San Diego City Council Committee Meeting - October 23, 2019
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
San Diego City Council Committee Meeting
On October 23, 2019, the Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee convened with all council members present. The meeting covered eight agenda items, including a ballot measure for an independent police commission, revisions to massage industry regulations, and updates on homelessness outreach and police communications.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes from the previous meeting unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- William Perno (Central Region Prevention Coalition) urged the committee to delay votes on the 12th update to the Land Development Code Phase 2, citing lack of transparency and input from community planning groups. He noted that the Community Planners Committee had voted to postpone their recommendation and requested the city council do the same.
- Sandy Alera described a hazardous encounter with a needle at NTC Park and reported ongoing safety issues at playgrounds, calling for designated children's play areas.
- Kathleen Lippett criticized the process for marijuana permitting approvals as skewed, lacking transparency, and raising appeal fees from $100 to $1,000, making appeals unaffordable.
- Martha Welch expressed frustration with the city’s handling of police and fire services, alleging understaffing and lack of responsiveness.
- Kelly McCormick raised concerns about the Code Monitoring Team, stating it operates secretly, violates the Brown Act, and has members with conflicts of interest. She supported reducing marijuana billboards near sensitive areas.
Discussion Items
-
Item 1: Ballot Measure for Independent Commission on Police Practices
- The city attorney presented a draft charter amendment. The IBA recommended excluding informal complaints from investigative and review capacities.
- Public speakers overwhelmingly supported the measure, emphasizing the need for independent oversight, community trust, and representation for youth and impacted communities.
- Committee motion passed unanimously with amendments to exclude complaints where the complainant requests no action or where no specific officer is identified, and to strike a sentence on reviews.
-
Item 2: Revisions to Massage Industry Municipal Code and Fees
- Lt. Andrew Brown presented data on human trafficking in massage businesses, including 57% prostitution arrest rate in covert operations and 76% overall violation rate in 2019.
- Proposed changes include requiring all massage establishments to obtain a permit, a two-year prohibition on permits at locations where previous permits were revoked, and posting human trafficking notices.
- Opposition from sole practitioners who felt unfairly targeted; support from anti-trafficking advocates called for trauma-informed enforcement.
- Motion passed unanimously.
-
Item 3: Repayment of HUD Loan for Valencia Business Park
- The city would repay $2.515 million to HUD, which would then return the funds as CDBG program income for eligible projects.
- Motion passed unanimously.
-
Item 4: Agreement with Airbus Helicopters
- Approval to enter a five-year agreement and purchase one H125 helicopter with an option for three additional, contingent on council approval.
- Motion passed unanimously.
-
Item 5: Reimplementation of Resource Access Program (RAP) – Information Item
- The program resumed with paramedics and county clinicians targeting high 911 utilizers. Preliminary data showed a 41% decrease in 911 calls among 16 high-acuity clients, with 7 housed.
- No action taken.
-
Item 6: Barrio Logan Commercial Vehicle Enforcement – Information Item
- Captain Holden reported 49 citations in 2019 (up from 20 in 2017) for violating the truck route. Residents and the Environmental Health Coalition presented video evidence of persistent violations, health impacts, and safety hazards.
- Committee requested monthly enforcement updates at community planning meetings.
- No action taken.
-
Item 7: Neighborhood Policing Division Update – Information Item
- Captain Wall described outreach efforts including expanded hours, added social workers, and weekly coordinated outreach events. The division handled over 10,000 Get It Done complaints.
- Advocates criticized lack of data and insufficient scale, while the committee acknowledged progress but stressed need for measurable outcomes.
- No motion.
-
Item 8: Police Communications Division Update – Information Item
- Captain Griffin reported historic low vacancies, 92% of 911 calls answered in 10 seconds or less (average 4 seconds), and 77% of non-emergency calls answered in under 2 minutes (average 1 minute 46 seconds), a 62% improvement over FY2018.
- No action taken.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes from previous meeting.
- Voted unanimously to forward the ballot measure for an independent police commission to full City Council for meet-and-confer, with specific amendments.
- Voted unanimously to adopt revisions to the massage industry code and fees, moving it to full council.
- Voted unanimously to authorize repayment of the HUD loan and the helicopter purchase agreement.
- Information items were received and discussed; no formal actions were taken.
- The next meeting is scheduled for December 2, 2019, at 6 p.m. as a community meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everyone. Thanks for being here. I'd like to call this meeting to order with uh all council members here, Vice Chair Bree, Councilmember Kate, Councilmember Moreno. We have the mayor's office, city attorney's office, and the IBA's office here as well. Um at this time I'd like to entertain a motion to approve meetings uh minutes from the last meeting. I have a motion uh by councilmember Marino and a second by my chair Bree. Uh, all in favor. Any opposed? Okay, that passes unanimously. Thank you. Now we're gonna move to non agenda public comment. You will have uh two minutes to speak on an item that is not on the agenda today, which you'll have to find find an item because we have eight items, so we have a full agenda today. Um we will begin with uh William Perno. Uh you have two minutes, and um William Perno will be followed by Sandy Alera, who will be followed by Kathleen Lippett. If when I call your name, if you could come up to the front. Um ahead, sir. Thanks. Good morning. My name is William Perno. I'm with the Central Region Prevention Coalition. I believe something historic and to be remembered took place last night at the community planners committee meeting. Approximately 28 community planner committee members from community planning groups across the city of San Diego voted unanimously to postpone their vote and recommendation on the 12th update to the land development code phase two. This is last night, October 22nd. They further recommended that the planning commission and the city council postpone their votes until after the CPC members hear this item at their January meeting. This will give them time to take the discussion back to their community planning groups and get meaningful input from their communities. There's been a lack of transparency and a tremendous lack of meaningful input from community planning groups and community members throughout the city regarding the 12th plan update phase two. One CPC member said they thought they were forming a subcommittee last night to look at this in more depth. He was caught off guard, getting this only a couple of days ago and reviewing this at the CPP CPC meeting with a request for a recommendation and a vote from the city planning department. Some thought that this subcommittee would be formed. Another committee member said they were caught off guard too. They referenced the time that they were given for the phase one update. And this person noted my community planning group was not given time to weigh in on this. When asked why things were moving so quickly, Laura Black, Deputy Director of the Planning Department, responded that they were given directions to move this forward, moving the item as fast as we can. Another CPC member had to ask who did this direction come from. The response from Lord Black is this came from the mayor's office. Major code updates are being made in the 12th PAN update, especially as it relates to marijuana businesses. Please make sure this process is transparent and has the full involvement and input from residents and community planning groups from across the city. Please honor the CPC's recommendation to delay your vote when this comes to City Council. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Sandy Alera, you'll be followed by Kathleen Lippitt. And again, if you could come to the front uh as I call names, I appreciate it. Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for your time. My name is Sandy Algra, and you last heard from me at your June meeting. To remind you, I live in Pacific Beach, the area where I grew up, and the district for which my father, Tom Gade, served as city council member. I volunteer as the director of Free Forest School of San Diego, which offers free unstructured nature play to over 2,000 families throughout the county. My favorite job is raising my children, ages three and five. Less than a year ago. Excuse me, less than a year ago, my youngest was scratched by a bent bloody needle at NTC Park in an area I had been reporting for encampments and drug paraphernalia.
openpublica.com