Another New Face at SEDC

Published: Friday, September 5, 2008 4:17 PM PDT

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The Mayor's Office just announced it will be appointing a fifth new member to the board of directors of the Southeastern Economic Development Corp.

Delores McNeely will replace board member Sharon Whitehurst-Payne, whose term has expired. McNeely is currently senior vice president and sales executive at Union Bank of California.

She also serves on various local boards, including the Urban Financial Services Coalition-San Diego Chapter, Lyceum Theater, Martin Luther King, Jr. Foundation and San Diego Economic Development Task Force.

Four other new board members were approved by the City Council earlier this week, leading City Council members to herald the beginning of a new era for the agency.

McNeely's appointment will have to be confirmed by the City Council.

If she is confirmed, that would leave four of the nine board members who oversaw SEDC at the time that the bonus scandal hit.

Of those four remaining members of the old SEDC board, three have expired terms, but Councilmen Ben Hueso and Tony Young have asked the mayor to extend their terms.

Those three, Rich Geisler, D. Cruz Gonzalez and Derryl Williams, have all been active in recent months in trying to reform the troubled agency, which is still reeling from a scandal over more than $1 million in hidden bonuses paid to staff and the firing of its president, Carolyn Y. Smith.