San Diego Rules Committee Meeting – February 8, 2018: Audit Committee Amendment, Housing Bond Proposal, and 2018 Priorities
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San Diego Rules Committee Meeting – February 8, 2018
Note: The transcript references February 7, 2018, but the meeting date has been provided as February 8, 2018.
The San Diego City Council Rules Committee met to discuss a charter amendment regarding audit committee appointments, a $900 million housing bond proposal, and committee priorities for 2018. The committee approved previous minutes, heard public testimony, and advanced the housing bond to the drafting stage.
Consent Calendar
- The committee record of actions from January 10, 2018 was approved unanimously.
- Committee members Bree, Kate Ward, and Vice Chair Kersey were present; Council President Cole chaired.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Non‑agenda public comment:
- Martha Welch urged the city to restore pension benefits for firefighters, arguing that without pensions the city would struggle to recruit firefighters.
- A second speaker (name not stated) supported Councilmember Alvarez’s proposal to redirect Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenue to homelessness, but also stressed the need for funding Balboa Park’s deferred maintenance. The speaker cited statistics: Balboa Park generates a $350 million economic impact, $63.8 million in hotel occupancy taxes, and $6.7 million in TOT for the city, yet receives no city contribution.
- Item 1 – Audit committee appointment amendment:
- Andrea Guerrero (Alliance San Diego) spoke not in opposition to the amendment itself but urged placement on the November ballot to align with voters’ preference for general elections, citing Measure L’s broad support and minimal voter fatigue (only 3% drop‑off between ballot measures).
- Robert McNamara registered support for the proposal.
- Item 2 – Housing bond proposal:
- 18 speakers testified in favor, including representatives from Circulate San Diego, Hillcrest Town Council, Community HousingWorks, BIA, Serving Seniors, and others. Key points:
- Maya Rothas (Circulate San Diego) highlighted that 80,000 households wait 8–10 years for Section 8 vouchers and that 150,000–220,000 new homes are needed over the next decade.
- Kath Rogers stressed that the homelessness crisis requires long‑term affordable housing solutions, noting 20 deaths from hepatitis A.
- Sue Reynolds (Community HousingWorks) warned that without a local match, San Diego would lose state bond funds (SB3) to other regions.
- Tom Thyssen (former board president, Regional Task Force on the Homeless) stated that lack of affordable housing is the core obstacle to solving homelessness.
- Several speakers cited the 5,000 homeless individuals nightly, 58% unsheltered, and rising median age of homeless persons (nearly 50).
- 18 speakers testified in favor, including representatives from Circulate San Diego, Hillcrest Town Council, Community HousingWorks, BIA, Serving Seniors, and others. Key points:
Discussion Items
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Item 1 – Charter amendment to Section 39.1 (audit committee public members):
- Lisa Byrne (Office of the Independent Budget Analyst) presented the proposal, which would allow waiver of the two‑candidate pool requirement when an incumbent is reappointed and approved by council. The item had been heard in January 2018 and was unchanged.
- Committee members debated whether to place the measure on the June 2018 or November 2018 ballot. Council President Cole and Councilmember Ward preferred November due to lower cost and lack of urgency (next vacancy not until 2019). Councilmember Kate expressed frustration, arguing the council should have a clear policy on June vs. November ballot placement. Vice Chair Kersey disputed the applicability of Measure L to charter amendments and stated the council has full authority to choose either election.
- No motion was made; the chair indicated the item would be redocketed for the November election once that election is called.
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Item 2 – San Diego Housing Federation proposed $900 million housing bond:
- Stephen Russell (Executive Director, San Diego Housing Federation) presented the proposal: a general obligation bond for affordable housing and homelessness, raising $900 million via property taxes estimated at $19 per $100,000 of assessed value. Funds would be administered by the San Diego Housing Commission, subject to an independent oversight committee and annual audits. The measure would target three equal categories: permanent supportive housing, housing for fixed‑income seniors/veterans/disabled persons, and low‑wage working families with children. Estimated production: 5,000–10,000 units (median 7,500). Polling showed 73% voter approval (71% when cost was stated), well above the two‑thirds threshold.
- Councilmember Bree made a motion to direct the city attorney, working with the IBA and mayor’s office, to draft a measure and bring it back to the committee. Councilmember Ward seconded.
- Councilmember Kate raised detailed fiscal questions (administration cost cap, bond issuance schedule, tax rate precision, leveraging requirements, land acquisition, and construction worker provisions) and cautioned against relying solely on polls, citing a prior failed sales‑tax measure. She stressed the need for thorough due diligence before placing another tax increase on the ballot.
- Vice Chair Kersey opposed the motion, questioning the lack of a detailed spending plan and the burden on city taxpayers while the county has not contributed. The motion passed with Vice Chair Kersey voting no; other committee members voted aye.
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Item 3 – Rules Committee priorities for 2018 (informational):
- Council President Cole outlined top priorities: reviewing ballot measures for permanent supportive housing (including a homelessness council meeting scheduled for April 24, 2018), updating municipal code to align with 2016 charter amendments (e.g., Proposition G renaming the Citizens Review Board), and improving the process for mayoral/council appointments to boards and commissions (45‑day rule).
- Councilmember Bree added priorities for addressing San Diego Unified School Board election issues and advancing a charter amendment on mandatory disclosure of business interests (Charter Section 225).
- Councilmember Ward emphasized improving customer service, open government, the “Get It Done” app/311 system, and integrating constituent outreach technology with city departments.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1: No vote; the committee will redocket the audit committee charter amendment for the November 2018 ballot.
- Item 2: Motion passed (3–1, with Vice Chair Kersey opposed) to direct the city attorney, in consultation with the IBA and mayor’s office, to draft a $900 million housing bond measure. The draft will return to the rules committee for further discussion and policy direction before potential referral to full council.
- Item 3: No action taken; committee priorities for 2018 were noted and will guide future docketing.
- The next rules committee meeting was scheduled for March 7, 2018.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. I will now call the rules committee meeting of February the seventh, twenty eighteen to order. Let the record reflect that committee members Bree, Kate Ward, and Vice Chair Kersey are present. Councilmember Ward, the error uh regarding the actions of item one, sub item E reflecting your nay vote has been corrected. With that, the committee record of actions from January the 10th, 2018 will be approved by unanimous consent, and let's pull for discussion. Is it on there? Your yay vote is noted. Yes. So we do have uh two public speakers on non-agenda public comment. The first one is Martha Welch. You will have two minutes. Good afternoon, Martha Welch. Proper took the fire of uh fires off the pension plan. It started after um two thousand seventh uh in July. Now what fire um um uh on fire fires wouldn't work for the city because without a pension, I don't think they would come here because um no pension, that's not right. So I'm asking you right now. Probably start uh December of to um to uh December two thousand seventeen ending. So up to you guys to fix this somehow. Because the mayor or you the council has to correct this because if it fires uh people on the pensions, and if you don't have the correct that, you will never get fires um um fire um fires uh because um because no pension. And it's up to you to fix that or the mail. Thank you. Thank you. And I'm hoping to get this close. David Alvarez's idea of transferring the you know, portion of the TOT uh to help the homeless. That's a good idea. But uh I also feel very strongly there is another entity that needs to uh equally which is the Balboa Park. Uh I have participated to a few events that Chris Ward uh uh put together in Balboa Park and uh the community uh identified free uh deferred maintenance that's gonna need funding. I mean uh uh identifying problems is something, but uh paying for it is a different thing. It doesn't only need to pay for it now to bring it up to where it needs to be. Uh there is a financial that's gonna keep it ongoing and I will uh give you some numbers. I uh had a very interesting article published at UT San Diego on September 12 uh 2017, and I will forward it to you. And I will uh mention some of the things that they say uh Balboa Park contributes. It has a $350 million impact to the economy, brings $350 million, not from local uh people but from uh outside uh residents. Uh and they put two million uh visitors to be out of the county. Uh they contribute to the economy. Not only that the hotel occupancies 63.8 million a year. Uh food consumption 60 million, entertainment 26.4 million, transit 24 million. And the most important part of this conversation is the TOT tax to city colleagues is uh 6.7 million dollars, and it's not getting any uh contribution from the city. So I hope you consider it and if uh you could refer me where I could go next to Kai Chat was David's uh effort, that would be great. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. Are there any comments from the mayor's committee members, city attorney, IBA? None scene. Deputy City Attorney Spivak, can you please address Councilmember Kate's requests he made at the January rules regarding uh reviewing and discussing the charter amendments considered by the Charter Charter Review Committee that were not placed on the ballot in 2016? Okay. Um just to clarify, I know that was a comment that was made at the last rules committee meeting. And our suggestion is that you dock it for a rules committee meeting, the entire report of the Charter Review Committee that was issued at the end of that process. In that report are all of the measures that were discussed and addressed that did not go on a ballot. And at that point, then the committee could have a discussion as a whole as to which of those, if any, it would like to then individually place on upcoming agendas. But um there needs to be one group discussion, because it's about 24 or 25 items that are in there that were not forwarded.
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