Daily Business Report-Sept. 12, 2019
A caravan of Uber and Left drivers passes by the capitol Sacramento while honking and waving flags before a rally in support of AB 5. (CALmatters photo)
California passes landmark bill
to remake the gig economy
Times of San Diego
Legislation that would regulate the gig economy and force an estimated 2 million independent contractors in California to become shift employees passed the state Senate by a vote of 29-11.
Assembly Bill 5, authored by San Diego Democrat Lorena Gonzalez, would codify a 2018 California Supreme Court decision upholding labor laws that were written decades before the Internet.
“Our #AB5 to stop the misclassification of nearly a million misclassified California workers so they are provided a minimum wage, benefits and workplace rights has passed the Senate today with 29 votes,” tweeted Gonzalez.
But the bill was opposed by Republicans in the Legislature, who pointed to the potential for significant job losses.
“AB 5 will not only limit an individual’s ability for flexible employment, but will destroy entire industries across California. Independent contractors and small businesses are the backbone of a thriving California economy,” said Sen. Andreas Borgeas of Fresno.
Gov. Gavin Newsom endorsed the bill and is expected to sign it after it goes through the Assembly, in what is expected to be a formality.
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Scientists find key changes in gray whale
migration routes off Southern California
By Brittany Hook
A new study led by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography has detected changes in gray whale migration routes off the coast of Southern California. Researchers found that the proportion of Eastern North Pacific gray whales migrating nearshore has been increasing in recent years, placing whales closer to potentially harmful human activities.
In the same study, researchers also found that the annual gray whale migration seems to be aligned more with the whales’ biological clockwork than with environmental factors such as warming ocean temperatures or the decreasing amount of Arctic sea ice.
Scripps Oceanography alumna Regina Guazzo led the study, published Aug. 29 in the scientific journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. She conducted the research for her dissertation while a Scripps PhD student.
To conduct this study, Guazzo and other scientists with the Scripps Whale Acoustic Lab analyzed acoustic and visual census data collected during seven migration seasons along the Southern California Bight—an offshore region that extends from San Diego to Point Conception. Mortality rates for whales in the Southern California Bight have been on the rise in recent years, and researchers are trying to pinpoint why.
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Board of Supervisors votes to move
ahead on community choice energy
The county Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 Tuesday to continue exploring the idea of getting into the business of buying and selling electricity. Supervisors Kristin Gaspar and Jim Desmond opposed the motion.
The action came after a feasibility study/business plan was presented to the board on the pros and cons of community choice energy also known as community choice aggregation.
CCA programs allow cities and counties to buy and/or generate electricity for residents and businesses. A CCA would offer those in the county’s unincorporated areas an alternative to buying power from San Diego Gas and Electric. SDG&E would still provide transmission and delivery services.
Currently, the city of Solana Beach is the only operating CCA in the county. The city of San Diego is working to form a Regional Joint Powers Authority (JPA) with the cities of Encinitas, Chula Vista and La Mesa. Other local cities have completed feasibility studies or plan to start one.
Tuesday’s action directed staff to negotiate a JPA with potential city partners including Carlsbad. Staff was asked to return to the Board with a CCA ordinance and JPA agreement on Oct. 15.
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County approves resiliency
report and recovery plan
The county Office of Emergency Services introduced new efforts to better prepare the region for a disaster, with a specific focus on wildfires.
The first is the County Resiliency Program, which analyzes existing emergency capability and response plans looking for potential gaps and solutions to further reduce risk to communities.
The county also updated the regional Operational Area Recovery Plan, a comprehensive plan involving all key partners for the restoration of essential services and economic recovery in the wake of a disaster.
Both items were presented Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors at the County Operations Center in Kearny Mesa. The board voted unanimously to accept the County Resilience Program report and the Recovery Plan update.
The County Resilience Program is an ongoing effort that will address all hazards, but it focused first on conducting a Wildfire Resilience Review since wildland fires remain the most prevalent and costly threat to the region.
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Mission Valley Community
Plan approved by City Council
The San Diego City Council Tuesday voted to approve the Mission Valley Community Plan Update. The community plan, which hasn’t been updated in nearly 35 years sets a bold vision that will increase housing, improve walkability, and increase open space.
The update will allow for an increase of housing units from 11,200 today to 39,200 units in 2050 in mixed-unit zones that will allow Mission Valley residents to live, work, and play in the same area.
Currently, only 600 people live and work in Mission Valley. This results in in over 40,000 commuters driving into the neighborhood every day. The community plan update will lower the number of daily commutes and help the city achieve its climate action goals.
In addition, the plan update could increase transportation funding in the area by over $300 million. These funds would expand and improve the flow of roadway segments and freeway exchanges, add 25,6000 linear feet of sidewalks, and over 16 miles of bicycle facilities.
The update will add 160 acres of parks and open space to Mission Valley neighborhoods and will open up and activate the San Diego River to become an amenity to the community instead of just a walled-off afterthought. Lastly, the update will build two new schools, two recreation centers, one aquatics complex, and one joint police/fire station.
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Port of San Diego to celebrate
sculpture installation in Coronado
The Port of San Diego is hosting a celebratory event for the installation of artist Michael Stutz’s elegant bronze sculpture, “Penelope,” in its new waterfront location overlooking San Diego Bay and the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge in the northeast corner of Coronado Tidelands Park at 2000 Mullinex Drive, Coronado.
The event will be held today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the site of the sculpture.
The Port first commissioned the nearly seven-foot-tall bronze sculpture in 2008 as part of its Public Art Program. It was located on the San Diego waterfront between Seaport Village and Tuna Harbor, but due to the construction of Ruocco Park, “Penelope” was temporarily moved off the waterfront and placed into storage. The installation celebration marks the end of a long hiatus for “Penelope,” who represents a figure from the Greek epic poem, The Odyssey, and her re-emergence as a beautiful public artwork that can be enjoyed by all who visit Coronado Tidelands Park.
The “Penelope” sculpture is made of welded silicon bronze strips that have been woven into the form of a large-scale woman’s head. The woven pattern of the bronze strips is suggestive of muscles and nerves in a face with potential for movement and feeling.
In The Odyssey, “Penelope” represents a mythical figure who is waiting for her husband, Odysseus (or Ulysses in Roman history), to return from war. While he is away, she must fend off suitors who believe that Odysseus had been killed.
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The Chairmen’s RoundTable
welcomes six new mentors
The Chairmen’s RoundTable (CRT), a San Diego nonprofit organization that provides pro-bono mentoring to CEOs of private businesses in the Greater San Diego area, announced that six new mentors have signed on to participate in CRT’s mentorship program: Ken Derrett, Rich Detweiler, Robert Hill, Scott Krawitz, John Riley and Beth Sirull.
“These six mentors who have joined our group bring experiences from major national sports leagues, Caterpillar, Deloitte, PepsiCo as well as exciting startups and nonprofits – across industries and continents,” said Paul Thiel CRT chairman.
Ken Derrett is a veteran of more than three decades in sports marketing at an executive level. His experience extends beyond borders and across three major North American sports leagues of the NFL, NBA and MLB.
Rich Detweiler has been tasked with leading challenged publicly listed and private companies in turnaround, rebuilding and strategic repositioning based on his senior management experience in finance, planning and operations, with Caterpillar’s Solar Turbines.
Robert Hill is a seasoned global management consultant focused on promoting inclusive growth by helping small businesses and their owners succeed.
Scott Krawitz is founder of PDSI, offering Technology Advisory Services. Launched in 2009, clients range from start-ups, SMB and nonprofits to Fortune 50 organizations.
John Riley spent the past two decades developing strategies, financial plans, and mergers and acquisitions for PepsiCo. He was most recently the CFO of PepsiCo’s North American Nutrition division.
Beth Sirull is a mission-driven leader whose career has spanned the private, public and nonprofit sectors. She recently joined the Jewish Community Foundation (JCF) of San Diego as president and CEO.
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California Bank & Trust opens
newly built Escondido branch
California Bank & Trust officially opened the doors of its newly built Escondido Branch at 150 N. Quince Street last week. The grand opening event on Sept. 5, which welcomed city dignitaries and Chamber of Commerce officials, included a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a check presentation to a local charity, speeches from CB&T President Eric Ellingsen, Escondido Mayor Paul McNamara, and an open house for the public.
CB&T presented a check in the amount of $10,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater San Diego in support of the nonprofit’s signature event – “An Evening of Changing Lives.” The organization’s CEO, Danny Sherlock, accepted the check during the event.
Located adjacent to the bank’s long-standing branch that has served Escondido since 1982, the new center is situated at a major intersection in the Mercado District. The branch was built to address customers’ needs by providing a full-service freestanding branch with drive-through access.
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Volkswagen agrees to pay over $96 million
in overstated fuel economy case
The Volkswagen Group of America has agreed to a settlement of $96.5 million for inflated claims of fuel economy on some of its vehicles. The company allegedly overstated the MPG ratings on almost 100,000 of its vehicles, most of them 2013 to 2017 models of Audi, Porsche, Bentley and some models of Volkswagen. According to the agreement, eligible customers will receive payments ranging from $5.40 to $24.30 for each month that the vehicle was owned or leased.
According to David S. Casey Jr., managing partner of CaseyGerry, a San Diego plaintiffs law firm, while the Volkswagen Group admits no wrongdoing, it will adjust the greenhouse gas credits to account for the fuel economy misstatement.
Casey was appointed by the federal court to serve on the Plaintiff Steering Committee for this case.
