Daily Business Report-Aug. 27, 2013
The UC San Diego Library
UC San Diego Ranked as the Top University in the Nation
UC San Diego has been ranked as the top university in the nation for the fourth consecutive year by Washington Monthly. The magazine’s annual “College Rankings” considers how universities are “acting on behalf of the true public interest,” measuring institutions based on three criteria: social mobility, research and civic engagement. The university was ranked high by the publication for social mobility, based on the number of students who receive federal Pell Grants (need-based grants to low-income students) and their graduation rates. At UC San Diego, approximately 65 percent of students receive need-based financial aid and nearly 44 percent of students receive the Pell Grant. One of the university’s initiatives designed to promote social mobility is the Chancellor’s Associates Scholars Program, designed to help make a UC San Diego education a reality for students from three local high schools that work with historically underserved communities: Gompers Preparatory Academy, Lincoln High School and The Preuss School UCSD.
Naval Base San Diego to Change Command
Capt. F. Curtis Jones will relieve Capt. Winton Smith Jr. as commanding officer of Naval Base San Diego in a ceremony Thursday at 10 a.m. in the Naval Base San Diego Theater. Rear Adm. Patrick Lorge, commander, Navy Region Southwest, will serve as guest speaker. During Smith’s tenure, he provided service and support for 57 ships and more than 150 tenant commands. He was directly responsible for the base receiving more than 40 awards, to include the 2011 GreenGov Presidential Award. Jones, who served in Washington D.C. as the executive assistant to Vice Adm. William French, commander, Naval Installations Command, has been in the Navy since June 1989. Smith will go to Washington, D.C., to serve as the executive assistant to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Readiness and Logistics.
Poll Shows DeMaio, Fletcher With Most Public Support Among Potential Mayoral Candidates
Former City Councilman Carl DeMaio and former state Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher have the most public support among prospective San Diego mayoral candidates, according to a poll released Monday. City News Service reports that DeMaio received 18 percent support from the 513 likely voters called over the weekend, according to SurveyUSA. The poll, conducted on behalf of U-T San Diego and 10News, found 16 percent supported Fletcher, who has filed initial paperwork with the City Clerk’s Office to run for mayor. DeMaio was weighing whether to break off a planned congressional run against Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, next year in order to seek the mayoral job.
The City Council will consider a proposal Wednesday to hold the special election on Nov. 19
DeMaio narrowly lost to Mayor Bob Filner, whose resignation becomes effective at 5 p.m. Friday, in last November’s runoff election. Fletcher, now an executive at Qualcomm, gained nearly a quarter of the votes in the June primary election but failed to make the runoff.
Former Councilwoman Donna Frye, among a group of three former Filner allies who were the first to call on him to resign over sexual harassment allegations, received 14 percent in the poll, but she does not plan to run.
Marti Emerald, one of the last two City Council members to call on Filner to resign, received 10 percent; council President Todd Gloria, who will be interim mayor until after the special election, got 9 percent; Kevin Faulconer, the senior member of the City Council, received 6 percent; and Jan Goldsmith, who is also not planning to run, also gained 6 percent.
Christine Kehoe Won’t Run for Mayor
Former Democratic State Sen. Christine Kehoe said she is not going to run for mayor. Kehoe’s name has come as a possible candidate to run for the seat that will become vacant at the end of this week, when Bob Filner’s resignation becomes official. Kehoe was a San Diego City Council member in the 1990s and served two years in the California Assembly, eight years in the Senate. Kehoe said she is enjoying her current job as executive director of the California Plug-In vehicle Collaborative, which promotes the availability of all-electric cars.
Panel to Discuss ‘Social Media for Realtors’
The Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors will host “Social Media for Realtors,” a panel discussion on how Realtors can benefit from social media, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. on two consecutive Fridays, Sept. 6 and 13. The discussion on Friday, Sept. 6, will be held at the PSAR East County Service Center, 1150 Broadway, El Cajon, while the discussion on Friday, Sept. 13 will be held at the PSAR South County Service Center, 880 Canarios Court, Chula Vista. Panel members at both venues will include PSAR members Richard D’Ascoli, Gerry Carrillo, Miguel Contreras, Brady Lake and Mike White. Speakers will discuss different ways social media marketing can help Realtors increase the visibility of their real estate practice for very little cost. Cost to attend is $10 per person. For more information and online registration, visit www.psar.org.
Atkins Bill Expanding Abortion Providers Advances
Legislation carried by Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins that would allow nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants and certified nurse midwives among the health care professionals authorized to perform early aspiration abortions after receiving training in the procedure has passed the state Senate. AB 154 now returns briefly to the Assembly for concurrence in amendments made in the Senate before moving to the governor’s desk in the next several weeks.
Dempsey Construction + Legacy Building Services Moves HQ
Dempsey Construction + Legacy Building Services has moved its headquarters to new 3,000-square-foot offices at 5937 Darwin Court, Suite 103, in Carlsbad. Dempsey Construction acquired Legacy Building Services in April. The company has a number of projects underway throughout San Diego County, including:
• 7835 Ivanhoe Street — a 4,236-square-foot design-build project located in downtown La Jolla. The property was recently purchased by HAV Financial Services and is being renovated for its corporate headquarters. The project is slated for completion in August.
• 4075 Sorrento Valley Road — The design-build project features interior modifications and exterior renovations to a 40,000-square-foot building. In collaboration with LPA Architects, the building entrance was redesigned.
• Centerside I — Exterior modifications to a Class A office building in Mission Valley, including a redesigned parking lot, new landscaping, and a pedestrian bridge which will connect the two Class A office towers.
• Renovation of the Serra Hall/Missions B Student Housing complexes at the University of San Dieg
New Managing Partner Named for Hecht Solberg Law Firm
Michael “Mickey” Maher has been named managing partner at Hecht Solberg Robinson Goldberg & Bagley in San Diego. Maher succeeds Darryl Solberg, who has served in that capacity since 1997. Solberg remains a partner in the firm. Maher is a real estate and business lawyer who concentrates on representing developers, builders and investors in purchase and sale transactions, leases, financing arrangements and business entities. He joined Hecht Solberg in 1988, and was named a partner in 1996. He graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Baldwin-Wallace College, and earned his Juris Doctor degree cum laude from Syracuse University College of Law.
Associates Named at The Saywitz Co.
Indy Smith and Patrick Fay have joined The Saywitz Co. as associates. Smith has more than five years of experience in sales and marketing, and comes to Saywitz with previous experience at Penn Global Marketing. Smith has a degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina. Fay comes to Saywitz with more than five years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. Fay has a degree in marketing from Scranton University. He previously worked for Beacon Real Estate and Maguire Partners.
News Director Selected for XETV-TV/San Diego 6
Don Shafer has been named news director at XETV-TV/San Diego 6. Shafer previously worked in Peoria, Ill., where he served as news director and multi-media content manager at WEEK/WHOI/WAOE-TV. He is a broadcast veteran with experience managing news operations at network affiliates and independent stations across the country, including KNSD-TV in San Diego and KWGN-TV in Denver. Shafer holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Southern Colorado and a masters degree in journalism from the University of Florida. Shafer succeeds Jon Fisher, who left the station in June.
