Daily Business Report-March 18, 2019
Mayor Kevin Faulconer delivering his last State of the City Address. (Courtesy of city of San Diego)
Mayor Faulconer explains
why he became a ‘YIMBY’
By Matt Levin | CALmatters
Embrace more development: That’s San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s message to fellow California Republicans when it comes to grappling with the state’s housing crisis.
Faulconer: “This is not a partisan issue…This is what we should be doing in San Diego to fix the problem.”
Faulconer made headlines earlier this year by pursuing pro-density policies in a city known more for its sprawl and coastline views than for multi-family apartment buildings.
A newly self-identified “YIMBY”—Yes in My Backyard—advocate, Faulconer has moved to ease height restrictions and minimum parking requirements across San Diego.
Faulconer discusses the larger significance of his YIMBY turn, and his own pro-development limits, with CALmatters’ Matt Levin and The Los Angeles Times’ Liam Dillon on the latest episode of Gimme Shelter, The California Housing Crisis Podcast.
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Cubic buys Nuvotronics to protect
communications technology offerings
GovCon Wire
Cubic has purchased microfabricated radio frequency systems provider Nuvotronics for approximately $64 million in cash as part of efforts to expand its portfolio of protected communications technology offerings.
Durham, N.C.-based Nuvotronics designs and builds antennas, combiners, filters and other RF devices using the PolyStrata technology developed by the company with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Cubic said.
“Nuvotronics’ PolyStrata technology will significantly enhance our protected communications business and position Cubic to address additional high-priority, dual-use technology markets in space, electronic warfare, hypersonic and 5G communications,” said Mike Twyman, president of Cubic Mission Solutions.
Cubic used its existing credit facility to fund the acquisition, which includes up to $8 million in potential earn-out payments based on future performance and is expected to be accretive to the company’s cash earnings per share by the second year of operations.
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Mayor Faulconer announces
major expansion of pothole repairs
In response to severe winter storms that wreaked havoc on San Diego’s roadways, Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced a major expansion of the city’s pothole repair program to fill thousands of potholes that developed during heavy rains over the past few months.
Faulconer has reprioritized resources to nearly triple the number of pothole repair teams from nine to 26 crews per day. These two-person crews will be working extended hours and on weekends to make repairs following one of the wettest winters in recent memory.
“Our roads took a beating from repeated storms so we’re going to take advantage of this dry spell to fill as many potholes as we can,” Faulconer said. “We’ve heard San Diegans loud and clear and we’re making this a top priority. That means more crews in every neighborhood filling more potholes than ever before.”
The city typically fills about 30,000 potholes each fiscal year. This fiscal year crews have fixed 25,000 and counting in less than nine months – on pace to far exceed a typical year.
San Diegans are encouraged to make repair requests through the city’s Get It Done application via smartphone or computer.
In October 2018, Faulconer said city crews had fixed 1,000 miles of streets – a record pace for road repair after decades of neglect by past city leaders and nearly two years ahead of the mayor’s five-year goal.
The historic pace of road repair is largely the result of operational changes made at Faulconer’s direction to speed up the road repair process, including:
• Tripling funding for road repair
• Implementing changes to hold contractors accountable for the quality of their work
• Sending street crews on a rotating basis into each council district to fill potholes
• Expanding the city’s infrastructure program to have the capacity to fix more than 300 miles of street annually
As a result, there’s been a dramatic improvement for San Diego’s neighborhoods. A decade ago, the city only repaired 25 miles of streets in an entire year. Now the city fixes nearly the same number of miles in an average month.
Residents can monitor the city’s street repair progress for themselves at the city’s Streets SD website.
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General Atomics part of Aviation
Week’s award-winning team
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. and teammates NASA, the FAA and Honeywell were honored last week at Aviation Week Network’s 62nd annual Laureate Awards for best achievement of 2018 in the category of Commercial Aviation-Unmanned Systems.
The team was recognized for conducting the first FAA-approved, no chase plane required, flight of a large Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in controlled airspace using a Detect and Avoid (DAA) system developed by General Atomics to meet the FAA’s 14 CFR 91.113(b) requirement to “see and avoid” other aircraft.
General Atomics has been working with the FAA, NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Honeywell, and other industry partners since 2013 to develop a standardized airborne DAA system that has worked flawlessly through several test flights.
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SoCal Gas records highest level of spending
with diverse businesses in company history
Southern California Gas announced that it achieved the highest level of spend with diverse business enterprises in the history of the company, spending more than $673 million dollars with 583 diverse suppliers last year. The company exceeded the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) goal for contracting purchases with women, minority, service-disabled veteran, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-owned businesses for the 26th consecutive year in 2018. More than 40 percent of the utility’s contract spending went to women, minority, service-disabled veteran and LGBT-owned companies, nearly double the CPUC’s goal of 21.5 percent.
SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, an energy services holding company based in San Diego.
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Japan Fair Trade Commission finds
Qualcomm licensing program lawful
The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has reversed a 2009 cease-and-desist order affecting Qualcomm licensing in Japan. Following a nine-year evidentiary proceeding, the JFTC concluded that Qualcomm’s cross-licensing provisions and non-assertion covenants that were the subject of the cease-and-desist order did not violate Japanese antimonopoly law.
In 2010, the Tokyo High Court had issued a stay of the JFTC cease-and-desist order pending this proceeding. This week’s JFTC decision, the result of a process that included 37 separate hearings, rejected an initial finding related to cross-license agreements between Qualcomm and Japanese manufacturers.
“We are very gratified to learn that after years of considering the evidence and applicable legal authority, the Japan Fair Trade Commission has concluded there was nothing improper about Qualcomm’s cross-licensing program,” said Don Rosenberg, general counsel and executive vice president of Qualcomm. “Today’s decision affirms our confidence that once Qualcomm was afforded a full hearing, and actual evidence was considered, the JFTC would find that our cross-licensing program was completely lawful and the product of arms-length, good-faith negotiations with our Japanese licensees. The JFTC is now the second antitrust agency after the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission to have revoked its ruling against Qualcomm.”
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New Hampton Inn & Suites
now open at Liberty Station
InterMountain Management and The Corky McMillin Companies are proud to announce the opening of Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton San Diego Airport Liberty Station, California. The stunning hotel will be the newest addition to Hampton by Hilton, the global upper-midscale brand known for its commitment to providing unmatched guest service. Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton San Diego Airport Liberty Station features 181 spacious rooms.
Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton San Diego Airport Liberty Station is located at 2211 Lee Court, San Diego, 92101, adjacent to the Spanish Landing and less than a mile from San Diego International Airport.
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Personnel Announcements
Lane Hilton joins Higgs Fletcher & Mack as associate
Attorney Lane Hilton has joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack as an associate in the firm’s Transportation Litigation Practice Group. In her new role, Hilton will analyze and develop complex litigation strategies, conduct extensive fact investigations, draft dispositive motions, take and defend depositions, assist clients in all stages of litigation from case inception through settlement, analyze cases of first impression, and interpret newly passed laws and regulations.
Her previous experience includes defending complex civil cases, including representing some of the largest developers and general contractors in San Diego and on the West Coast. She also has experience litigating personal injury, products liability, negligence, battery, and other tort actions.
Hilton earned her law degree from California Western School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Northern Arizona University. While in law school, Hilton worked at the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office where she second-chaired a misdemeanor trial, assisted with a first-degree murder trial, and regularly represented indigent clients in all aspects of their cases. She is involved in the legal community and is a member of the San Diego County Bar Association, the American Inns of Court, Louis M. Welsh chapter, and San Diego Defense Lawyers.
