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From an email to subscriber's of the Mayors Office e-Updates...

	I rarely comment on articles that appear in the newspaper. But there are exceptions to the rule and today is one of them. An article that appeared in this morning's Union-Tribune grossly misrepresents the progress that our Real Estate Assets Department (READ) has made on lease renegotiations. The story addressed 6 leases in Mission Bay Park. To develop a better understanding of our strategy regarding these leases, it's important to first look at the city's entire leasehold portfolio. The City of San Diego administers a total of 657 ground leases citywide. The total revenue from these 657 leases during the current fiscal year is projected to be $68.4 million dollars. When I came into office, there were 139 leases that were in holdover status, meaning that they had gone on a month to month arrangement. To date, READ has successfully renegotiated 48 of these leases. I have been very clear about the mess that we inherited and I have said repeatedly that everything would not get done overnight. So, READ, with my blessing has focused first and foremost on renegotiating those holdover leases that will generate the most income for the city. We have made very impressive progress in our Real Estate Assets Department. That progress was recognized just last week by the Grand Jury. With that perspective, let me now address the outstanding leases in Mission Bay Park. In a park with 28 leases, only 6 are in holdover status. These 6 leases render total revenue of $280,000 per year. Let me restate that - these leases render revenue of $280,000 per year. This amount equals approximately one-half of 1 percent of the City's total lease revenues, and approximately 1 percent of the revenues of the leases from Mission Bay. When you compare that $280,000 to our total lease portfolio revenue of $68.4 million, you can appreciate my frustration for how horribly the paper today distorted the issue especially in light of our strategy to renegotiate the most lucrative leases first. We are making very good progress on this issue. Would I prefer that we be able to immediately renegotiate every lease? Absolutely. But I also know that this is not possible. I am proud of the progress that we have made. Given the challenge I inherited, I think we have used sound judgment in prioritizing the workload.