ONE REGION ONE FUTURE


POLICY


COMPETITIVENESS EDC continues its work with a coalition of business groups to provide a unified recommendation to the City of San Diego’s Task Force on Regional Revenues and Competitiveness. The Task Force will be sending its own recommendations to the City Council this summer regarding increasing City revenues and how best to enhance the region’s economic competitiveness. Additionally, coalition members met with individual City Council members to further emphasize the importance of the business community’s recommendations.


INFRASTRUCTURE


The Governor and water bond campaign leadership have decided to delay the $11-billion bond until November 2012. This decision was in direct response to dropping poll numbers and threats from public employee labor organizations to spend as much as $5 million to defeat the bond. While the bond will likely be delayed, the Governor emphasized that other components of the historic water legislation will move forward, such as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and governance issues.


Julie Meier Wright joined EDC investors and civic leaders advocating for final agreement to proceed with construction of a new Central Library. The final vote to proceed concludes a decades- long debate – and leverages tens of millions of dollars in state funding and private contributions to build a public facility that will both address the needs of downtown residents and further sustain downtown redevelopment.


EDC joined the San Diego Taxpayers Association, as well as environmental and business groups, in advancing a public outreach plan to educate the citizens of San Diego on the proposed Reservoir Augmentation Demonstration Plant (potable recycled water).


The EDC/Chamber Housing Task Force adopted a work plan to develop proposals for adoption by voters and candidates in the 2012 election related to housing construction. The plan calls for establishing infrastructure funding options, construction project review and land use planning reforms to be developed, and the establishment of working relationships with potential collaborators throughout 2010.


EDUCATION


EDC’s Jennifer Henry and David Almeida, along with EDC Director Mike Chapin and Chuck Flacks from the San Diego Workforce Partnership, attended Early Learning Advocacy Day in Sacramento, meeting with Assemblymembers Saldana and Block, staff of Senators Kehoe, Ducheny and Wyland and staff of Assemblymembers Fletcher and Garrick to discuss the importance of preschool and how it relates to long-term student achievement. Jennifer also moderated the Early Learning Quality Improvement System (ELQIS) San Diego town hall meeting to discuss recommendations for improving preschool programs throughout California. ELQIS was established by the state legislature in 2009 to examine current inefficiencies in various preschool systems and is hosting town hall meetings throughout the state.


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Q2 2010 Report to Investors and Regional Stakeholders


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