The county's evaluation of proposals to privatize its Information Technology system have entered the home stretch. The so-called "Best and Final Offers" from the three teams The Pennant Alliance led by Computer Sciences Corp., IBM San Diego Team led by IBM and the EDS Partnership for San Diego County led by EDS were submitted on Aug. 9. The Pennant Alliance was first in the door, delivering its documents, all 13 boxes, at 8 a.m.
    Nine evaluation teams are now taking apart the proposals and will soon present their reports to the Source Selection Committee headed by County CAO Walt Eckard. (The county declines to say how many people are on that committee.) The Source team will pick a finalist (maybe two) and then Eckard, as the Source Selection Authority, starts the down-and-dirty final negotiations. The target date to take a recommendation to county supervisors is Oct. 12. In order for that to happen, the item needs to be docketed by Sept. 27, at which time, presumably, Eckard will have made his pick. The winner gets a seven-year, $700 million contract with three option years and an incalculable amount of national status as San Diego County's ground-breaking effort is being closely watched by government agencies elsewhere.

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    Seeking a bigger slice of the local technology business, Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe is moving to San Diego two of its most experienced attorneys, Stephen C. Ferruolo and Alan Jacobs. Heller Ehrman opened its local office, which offers the services of 16 Ph.D.s, about a year ago.

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    Jeffrey Davidow, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, made the confession during a recent U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce reception held for him Downtown at Sempra Energy headquarters. He likes Mexican tequila and cigars. But hot, spicy food? Don't go there.
    Davidow cast doubt on whether San Diego would see a new airport at the border, an idea being revived after being explored and abandoned in the early 1990s after a surge of political opposition from South Bay residents and Tijuanans. But local citizens aren’t alone in their opposition, reports Davidow. "What we run into is resistance from U.S. immigration and customs," he says. The federal officials object to building a new airport without assurances of more funding to staff the new facility.
A career diplomat, Davidow has been ambassador to Mexico since July 21, 1998.

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    Capstone Advisors and joint venture partner Innovative Resort Communities have acquired 49 acres overlooking Rancho Santa Fe for the development of 23 luxury homes. Some pretty fancy homes will rise to justify the $9.5 million price, or about $413,000 per lot, the partners paid. Not to worry. Floor plans start at 5,500 square feet and prices at $1.6 million. Groundbreaking is next month; models open in May. The homes are part of the Cielo at Rancho Santa Fe masterplanned community.

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    The smoldering insider political issue in San Diego is the effort to put a "strong mayor" initiative on the March (maybe November 2000) ballot. And the public debate could prove grand. The San Diego Taxpayers Association is putting together a late-October forum at which former high-ranking civic officials will discuss the strong mayor. Schedules are still being coordinated, but the panel tentatively includes former mayors Pete Wilson, Roger Hedgecock and Maureen O'Connor, along with Mayor Golding, who is term-limited from seeking re-election. Also invited are John Witt, former city attorney, and Jack McGrory, former city manager. To get invited to listen, call the Taxpayers at (619) 234-6423.

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    So what’s at the heart of the strong mayor idea? The Taxpayers Association favors a city charter change that would immediately remove the mayor from the City Council and create a District 9 seat that initially would go to an at-large councilmember. In 2002, redistricting would create nine equal districts. The mayor's powers would include preparing and submitting a budget to the council. The council could make changes which the mayor could then veto. Overruling the mayor would take a two-thirds council vote. All new city laws would come from the council. Department heads would work for, and be hired by, the mayor. The fire chief, police chief and planning director also would require council approval. Because the race to replace Golding appears now almost wide open, Scott Barnett, the Taxpayers' executive director, says voters would be deciding on the concept and not granting new powers to a specific mayor.

    Qualcomm's chief executive, Irwin Jacobs, landed a star-treatment feature late last month in London's Sunday Times. The article is headlined "Mobile-phone prophet lets America catch up" and includes some older nuggets, like the original patent for the CDMA concept being taken out by Hedy Lamarr, the 1930s and 1940s film actress whose filming was inspired by the player piano. The feature also reminds us that sometimes even the Wall street Journal which once insinuated Jacobs had better sales skills than technology can get it wrong. Punch up www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/Sunday-Times/stibusnws01013.html?999 to give it a read.

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    First Bill Silva sells a stake in his Bill Silva Presents to Universal Concerts. Now, Universal Concerts, a unit of Seagram's Universal Music Group, is being acquired by House of Blues Entertainment Inc. What’s a promoter to do? "All I can say is we’re excited," Silva says by telephone from his new office in Hollywood. "They're innovators in technology and they have good corporate culture." No changes are expected in how Silva does business in San Diego, with HOB assuming Universal's role with regard to booking of San Diego State University's Cox Arena and Open Air Theatre. "It’s business as usual for us. House of Blues will be our new partner instead of Universal being our partner. The structure will be the same."
    Silva still will exclusively book Cox and the Open Air Theatre. He expects to learn more about the HOB purchase once it is completed late this month. "All I can speak of is my little part of the universe which is the partnership with Universal," he says.

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    A reorganization of the Downtown San Diego Superior Court is causing the shuffling of offices for 200 employees, seven judges and two commissioners. The move is part of presiding Judge Wayne L. Peterson's effort to streamline operations and make prisoner transfer safer. Most of the judges and commissioners already have moved, and the probate staff will move at the end of November, reports Marilyn Laurence, the court's public affairs officer.
    "The point is to better serve the public; there is no loss or gain for the Downtown courts," says Laurence. "By relocating the prisoner departments, they'll be closer to the holding area. It’s so we don’t have people in jail clothes, jurors and witnesses all mixed together in one hall. When we build the new criminal building, we’ll have dedicated prisoner access. We don’t have it in the Downtown facility."

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    The winner of a Centre City Development Corp. competition to design a new 400-space parking garage on Market Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues in the Gaslamp Quarter is Benson & Bohl Architects. Construction starts in January.

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    Defense spending may be edging down, but it remains a primary driver of San Diego’s economy, trailing only manufacturing. In 1998, defense spending was worth $9.32 billion to the local economy, down 1.1 percent from a year earlier and off 12.5 percent from the $10.29 billion peak in 1993. About half the local spending $4.66 billion went for military payrolls, reports the San Diego Chamber of Commerce. The county remains No. 1 in the nation for total military salaries. In terms of defense procurement contract awards, San Diego ranks seventh nationally, garnering contracts worth $2.39 billion in 1998, down 11.3 percent from 1997's total.

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    Dr. Eric Wenaas, CEO of Jaymark Inc., will keynote the Association for Corporate Growth's Sept. 21 breakfast meeting at the Marriott on La Jolla Village Drive. The program is titled "Creating Corporate Wealth From Core Technologies." Wenaas is an expert in nuclear weapons survivability. To be safe, Karen Gerry is taking reservations at (858) 794-4915. Cost is $35 for non-members.

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    Nearing its Sept. 21 reopening, the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park has landed a $25,000 donation from Cymer.

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    The Neighborhood House Assn. is planning its 85th anniversary dinner gala for Oct. 29 at Loews Coronado Bay Resort. Leon Williams chairs the event, which benefits the 32 programs run or assisted by NHA, including Head Start, the San Diego Food Bank, and mental health and job preparedness operations. Anna Allee and Suzanne Swift could use a few new sponsors for the party call (619) 235-4542. Platinum sponsors at $20,000 get two VIP tables for 20 guests, media exposure and recognition at the event. Bronze sponsors at $2,500 get five seats, media exposure, and less recognition. Individual tickets are $125.

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    Newly relocated to San Diego from Fort Collins, Colo., Voice It Worldwide designs, develops and markets portable electronic products that digitally record and store voice information. The company, assisted by Bruce Sanders, president of Coldwell Banker Commercial Associates, has moved into the RB Tech Center in Rancho Bernardo.

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    Have a great idea for a business-generating Website but lack the bucks to make it happen? Inspired Arts is partnering with Websitefinancing.com to help its clients land financing. Qualified applicants can finance between $5,000 and $1 million of Web work for up to five years. "The Internet is a medium that is known for leveling the playing field by helping small businesses compete effectively against Goliaths of any industry," explains Bryan S.J. Mallindine, CEO of Inspired Arts.

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    Downtown will get its annual 100-block fall cleaning Oct. 16 when volunteers join in the Adopt-A-Block '99 project, which also benefits city residents who need a Second Chance. Beginning with a 7 a.m. sign-in, participants will receive coffee, muffins and T-shirts in preparation for an 8 a.m. kickoff ceremony. Three hours of intense trash and weed removal will wind up with more refreshments and live music by Wesley and Uniq Funq following return of borrowed cleaning equipment. Block sponsors, which can be businesses or organizations, and individual volunteers should sign up by Oct. 1. A $100,000 goal has been set by sponsoring organization Second Chance, a nonprofit that provides jobs, housing and attitudinal training for those seeking to become self-sufficient. For information, call (619) 239-1003.

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    If it seems like there are more little kids around, it’s not your imagination. As classes resume this month, San Diego City Schools expect a record 141,000 students, up 2,300 from a year earlier. First graders are the biggest class.

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    EdUCate!, the University City Foundation for Public Schools, distributed more than $40,000 to the area's five public schools as a result of its 1998 grant program, reports President Sandra Arkin. Of the 58 grant requests received, EdUCate managed to fund 27 and keep expenses at just under 13 percent of income. Over the past five years, EdUCate has distributed more than $133,000 to improve education in the community.
    Paralleling the San Diego Unified School District's new focus on literacy, many of the funds were used for books. Other purchases included supplies for science, math, humanities, graphic arts and music projects. Moving along to the 1999 grant program, Taste of the Triangle, the foundation's annual fund-raiser, is scheduled for Nov. 18.

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    Odegard Labs, a research and consulting firm specializing in software reliability, begins offering this month courses on advanced software engineering practices. "Unreliable software is becoming a mainstream problem," says Frode L. Odegard, company chairman and CEO. "This is due to primitive software development practices. We are not happy simply with solving our customers' immediate problems, we want them to become better organizations as a result of working with us." The first course, Introduction to Formal Methods, is set for Sept. 27-28 at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. The instructor is research scientist Derek J. Andrews, author of several books on Formal Methods, including "A Theory and Practice of Program Development." For more information, click on www.odegard.com/courses.

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    The San Diego Aerospace Museum has a new Website www.aerospacemuseum.org that’s worth a flyby. But the best part, the virtual tour, should only be fully engaged by those who can bring to bear computers with lots of memory and beefy Internet connections.

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    Douglas E. Barnhart Inc. has occupied its new corporate headquarters in western Rancho Bernardo. More than 50 of Barnhart's 285 employees get to work in the two-story, 28,000-square-foot concrete tilt-up. The majority gets to work in the field.

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    Barnhart has won an $18.4 million contract to build a 966-space parking garage for UCSD at North Campus and Gilman Drive. Completion is expected in August 2000.

    Casa de Mañana, one of San Diego’s toniest senior housing complexes, is in the beginning stages of an $11 million rehab that includes demolishing 34 units to add 39 new ones in a three-story building. Ninteman Construction is running the project. Look for a November 2000 opening.

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    By the middle of this month, Roel Construction should wrap up a $543,000 renovation of a building at 5751 Pacific Center Drive that will become the Ericsson Training Center.

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    Roel Construction and Carnevale's Construction Management have landed the contract to transform the old VA building in Mission Valley into the new Plaza 2020.

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    The Mission Valley Christian Fellowship will ask the City Council Sept. 8 for permission to maintain a church in the former Cinema 21 theater on Hotel Circle North.

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    The McQuerterGroup is now handling marketing for San Diego Venture Group. Projects under way include the 1999-2000 Venture Group Directory, a press kit, monthly ads and p.r. The agency also will aid in the promotion and coordination of the annual Venture Capital Success Story of the Year event that takes place in January.

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    Earlier this summer, 60 aspiring filmworkers were given a crash course in the increasingly important field of digital editing. The Avid West Coast Summer Workshops Program, hosted by the San Diego Film Commission, gave local students and professionals the chance to learn and operate the Avid Media Composer.
    Workshop participants received three weeks of intensive training on state-of-the-art post-production technology. Taught by Avid certified instructors, the seminars allowed students to create edit reels, work with Adobe Photoshop software and gain confidence in their search for production work in the film industry.
    SDFC hosted the sessions including courses in Spanish in hopes of increasing the editing proficiency of the local labor pool and boosting San Diego’s presence in the competitive, and lucrative, industry.

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    The YWCA is now offering a Women's Family Law Center to provide reasonably priced uncontested divorce, paternity and order to show cause services. Call (619) 239-2341 for more information.

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    More than 50 members of the San Diego County Dental Society are providing custom-made mouth guards, at little or no cost, to athletes at more than 50 local high schools.

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    Acura has signed a four-year deal to sponsor the Acura Classic women's tennis tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa. The next tournament starts July 29.

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    FastTrac, a nationally acclaimed business practices program, is back. Run by the Foundation for Enterprise Development, the 11-week program meets one evening a week for three and a half hours at SAIC's Campus Point Complex. The $525 course is open only to business owners running companies with annual revenue of at least $500,000. The registration deadline is Sept. 24; classes start Oct. 4. Call (858) 459-4662 for information.

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    The Transportation Alliance of Greater San Diego, once known as the San Diego Transportation Management Association, is closing its doors.

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    Expanding its offerings, Maric College of Medical Careers is adding information technology courses to its curriculum and dropping "Medical Careers" from its name. The college also is pondering adding associate degree courses in criminal justice and early childhood development.

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    To keep tabs on the city's efforts to redevelop the former Naval Training Center, click on www.ci.san-diego.ca.us.

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    Newly promoted at the San Diego Housing Commission is Steve Mikelman, a 15-year employee who is now chief operating officer. The agency itself was recently honored for 20 years of service with a City Council resolution declaring "San Diego Housing Commission Day." Among the billions of dollars invested in San Diego, the commission has spent more than $600 million on rental assistance for poor families, the elderly and disabled. It also has issued $515 million of bonds to build 10,000 apartment units and developed and managed 1,860 units of public housing.

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    Pardee Homes has broken ground on the first phase of the 89-acre Ocean View Hills Corporate Center in the South Bay on Otay Mesa Road midway between I-805 and Brown Field. It’s designed for offices, light manufacturing and R&D.

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    Free copies of "The Ultimate Guide to Breast Cancer, for Newly Diagnosed Women and Their Loved Ones" will be available next month in local department stores, offices, hospitals, bookstores, beauty salons and health food stores. Sandicast owner Sandra Brue paid for the San Diego-only guide.

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    Sally Hazzard received Lockheed Martin Corp.'s prestigious NOVA Award for pioneering a welfare-to-work program in San Diego that has placed 2,000 welfare recipients in jobs. Lockheed Martin employs 165,000 people, and recognized 10 of them at a black-tie affair in Washington, D.C.

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    Jim West, founder of West & Associates, CPAs and consultants, has been named to the board of Support Center/Executive Service Corps, a non-profit organization providing management assistance to nonprofits throughout Southern California. Since 1984, it has trained 40,000 people to run their organizations better.

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    On his 10th anniversary with the Beck-Ellman Agency, Vince Heald has been named a principal. The La Mesa p.r. and ad agency is now called Beck-Ellman-Heald. Beverly Beck Ellman and husband Dennis Ellman remain principals. Heald also got a raise. Clients include Brandes Investment Partners, Knorr Candle Factory, Classic Residence by Hyatt, Sami Ladeki Enterprises, Reproductive Partners Medical Group and UCSD Health Plans.

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    Signing on as co-chairs of next May's American Heart Association's 11th annual Royal Heart Ball are Scody and Bonnie Hage. He's the famous senior v.p. at Scripps Bank; she's an active philanthropist. Having served as co-vice chairs last year, they know what they're getting into.

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    USIU is teaming with Centre de Esenanza Tecnica y Superior in Mexicali to lead the offering of binational doctoral programs for faculty development in Mexico and along the border. Funding the start of the program was a $12,500 grant from the American Council on Education and the Associacion de Universidades e Instituciones de Educacion Superior, which is ACE's Mexican counterpart.

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    Looking to stage the ultimate millennium wedding? Hornblower Cruises & Events has a $199,999.99 package that includes everything from the gown to a six-day honeymoon at a five-star hotel on Maui. The Dec. 31 package also features the services of a wedding specialist, a pre-wedding dinner for 30 on Dec. 30, platinum wedding bands and guest favors from Tiffany's, dinner and a yacht cruise/reception on San Diego Bay for 100, hosted premium bar and a great seat for the evening's fireworks.