Daily Business Report/Dec. 21, 2016
San Diego City Hall. (Photo credit: Alexander Nguyen)
Residents from Affluent Areas to
Oversee San Diego Police Department
Times of San Diego
The City Council committee that oversees the San Diego Police Department will be filled with representatives of affluent neighborhoods, raising the ire of some Southeast San Diego residents Monday.
The assignments that were approved unanimously by the council at a special meeting were part of a larger slate that set rosters for the panel’s committees, named city representatives to outside agencies and made Mark Kersey the council president pro tem.
The selections to the Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee followed more than a year of efforts to reduce tensions between police and some members of the public, who criticized the appointments for not including representatives of disadvantaged areas.
The committee has been the forum for airing out issues like racial profiling in traffic stops, diversity in the SDPD rank-and-file, and video cameras that officers wear on their uniforms.
The only committee appointee who represents a district south of Interstate 8 — a traditional San Diego dividing line between haves and have- nots — is Chris Ward, who represents well-off Downtown, Hillcrest and North Park.
Incoming committee Chairman Chris Cate’s district is Mira Mesa. Other committee members will be Barbara Bry, La Jolla; and Lorie Zapf, the beach areas and Point Loma.
The public speakers implored the appointees to visit Southeast San Diego and stay in touch with community leaders.
“I appreciate the invite to come out to the community and that’s exactly what I intend to do,” said Cate, who noted that Mira Mesa also has diverse neighborhoods. He conceded that his chairmanship will bring a “learning curve” and invited community leaders to contact his office.
Council President Myrtle Cole, who represents Southeast San Diego, said she would have a staff member attend each Public Safety meeting, and planned to meet frequently with police Chief Shelley Zimmerman. She also expressed confidence in Cate.
Other committee chairs approved in a series of 9-0 votes:
- Audit, newly elected Georgette Gomez;
- Budget, Bry, also newly elected;
- Economic Development, Zapf;
- Environment, David Alvarez;
- Rules, Cole; and
- Smart Growth and Land Use, Scott Sherman.
Ward, also new to the council, was not named to any chairmanship posts.
Kersey, who represents Rancho Bernardo and Scripps Ranch, is beginning his second term on the City Council.
His new role is mainly symbolic — he’ll run a meeting if Cole is absent — but it could elevate his profile as a leader of the council’s four-member Republican faction on the technically nonpartisan body.
“Council member Kersey and I have served together on council committees, and I’ve gotten to know and appreciate his leadership style, as well as his work with all of the council members,” Cole said.
Kersey retained chairmanship of the council’s Infrastructure Committee. Under his leadership, the city is slowly coming to grips with the size of its capital projects and maintenance backlog.
The council also approved assignments to numerous outside boards and committees, ranging from the San Diego Association of Governments and Metropolitan Transit System to the Mission Trails Regional Taskforce and League of Cities.
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25-Foot Sculpture to be Installed at
Bosa Development’s Pacific Gate Condos
Jaume Plensa, best known for monumental sculptures in public spaces across international destinations from Chicago to Venice, Italy, is creating a public installation titled Pacific Soul that will be on display in the public plaza at its Pacific Gate by Bosa luxury residences.
Scheduled to be installed in late 2017, the 25-foot sculpture will be hallmark Plensa, who has produced a multifaceted body of work creating sculptures that speak to the capacity and beauty of humanity, often bringing people together through the activation of public spaces. By combining conventional sculptural materials like glass, steel, bronze and aluminum with more unconventional media like water, light and sound, Plensa creates hybrid works of intricate energy, psychological weight, and symbolic richness. By posing numerous dualities, such as inside and outside, light and dark, and earth and sky, the artist seeks to connect his work with viewers on an intuitive level.
Pacific Soul and Pacific Gate will be located at the emerging gateway to Downtown at the corner of Pacific Highway and Broadway.
Nat Bosa, president of Bosa Development, says, “We are passionate about elevating Downtown San Diego onto the international stage. Plensa’s Pacific Soul will be the third public installation we have commissioned Downtown. We are confident that Plensa’s international presence in the fine arts, and the millions of people his sculptures have touched, will bring attention and visitors from around the world.”
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Amazon Makes its First Drone Delivery
Three years after revealing its plans for package deliveries by drone, Amazon Prime Air completed the first such delivery in December, shipping an Amazon Fire TV media player to a customer in Cambridge, England, who lives near Amazon’s fulfillment center there. The total delivery took 13 minutes. BBC News
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Crowe PR Moves Headquarters
To East Village Office Building
Crowe PR a San Diego-based public relations agency, announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters to the East Village-based TR Office Building.
Located at 406 Ninth Ave., Suite 304, the new office is designed to accommodate company growth and provide an open-floor layout for a collaborative and creative work environment. The company relocated to the space from the DiamondView Tower.
The agency was launched in early 2015 by marketing and communications executive Anna Crowe. The company works with mid to large-sized businesses in the technology, sports and fitness, apparel and hospitality industries.
“Given our creative and results-driven approach, I think it’s essential to be in a space that’s open, collaborative and visually-stimulating,” said Crowe, founder and CEO of Crowe PR.
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Southern California Edison Selects Contractor
For Dismantling the San Onofre Nuclear Plant
Southern California Edison has selected a joint venture of AECOM and EnergySolutions as the general contractor for the dismantling of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, a $4.4 billion, 10-year project.
The major dismantlement work will not begin before 2018 when state regulators are expected to complete their environmental review, as required by the California Environmental Quality Act.
“SCE will maintain strict oversight of the contractor and will continue to engage with the community and all stakeholders during decommissioning,” said Ron Nichols, Southern California Edison president.
The project is expected to create about 600 jobs during the dismantlement phase, including workers from local companies.
AECOM, a fully integrated global infrastructure firm, was named one of Fortune magazine’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” in 2016. AECOM designs, builds, finances and operates assets in more than 150 countries. EnergySolutions specializes in nuclear plant decommissioning and waste management, and is currently in the demolition phase of decommissioning both the Zion and Dairyland nuclear power stations.
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Personnel Announcements
Jonathan Seaton to Join Illumina as Senior VP
Illumina Inc. announced the appointment of Jonathan Seaton as senior vice president for corporate and business development. Seaton will join Illumina on Jan. 3, 2017.
Seaton will be responsible for global business development activities, including strategic commercial deals, mergers and acquisitions, licensing and partnerships. He joins Illumina from Becton, Dickinson and Company where he was vice president and head of strategy and business development for the life sciences segment. He previously held leadership roles at F. Hoffman-La Roche, Roche Tissue Diagnostics, LS9, and several consulting firms and investment banks.
