OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

San Diego PSLN Committee Meeting on Police, Parks, and Marijuana - Dec 6, 2017

Public Safety & Livable Neighborhoods Committee — Wednesday, December 6, 2017
BodySan Diego, California
SessionPublic Safety & Livable Neighborhoods Committee
DateWednesday, December 6, 2017
StatusFILED
Video Record
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3:06

Good afternoon, everybody.

3:07

We are going to call the December sixth meeting of the public CD and the local neighborhoods committee to order.

3:14

Let the record reflect we have a quorum consisting of myself, Vice Chair Bree, and committee members Zaf and Ward.

3:22

We're first going to go to non-agenda public comments.

3:26

I don't believe there is any non-agenda public comment.

3:30

Perfect.

3:31

Moving right along.

3:32

We have committee member comments.

3:34

Any members of the committee wish to speak?

3:36

See none.

3:37

Any city attorney, IBA, mayor's office comments.

3:40

Perfect, moving right along.

3:42

Our adoption agenda today is the record of action items for November sixteenth, twenty seventeen, which will be adopted by unanimous consent unless pulled.

3:52

See none.

4:01

Do any members of the committee wish to speak on any of the consent agenda items?

4:06

Would see motion to motion by council member ward, all second to approve the consent agenda.

4:14

All those in favor, please say aye.

4:16

Aye.

4:17

That passes unanimously.

4:48

Council members, committee members.

4:57

With me to my left is Joe Lacava.

5:00

He's vice chair for the board.

5:04

The chair could not be here today.

5:06

I'd also like to mention audience member Deb McKet McKissack.

5:11

She is also here and a member of the board.

5:15

I'm going to turn it over to Joe to go through his PowerPoint.

5:19

Thank you, Time.

5:20

Thank you to the Chair and to the committee for having us.

5:22

This is, of course, the first annual report of the Citizens Advisory Board on Police Community Relations.

5:29

We appreciate the opportunity to be here.

5:31

And as Time mentioned, the Chair Barry Pollard had a prior commitment on the East Coast and sends his regrets, but I did work with Barry in terms of developing this PowerPoint.

5:43

I thought it would be useful to kind of think about the authority that the advisory board has, since often when I approach people and tell them I'm on this board, they immediately assume that I'm on the Citizens Review Board, the CRB.

5:56

So we obviously are different.

5:57

We're an advisory board.

5:59

The intent is to study, consult, and advise the mayor and the city council.

6:04

Also have a method of community participation in recommending reviewing policies, practices, and programs, make law enforcement sensitive, effective, and responsive to the needs of the city, actively encourage and foster citizen participation in crime prevention, promote and encourage open communication and cooperation between the department and the residents of the city, and make recommendations to the community so they understand their rights and responsibilities when they come into contact with the police officers.

6:35

As a reminder, we do have a 15-member board that has been set up to be both uh geographically diverse as well as expertise.

6:45

There is one member on the board from each of the nine council districts, and we have six members that have been assigned because of special expertise.

6:55

The Chair Barry Pollard, who is uh has human relations experience, but we also have those who have experience in social services, corrections, a representative from the POA, probation, as well as youth.

7:08

And we've already seen in our initial meetings how that really has helped make the conversations much more robust and diverse and ensuring that we get to good strong recommendations.

7:18

In terms of locations, one of our responsibilities is to engage the public in these conversations.

7:24

And after some initial formational meetings, uh the board decided what would be best was for us for us to rotate the location of our monthly board meetings by alternating between north of Interstate 8 and south of Interstate 8.

7:37

And you can see so far we've been out the Pacific Beach and then in Canto, up to University City, and then over to City Heights.

7:45

And you can see how we will alternate in our future meetings in 2018.

7:49

As we get closer to June, uh the board will reassess where the optimal locations are for our board meetings and whether we will continue to alternate geographically or we will target them based on the subject matter in that month's agenda.

8:05

As a board that is just getting itself started, I wanted to highlight a few of our milestones.

8:10

It was exactly one year ago that the city council adopted the ordinance that empowered the board.

8:16

In March, 12 of the 15 seats were appointed.

8:19

And in April, we had our first board meeting.

8:22

And then in July, uh the mayor and the city council filled out the board with the final three appointments.

8:28

It wasn't until August that we had our bylaws adopted, and as you know, you can't take action until you have those bylaws.

8:35

So that was really what allowed us to get started.

8:38

In September, uh, we really were started moving fast, including the addition of time as a support for our board.

8:45

And the web page on the city website was greatly expanded to make it a lot easier for people to understand where our meetings were being held, what our purpose was, uh, and the location of our monthly meetings.

8:58

Just a week or so ago, we did adopt our first work plan, and I'll talk a little more about that shortly.

9:05

And then, of course, we're here today offering our first uh annual report.

9:10

In terms of some of the early actions that we've taken in the past couple of months, I want to highlight a few.

9:16

One uh was we weighed in on the police chief recruitment process, uh, as I'm sure you were aware, there was some concern about in the public about the transparency of that process, and we did take an action to recommend that the selection process be staffed by members from CAB, CRB, and the Gang uh Commission, uh, and that the members of the selection committee be publicly identified.

9:42

Uh we do understand that the mayor has revised uh slightly the police chief recruitment process, and we appreciate at least acknowledging some of the issues that we raised.

10:00

Probably the most important and the most significant issue that we've taken on in our early work was revisiting the San Diego State University Traffic Enforcement Study and specifically the 10 recommendations that were included in that study.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Parks and Recreation████████████████████20%
Public Engagement██████████████████18%
Cannabis Regulation████████████████16%
Police Oversight████████████12%
Recreation████████████12%
Public Safety██████6%
Public Comment█████5%
Procedural████4%
Public Finance███3%
Summary of Proceedings

San Diego Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee Meeting - December 6, 2017

The Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee (PSLN) of the San Diego City Council met on December 6, 2017, at 9:00 AM (afternoon session). The meeting covered three major agenda items: the first annual report of the Citizens Advisory Board on Police Community Relations (CAB), proposed changes to the Park and Recreation Department fee schedule and recreation council revenue handling, and an update on enforcement against illegal marijuana operations. The committee also approved a consent calendar and heard public testimony.

Consent Calendar

  • The record of action items from November 16, 2017, was adopted unanimously by voice vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Citizens Advisory Board Report: Christy (ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, Coalition for Police Accountability and Transparency) testified in support of the CAB report, urging the committee to act on the SDSU racial profiling study recommendations and to ensure a transparent police chief selection process. Jamie Wilson shared a personal account of her son's interrogation by police, illustrating racial bias and the need for action.
  • Recreation Council Fee Schedule: Numerous recreation council members and volunteers spoke against the proposed changes. Key speakers included Bill Robbins (La Jolla), Glenda Gates (Mountain View), Pat Warren (Ocean Beach, 43-year volunteer), Greg Goonin (Mira Mesa, attorney), Ted Bringle, Terry Cords (Allied Gardens and San Carlos), Robin Kaufman (Rancho Bernardo), John Horst (Mira Mesa), Dave Roger (Adams Avenue), Jim Nickel, Marilee Picelli (Carmel Valley), Melanie Nickel, Joe Frichtel (Mira Mesa), Doug Beckham (Window to Recreation), Susan Mornian, and Ginny Barnes (past Park and Recreation Board member). They expressed that the process was rushed, lacked transparency, and would undermine volunteer involvement, increase costs, and reduce local control. Many requested an extension of the Special Use Permits (SUPs) beyond December 31, 2017, and a larger working group. They also demanded written indemnification assurances.
  • Illegal Marijuana Enforcement: William Perno (Central Region Prevention Coalition) presented concerns about city-permitted marijuana businesses promoting drug-impaired driving and public consumption, and called for 24/7 code enforcement and advertising regulations. Kathy Lippetz echoed concerns about enforcement burdens and industry accountability. Phil Rath (United Medical Marijuana Coalition) thanked the committee for enforcement efforts and urged dedicated resources to combat illegal delivery services.

Discussion Items

  • Citizens Advisory Board on Police Community Relations (CAB) Annual Report: Joe Lacava (Vice Chair of CAB) presented the report, highlighting the board's authority, geographic rotation of meetings, milestones (bylaws adopted in August 2017, first work plan), and early actions including recommendations on the police chief recruitment process and adoption of the SDSU Traffic Enforcement Study's 10 recommendations. The board's work plan for 2018 focuses on seven themes: crime prevention, police training, community policing, policies, recruitment/retention, mental health, and race relations. Committee members thanked the board and expressed support for transparent police chief selection and implementation of AB 953 data collection. The report was received as information.
  • Park and Recreation Department Fee Schedule and Recreation Council Revenues: Deputy Chief Operating Officer Graham presented six recommended actions to address legal concerns about city funds being held in private recreation council bank accounts. Proposed changes include directing all fees to the city treasury into special revenue funds, allowing the Park and Recreation Director to set programming fees, assuming contracts with independent contractors, and retaining nonprofit-raised funds. The department will issue interim Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on December 8, 2017, and form a working group of recreation council members to revise Council Policy 742. Committee members debated the proposal. Councilmember Ward moved to forward the item to the full City Council for further deliberation. Councilmember Zaff opposed, citing insufficient time and lack of trust. Councilmember Bree expressed conditional support but wanted the minimum actions and a longer spending deadline. The motion passed on a 2-2 vote (with the chair presumably breaking the tie) and will be considered by the full council.
  • Illegal Marijuana Operation Enforcement Update: Lieutenant Matt Novak (SDPD Narcotics) and Assistant City Attorney John Hemmerling reported on the successful elimination of nearly all illegal storefront dispensaries through criminal prosecutions, and the shift to enforcement against illegal delivery services. They described two recent raids (Left Coast Collective and Pretty Dank) resulting in arrests and seizures of large quantities of marijuana and cash. The city attorney's office is researching a nuisance per se ordinance and enhanced enforcement tools. Committee members discussed platform liability (e.g., Weedmaps), technology to distinguish legal from illegal deliveries, advertising regulations, and the need for dedicated resources. The chair (Cate) committed to addressing advertising regulations in 2018.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Calendar: Approved unanimously.
  • CAB Annual Report: Received as information; committee members encouraged future updates and continued work on police chief selection and AB 953 compliance.
  • Recreation Council Fee Schedule: The item was forwarded to the full City Council on a 2-2 vote. The committee recommended that the council consider the six proposed actions, with the understanding that interim SOPs will be released on December 8, 2017, and a working group will be formed. Indemnification for recreation council volunteers will be confirmed in writing. Councilmember Bree's request for a six-month spending deadline (until June 30, 2018) and retention of the 10.5% recreation council fee was noted.
  • Illegal Marijuana Enforcement: The report was received. The committee will continue to evaluate advertising regulations, platform liability, and enforcement resources. The city attorney's office will provide an update on platform enforcement tools within six months.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon, everybody. We are going to call the December sixth meeting of the public CD and the local neighborhoods committee to order. Let the record reflect we have a quorum consisting of myself, Vice Chair Bree, and committee members Zaf and Ward. We're first going to go to non-agenda public comments. I don't believe there is any non-agenda public comment. Perfect. Moving right along. We have committee member comments. Any members of the committee wish to speak? See none. Any city attorney, IBA, mayor's office comments. Perfect, moving right along. Our adoption agenda today is the record of action items for November sixteenth, twenty seventeen, which will be adopted by unanimous consent unless pulled. See none. Do any members of the committee wish to speak on any of the consent agenda items? Would see motion to motion by council member ward, all second to approve the consent agenda. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. That passes unanimously. Council members, committee members. With me to my left is Joe Lacava. He's vice chair for the board. The chair could not be here today. I'd also like to mention audience member Deb McKet McKissack. She is also here and a member of the board. I'm going to turn it over to Joe to go through his PowerPoint. Thank you, Time. Thank you to the Chair and to the committee for having us. This is, of course, the first annual report of the Citizens Advisory Board on Police Community Relations. We appreciate the opportunity to be here. And as Time mentioned, the Chair Barry Pollard had a prior commitment on the East Coast and sends his regrets, but I did work with Barry in terms of developing this PowerPoint. I thought it would be useful to kind of think about the authority that the advisory board has, since often when I approach people and tell them I'm on this board, they immediately assume that I'm on the Citizens Review Board, the CRB. So we obviously are different. We're an advisory board. The intent is to study, consult, and advise the mayor and the city council. Also have a method of community participation in recommending reviewing policies, practices, and programs, make law enforcement sensitive, effective, and responsive to the needs of the city, actively encourage and foster citizen participation in crime prevention, promote and encourage open communication and cooperation between the department and the residents of the city, and make recommendations to the community so they understand their rights and responsibilities when they come into contact with the police officers. As a reminder, we do have a 15-member board that has been set up to be both uh geographically diverse as well as expertise. There is one member on the board from each of the nine council districts, and we have six members that have been assigned because of special expertise. The Chair Barry Pollard, who is uh has human relations experience, but we also have those who have experience in social services, corrections, a representative from the POA, probation, as well as youth. And we've already seen in our initial meetings how that really has helped make the conversations much more robust and diverse and ensuring that we get to good strong recommendations. In terms of locations, one of our responsibilities is to engage the public in these conversations. And after some initial formational meetings, uh the board decided what would be best was for us for us to rotate the location of our monthly board meetings by alternating between north of Interstate 8 and south of Interstate 8. And you can see so far we've been out the Pacific Beach and then in Canto, up to University City, and then over to City Heights. And you can see how we will alternate in our future meetings in 2018. As we get closer to June, uh the board will reassess where the optimal locations are for our board meetings and whether we will continue to alternate geographically or we will target them based on the subject matter in that month's agenda. As a board that is just getting itself started, I wanted to highlight a few of our milestones. It was exactly one year ago that the city council adopted the ordinance that empowered the board. In March, 12 of the 15 seats were appointed. And in April, we had our first board meeting. And then in July, uh the mayor and the city council filled out the board with the final three appointments.

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