San Diego Rules Committee Meeting – September 6, 2023

The San Diego City Council's Rules Committee met on September 6, 2023. The committee approved the consent calendar, heard public testimony on a variety of issues, and directed staff to draft a ballot measure revising the redistricting commission appointment process. All committee votes were 4-0, with Council President Sean Elo-Rivera absent.

Consent Calendar

• The committee unanimously approved the actions of July 26, 2023 (4-0, with Council President Elo-Rivera absent). One public commenter criticized the committee for 'arbitrarily' rejecting items and called for more public input.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Non-agenda public comment: Speakers offered positions on several topics. Blair Beekman urged a longer, more transparent review of the Smart Streetlight contract, recommending six to eight weeks of community deliberation before a council vote. Dan Schmikowski expressed support for ranked-choice voting and argued that elections are controlled by political consultants. Becky Rapp opposed the expansion of marijuana businesses in San Diego, citing state bans on flavored inhalable cannabis products and requesting a future agenda item on enforcement. Diane Grace raised concerns about health inequities in substance-use treatment and urged caution on marijuana expansion. A caller expressed distrust of electronic voting machines and called for hand-counted paper ballots, claiming past elections were fraudulent.

• Public testimony on the redistricting item: Tom Hebrank, chair of the 2020 redistricting commission, and two fellow commissioners presented their experience. Hebrank stressed that the commission followed required criteria and achieved diverse districts, including a new AAPI-majority district and two districts with non-white populations just under 50%. Another commissioner emphasized that only 103 people applied for the 2020 commission and argued that robust outreach — not just changing the appointment process — is needed to build a diverse applicant pool. Hebrank also cautioned against using the ethics commission as an appointing authority, calling it a 'bad idea.' Other public commenters expressed skepticism that any selection process can produce perfect representation, with one urging inclusion of psychology experts and another calling the process 'hocus pocus.'

Discussion Items

• Further consideration of a ballot measure on redistricting (Item 1): Proponents Ashika Shreeni Bus and Liana Cortez presented a revised proposal. They dropped the earlier idea of the ethics commission as appointing authority and instead offered a three-member panel: a retired judge, a current JD/public policy student, and a representative from a 501(c)(3) good-government organization. They also proposed a lottery/randomization component modeled on Oakland's system, under which the appointing panel screens qualified applicants and the city clerk randomly draws initial commissioners. The City Clerk's office provided a benchmarking report on eight California cities, noting that San Diego is currently unique in using a panel of three retired judges. The City Attorney's office noted legal concerns with the ethics commission options and requested policy direction.

• Committee deliberation: Councilmember Moreno initially moved to make the city clerk the sole appointing authority, but the motion lacked a second. Councilmember Lee offered a substitute motion directing the city clerk and city attorney to draft a ballot measure for the November 2024 ballot modeled on Oakland's approach: a three-member appointing authority (retired judge, law/public policy student, nonprofit executive) that selects a pool of qualified candidates, with subsequent selection of commissioners. Lee also asked for provisions requiring appointing authority members to be San Diego residents and politically independent, and for a restriction on having served in elected office (with judicial office excepted). Councilmember LaCava seconded the motion, stressing the importance of placing the charter amendment on the November ballot for broader voter participation. Councilmember Moreno said she reluctantly supported the motion to keep the discussion moving.

Key Outcomes

• The committee passed Lee's motion 4-0 (with Council President Elo-Rivera absent), directing the city clerk and city attorney to draft a ballot measure for the November 2024 election that would revise the redistricting commission appointment process using an Oakland-like model. The committee also set its next meeting for October 4, 2023, at 9 a.m., and adjourned.