Three of the Council's policy committees are meeting this week. This post will preview two of them -- Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods and Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations -- both of which meet on Wednesday. 

If you'd like more detail on anything summarized here, click the agenda, then click on the item. Over on the right side of the page, you'll see links to a staff report and other pieces of supporting material.

Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee -- Wednesday, Oct. 7

The PS&LN Committee meeting, chaired by Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe, begins at 9 a.m. The agenda consists of two pretty big items -- acquisition of two hotels for permanent supportive housing and the allocation of a substantial amount of federal COVID-19 response grant funding, plus three proposals to apply for and spend other state and federal grants. Details:

• Acquisition of Residence Inns in Mission Valley and Kearny Mesa: The PS&LN Committee will get the first look at a proposal from the San Diego Housing Commission to purchase two hotels and repurpose them as housing for people who are experiencing homelessness and require supportive services. The hotels are the Residence Inn Hotel Circle and the Residence Inn Kearny Mesa, which were selected after a review of 29 hotels. 

The Residence Inn Hotel Circle has two buildings with 192 units -- 152 with one bedroom and one bath, 24 with two bedrooms and one bath, and 16 with two bedrooms and two baths. The Residence Inn Kearny Mesa has 11 two-story buildings with 144 units -- 36 with two bedrooms and two baths and 108 studios with private baths. All units at both hotels have kitchenettes. Two of the two-bedroom units at each hotel will be used as managers’ units.

The Housing Commission has committed 332 housing vouchers to these projects, which will be able to house a total of 404 people. The Residence Inn Hotel Circle will cost $67 million, the Residence Inn Kearny Mesa $39.5 million. The purchases will be paid for through a mix of federal, state, and local funds. They'll cost roughly $4 million to operate.

• Federal CARES Act Funding: There have been multiple rounds of funding in various categories coming down to the City from the federal CARES Act, which Congress passed this past spring as a response to the pandemic. On Wednesday, the City's Economic Development Department will ask the committee to weigh in on a proposal to accept roughly $35 million in CARES Act funding and use it for the following purposes:
  • Operation Shelter to Home: This is the program under which the City is sheltering people experiencing homelessness at the San Diego Convention Center. About $4.8 million would be used to help pay for the program to continue from Oct. 15 through Dec. 15 (toatl cost: $11.4 million).
  • Emergency Rental Assistance Program: This is the program that provides assistance to families and individuals struggling to pay rent due to hardship caused by the pandemic. Under this proposal, up to $5 million would be invested in the program.
  • Bridge Shelters: Some $17 million would be used to support operations at the City's four bridge shelters for people experiencing homelessness, plus prevention and diversion services. 

Another $4.7 million would go to administration -- compliance, reporting, and planning.

This item will also include using about $3.2 million from a previous round of CARES Act funding to help transition clients from bridge shelters to permanent housing in the two hotels discussed above, as well as reactivate the City's pre-COVID-19 shelter system.

The remaining three items on the agenda involve authorizing the City to apply for and spend grant funding for these programs:

• DNA Capacity Enhancement for Backlog Reduction Grant Program: Increases the capacity of forensic DNA and DNA database laboratories to process more samples -- $300,000 from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance.
• Sexual Assault Evidence Grant Program: Expedites the processing of sexual assault evidence and increases testing capacity -- $138,204 from the California Department of Justice.
• Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Grant Program: Funds investigations into computer / technology crimes perpetrated against children and youth -- $2 million from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee -- Wednesday, Oct. 7

The ED&IR Committee meeting, chaired by Councilmember Chris Cate, begins at 2 p.m. The agenda comprises only informational presentations -- no action to be taken. Here's the skinny:

• Digital Equity Initiatives: The City's Department of Information Technology will fill the committee in on a series of initiatives -- collectively dubbed San Diego Access4All -- aimed at closing the digital divide in San Diego, where more than 53,000 households lack access to reliable, fixed broadband internet. To fund some of these efforts, the Council added $500,000 to the Mayor's original budget proposal for the fiscal year that began on July 1. The program includes:
  • San Diego Futures Foundation Partnership (donation of aging City computers for distribution to the community)
  • Digital Equity Working Group (a committee that explores methods of providing broadband service to low- and moderate-income communities)
  • Expanded Access at Public Libraries
  • New Access at Parks and Recreation Center Locations
  • Checking Out Cellular Wi-Fi Hotspots from Libraries
  • Federal Grant Application for Community Engagement and Pilot Projects in the Promise Zone (a 6.4-square mile area just south of State Route 94)
  • Increased Outreach Efforts

• Port of San Diego Update: Folks from the Port of San Diego will tell the committee how things are going on the waterfront in the time of COVID-19 and provide updates on programs including the Maritime Clean Air Strategy, Seaport Village Revitalization, Portside Pier, Port Master Plan Update, and Harbor Drive 2.0.
• Welcoming San Diego Update: Staff from the Department of Government Affairs will update the committee on Welcoming San Diego -- the City's initiative to advance the civic, social, and economic integration of immigrants and refugees -- and its Strategic Plan. The presentation will include an overview of the recommendations and objectives of the Welcoming San Diego plan, as well as a preview of how the plan will be implemented. 
• Inaugural 2020 Creative Economy Study Report: The committee will get a report from staff from the City's Arts and Culture Commission and Economic Development Department, as well as representatives from the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, on San Diego’s creative economy. This is the first comprehensive study of the economy surrounding San Diego's arts and culture sector, which employs more than 107,000 people and generates more than $11 billion in economic activity annually.

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Anyone can participate in these virtual meetings and make comments by dialing 619-541-6310 and entering the access code 877861 followed by # when the item you're interested in comes up (full call-in instructions). Watch the meetings on cable TV channel 24 or AT&T channel 99, or stream them online.

Next up will be a post on a special meeting of the Rules Committee scheduled for Friday, Oct. 9.

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