As part of an effort to reform the troubled Southeastern Economic Development Corp., San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has appointed four replacements to the agency's nine-member board of directors.
The appointments, which are subject to confirmation by the City Council, are: Gina Champion-Cain, president and CEO of American National Investments; Vernon Evans, vice president, finance/treasurer of the San Diego Regional Airport Authority; Richard Lawrence, managing coordinator of San Diego Works for a Better Health; and Simon Wong, founder and president of Simon Wong Engineering.
The four appointees would replace four sitting board members – Kea Hagan, Charles Simpson, Artie “Chip” Owen and Randy Jones – all of whom voted to retain Owen as chairman.
Sanders plans to replace a total of eight SEDC trustees, who have been serving expired terms. The City Council is scheduled to confirm the appointees when it returns from its summer recess early next month.
If confirmed, the new trustees will serve for three years, until May 2011.
The SEDC is a quasi-independent nonprofit city agency responsible for revitalizing 7.2 square miles of neighborhoods east of downtown San Diego. The nonprofit works under contract with the City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency.
The agency has been under intense scrutiny because of questions surrounding its budget and compensation practices. Under pressure from Sanders and some City Council members, the SEDC board fired its longtime president, Carolyn Smith, last month.
