Mayor-elect Kevin Faulconer on Friday introduced a 32-member committee that will help him make the transition from councilman to head of San Diego's municipal government.
Faulconer defeated fellow Councilman David Alvarez, 54.4 to 45.6 percent, in Tuesday's runoff election. He is expected to be inaugurated on March 3.
Full List Of Transition Advisory Committee
Tony Young (co-chair), CEO, American Red Cross San Diego and Imperial Counties Chapter
Steve Cushman (co-chair), Vice-Chair, Board of Directors, San Diego Convention Center
Faith Bautista, President and CEO, National Asian American Coalition
Sam Bedwell, Administrator, San Diego American African Coalition
Father Joe Carroll, Founder, Father Joe’s Villages
Sharon Cloward, President, San Diego Port Tenants Association
Aimee Faucett, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
Rear Admiral Ronne Froman, U.S. Navy Ret.
Bill Geppert, former Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cox Communications
Adbur-Rahim Hameed, President and CEO, National Black Contractors Association
Dan Hom, President and CEO, Focuscom Inc.; Chair of the Advisory Board, Asian Business Association, San Diego
Jennifer Jacobs, Owner, Sunshine Strategy
Susan Jester, Founder, AIDS Walk San Diego
Byeong Dae Kim, Chairman, Korean-American Association of San Diego; President, Korean Chamber of Commerce
Pastor Rickey Laster, New Assurance Baptist Church
Blanca Lopez Brown, Teacher
Lani Lutar, Executive Director, Equinox Center
William D. Lynch, Founder, The William D. Lynch Foundation for Children
Tony Manolatos, President, By George Strategies
Brian Marvel, President, San Diego Police Officers Association
Kris Michell, President and Chief Executive Officer, Downtown San Diego Partnership
Vincent E. Mudd, Principal and Chief Operating Officer, Carrier Johnson + Culture
Nicole Murray-Ramirez, Human Rights Commissioner
Bob Nelson, Chairman, Unified Port of San Diego
Joseph D. Panetta, President and Chief Executive Officer, BIOCOM
Kristen Victor, Founder, Sustainability Matters
Pastor Walter G. Wells, Mt. Erie Baptist Church
Barbara Ybarra, Owner, Ybarra Company
Michael Zucchet, General Manager, San Diego Municipal Employees Association
Ure Kretowicz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cornerstone Communities
Leslie Kilpatrick, President, San Diego Association of Realtors
Russ Thurman, owner of Gould Electric Inc.
The committee, which will meet weekly over the next two months, will be co-chaired by Steve Cushman, vice chairman of the San Diego Convention Center Corp. Board of Directors, and former councilman Tony Young, who is now CEO of the San Diego and Imperial counties chapter of the American Red Cross.
"You represent the best of San Diego," Faulconer told committee members at a news conference. "You're here because you believe in this city."
The group is named the "One San Diego Transition Advisory Committee" because it contains representatives from every community, he said.
Among the members are homeless advocate Father Joe Carroll, retired Navy Rear Adm. Ronne Froman, retired Cox Communications General Manager Bill Geppert, architecture and design firm principal Vince Mudd and longtime LGBT activist Nicole Murray-Ramirez.
Also on the team is Michael Zucchet, a former councilman and now head of the San Diego Municipal Employees Association. Public employee unions strongly backed Alvarez during the election campaign.
Zucchet said Faulconer has shown an ability to put politics aside in the past and work for solutions to city problems.
"This is a great start; of course the proof will be in the pudding and the substance of the issues facing San Diego for the next couple of years," Zucchet said. "I'm very optimistic and I wouldn't be willing to be a part of this if I didn't think Kevin was looking for solutions instead of reliving a campaign."
The committee will help organize Faulconer's administration and open lines of communication with interested parties, like city employees, but won't get into the details of contract negotiations or the mayor-elect's desire to resume bidding-out city functions, Zucchet said.
The committee roster also includes Brian Marvel, who heads the San Diego Police Officers Association, three members of the clergy, leaders of theAsian and black business communities and teacher Blanca Lopez Brown.
Late in the afternoon, Faulconer added Ure Kretowicz, chairman and CEO of Cornerstone Communities, to the committee, along with Leslie Kilpatrick, president of the San Diego Association of Realtors, and Russ Thurman, the owner of Gould Electric Inc.
