Judge Jeanine Pirro takes on the mother of the Boston bombing suspects. It’s absolutely worth a read…

In New York Harbor stands a mighty woman with a torch, beckoning the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, and the wretched refuse from tempest tossed shores to her as she lifts her lamp beside the golden door.

And they were by all accounts just that — a family fleeing a tyrannical government.  A family seeking political asylum.  The very people to whom that mighty woman holds out her welcoming torch.

Craig Gustafson’s excellent piece in last Sunday’s U-T San Diego, exposing the secret and inept campaign to smear Carl DeMaio and derail his mayoral bid, appears to contain a flaw that deserves a mention.

One of the key players involved in the clandestine campaign is Gerry Braun, who was then a top aide to Mayor Jerry Sanders and an early Nathan Fletcher supporter. Before moving to the mayor’s office, Braun worked at the U-T, for many years as one of the area’s most prominent and respected political writers. He is a former colleague of both Gustafson and Michael Smolens, the U-T political editor who Gustafson reports to. Braun and Smolens are apparently longtime friends and Smolens was Braun’s editor for a time.

A proposed amendment to the County of San Diego’s parking regulations is raising concerns due to the significant increases in the number of parking spaces that would be required of churches.

A Board of Supervisors’ hearing is scheduled tomorrow (Item 2 on the Agenda), February 6 at 9 a.m., for consideration of an ordinance amendment, “Improving the County’s Off-Street Parking Regulations.”

According to Ron Harper Jr. of Harper Communities, the proposed changes would increase the current requirement of one parking space for every four church seats to .40 spaces per seat (1.6 spaces for every four seats), a sixty percent increase in the required number of spaces.  Yet, he further points out that private clubs with lodges and halls are only required to have 0.35 and conference centers only 0.25 spaces per seat.

Bob Filner reacted to today’s announcement of Carl DeMaio’s latest endorsement with, “It’s unfortunate Jerry Sanders was put in the position of endorsing a person for whom he clearly has so little respect.”

The level of the mayor’s respect for DeMaio may be argued, of course. Yet, it would follow that Filner is among those for whom Sanders has less respect. Clearly.

Doh.

As for the culprit responsible for Sanders being “put in the position,” the logical conclusion is Filner. Or, Bob’s politics.

Double Doh.

Assemblyman Marty Block today voted against a reform that would allow school boards to expedite the process of firing a teacher who commits a criminal act against a student.

Republican Assemblyman Steve Knight presented amendments to Senate Bill 1458, legislation related to school accountability, to incorporate the language of Senate Bill 1530, authored by Democratic State Senator Alex Padilla. The Padilla bill is bipartisan legislation that would expedite the process of dismissing teachers in cases involving sex abuse, drugs, or violence against children. Marty Block and Assembly Democrats voted to block the reform.

Message from Filner consultant apparently sent to Fletcher donor list

Yesterday, an email was sent from political consultant Tom Shepard with the subject, “Our city needs Nathan Fletcher.”

Darn email service again, delivering two-months-old messages stuck on a server somewhere. I hate when that happens.

But, various others also received the email last night, with a handful forwarding it to Rostra.

A harder look showed the original email touting Fletcher was indeed sent yesterday, August 2 from “Tom Shepard, Chief Strategist” using info@bobfilnerformayor.com.  The same Shepard who consulted Fletcher leading up to the June mayoral primary, then made headlines starting two nights ago by breaking any supposed ties he had with local Republicans by going to work for Democrat Bob Filner in the runoff.

The move to the middle is no longer about some on the right moving in that direction.  It’s now about a lifelong died-in-the-wool Democrat like Bob Filner going there. He’s learned that running as a left-winger in a hugely partisan Congressional district is a world (and city) much different than the retail politics of a mayoral contest.

Now it’s becoming clear to what extent Filner will appear to move right to become San Diego’s chief retailer.

Today’s print edition of the U-T San Diego (online yesterday) includes a story about the “domino effect” a Juan Vargas congressional victory would (will) have on those potentially vying for his current Senate seat, the area’s Assembly seat should Ben Hueso win in a Senate contest, and down the line to San Diego City Council.  Names like labor leader Lorena Gonzalez and Councilman David Alvarez are mentioned.

Read the U-T piece here.

Rostra pretty much provided the same scenarios over three months ago, in late March. My blog entry was called “Vargas Dominos.”

You may read the Rostra post here.

From U-T San Diego editorial about Nathan Fletcher:

These are important questions because the answers will tell us whether we are dealing with a man of principle who as mayor would stand up for what he believes without concern for the political fallout, or just the opposite – a man who is merely angling for political advantage without concern for the principles many of us thought we shared with him.

We don’t yet know the answer.

The entire editorial is linked here.

You know, it wasn’t that long ago, about a year at most, even more recently in the minds of many, when the nearly presumptive leader in the San Diego mayor’s race, assuming she would run, was Bonnie Dumanis.

That was one sentence, but maybe it covers all that needs to be said.

Just what the heck is the County Republican Party doing in exacerbating a feud with Nathan Fletcher?  Am I wrong in thinking the Fletcher campaign must be loving the shots being taken at them? That Fletcher must appreciate the party feeding his message?

Fletcher’s payment obligations for an event he attended are a different matter; that’s not the issue.

If State Senator Juan Vargas wins a Congressional matchup against former State Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny (and others), it will result in a vacant Senate seat.

Assemblyman Ben Hueso lives in Vargas’ Senate district.

If Hueso were to run and win a special election for Senate, it would create a vacancy in his Assembly seat.

So, who would run for Assembly?

Lorena Gonzalez, secretary-treasurer of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, recently moved into a community that overlaps the new 80th Assembly district, where Hueso is seeking reelection.*

The Metropolitan Transit System board of directors this Thursday will consider putting in place a police force. State law allows transit agencies to employ police officers, meaning in addition to security personnel (the latter of which MTS clearly has in place). These officers must have the same training as sworn cops with any police department.

Item 31 on this week’s agenda, titled “Establish MTS Police Force for the Purpose of Appointing a Chief of Police,” sounds a little strange, however. Scroll to page 61 of the online agenda packet to see that the board will consider 1) establishing a police force, and 2) authorizing the appointment of a police chief.

Today the San Diego POA announced its support for Nathan Fletcher in the San Diego mayoral contest.

Considering the assumption by many that D.A. Bonnie Dumanis would rake in the bulk of the big law enforcement endorsements, that’s a nugget for Fletcher.

See the press release here.

Seriously, the only news possibly bigger than that would be the Deputy DAs not endorsing Dumanis.

Also, this just in, an informal poll of Bob Filner’s staff members shows them to be supporting their guy for mayor.

Carl and Nathan, if your staffers end up supporting you, please let us know.
_____

Oh, this is not to discount the fact that the DDAs do have a PAC with funds to support those they endorse.

This in from SD Rostra friend and Taxpayer Advocate Jennifer Kerns:

Governor Jerry Brown is pushing an eleventh-hour Tax increase in final days of Legislative session.

The Governor and his Democrat allies in the Legislature are pushing to eliminate business owners’ ability to choose which formula they calculate their Tax liabilities with. If this passes, it will be devastating to business owners in California – who are already struggling to survive. Now, Jerry Brown is working hard to get key Republicans to flip and support his Tax plan.

In what can only be described as a San Diego mayoral campaign continuing to sputter while searching for a focus (any focus), yesterday Bonnie Dumanis announced that she flip-flopped her position on the Comprehensive Pension Reform Initiative. She is now in support.

Not only did her position change for no apparent reason other than she figures she can’t win while opposing CPRI, she also used Nathan Fletcher’s rationale for support of the measure.

Just before the opening of this year’s Del Mar Fair, Gov. Jerry Brown’s staff hurriedly rushed to inform three long-time Del Mar Fair Board members their services would no longer be required: Chairman Barry Nussbaum, Kelly Burt, and Vivian Hardage.  All three are Republicans.

A controversy is now swirling around the dismissals, and there’s a whiff of Sen. Christine Kehoe’s influence in the air.  The terms of seven of the nine fair board members have expired, but only the three prominent Republicans were selected to be removed from the board precisely at the time when board members’ support is most needed: the opening of the fair.

During the June 2010 primary, 36th district State Senate candidate Jeff Stone was caught red-handed failing to comply with campaign finance laws by not reporting contributions over $1,000 within the mandated 24-hour period, all received in the final days of the election.  As a reminder, we’re not just talking about a couple of donations here.  Stone’s campaign admitted to receiving 69 donations from 57 donors totaling $156,000 that were not disclosed, with compliance only taking place once it was exposed publicly.

See the Press Enterprise Blog post in which the Stone campaign admits the failure to comply.