Daily Business Report: Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021
California Recall Election Update
CalMatters
Californians living in the 15 counties that operate vote centers were able to cast their ballots in person starting Saturday. More than 5.7 million of the state’s 22.2 million active registered voters had already returned their mail-in ballot as of Friday — 53 percent of which came from Democrats, 26 percent from Republicans and 20 percent from no party preference voters, according to Political Data Inc.
As candidates look to turbocharge voter outreach in the last week of the campaign, Gov. Gavin Newsom has a clear financial advantage over his challengers, CalMatters’ campaign money tracker shows: As of Monday, recall opponents had raised nearly $69 million, compared to the $11.6 million raised by recall supporters.
Campaign finance reports filed last week put the numbers into even starker relief: From Aug. 1 to Aug. 28, the governor’s anti-recall committee spent $30.2 million, raised $19.8 million and had $17.2 million in the bank, while Elder — who brought in the most money among Newsom’s top challengers — spent $6.2 million, raised $8.6 million and had $4.7 million in cash on hand.
Above illustration by Jennifer Griffin on Unsplash
Click here for CalMatters’ 2021 Recall Voter Guide
Governor appoints a prosecutor and a
public defender to San Diego Superior Court
Marissa A. Bejarano, 42, of Chula Vista, and Daniel Segura, 52, of Temecula, have been appointed to serve as judges in San Diego Superior Court by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Both are Democrats.
Bejarano has served as a Community Partnership prosecutor at the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office since 2019, where she has also served as a deputy district attorney since 2014. She served as a deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2006 to 2013.
Bejarano earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law. She fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Justice Truc T. Do to the Fourth District Court of Appeal.
Segura has served as a deputy public defender at the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office since 1995. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the California Western School of Law. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Jeffrey B. Barton.
25 full-time faculty to be hired at
San Diego Community College District
The San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) has received funding from the state of California to hire 25 new full-time faculty members over the next two years to increase the number of full-time faculty at its four colleges.
The new full-time faculty positions are being created as part of a statewide effort in the California Community College system following an infusion of $100 million included in the state’s 2021-22 budget. State officials believe hiring more full-time faculty will assist in achieving the system’s diversity, inclusion and equity goals while moving the system closer to its target of having 75 percent of faculty be full-time.
In total, 13 new full-time faculty will be hired at San Diego Miramar College and four each at San Diego City College, San Diego Mesa College, and the San Diego College of Continuing Education.
The district is receiving $2.9 million to fund the new positions. The state stipulates that any new hires must be beyond what the district would have hired without state funding.
Association executive Ellen Miller leads the
National Association of Bar Executives
Ellen Miller of San Diego, executive director of the California Lawyers Foundation, is the new president of the National Association of Bar Executives for 2021-2022. She assumed the position on July 1, 2021. Miller also is the current interim co-executive director and associate executive director of initiatives and external relations for the California Lawyers Association in Sacramento.
“This is an exciting time for bar associations,” said Miller. “As we all grappled with the impacts of the pandemic and social justice movement, bar associations found new and innovative ways to provide value to their members and evolve their service offerings to reinforce their relevancy. I am proud to lead this amazing association at such an important time.”
At CLF/CLA, Miller leads access to justice, civics engagement and diversity, equity and Inclusion initiatives, CLA’s bar relations function and a variety of outreach initiatives. Prior to joining CLF/CLA in 2019, Miller spent ten years as the Executive Director/CEO of the San Diego County Bar Association, where she directed myriad programs and initiatives to support the diverse needs of the association’s membership.
SDSU partnerships expand COVID-19
outreach to schools, homes communities
NABE board members serve two-year terms on the board of directors and are elected by the association’s membership, with the president determined by the board. Miller will lead the 12-member board, comprised of bar association executives from across the country.
Three new federal grants to San Diego State University researchers and community partners, totaling more than $9 million, are expanding SDSU’s already major role in outreach to fight the spread of COVID-19.
Focused on high-risk communities and schools, the grants will bring at-home COVID-19 testing to thousands of middle-school students, teachers, staff and their families, support efforts to expand vaccinations, and explore individualized intervention strategies to prevent COVID-19 transmission in households.
Luke Thomas appointed VA sales manager
for Cognitive Medical Systems
Cognitive Medical Systems announced the appointment of Luke Thomas as its VA sales manager to expand business base within the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs. He will lead strategic, new business opportunities within the federal agency for the company and
its CivitasDX joint venture.
Before joining Cognitive Medical Systems, Thomas served as the business development director and teaming lead, veterans affairs for Accenture Federal Services. He also managed the federal strategic accounts in Veterans affairs for Gartner from 2015 to 2019. Thomas received his bachelor’s degree from George Mason University in 2012.
“Cognitive Medical Systems and CivitasDX’s value-added approach to its clients is an ideal fit for me,” said Thomas. “I very much look forward to continuing being a key resource for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to leverage IT that provides better outcomes to those that served our nation and their families!”
Realtors organization to host virtual program
on impact of sea level rise on coastal communities
The Greater San Diego Association of Realtors will host a virtual program Sept. 9 highlighting the potential impact of sea level rise on San Diego’s coastal communities and the policies being advanced by the California Coastal Commission (CCC). The free online program will take place from 1 to 2 p.m. via Zoom.
The program will feature leading experts on coastal management policies. Attendees will include Realtors, property owners, members of the press, policymakers and other community stakeholders interested in learning about coastal management policies under consideration by San Diego County’s coastal cities that could drastically impact homeowners, businesses and the surrounding community.
Cal State San Marcos at SDSU are using
contactless parking by PayByPhone
Cal State San Marcos and San Diego State University are among colleges and universities across the country using contactless parking provided by PayByPhone. The company’s system allows students, staff, faculty and visitors to pay for parking in campus parking facilities with their smartphones. The PayByPhone app sends text messages automatically when a parking session expires and gives drivers an opportunity to extend their parking sessions without having to return to their vehicles. PayByPhone provides contactless parking payment at 33 universities across North America.
Illumina partners with Merck to develop
and commercialize research tests
Illumina Inc. and Merck announced a partnership to develop and commercialize tests that identify genetic mutations used in the assessment of homologous recombination deficiency (HRD). Patients whose tumors are HRD-positive may be eligible for targeted treatment by a class of precision medicines called PARP inhibitors. The HRD tests will leverage Illumina’s TruSight Oncology 500 (TSO 500) content, enabling the most comprehensive genomic profiling assays in a single workflow.
Lead gift establishes the Nathan Gordon Chair
in Neuro-Oncology at Rady Children’s Hospital
Rady Children’s Hospital Foundation announced a lead gift that will establish The Nathan Gordon Chair in Neuro-Oncology for the Director of the Neuro-Oncology Program. The chair will provide programmatic support, continue groundbreaking research and clinical trials, as well as fund academic meetings and symposiums focused on pediatric spinal cord tumor research.
The new position honors the memory of Nathan Gordon who was diagnosed with a rare tumor in his spinal cord when he was 15 months old, and who underwent multiple spinal surgeries and extensive treatment at Rady Children’s Peckham Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.
Cubic joins Scaled Agile Partner Network;
and awarded U.S. Army contract
Cubic Corporation joined the Scaled Agile Partner Network as a Gold Transformation Partner. This worldwide network includes transformation and platform providers who help enterprises facilitate and accelerate business results through adoption of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).
Cubic also announced its Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions business division was awarded a U.S. Army Synthetic Training Environment Live Training System prototype development contract. Cubic will execute this contract with its live training system partner, General Dynamics Mission Systems. The award is for the Army’s modernization of its Soldier, direct fire, and vehicle systems.
