Daily Business Report-Aug. 4, 2020
101 Ash St. (Photo by Adriana Heldiz / Voice of San Diego)
City botched high-rise deal from acquisition
to renovation, investigation finds
By Jesse Marx and Lisa Halverstadt | Voice of San Diego
A review of San Diego’s handling of 101 Ash St., a downtown high-rise that was evacuated in January following asbestos violations, identifies a number of problems with the purchase of the property and hints at possible legal action against some of the environmental contractors involved in the disastrous remodel.
Written by a law firm that’s already advising the city on asbestos litigation, the 40-page document offers a glimpse into San Diego’s flawed handling of its real estate. Though not complete, the review was released Wednesday ahead of the Aug. 6 City Council meeting.
It is technically one of three reviews being conducted by outside legal experts who are looking not just into the acquisition of the property, but the financial liabilities now hanging over it and the role of the sellers.
From start to finish, 101 Ash St. went haywire under Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s watch. But in a statement, he told VOSD that he asked for the acquisition review “because City Hall has a very long and troubled history with managing its property and sweeping problems under the rug, and I didn’t want that culture to persist.”
Faulconer’s term ends at the end of the year and rather than pass the debacle along to the next administration, he considered it “my responsibility to share information with the public and propose corrective actions that get to the root of the problem,” he said.
Although the report doesn’t explicitly say so, it strongly suggests that the original sin at 101 Ash St. was Real Estate Assets Director Cybele Thompson’s failure to seek an independent appraisal and assessment of the building’s true condition upfront. No one from the city formally inspected the property before the City Council agreed to a 20-year lease-to-own deal totaling $127 million.
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UC San Diego raises $1.45 billion
for research, polishing
its standing as science mecca
The coronavirus pandemic might reduce UC San Diego’s enrollment this fall. It has already slowed the school’s massive construction program. But UCSD will maintain its standing as one of the 10 largest research universities in the country.
The campus says it pulled in a record $1.45 billion for research during the fiscal year that ended on June 30. That’s $100 million higher than a year ago and represents the 11th consecutive year that UCSD has surpassed the $1 billion mark.
Averaged over a year, the funds pump almost $4 million into new research every day.
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Helix selected by NIH to become one of
nation’s COVID-19 ‘mega-labs’
Helix, a population genomics company, has been awarded $33.4 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) program.
This funding was awarded as part of the Advanced Technology Platforms (ATP) subcomponent of the RADx program, which is focused on supporting scale-up of more advanced technologies that can have a near-term and significant impact on the country’s testing capacity. This includes expanding “mega-labs” that can increase testing capacity to 100,000 to 250,000 tests per day.
Helix will use these funds to support rapid scaling of all aspects of its COVID-19 infrastructure and operations, with a goal of reaching a capacity of 100,000 COVID-19 tests per day by the fall and the potential to scale even further.
“There is an urgent need for more rapid and reliable COVID-19 testing across the country. We’re honored to have received this funding from the NIH and to be able to help the country meet this need by transforming our operations and facilities into one of the country’s highest throughput COVID-19 laboratories,“ said Marc Stapley, Helix president and CEO. “With this support from the NIH, we’ll be able to rapidly scale our offering to help millions of Americans access much-needed tests.”
Helix’s end-to-end test system includes a non-invasive collection kit, processing of samples in Helix’s CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited high-complexity laboratory in San Diego, next-day turnaround time, and return of results to the ordering health care professional, the tested individual, and public health agencies, as necessary.
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July was California’s worst coronavirus month
CalMatters
July was not a good coronavirus month for California. The state’s daily average of new cases more than doubled from 4,006 in June to 8,669 in July, while the daily average of deaths shot up from 64 to 101 during the same period. On Friday, a Fresno County child under age 17 became the first California youth to die from COVID-related complications — the same day the state became the first in the nation to surpass 500,000 confirmed cases. However, hospitalizations have been declining following a July 21 high, though they remain at near-record levels, CalMatters’ hospital tracker shows.
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Counties fear released inmates will spread coronavirus
CalMatters
With California’s prison population dropping by nearly 15,000 since March — bringing it below 100,000 for the first time in 30 years — and another 8,000 inmates slated for release by the end of the month, counties are increasingly concerned that released prisoners will exacerbate coronavirus spread in their communities, the Los Angeles Times reports. County officials say many inmates were released on short notice and weren’t connected to quarantine housing or private transportation. It was also unclear how many had the virus due to uneven testing protocols. The state has freed 246 inmates with “active” COVID-19 cases, but keeping them quarantined in hotel rooms has been a challenge.
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Calidi Biotherapeutics announces FDA
approval for COVID-19 treatment
Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc., a San Diego clinical-stage biotechnology company, aannounced that the Investigational New Drug (IND) application submitted by its partner, Personalized Stem Cells Inc. (PSC), has received FDA approval for the treatment of COVID-19 and pneumonia patients using stem cell therapy. Calidi has partnered with PSC for over two years—most recently contributing the stem cell lines used to manufacture treatment for the upcoming first trial, “CoronaStem 1,” which will be conducted among 20 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in California.
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California unveils new K-12
ethnic studies curriculum
CalMatters
California on Friday released an updated ethnic-studies curriculum for K-12 school students, nearly a year after its initial draft was excoriated for being too politically correct, anti-Semitic and full of academic jargon. The new version encourages discussion of all identities and backgrounds while focusing on the four groups central to ethnic studies — African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and Chicanos, and Native American and Indigenous peoples, EdSource reports. It’s intended as a guide for the California schools already teaching the material, though lawmakers plan to introduce a bill that would make ethnic studies a graduation requirement. (Cal State students are now required to take either an ethnic studies or social justice class in order to graduate following a trustee vote last month.)
The state Board of Education will vote on the new curriculum in March 2021 following periods for review and public comment.
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City of San Diego extends warning
period for parking citations
sdnews.com
Due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Kevin Faulconer has directed city of San Diego staff to delay full enforcement of parking regulations until Sept. 1. The city will continue limited enforcement until then.
Parking enforcement has been limited to holiday or Sunday regulations in the city of San Diego since March 16. During that time, the city has suspended citations for vehicles violating street sweeping parking restrictions, metered parking, time limits and yellow commercial zones. Citations have continued to be issued for vehicles parked illegally at red, white and blue painted curbs.
Prior to March, the city typically processed an average of 42,000 parking citations per month. In the month of April, the city issued 1,704 parking citations for violations of the holiday or Sunday regulations.
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MiraCosta College District earns highest
bond ratings from Moody’s and S&P
MiraCosta Community College District maintains the highest credit ratings from both Moody’s Investors Services (Moody’s) and Standard & Poor’s Global (S&P). Moody’s and S&P assigned MiraCosta College AAA ratings for a second time—the same ratings earned in 2017.
Both agencies recognized the district’s healthy financial position, sustainable tax base of North County San Diego, leadership, and solid student enrollment. According to the Moody’s report, the MiraCosta College assigned rating is “Aaa reflecting the district’s robust financial position, with strong fund balances and liquidity.” The report also reflects “the district’s financial flexibility, strong and prudent management, low debt levels and manageable pension liability.”
The S&P report explains a key factor in the AAA credit rating was the district’s strong Financial Management Assessment (FMA). The report elaborates that, “financial practices are strong, well embedded, and key management practices and policies include frequent review of the budget with board participation in multi-year planning along with realistic and well-grounded revenue and expenditure assumptions.”
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University of Arizona to create ‘global campus’
through acquisition of Ashford University
The University of Arizona (UA) announced its intent to create a new nonprofit entity that will bear the name of The University of Arizona Global Campus and will acquire Ashford Universityfrom Zovio Inc.
The University of Arizona Global Campus will be a fully online university providing access to affordable, high-quality higher education with flexible opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds to achieve their educational and life goals, according to UA.
“The alliance announced today between UA and Ashford will create new, exciting opportunities that promise to expand the reach of affordable, quality higher education,” said Dr. Craig Swenson, Ashford’s president. “The synergies that follow the affiliation of UA, a premier research and teaching university, with an innovative online university like Ashford will benefit students, faculty, and staff of both institutions. After the process, we look forward to returning to our roots as a nonprofit institution and becoming The University of Arizona Global Campus.”
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SDSU World Campus and Global Affairs
announce new partnership, new changes
In an effort to expand access to academic programming to learners around the world and position San Diego State University as a leader in global education, SDSU World Campus and SDSU Global Affairs have formed a strategic partnership and will be rebranded as SDSU Global Campus and SDSU International Affairs.
The innovative collaboration between the two units emphasizes the university’s efforts to expand its academic infrastructure and create a truly global learning community as outlined in the university’s new strategic plan.
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S.D. Women’s Week Leadership Conference Goes Global
New virtual format with no boundaries features Daymond John, Linda Cureton, Ed Smart, Amy Trask
San Diego Women’s Week, celebrating 11 years of inspiring, empowering and connecting women is now virtual with leadership events for all ages and professions. Attendees enjoy virtual networking, keynote speakers, panel discussions, and more, all wrapped around creative solutions to everyday issues affecting leaders in the workplace and in their daily lives.
WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 26 – Friday, Aug. 28, 2020
WHO: Keynotes for 2020 Leadership conference include:
- Daymond John from Shark Tank: Powershift, Transform Any Situation, Close Any Deal, and Achieve Any Outcome.
- Linda Cureton, Former CIO – NASA: Managing and Leading in a Tough Environment.
- Ed Smart, Father of Elizabeth Smart: Two Miracles, and Standing up for Yourself.
- Amy Trask, Former NFL Team Executive – Los Angeles Raiders: Leadership Vulnerabilities.
WHERE: Wednesday – Virtual Women and Wine 6-7:30 p.m.
Friday – Virtual Leadership Conference 8:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Click here for complete list of speakers and additional details.
