San Diego Summarized | 3-5-18
Welcome to San Diego Summarized where each week we examine headlines from around the city
First up is the news that San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliot's office has concluded its analysis of the Friends of SDSU West Citizens Initiative. The analysis opens with the caveat that, "the Initiative is difficult to analyze because there are so many uncertainties, including:
- the purchaser of the Existing Stadium Site, which could be either SDSU or a non-governmental entity,
- the terms of a Purchase and Sale Agreement that would be negotiated between the City and the purchaser,
- what development plan will be adopted for the Site after the sale,
- the content of the environmental review for the proposed development, including project impacts and mitigation measures,
- the remedies available if the purchaser does not comply with the terms of the Initiative; and
- whether the State's development regulations and processes would apply to the Site after the sale, rather than the City's."
KUSI broke the story early Monday morning, drawing attention to the findings in the analysis that indicate some of the more glaring loopholes in the initiative. Namely, the approval of the initiative does not mandate the site be sold to SDSU, the development outlined is not mandatory, there is nothing guaranteeing a new stadium and there is no funding for a river park by the purchasing party built into the Initiative.
BREAKING: The @CityAttorneySD has issued her legal analysis of the @SDSU West initiative. The initiative does not include specific plans to develop a stadium. Watch: https://t.co/wiPZoZ7BHw pic.twitter.com/QGQHy6LA5p
— KUSI News (@KUSINews) March 5, 2018
Downtown development agency Civic San Diego was in the eye of the storm this past week when the president, Reese Jarrett, abruptly announced his retirement on Wednesday the 28th of February.
According to the Voice of San DIego, "a lawsuit filed by Murtaza Baxamusa, a former Civic San Diego board member affiliated with the county’s largest construction workers union, is driving the agency’s problems — and may have helped encourage its leader’s retirement. Over the course of his lawsuit, Baxamusa has unearthed a batch of concerns from four current and former Civic San Diego emloyees. That has given him newfound leverage in a long-running push to weaken, kill or at least reform the nonprofit agency."
VoSD's Scott Lewis and Andy Keatts discuss the issue in more detail in the latest Voice of San Diego Podcast. Also included in the podcast is an interview Ken Malbrough, a retired firefighter running for San Diego Country Supervisor.
On Tuesday, the immediate fate of San Diego's largest company will be revealed. Qualcomm has been under siege by rival company Broadcom for months now, with the Irvine based company nominating six alternative candidates to challenge Qualcomm’s existing directors with an eye towards completing its $117 billion bid.
“We would not attempt to call the vote but suspect it will be close and believe Broadcom is likely to win at least some board seats -- even if their quest for a majority fails,” said Stacy Rasgon, an analyst with Bernstein Research.
CEO of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation Mark Cafferty took to the Union Tribune to weigh in with a commentary on what Qualcomm means to San Diego.
"A recent economic impact analysis conducted by San Diego Regional EDC found that Qualcomm added $4.9 billion in economic activity to the San Diego region in 2017 alone — the equivalent of hosting 35 San Diego Comic-Cons. Additionally, every job at Qualcomm supports an additional 1.8 jobs in the San Diego region," writes Cafferty.
The assumption is that were Broadcom to be successful in its hostile takeover, the company would eliminate jobs and re-assign several of the projects Qualcomm is currently committed to.
UPDATE: On Monday morning, the United States government national security panel ordered Qualcomm to delay its Tuesday meeting, citing national security risks.
