San Diego Rules Committee Meeting on April 11, 2018: Bond Measure, School Board Elections, Term Limits, Police Oversight, and Campaign Law Amendments
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
San Diego Rules Committee Meeting on April 11, 2018
The Rules Committee of the San Diego City Council met on April 11, 2018, at 9:15 AM to discuss several agenda items, including a proposed homelessness and affordable housing bond measure, an update on the San Diego Unified School District's response to a grand jury report, two ballot measure proposals (term limits for council members and an independent police oversight commission), and amendments to campaign advertising disclosure laws. The meeting featured extensive public testimony, committee deliberations, and unanimous votes on two items.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Housing Bond Measure (Item 1A): Over 30 speakers addressed the committee, overwhelmingly expressing support for the proposed bond measure to fund affordable housing and homelessness solutions. Key speakers included:
- Matthew Jumper (President, San Diego Housing Federation) thanked the committee for placing the measure on the agenda and highlighted the severe housing crisis.
- Stephen Rust expressed disappointment that the draft ordinance was withdrawn but appreciated the opportunity for public discussion in May.
- Michael McConnell criticized the lack of urgency, citing polling that only 4% of residents trust the city council.
- Multiple speakers from housing organizations (e.g., Wakeland Housing, National Community Renaissance, Bridge Housing, Affirmed Housing, Trestle Development) stressed the need for local matching funds to leverage state and federal resources.
- Community members shared personal stories of housing insecurity, including a mother who commutes from Tijuana, a senior advocate, and a foster care alumnus.
- One speaker, Daniel Simovsky, expressed support for the bond but opposed any increase in property taxes, warning it could violate Proposition 13.
- School Board Elections (Item 3): Two speakers, Sally Smith and Daniel Simovsky, advocated for term limits and district-only elections for the San Diego Unified School Board, citing the grand jury report. A third speaker, Brett Kozlovka, argued that the issue should be on the November 2018 ballot and criticized the school board's committee for adding extraneous questions.
Discussion Items
1. San Diego Unified School District Update on Grand Jury Report
- Dr. Sharon Whitehurst-Payne (Vice President, SDUSD School Board) and Andrew Sharp (Chief Public Information Officer) provided an update on the district's committee examining school board elections. The committee has scheduled five town hall meetings across the district (starting April 11 at Mira Mesa High School, ending April 28 at Lincoln High School) to gather public input on potential changes to election processes, including term limits, district-only elections, and other governance questions.
- Committee members Councilmember Kate and Councilmember Bry expressed mixed views: Kate questioned the process and the poll's limited scope, while Bry emphasized the need for more information before action. No vote was taken; it was an informational item.
2. Ballot Measure Proposal: Term Limits for Council Members (Subitem A)
- Councilmember Ward and Council President Pro Tem Bry proposed a charter amendment to clarify that no council member may serve more than two consecutive four-year terms, addressing ambiguity caused by redistricting. The motion passed unanimously, referring the proposal to the city attorney to draft ballot language for a future rules committee meeting.
3. Ballot Measure Proposal: Independent Commission on Police Practices (Subitem B)
- Women Occupy San Diego, represented by Katie Ottery and Andrea St. Julian (Vice President, Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association), presented a proposal to replace the current Community Review Board (CRB) with an independent commission with investigatory powers, independent legal counsel, and the ability to hire expert investigators. They emphasized community distrust of the current CRB, noting that the county's CLERB (investigatory model) has existed since 1990.
- Public testimony included:
- Tasha Williamson described a negative experience with SDPD and expressed frustration with the complaint process.
- Reverend Jared Moton (National Action Network) supported the measure, citing distrust in the black and brown communities.
- Tara Gentry (CRB outreach chair) opposed the measure, arguing the current board is effective and an independent commission would be costly.
- Doug Case (CRB Chair) supported two components: independent counsel and independent investigations for officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths.
- Committee members expressed a desire to hear from Police Chief David Nisleit and the Police Officers Association (POA) before deciding. The item was continued to a future rules committee meeting (likely June) to allow for those discussions.
4. Campaign Law Amendments (Item 2)
- Stacy Fulhorst (Executive Director, Ethics Commission) presented proposed updates to advertising disclosure rules to align with state law changes. Key changes: (1) incorporate state law by reference, (2) require city candidates to continue using paid-for disclosures (with slightly smaller font), (3) replace the current top-two major donor disclosure on ads with a website-based list of donors who contribute $10,000 or more, updated via email to the Ethics Commission. The committee unanimously approved the item and referred it to the full city council.
Key Outcomes
- Term Limits Charter Amendment: Unanimous vote (5-0) to refer the proposal to the city attorney for draft ballot language, to be discussed at a future rules committee meeting.
- Police Oversight Commission: Continued to a future meeting (likely June) to allow input from the Police Chief and POA. No vote on the substance.
- Campaign Law Amendments: Unanimous vote (5-0) to approve the proposed ordinance and forward it to the full city council for adoption.
- Housing Bond Measure: The item was placed on the May 16, 2018 rules committee agenda for further discussion. No vote was taken at this meeting.
- School Board Elections: Informational only; no action taken. The district's committee will conclude its town halls by end of May and report back.
Meeting Transcript
Followed by Stephen Russell, followed by Michael McConnell. One minute. Thank you. I'm Matthew Jumper. I'm the president of the board of the San Diego Housing Federation. Madam Chair and Committee members, I want to thank you for placing our measure on your next agenda. As you well know, we have a huge housing crisis here in San Diego. And the Housing Federation is really trying to put some traction into that issue and make sure that there's housing for all income levels here in San Diego. So again, thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Stephen Rust. Yes, uh, Council President Cole. Uh your nameplate needs to be changed, by the way. What is this? I'm just always looking out for you, Ms. Myrtle. I got your front. Thank you. Can I reset the clock? Thank you. Council President Cole and members of the committee. We appreciate very much the vote two months ago here in this room to direct the city attorney to draft an ordinance placing a homelessness and affordable housing bond measure on the November ballot. We know that these resources are critical. We were very much looking forward to the opportunity to discuss that draft ordinance today. And while we're disappointed that it was withdrawn, we really appreciate your placing us on the May docket. It will allow us the time we need to have the public discussion. Clearly, there are a lot of questions to be answered in drafting such a measure, and we uh look forward to participating in that discussion. It's extremely difficult to pass a measure requiring a two-thirds vote. And to pass the measure needs to reflect community values and priorities. We hope that the public discussion here will help that measure be shaped to better fit the priorities of the public. And we thank you for the opportunity to come back on May 17th and have that discussion. And I know there's a lot of folks here who are on this issue. Some of them may want their names announced, some may or may not want to speak, but I appreciate the opportunity for those who want to speak just to make have their words. Matthew McConnell file by Lorraine London. Hi, I'm Michael McConnell. Thank you for allowing me to speak today. The actions that we're seeing here lately don't show that sense of urgency. In my latest polling, there's a reason why only 4% of people said they trust the city council a great deal. In fact, only hotel owners were lowered than the city council. And I have nothing against hotel owners. But that just shows you that there's not a great deal of trust in this body. And some of these actions that we're seeing around homelessness are probably a big reason why. I think we need to take these things to heart. We need to move real solutions forward. There's lots of band-aids being moved forward now, but we know that if there's not money to build brick and mortar housing and rental subsidies and supportive services, we're going to be talking about this forever. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next we have uh Laverne, followed by Ken Seder, followed by Bob Link. You have one minute, ma'am.
openpublica.com