It's about evidence-based consequences.

Promised benefits have not materialized, but what is materialized are increased health issues, enforcement burdens, land use conflicts, environmental concerns, and normalization of addictive products.

Experts say that for every tax dollar receipt, marijuana costs five dollars in societal costs.

You have a tourist item on this agenda.

Clearing billboards like a large one near the airport.

Communicate cannabis commerce as a defining feature of our city.

Is that really the message we want to send?

I don't think so.

In light of city budget deficits, Sandy Aikens deserve to know the true cause of permitting highly intoxicating but poorly regulated TH products in terms of health, treatment needs, homeless loss, product loss productivity, and dropout.

And so I'm here to ask you to call for a comprehensive audit of the real economic costs of permitting THC products in our city.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you for your comment.

And the final speaker in our queue today is Judy Strang.

Please unmute and provide your non-agenda public comment.

Good morning, economic development and intergovernmental relations.

And congratulations, Chair Campillo.

You will find parenting revelatory, speaking as a grandparent.

And it will bring a broader awareness to you and to your family regarding what the environment sends as messages to your new daughter.

And I'd like to speak about what the environment especially since uh brings us messages, especially since items six and seven today talk about marketing and the marketing of San Diego.

One of the issues that I have is that I drive back and forth through the airport, probably at least once a week.

And I've gotten pretty judgmental about what I see coming in and leaving San Diego.

It's got to be the worst set of roads and architecture.

And just uh disrepair anywhere in the city.

I feel I feel bad that this particular roadway in and out of our airport is so bad.

If we want to start looking at marketing, let's start looking at what it is that tourists see when they come and go from San Diego and just do something about that corridor.

Uh as a previous speaker mentioned that large billboard, suggesting a marijuana somehow important to the city of San Diego.

It needs to go.

And we need to look at the cleanliness and the cigarette butts and the alcohol bottles that are just strewn along this pathway as you drive it up the hill, back and forth down to the airport.

I think it'd be way more important for marketing than any single other factor that you might do in the city.

Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony and chair.

This concludes non-agenda public comment.

Thank you to members of the public for their participation.

Uh and I uh thanks to the members of the public for their uh congratulations to me and my family.

We will now move to committee members, mayoral staff, city attorney, and IBA Commons.

Do we have any?

Uh hearing none from my colleagues.

I will make three quick ones.

Uh, would first like to say it's good to hear from you, Joyce Sanyata.

It's been a while since we had you call in.

Uh, been trying to call you, couldn't get through, but it's great to hear your voice and thanks for uh calling in today.

We look forward to hearing you more at the city council.

Uh, two, just want to let people know if they didn't read the news this morning.

Uh, the Supreme Court struck down President Trump's use of retaliatory tariffs as improper exercise of executive authority that is reserved to the legislative branch of government.

And this committee and the city have uh through this committee and through our legislative platform that came through this committee talked about how we would uh it's our position that those tariffs are improper and not good for our economy.

Obviously, there are other methods uh to impose tariffs that were not discussed, uh, but would just like to say uh on the record, thanks to the Supreme Court for striking down the tariffs.

Uh, and the CEO of the convention center yesterday, uh Mr.

Rip Riperto announced he will be tying later this year.

Uh, just wanted to take a moment uh to say it's been a pleasure working alongside him and learning from him and relying on him for information about our needs at the convention center and about our local economy more broadly.

I know that we as a council, I'm sure we'll have more to say in the coming months as uh his replacement is uh recruited and appointed, and he enters retirement, but I wanted to acknowledge him.

Uh he is a district seven resident and a very good one at that.

So I just want to say thanks so much for your great work over the last decade in the city and for our region.

Rip, we really truly appreciate you.

Uh, with that, we will go to our request for continuances.

Hearing any none agenda for the consent agenda items one through five.

We will dispense with the approval of that consent agenda.

Uh, no request to pull.

So let's please proceed to public comment on the consent agenda, sir.

Thank you, Chair.

The public comment period for the consent agenda is now open.

The consent agenda includes item number one, approval of the committee minutes from December 10th, 2025.

Item number two, compensation agreement of the Naval Training Center.

Item number three, compensation agreement of Walker Scott at 1014 Fifth Avenue.

Item number four, compensation agreement of the Chinese Historical Museum at 404 Third Avenue, and item number five, actions related to the East Village Green Phase One Project, Third Amendment to the Compensation Agreement with Civic San Diego, and second amendment to the consulting agreement with Regalman LLC.

Each speaker will have one minute per item, not to exceed a total maximum of three minutes.

When I call on you, please indicate which item or items you'll be speaking to.

We have not received any slips here in chambers.

So beginning the five-minute timer, we will start with virtual testimony, phone number ending in 8700.

You can unmute by pressing star six.

And if you can please indicate which item or items you'll be speaking to.

Yes, thank you.

Uh Joy Sonyata C D three.

I'll be speaking to three through two, three, four, and five, please.

All right, three minutes, please begin.

I began my work in C C D C.

And so uh the uh the redevelopment agency and and all of their work and uh really made me uh look at these items two, three, and four.

The uh compensation um uh excuse me, the compensation agreements.

I don't think that's the right word, excuse me on that.

No, that's correct.

So uh what I wanted to say on this, I looked at them pretty thoroughly, at least I read thoroughly thoroughly the staff reports.

And uh on the first one on number two, uh it doesn't come from the general fund, but three and four do come from the general fund.

So I was a little confused on that.

Three and four equal about a million dollars.

Uh two is more uh almost two million.

That doesn't come from the general fund.

So I'm really sensitive to our general fund now.

So uh I I'm not clear on that, but uh it sounds I do approve all of the agreements, and and the city is going to retain ownership of those and with future disposition uh possible to them in the future.

So on the last item uh I'm speaking on this time is five.

And this one again ties in with my work with C C D C.

Uh, the the East Village Green Phase One, excuse Park C C D C.

And the only one that was uh longer is Children's Park.

Yet to be that artist and wait to see its artwork come to completion so long.

I cannot fathom how much patience that would require.

So uh one concerning question again on funds, physical consideration, uh construction funding, sub item A, Fund 9999, unidentified funds.

When I really looked at the staff report, uh this uh I don't know what the unidentified funds are.

It seems to be that the it hasn't been identified where those that money will be coming from or what fund it will be put into.

So I don't feel comfortable with that word unidentified funds.

And I I think it's only 113,000, but it just kind of raised a flag for me.

It's probably AOK, but I I just uh always like to look at those little little red flags, even the little ones that pop up for me.

So uh thank you for listening.

Uh I'm uh really um back and enjoying uh it's new to me again to be back.

So uh thank you everybody for your patience and uh love to all.

Thank you for your testimony.

Our next speaker is Justine Murray.

Please unmute and indicate which item or items you'll be speaking to.

Good morning.

I'll be speaking to item five.

All right, one minute, please begin.

Good morning, Chair Campion committee members.

My name's Justine Murray, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Downtown Standing Up Partnership.

More than three decades, we've served as the principal voice for downtown's economic prosperity and cultural vitality, representing over 300 member organizations invested in the success of our urban core.

I'm speaking today in support of item five, specifically to sub-item A to reinstate the performance pavilion within this project.

This is more than a design feature, it's a central infrastructure.

A properly equipped band shell provides the lighting, sound capability, and architectural anchor necessary for consistent programming, community events, and civic gatherings.

Programming drives activation, activation drives safety and safety projects per protects public investment.

Reinstating the pavilion ensures this space functions as a true civic gathering place, not just open space, but a destination that brings people together and supports downtown's vibrancy as a whole.

We respectfully urge your support of item five this morning on the consent agenda.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your testimony and chair.

This concludes comment on consent agenda items number one through five.

Thank you to the members of the public for your participation.

We'll turn over to committee members for questions, comments, and entertain a motion.

And I will begin by thanking our EDD staff for bringing several items to the consent agenda today.

Items two through four are about compliance and stewardship.

The city made long-term redevelopment decisions decades ago that are functioning as intended in today's actions ensure we comply with state law while protecting valuable community assets.

Regarding item five, the East Village residents have waited for a long time for this park, and it's been envisioned for nearly two decades.

So today's action represents one of the final steps to get this long-anticipated community space across the finish line.

This amendment ensures we complete the construction and restore the performance pavilion, deliver a park that truly serves the family's seniors and residents across downtown.

Importantly, this action does not use general fund dollars.

So I'm looking forward to seeing this project open in 2026 and become a vibrant gathering space for our community.

I will make the motion to approve the consent agenda, and I will go to Councilmember Campbell.

Thank you.

I will second the motion.

Thank you very much.

Having a motion and a second and seeing no further comments or questions being sought, I will call the roll.

Councilmember Campbell.

Yes.

Committee member Foster.

Yes.

And I am a yes, that passes unanimously with three members present.

We'll now go to our discussion agenda.

Sarah, please introduce item number six.

Thank you, Chair.

Item number six is the resolution authorizing the marketing partnership agreement between the City of San Diego and CPR1 LLC.

And if you're watching on City TV or the live stream and you'd like to dial in to speak, please call 1669-2545252.

Inputting webinar ID 160-340-6084 pound.

Chair.

Thank you.

We will now begin with our assistant deputy director of economic development, Sarah Brenna presenting along with our program manager from the San Diego Fire Rescue Department, Mo O'Connor.

Let us know how much time you'll need.

Thank you.

Good morning, Chair Campillo, and congratulations.

Good morning, committee members.

My name is Sarah Brennan, Assistant Deputy Director in the Economic Development Department, and with me today is Mo O'Connor.

She's the program manager within San Diego Fire Rescue.

And I will approximately need uh five minutes for the presentation.

Thank you.

Here is a summary of the recommended actions being requested for city council.

Authorise a resolution to execute the marketing agreement between the city and CPR1 LLC for an initial two-year term with options to renew for three one-year renewal terms, and to authorize the CFO to accept the 150,000 annual marketing fee for the fire rescue EMS fund.

For background, San Diego Project Heartbeat was founded in 2001 with a specific purpose.

This San Diego Fire Rescue program focuses efforts on an increment on increasing the survival rates of victims of sudden cardiac arrest through community outreach, offering public and private business support to implement life-saving programs and making automatic external defibrillation defibrillators as accessible as fire extinguishers throughout the region.

San Diego Project Heartbeat is recognized as a world leader in programs, and the project's project serves as a role model for other major municipalities and also a statewide program for Nevada.

San Diego Fire Rescue and Economic Development worked together to draft and release a joint RFP RFS, knowing that the contract and partnership were expiring in April of 26.

In October of 25, an RFP RFS was released to secure the best quality pricing of AEDs, parts, and accessories, as well as secure a marketing partnership that would support the San Diego Project Heartbeat Program.

In February of 26, CPR1 LLC was selected, which secured the best quality and pricing of AEDs and secured a marketing partnership.

In mid-April, this new marketing agreement will become effective with council approval.

CPR 1 will pay the city a total of 150,000 per year.

This is both a marketing rights fee of 100,000 and a sub supporting SDFD fire expenses and a guaranteed minimum of 50,000 for sales stipend.

One sales representative will continue to be dedicated to the region to support program efforts, resulting in a greater reach.

And continued lives will be saved with an increase in survival rates due to the access of over 11,000 deployed AEDs in the region with 221 lives saved to date.

The benefits afforded to CPR1 at a high level include the official endorsement by city council as the official AED partner of the city.

Increased brand recognition and partnership with an internationally known leader in public access defibrillation.

Increased brand recognition in partnership with an internationally known leader in public access defibrillation, the exclusive right to promote their product at all city events, trade shows, seminars, and any public events that either party is hosting.

Nonprofits who are awarded grant assistance to procure AED equipment must purchase equipment from CPR1 exclusively.

Access to city officials as well as communication on designated platforms such as social media, Cox Communications, Television Inventory, Newsletters, Wsite, San Diego Project Heartbeat, Vehicle Decals, and Promotional Materials.

And expanded outreach in the region with cities endorsement to grow our partners' portfolio.

Here is a summary of the recommended actions being requested for City Council to authorize a resolution to execute the marketing agreement between the city and CPR1 LLC for an initial two-year term with options to renew for three one-year renewal terms and then authorize the CFO to accept the 150,000 annual marketing fee for the fire rescue EMS fund.

Representatives from Economic Development, Fire Rescue, and CPR1 are all available for any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Sarah, let's please proceed with public comment.

Thank you, Chair.

We've not received any speaker slips here in chambers.

And I see no hands going up in the virtual queue.

Concluding testimony on item number six.

Oh, excuse me.

We have one hand that just went up right before I finished my statement, so we'll begin that five-minute timer.

Phone number ending in 8700.

You can unmute by pressing star six.

And you will have two minutes.

Sorry.

Excuse me.

Sorry, Sarah.

Uh that uh was a little slow on my part.

I uh just wanted to really quickly say that uh I rescue involved with and this marketing of this uh you know hearting uh equipment.

Uh just nothing uh for me to say except uh I approve it.

I I'm sure all of you will too, and thank you for the beautiful work to you do that you do, and definitely this is a yes on this.

Thank you.

Love to all.

Thank you for your testimony.

And this concludes comment for item number six.

Thank you to members of the public for their participation, and we will go to Councilmember Campbell.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, and thank you for the presentation and all the good work that Fire Rescue does.

It's amazing how many lives are saved through your department.

And uh, even though the 220 is like a small amount compared to the thousand saved by the lifeguards every summer from drowning.

This is 221 lives that wouldn't have been saved otherwise.

So it it's so important that we use this AED, and it has uh come about to be made so simple that if we explain to the public ahead of time in a time of action when most people would panic, they would be able to keep a calm mind, grab the thing, and save a life.

So it's a wonderful thing, and I'm glad we're we've got the educational part of it as well.

Thank you so much.

And I move that we accept staff's recommendation.

Thank you.

We have a motion from Councilmember Campbell.

Uh, I will pick up and second that motion because this item continues a long-standing and successful private public-private partnership that directly supports our fire rescue department's project heartbeat program.

And through this model, we receive 150,000 annually, no cost to the taxpayers.

It's funding that helps sustain personnel and operations for a program that will deploy over 10,000 AEDs, which helped save 216 lives since 2001.

Uh similar partnerships have generated approximately four million to keep San Diego a leader in public access defibrillation.

CPR1 was selected through the competitive process, offers strong economic value, local presence, and full financial support for the program.

So this agreement means that we have discounted AED pricing for city facilities and partners, expanding access to life saving equipment across neighborhoods.

So ultimately, this is about protecting residents, saving people's lives, strengthening our emergency preparedness, and continuing a proven program that will support public health in all sorts of ways.

Second to the motion, seeing no further comments, I will now call the roll.

Uh Councilmember Campbell.

Yes.

Councilmember Foster.

Yes.

And I am a yes.

That passes three to zero with uh three members present.

Uh thank you very much for the presentation.

See you at council.

We got a clap out there.

Yes, we did.

Not sure you could hear it out there on the public on the TV, but we did.

Uh we'll now take up the information agenda.

Uh, please introduce our final item for today, sir.

Thank you, Chair Kimpio.

Item number seven is fiscal year 2025 San Diego Tourism Marketing District Annual Performance Report.

And if you're watching on City TV or the live stream online and you'd like to call in to speak, please dial 1669-2545252.

And when prompted, input webinar ID 160-340-6084 pound.

Chair.

Thank you.

Uh we will now hand it over to some of the some of the regulars here at EDNIR, a pleasure to work with them.

Colleen Anderson, Executive Director of our Tourism Marketing District, Carrie Kapich, the COO of the Tourism Authority, and Angelica Paulino, the community development specialist from our own economic development department.

Please let us know how much time you will need to.

Good morning, Chair Campillo and committee members.

I'm Angelica Paulino with Economic Development Department.

We will need 12 minutes for this item.

Very good, thank you.

Thank you.

So with me today are Elizabeth Studebaker, Assistant Deputy Director with the Economic Development Department, Ms.

Colleen Anderson, Executive Director of the San Diego Tourism Marketing District Corporation, and Ms.

Carrie Kapuch, COO of the San Diego Tourism Authority.

This item is the annual performance report describing the activities and outcomes of the San Diego Tourism Marketing District, or TMD for the fiscal year 2025.

San Diego's Tourism Marketing District includes lodging businesses with 70 or more rooms located within the City of San Diego.

As part of the operating agreement with the city, the San Diego TMD prepares an annual report highlighting the accomplishments and returns of investment from their funding allocations for the previous fiscal year, fiscal year 2025.

The TMD focuses on increasing lodging room night consumption in the city of San Diego to support tourism growth and development.

The performance report was approved at the TMD board meeting in December, shared with the district via email distribution, and now presented to you.

I'd like to pass it over to TMD Corporation Executive Director, Miss Colleen Anderson to provide further details.

Thank you.

Good morning.

I want to begin by thanking this committee for your continued support.

Your partnership truly matters, and the efforts you've made to support the tourism industry helps protect local jobs, generate vital city revenues, and strengthen our economy.

Fiscal year 2025 reflected a period of both solid performance and clear and a clear shift in headwinds.

We entered the year from a position of strength, but has that has increased as the year progressed with a little bit of a hesitation in travel.

San Diego ranked number four in hotel occupancy nationally and continues to outperform many peer destinations, including West Coast competitors.

Beginning in February, inflation, financial market volatility, and policy uncertainty began influencing travel behavior.

International visitation also softened, adding pressure to overall demand.

As San Diego remains a top-tier destination, we celebrated the following accolades.

Top 10 meeting destination by C vent, top 10 food destination by TripAdvisor, and number one most relaxing city globally by travel and leisure.

As we look at the current tourism environment year to date for fiscal year 2026, we're still operating in a challenging landscape driven by slower job growth and persistently high consumer prices.

From July through November, performance across the city softened versus last year.

We're seeing declines in room demand, ADR, occupancy, and overall revenues, with RevPAR running 9% below last year.

Since late September, hotels have increasingly traded rate to protect occupancy, and that dynamic continued into mid-December.

On the demand side, leisure travel has weakened most at budget and mid-tier properties, while luxury and upper-up scale hotels remain relatively stable, supported by steady group demand.

Tourism in San Diego supports one in eight jobs across hospitality, small business, transportation, and cultural institutions.

When demand softens, the impact is felt in neighborhoods across the city.

The city benefits from TMD's investment because visitor spending generates critical TOT and sales tax revenues that fund city services, reduce pressure on the general fund, and bring outside dollars into San Diego's economy.

We see that visitor spending has largely covered, but growth is waning due to ongoing economic uncertainty.

Visitation continues to increase but remains below pre-pandemic levels, with only modest growth projected over the next two years.

At the same time, hotel rates have leveled off, which means future revenue growth will depend less on pricing and more on sustaining and driving visitor demand.

Despite economic challenges, intent to travel remains strong, which continues to support baseline demand for destinations like San Diego.

Forward-looking hotel data suggests the first part of 2026, particularly January through April, could outperform the same period in 2025, indicating early momentum.

New nonstop air service is expected to improve access and support growth in new markets, helping broaden and diversify demand.

These indicators suggest a cautiously optimistic outlook, one that benefits from being supported by sustained and strategic demand generation through TMD's investment.

Each year we start our funding cycle in October with an invitation to our workshops to any organization interested in learning more about the TMD funding requirements.

This annual process includes board review and recommendations early in the year and concludes with budget presentations to council committee and full city council in the spring.

In fiscal year 2025, TMD funding generated over 6.6 million hotel room nights and nearly 1.4 billion in room revenue, producing a 27.7 to 1 return on its investment.

I'd now like to turn it over to Carrie Kapich of the San Diego Tourism Authority to share details of SDTA's marketing efforts and impacts.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you so much for having us here today.

So in fiscal year 2025, the Tourism Authority delivered over 6.4 million hotel room nights into the district with an overall ROI of 28 to 1.

Economic conditions and negative impacts on travel began to hit San Diego in May of 25.

In addition, competitive destinations are now working to rebuild their marketing campaigns and to improve their customer experience.

We've seen a market change in the San Francisco area and more aggressive promotion from both Los Angeles and also Las Vegas.

This year we have developed new strategies and campaigns to stimulate as much demand as we can during this downturn.

We have been more focused on U.S.

travelers, and we've launched new campaigns, including a new advertising slogan, come to the bright side, both the literal and figurative call to action for travelers during these challenging times.

This new campaign works well with our Meet America's Brightest City group meetings campaign that leans into our business identity.

Meeting planners, including stakeholders at TED have noted our innovation sector higher education system and Cali Baja entrepreneurial spirit as highly influential in choosing to bring their event to San Diego.

Family travel is nearly 50% of all travelers to California, so we've been growing our family travel campaigns, including kids-free San Diego in October, a new content series guide to the kids' stuff, with trip ideas from a kid's perspective, and a new co-op campaign with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance to reach Arizona families.

Finally, we're entering a time of global events coming to California from World Cup in 2026 to the LA Olympics in 28.

We work closely with Sports San Diego, and we are serving as a base camp location for at least two teams for FIFA coming up this summer.

We will be hosting 14 matches in LA and San Francisco, so we'll be working to capture as much of that business into San Diego as we can, as these visitors often stay quite a bit of time when they're coming in to see their teams play in the World Cup events.

San Diego Tourism Authority is a 501c6.

We have a large membership base of businesses who benefit from a strong tourism economy.

In 2024, we issued our 10-year tourism stewardship plan with a goal of articulating what is important to our community residents as we look at future tourism initiatives and the need for more workforce development and sustainability initiatives.

We work with many civic partners to help us understand on the ground what is happening in neighborhoods and within arts organizations.

The BID's Commission for Arts and Culture and the Museum Council, to name a few, are great resources to help us promote San Diego's diversity.

Finally, during the pandemic, we received a grant from the EDA for economic development.

We began a program called Tourism Accelerator.

Our goal was simple to bring more businesses into the tourism fold and help grow their businesses.

The Tourism Accelerator Program is now its fifth year, and we have 15 businesses across diverse categories and neighborhoods that are part of the cohort for 2026.

I'll now turn it back over to Colleen.

With TMD support, Sports San Diego plays a critical role in positioning San Diego as a premier sports destination by recruiting and supporting major sporting events that drive overnight visitation.

Through this work, Sports San Diego generated nearly 107,000 hotel room nights and more than 24 million in room revenue, delivering a 14 to 1.

On the topic of sports, Chair Cambio, you may be interested to hear that the fiscal year 26 Major League Pickleball Tournament was held for the first time this past year in San Diego in August and generated 1,400 TMD room nights with an ROI of 6.8 to 1.

They have applied to return for fiscal 27.

Thank you for your time.

This concludes our presentation, and we're happy to take any questions.

Thank you very, very much.

I was interested to hear about that bookable.

Let's please proceed with public comment.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

We've not received any speaker slips here in chambers.

So I'll begin the five-minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide comment on item seven.

Each speaker will have two minutes.

We will begin with phone number ending in 8700.

You can unmute by pressing star six.

And you will have two minutes.

Thank you to the presenters.

This is a wonderful report, even though uh it's been bumpy for all of us.

But this is really good to hear.

And it really helped me sort of look at the economy in general and get your perspective on how all of these moving targets are affecting all of us.

It's just a it's a good presentation, and I really, really appreciated it so much.

Anything that I I love the focus on the families.

That that's really, I think, smart of you and uh and very appropriate.

Uh I would ask that you uh, you know, well, let me say this first.

32 point eight million visitors in that one year period.

That's really amazing.

Uh and I figured it out to about 88,000 a day.

So if you can help us partner with the tourism uh revenue that it may bring in to us, and how we can use it to have them partner with us in working with our budget.

You know, we're all partners in this.

They're really uh truth are really a part of our family, of our community.

So anything that you can do to help us get them to uh not get them to, but to find ways to have the revenue that's coming in uh support our budget would be so appreciated.

So uh love the information on the business, uh business uh attendance uh on the uh international impact on travel, all of those three components were absolutely uh so uh helpful to hear.

So keep up the good work.

Uh we're gonna make this.

We have made it through the years.

We're gonna make it again.

To me, look at the opportunities and move forward love to all.

Thank you for your testimony.

And this concludes comment on item number seven.

Thank you to members of the public for your participation.

This is an information item only, so no motion is required.

We will go to council member uh for comments and questions, and we'll start with Dr.

Campbell.

Thank you so much, Chair.

Thank you for the presentation, and thank you to the department here in the city that works with you.

Uh, first of all, congratulations, $28 return on every dollar we have put into this.

That is a great investment.

I really appreciate your hard work, especially at this time when other places are just not ready to face these hard times.

And I know that the foreign tourists have decreased greatly.

I wanted to ask you, uh, you mentioned the the new nonstop flights from San Diego.

Would you mind giving a little more details?

I think it really, especially for families.

It helps so much if you have nonstops instead of having to schlep the poor little kids back and forth between planes.

Sure.

So you may have seen like Alaska Airlines has been opening up more markets into San Diego.

A lot of that is coming from other western regions.

So you have more coming out of Idaho and other places like that, so it does create a lot of opportunity for us.

They're growing their fleet.

They're also going to be basing pilots and crew here.

So all very good news for San Diego.

That's wonderful.

Thank you so much.

Um I can say is congratulations on a great job, well done and a hard time, and I really appreciate you shifting things so that you can continue to be so successful.

And there's this is just a discussion item uh an info item, right?

Okay, so no vote is needed, but thank you again.

Thank you very much, Councilmember Campbell.

Uh I want to thank our presenters, of course, for uh years and years of good work making sure that visitors continue to visit our city and our region and support the jobs, the small businesses, and the stability of our city budget.

Uh this last year, uh San Diego generated uh TOT revenue provided $325 million, which helps fund core services that our neighborhoods depend on.

That absolutely matters.

Uh, in the work of the Tourism Authority and the Tourism Marketing District Partners, it's critical to keep San Diego competitive.

Uh obviously, as you've pointed out, tourism is inherently vulnerable to economic shifts and global uncertainty.

Uh so marketing aggressively is the way that we continue to ensure that people know about us and keep us at the forefront of their minds as they're thinking about their vacations, thinking about uh their company retreats, uh, and ultimately coming to spend their money here.

So I really appreciate your good work.

Obviously, our goal should be clear as a city is to grow the hospitality industry to help thereby protect city revenues and ensure tourism strengthens the neighborhoods and the jobs therein across San Diego.

So, with that, thank you very, very much for your presentation.

Seeing no further comments or questions, that brings us to the end of our agenda today.

So we will adjourn the Special Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee to our next regularly scheduled meeting, which will be Wednesday, March 4th, 2026 at 2 p.m.

Thank you and have a great rest of your day.

9 55.

Good job.