SUBJECT
Title
GENERAL SERVICES - APPROVE LEASE AMENDMENT FOR THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE IN SAN DIEGO, AND NOTICE OF EXEMPTION (DISTRICT: 2)
Body
OVERVIEW
On September 24, 2019 (12) the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved a lease for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office (Sheriff) to house the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, located in San Diego. HIDTA is a federally funded grant program that the Sheriff works closely with to reduce drug trafficking in our region. Due to the nature of HIDTA’s funding, Sheriff acts as the program’s fiduciary and entered into a lease on their behalf.
Similarly, the Sheriff acts as a fiduciary for another grant funded program called the San Diego Law Enforcement Coordination Center (SD-LECC). SD-LECC serves as HIDTA’s Investigative Support Center. It also serves as the Regional Threat Assessment Center for San Diego and Imperial counties and is part of the California State Threat Assessment System. SD-LECC currently operates out of a building in San Diego leased by another government agency. That lease expires this year, and the plan is for SD-LECC to relocate to HIDTA’s office.
On October 22, 2024 (14), the Board approved, in principle, the lease of space for SD-LECC. Staff have negotiated an amendment to the HIDTA lease to expand their premises and allow SD-LECC to collocate with them. The SD-LECC leased space is and will continue to be paid with federal grant funds. Today’s request is for Board approval of the lease amendment.
RECOMMENDATION(S)
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
1. Find the proposed lease for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15301.
2. Approve and authorize the Director, Department of General Services, to execute the proposed lease amendment for the premises located in San Diego.
EQUITY IMPACT STATEMENT
The proposed lease amendment for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office will contribute positively to the community by limiting threats to the county through a multi-agency collaboration, which provides monitoring of potential threats 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT STATEMENT
Implementing effective sustainability objectives is crucial to ensuring safe and healthy communities and contributing to the overall success of the region. The approval of the lease amendment to expand the premises for use by the San Diego Law Enforcement Coordination Center supports the County of San Diego’s Strategic Initiative of Sustainability to ensure the capability to respond to immediate needs for individuals, families, and the region.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds for this request are included in the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Operational Plan for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office. If approved, this request will result in costs and revenues of approximately $94,220 ($49,242 for the original space and $44,978 for expanded space) in monthly rent through June 2026, based on an estimated lease amendment commencement date of May 15, 2026 and a cost of living adjustment effective June 2026. The funding source is grant revenue from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, and all on-going and related costs will be fully recovered by the grant. The annual rent with a 3% escalator will be included in future operational plans. There will be no change in net General Fund cost and no additional staff years.
BUSINESS IMPACT STATEMENT
N/A
Details
ADVISORY BOARD STATEMENT
N/A
BACKGROUND
In after-action review of circumstances leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks identified several gaps in intelligence and coordination across agencies, including challenges in information sharing and limited analytical capabilities, which further highlighted the need for stronger local, state, and federal collaboration. In response, local law enforcement established the San Diego Law Enforcement Coordination Center (SD-LECC), where threats could be analyzed and data shared.
The SD-LECC is funded through the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) whose primary focus is on reducing overdose deaths in San Diego County and stopping the flow of drugs into San Diego County. Through collaborative partnership among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, SD-LECC focuses on enhancing coordination, information sharing, regional preparedness, training, and investigative support for first responders and other partners in the region. The SD-LECC's mission is to protect the people and infrastructure of San Diego and Imperial Counties from criminal activity, terrorism, violent extremism and potential hazards by effective information sharing and timely/relevant analysis and dissemination of intelligence to local state, tribal and federal partners. They also work with all San Diego County School Districts to safeguard students, teachers, and administrators against all threats of violence. None of the work performed by the SD-LECC or the HIDTA involves immigration enforcement and federal partners in the SD-LECC leased space have no access to local databases or information; rather the systems are used by local authorities for access to federal databases in solving local crimes. An example would be if a homicide suspect from San Diego County crossed the border, authorities could access the federal databases to identify where the homicide suspect crossed, when they crossed, find any photos, and/or develop any other investigative leads that would help locate the suspect and bring the suspect back to the United States for arrest and prosecution.
On September 24, 2019 (12) the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved a lease for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office (Sheriff) to house the HIDTA program, located in San Diego. Due to the nature of HIDTA’s funding, the Sheriff’s Office acts as the program’s fiduciary and entered into a lease on their behalf. The Sheriff also acts as a fiduciary for the SD-LECC, which serves as HIDTA’s Investigative Support Center.
SD-LECC and its 83 staff currently operates out of an office in San Diego that is leased by Federal Bureau of Investigations. That lease expires this year, and a replacement location is needed. There is currently no vacant leased or owned County of San Diego space that can accommodate SD-LECC.
On October 22, 2024 (14), the Board approved, in principle, the lease of space for SD-LECC. Staff have negotiated an amendment to the HIDTA lease to expand their premises and allow SD-LECC to collocate with them. The lease amendment will expand the premises by 7,499 square feet without requiring an extension to the existing lease term. The Sheriff will be reimbursed by federal grant funds for all expenses associated with this lease amendment. Despite lease funds originating from grant monies, HIDTA has obligated enough funds set-aside in the grant to anticipate the lease expansion to accommodate SD-LECC as well as reassurances for the remainder of the lease contract term should federal funding become reduced over the course of the next four years when the contract concludes in 2030.
Further details of the amendment are provided below.
|
LEASE PROVISION |
CURRENT LEASE |
PROPOSED AMENDMENT |
|
LESSOR |
Stonecrest CA Owner LLC |
No change |
|
PREMISES |
7,689 square feet |
15,188 square feet |
|
TERM |
125 months |
No change |
|
ORIGINAL COMMENCEMENT DATE |
May 4, 2020 |
No change |
|
OPTIONS TO EXTEND |
One five-year option |
No change |
|
EARLY TERMINATION |
None |
No change |
|
RENT ADJUSTMENTS |
3% annual increase |
No change |
|
UTILITIES |
Lessor pays |
No change |
|
CUSTODIAL |
Lessor pays |
No change |
|
MAINTENANCE |
Lessor pays |
No change |
|
MONTHLY OCCUPANCY COST Rent Utilities Custodial Maintenance TOTAL MONTHLY OCCUPANCY COST |
$31,198 ($4.06/sq. ft.) $0 $0 $0 $31,198 ($4.06/sq. ft.) |
$59,694 ($3.93/sq. ft.) $0 $0 $0 $59,694 ($3.93/sq. ft.) |
ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT
The proposed lease amendment is categorically exempt from environmental review pursuant to Section 15301 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines because it involves amending an existing lease for use of an existing building and parking area, involving negligible or no expansion of the existing use. The project is not subject to any of the exceptions to the Categorical Exemptions listed in Section 15300.2 of the CEQA Guidelines. See Attachment A for Notice of Exemption.
LINKAGE TO THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO STRATEGIC PLAN
Today’s proposed action to approve the lease amendment for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office supports the Community Initiative in the County of San Diego’s 2026-2031 Strategic Plan by providing services that support safe communities.
Respectfully submitted,
ebony n. shelton
Chief Administrative Officer
ATTACHMENT(S)
Attachment A: Notice of Exemption