Daily Business Report — Aug. 13, 2012

Carl DeMaio and Bob Filner Debate Issues on Tuesday

Councilman Carl DeMaio and Congressman Bob Filner will face off in a mayoral debate on Aug. 14 hosted by the San Diego Building Owners & Managers Association. It will be held at 7:30 a.m. at the Marriott Gaslamp Quarter, 660 K St. in Downtown San Diego.  Filner and DeMaio will discuss their visions for San Diego’s future and answer questions from industry leaders on issues facing the business community and commercial real estate industry.

Water-Gun Fight Causes $10,000 in
Damages to Balboa Park Lily Ponds

San Diego police are investigating a largewater-gun fight that left landmark lily ponds at Balboa Park trashed, bashed and partly drained, causing an estimated $10,000 in damage. An estimated 1,500 people were involved in the fight that was promoted on social media sites. According to news reports, organizers specifically urged participants to avoid the century-old lily ponds but authorities say some trampled new landscaping, killed koi fish, destroyed ornate floating Victorian lilies, broke a drain pipe and collapsed some planters. U-T San Diego said organizers of the event are asking people to donate money to cover the damages.

Proposition 39 Explained in Aug. 24 Program

CleanTECH San Diego and  San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. will host a free  informational breakfast on Proposition 39 on Aug. 24 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, 525 B St., San Diego. Proposition 39 will allocate $550 million annually for five years from the initiative’s anticipated revenue increase to fund projects that “create energy efficiency and California clean energy jobs.” The proposition also will require multistate businesses to calculate their California income tax liability based on the percentage of sales in California and will repeal an existing law that gives multistate businesses an option to choose a tax liability formula that provides favorable tax treatment for businesses with property and payroll outside California The event will also include a presentation from Tom Steyer, founder and co-senior managing partner of Farallon Capital Management LLC and co-founder of the OneCalifornia Bank. Steyer is the primary financial backer and proponent of Proposition 39, Income Tax Increase for Multistate Businesses.

Council Approves Charges to Property
Owners in City Assessment Districts

The San Diego City Council has approved annual charges to property owners in 56 assessment districts throughout the city. The districts pay for improvements to lighting, landscaping, maintenance of open space and other services. The city is required to levy assessments annually. The districts provide “phenomenal and important work” that might not otherwise get done, Councilman Todd Gloria said. The council has taken a month off because of construction at City Hall. The next regularly scheduled meeting is Sept. 10.
 — City News Service

Careers Training Fair to be Held Aug. 25 in Downtown

San Diego City Councilmember Sherri Lightner, in conjunction with the San Diego Workforce Partnership and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., is hosting the Connecting to Careers Training Fair on Aug. 25 from 8 a.m. to noon at Golden Hall in the San Diego Concourse. The free event is designed to connect job seekers, including students and returning vets, with information about San Diego’s hottest jobs and how to land them. For more information, contact  Lightner’s office: (619) 236-6611.

J. Scofield Hage to Retire as President
and CEO of the San Diego Food Bank

J. Scofield “Scody” Hage, president and CEO of the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, will retire from the organization on Nov. 1. Hage, 65, joined the Food Bank as CEO in 2008 after a 38-year career in commercial banking. A third-generation San Diegan, Hage served on numerous nonprofit boards throughout his career, notably as council president for the Boy Scouts of America Desert Pacific Council and chairman of the board of management for the Armed Services YMCA. Under Hage’s four-and-a-half year tenure, the Food Bank nearly doubled the amount of food it distributed to San Diego County from 11.3 million pounds in the 2008-2009 fiscal year to a high of 20.1 million pounds at the end of the 2010-2011 fiscal year. During that time, the number of people served monthly by the Food Bank increased by 75 percent, from 200,000 in 2008 to 350,000  in 2011. Hage spent the first 10 years of his career with Security Pacific National Bank in both retail and commercial lending.