Daily Business Report — Feb. 11, 2013

Council to Consider Veto Override

The San Diego City Council meeting today could be a tense one and the fates of attorney Rafael Castellanos and businessman Marshall Merrifield hang in the balance. The men were recently appointed as commissioners to the Port of San Diego. Castellanos is a Democrat, Merrifield is a Republican. Democratic Council President Todd

Gloria joined with the four Republican council members to appoint the men. But Mayor Bob Filner vetoed the move, saying the council should hold off on the appointments until the currently vacant District 4 council seat is filled. Critics said Filner was unhappy a Republican was appointed, KPBS reports. The council needs six votes to override the mayor’s veto. Councilwoman Sherri Lightner is viewed as the likely swing vote. Lightner ran against Merrifield in the 2008 primary for her District 1 council seat.

Mayor Filner Allows Managed
Competition Process to Move Forward

City News Service — Changes in city departments that have gone through the city of San Diego’s competitive bidding process known as “managed competition” can be implemented, according to a memorandum from Mayor Bob Filner made public Friday. His memo, posted on the website of voiceofsandiego.org, instructs acting Chief Operating Officer Scott Chadwick to go ahead with changes to street sweeping, fleet maintenance, landfill operations and street and sidewalk maintenance that were called for in the winning bids. Managed competition, approved by voters in 2006 and first used in 2010, involves city employees and outside companies bidding against each other for municipal functions in order to reduce spending. City workers have won each time despite opposition to the process from public employee unions.

Filner, who also opposes managed competition, had previously called for the process to be put on hold until its effectiveness could be studied. His comments came after he toured a fleet maintenance facility in November and found a line of cars waiting to be worked on. However, U-T San Diego found that his tour came before that department implemented the changes outlined in the winning bid.

Councilman Kevin Faulconer, a major supporter of managed competition, said the bidding process is “extremely important” to the city and will bring “significant savings” to the budget when implemented.

Critical Report on San Onofre Nuclear Plant Won’t
be on Agenda of Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission holds a public meeting this week to go over a proposal to restart the San Onofre nuclear power plant. But a report suggesting the operator knew about problems with faulty steam generators before they were installed will not be on the agenda, KPBS reports. The NRC said Tuesday night’s meeting will be an update on the status of its review of Edison’s plan to restart San Onofre’s Unit 2 at 70 percent power. A letter from California Sen. Barbara Boxer to NRC Chair Allison Macfarlane has raised questions about whether Edison avoided going though a rigorous hearing before installing the new steam generators, even though the company knew there were potential problems. The NRC said it will not be tackling this issue, raised in a Mitsubishi report, at the meeting.

But Gary Headrick of San Clement Green, a group opposed to restarting the plant, said it’s very relevant. “We will be talking about our core message, which is to get an independent, trial-like hearing so that we can get to the bottom of questions regarding the safety of the restart,“ he said. “

Collins Promoted to VP of Community
Management by Merit Property Management

Merit Property Management announced the promotion of Cindy Collins to vice president of community management, responsible for management of business development in San Diego. Collins has been with Merit for more than five years and has more than 18 years of community management experience. She holds professional designations from the California Association of Community Managers and the Community Association Institute. She was named Community Association Manager of the Year in 2007 by the Community Association Institute.

TMC Financing Names Head of San Diego Operations

TMC Financing has appointed Jeff Bolton, a former vice president of Resource Capital, to head its San Diego operations. Bolton held the positions vice president and regional manager with Resource Capital and CDC Small Business Finance, respectively, between 2003 and 2012, where he was responsible for loan productions for the Orange County and San Diego regions.

Developer Establishes Harcourts
Prime Properties Carmel Valley

Real estate developer Dean Welsh of Vertical Infill has affiliated with Harcourts USA and established Harcourts Prime Properties Carmel Valley. Harcourts Prime Properties Carmel Valley is the fifth Harcourts office to open in San Diego County. The office, which will open with seven agents on March 1, is located at 12671 High Bluff Drive, Suite 35, San Diego. Welsh said the company will specialize in residential real estate property transactions in North County coastal areas and expects to grow the business to 25 to 35 agents within the next year.  In 2005, Welsh and partners established Vertical Infill to assemble urban infill properties for development.

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The Daily Business Report is produced by SD METRO.

Contact: Manny Cruz (619) 287-1865. manny@sandiegometro.com.