Daily Business Report: Monday, Jan. 3, 2022
New law lets California decertify
police for serious misconduct
By Robert Lewis | CalMatters
On a Wednesday afternoon in April 2018, Gardena police officers got a “triple beeper” over their radios — three high-pitched squawks signaling an emergency. As many as 20 shots reportedly had been fired near a local park.
“That kind of gets you a little adrenaline squirt going,” Gardena Police Officer Michael Robbins would later tell investigators.
In minutes, a 25-year-old Black man, Kenneth Ross Jr., was dead — shot twice and killed by Officer Robbins as he ran past Rowley Park. Police said a gun was found in the dead man’s shorts pocket, and Robbins would later be cleared by local authorities of any wrongdoing.
But the case was far from over.
What happened on April 11, 2018 — which led to immediate cries for police accountability and demonstrations — is now a centerpiece of a new law that is arguably California’s biggest criminal justice proposal this legislative session.
The law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom after being weakened in the Legislature, would allow California to decertify police officers for misconduct — effectively stripping them of a license to work in law enforcement and kicking them out of the profession. California has been one of only four states in the country without such power. As a result, a number of high-profile cases have been reported over the years where an officer involved in a questionable shooting was allowed to remain on the streets, only to kill again. Officers also have been fired for wrongdoing in one department, then quietly moved on to another agency.
TOP PHOTO: Police hold their clubs as they form a line in front of supporters of President Donald Trump on Election Day in Beverly Hills on Nov. 3, 2020. Red states such as Florida and Georgia lead the way in decertifying officers with past problems, while there is no decertification in two of the bluest and biggest in the country – California and New Jersey. (Photo by Ringo H.W. Chiu, AP Photo)
Click here for directions on how to navigate parking at San Diego International Airport due to construction of the new Terminal 1.
Sharp Grossmont Hospital plans to build
$58 million neurosciences center
Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa treated 734 stroke patients in 2019, the most recent year for which statewide data is publicly available. That’s the most handled by any San Diego County medical facility that year, and ranked 11th among more than 300 hospitals across California.
Given such volume, it is easy to see why East County’s main medical center plans to spend $58 million on a new neurosciences center with 50 beds set aside for patients fighting everything from blood clots in the brain that cause strokes to cancerous tumors of the head, neck and spine.
Fundraising for the project began recently with the announcement of a $4 million matching grant from the Grossmont Healthcare District. The funds will be released in $1 million increments as the Grossmont Hospital Foundation raises $10 million toward construction, the balance of which will come from borrowing.
Minimum wage in San Diego increased
to $15 per hour on Saturday
The minimum wage in San Diego increased from $14 to $15 on Saturday, New Year’s Day, in accordance with the city’s Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance that was approved in 2016. Mayor Todd Gloria authored the bill when he was a member of the City Council.
“When San Diego voters overwhelmingly approved the Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance, we did it with the belief that no one who works full time should have to live in poverty,” Gloria said. “This latest increase means San Diego workers will finally earn at least $15 per hour. This significant milestone will make a difference in the lives of thousands of working families and better enable them to make ends meet.”
Del Mar Fairgrounds board appoints
new president and new vice presidents
The Del Mar Fairgrounds board of directors appointed a new president and new vice presidents last week. G. Joyce Rowland will serve as the new president and former presidents Richard Valdez and Frederick Schenk will serve as vice presidents.
Operated by the 22nd District Agricultural Association on behalf of the State of California, the Del Mar Fairgrounds board consists of nine members who are appointed by the governor.
They are unpaid positions that oversee operations at the fairgrounds, owned by the state. Each member serves a four-year term.
George Montgomery appointed
chief financial officr of NEUVOGEN
NEUVOGEN, a San Diego-based immunoncology company, announced the appointment of George Montgomery as chief financial officer. He will oversee corporate finance, partnership strategy, and capital markets relationships.
Montgomery has more than three decades of experience raising capital and providing strategic advisory to entrepreneurial biotech and medical technology companies. He has served as managing director at WestRiver Group, and is a member of the board of directors for Ashvattha Therapeutics Inc.
He served as chief financial officer and member of the Executive Committee at Coherus BioSciences, and is a former board member of Lumen Bioscience, Viome, Crossover Health, BEFORE Brands Inc., and Boston Pharmaceuticals.
