Daily Business Report: Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022
Agency battling wage theft in California
is too short-staffed to do its job
By Alejandro Lazo, Jeanne Kuang and Julie Watts | CalMatters
In Summary:
The state is a national leader in labor law, experts say,
but its agency enforcing wage theft rules in California still struggles to staff up
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For decades California’s lawmakers and regulators have taken aim at employers who rob their workers of pay, overtime premiums, tips and other forms of compensation.
Just last year, legislators made certain instances of wage theft a felony. They also fixed their sights on wage theft in the garment industry, eliminating some longstanding pay practices that often resulted in workers being paid below the minimum wage.
Earlier this month, California Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower recovered $282,000 in stolen wages and penalties for 22 workers of a Long Beach car wash using a law enacted in January that empowers her office to place liens on the property of problematic worksites.
California’s laws targeting wage theft — which is the failure by bosses to pay workers what they are owed — make it a leader among states, national labor experts say. But in practice, enforcing those laws has not been easy.
State officials and lawmakers say the Labor Commissioner’s office, the California agency overseeing wage and hour violations, has been too short-staffed to do its job, a problem that worsened during the pandemic and subsequent labor shortage.
Last year alone California workers filed nearly 19,000 individual claims totaling more than $338 million in stolen wages. Many claims take three times longer than the legal minimum of 135 days to resolve, data provided by the Labor Commissioner’s office show.
Top Photo: Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters; iStock
San Diego bucks national trend of lowering rental rates
New data from Dwellsy reveals that for the nationwide rental market, last month brought significant change. (Call it “Shake-up September.”) Some big cities switched places in the “most expensive” category, some small cities continued to surprise, and some single-family rental markets shot into the stratosphere. But the biggest news is that, overall, rents finally showed signs of slowing down.
“While median asking rent is still high in many markets, we have finally turned a corner,” says Jonas Bordo, CEO and cofounder of Dwellsy. “Much to renters’ relief, month-to-month rent prices dropped for the first time in nearly a year.”
San Diego, unfortunately, bucked that trend. According to Dwellsy, San Diego was among the top 10 most expensive rental markets in the country. The median asking rent was listed at $2,695, an increase of 9.3 percent from September 2021. Those figures landed it No. 6 on the top 10 list.
San Diego also was listed No. 6 on the most expensive asking rent in single-family home rentals. Asking rent in this category was $3,234 per month, an 8 percent increase from September 2021.
San Diego Nathan Shock Center receives
funds to continue study of aging
The San Diego Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, a collaboration between the Salk Institute, UC San Diego, and Sanford Burnham Prebys, received new funding, $500,000, from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to enroll participants from the Rancho Bernardo Study of Healthy Aging into their own clinical cohort to study differences in how individuals age. Initiated 50 years ago by the late UC San Diego Distinguished Professor Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, the Rancho Bernardo Study is one of the longest, continuously NIH-funded studies in existence.
“We want to provide a bank of various cell types from individuals who represent the variability of normal aging that can be used by researchers around the world,” says Salk Professor Gerald Shadel, director of the San Diego Nathan Shock Center. “What makes this venture so unique is that we’re now accessing cells from older adults with a documented history of normal aging metrics, which will allow aging researchers to connect specific cellular changes to other age-related physiological changes for the first time.”
Lawsuit challenges City of Santee’s approval
of 10,000-home Fanita Ranch project
Conservation organizations have filed another lawsuit over the city of Santee’s approval of the Fanita Ranch project. The suit is part of an ongoing effort to ensure that the large-scale development project does not proceed in a wildfire-prone area without the necessary review of wildfire risk.
The lawsuit was filed Friday in San Diego Superior Court by the Center for Biological Diversity, Preserve Wild Santee, California Chaparral Institute and Endangered Habitats League. It asserts the city violated the California Environmental Quality Act when it approved the project, and that the project is inconsistent with the city’s general plan.
The development would bring nearly 10,000 new residents to the city’s northern outskirts, a state-designated “very high fire hazard severity zone.” The area has burned 65 times in the last 100 years, including in 2003 when the Cedar Fire burned approximately 95 percent of the project site.
San Diego County home sales slowed in September
Sales of previously owned homes pulled back in September compared to the previous month, according to housing statistics compiled through the San Diego Multiple Listing Service by the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors.
Single-family home sales fell by more than 10 percent month-to-month and were 36 percent lower than September of 2021. Condominiums and townhomes (attached properties) saw a 15 percent decrease last month and are down 39 percent from the same month last year. So far in 2022, San Diego County resale home sales are off by 24 percent compared to the same nine months of 2021.
Despite a dearth of inventory and rising interest rates, median home sale prices have not shifted significantly. September single-family home prices edged up to $915,000, while condos and townhomes saw a decrease of 3.5 percent to an even $600,000. Collectively, prices are nearly 14 percent higher year-to-date over 2021. Resale properties were closing escrow in an average of 31 days last month, compared to 21 days last September.
The most expensive single-family property sold in September in San Diego County was an oceanfront custom home built in 1980 on Sea Ridge Drive in La Jolla. Sold on Sept. 21 for $9.5 million, the 4,800-square-foot property has 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms with a heated spa that overlooks the Pacific.
Padres ticket prices for Games 1 and 2
in National League Championship Series
With the Padres getting ready to take on the Phillies in the National League Championship Series, tickets to Games 1 and 2 at Petco Park are in high demand. Gametime (www.Gametime.co), the leading app/site for last minute tickets, has released details on prices for available tickets to both games.
Game 1: Tuesday, 5:03 p.m.
Lowest Priced Seats: $259 each
Highest Priced Seats: $4,331 each
Game 2: Wednesday, 1:35 p.m.
Lowest Priced Seats: $253 each
Highest Priced Seats: $5,697 each
All Padre tickets can be seen at: Cheap San Diego Padres Tickets | Gametime
Port of San Diego recruits
Cork & Batter to Seaport Village lineup
The Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners has approved a 10-year deal for a full-service restaurant and bar in Seaport Village. Cork and Batter will offer a first-class dining experience in a warm bungalow-themed environment with American fare created with freshly sourced ingredients, craft beer, wine, and hand-crafted cocktails. During game time, Cork and Batter will serve up live sports on multiple flat screens for sports fans’ viewing pleasure.
Cork and Batter will be operated by BNG Hospitality Group, a Los Angeles-based restaurant management and marketing company. At Seaport Village, Cork and Batter will anchor Suite E3 in the Lighthouse District, encompassing approximately 7,989 square feet of indoor restaurant space along with a patio and courtyard area.
Commentary:
Proposition 30 splits California’s ruling elite
By Edward Ring
Even by national standards, state ballot initiative campaigns in California are big time politics. You can run a campaign for U.S. Senator in most states in America for less than it costs to qualify and successfully campaign to pass a statewide ballot initiative in California. Political insiders in Sacramento describe any controversial initiative with well funded antagonists as a “war.” And if politics is war by other means, they’re right. The latest war is over Prop. 30, the “Clean Cars and Clean Air Act.”
What’s unusual about Prop. 30, however, is how it has split California’s ruling elite. On the side in favor of Prop. 30, you have billionaire Democrats, a powerful corporation that promotes itself as both woke and green, and the firefighters union. Opposing Prop. 30 are Governor Newsom and the California Teachers Association, and to fund their opposition campaign, an assortment of individuals and organizations that defy categorization other than to say that Newsom and the CTA have picked some surprising bedfellows.
In this battle of juggernauts, and in a twist of politics that is exceedingly rare, the CTA is up against a bigger and stronger bully.
GSA to host public meeting
on Calexico West Land Port of Entry
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) will host a virtual public meeting to discuss the Final Environmental Assessment for Phase 2B of the Calexico West Land Port of Entry’s modernization and expansion project. The public is invited to attend the virtual meeting by logging into http://ow.ly/enXz50L7jmw on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. GSA representatives will discuss the final EA as well as the project’s final phase of construction, which includes restoring the historic customs house and building a temporary pedestrian processing facility on Heffernan Avenue, just south of East 1st Street.
Registrar encourages voters to vote early
As ballots start showing up in mailboxes around San Diego County, the Registrar of Voters office is encouraging voters to vote early. More than 1.9 million ballots for the Nov. 8 Statewide General Election were sent out to registered voters last week. If you haven’t received yours by Oct. 17, contact the Registrar’s office.
“San Diego County voters have more days and more ways to vote,” said Registrar of Voters Cynthia Paes. “You don’t need to wait until Election Day to vote. The sooner we get your ballot back, the sooner we can start processing it. Your ballot can be in the first release of election night results.”
Illumina to host second annual virtual investor event
Illumina Inc. will host its second annual virtual Environment, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) focused investor event at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022.
Francis deSouza, president and CEO, Aimee Hoyt, chief people officer, John Frank, chief public affairs officer, and Sharon Vidal, head of corporate social rsesponsibility, will be joined by Salli Schwartz, vice president of investor relations for a presentation, fireside chat, and Q&A session for investors, analysts, and other interested parties regarding Illumina’s ESG strategy and action plans. Interested parties may register and access the event through the Investor Info section of Illumina’s website at investor.illumina.com or directly at Illumina Virtual ESG Investor Event.
Michael Elbaz joins Airgain Inc. as CFO
Airgain Inc., a global provider of wireless connectivity solutions, including embedded components, external antennas, and integrated systems, announced the addition of Michael Elbaz as chief financial officer and secretary. Elbaz brings over 25 years of experience in corporate and global finance and strategy. Elbaz will lead Airgain’s accounting, financial planning and analysis, treasury, investor relations and information technology functions. Prior to joining Airgain, Elbaz was VP finance at Cohu, a public semiconductor equipment company. Before that, he was VP finance at AMN Healthcare, a public health care solutions company, from 2012 to 2019. He also served as VP finance and chief accounting officer at Conexant Systems, a public semiconductor company from 2009 to 2011.
AECOM joint venture awarded contract for the
East County Advanced Water Purification program
AECOM, an infrastructure consulting firm, said its joint venture with W.M. Lyles has been awarded a contract amendment by the Joint Powers Authority to support the East County Advanced Water Purification Program in San Diego. In this role, the team plans to extend its current services for the program, which aims to create a new, local, sustainable, and drought-proof drinking water supply using state-of-the-art technology to purify East County’s recycled water. The program, which recently broke ground, includes a new water recycling facility, biosolids processing, an advanced water purification facility, and conveyance infrastructure, including pipelines and pumping stations. The joint venture’s scope is expected to include final design, construction management, startup, and commissioning.
New lawn removal rebate saves money and water
Homeowners and businesses in San Diego County can receive between $2 and $4 per square foot for removing grass and replacing it with low water-use plants that are better suited to withstand the hot and dry conditions that continue to hammer the West. All customers are eligible for the base rebate of $2 per square foot, but other agencies offer additional funding, including the City of San Diego and the County of San Diego. Click here for details: www.sdcwa.org/your-water/conservation/. In addition, a newly signed state law exempts local rebates for grass replacement from state income tax, ensuring more dollars can be spent creating beautiful and functional WaterSmart yards.
