Posts Tagged ‘San Diego County Taxpayers Association’
Pension Reform Panel
SDCTA Breakfast Panel: The Future of Pension Reform: What’s Next?
| Date: | Thursday, March 14, 2013 |
| Time: | 7:00 AM – 9:00 AM |
Organizer: San Diego County Taxpayers Association
Sponsor: REFORM San Diego
Panelists Include:
Carl DeMaio – Founder and Chairman of Reform San Diego
Hon. Jan Goldsmith – San Diego City Attorney
Tim Davis – Partner at Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP
Public Pensions: What to Expect in 2013
Courtesy of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association
The San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA) is keeping a close eye on several significant changes to public employee pensions expected to impact state and local governments starting next year.
Several stem from Assembly Bill 340, or “Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013.” The bill, recently signed by Governor Jerry Brown, impacts new state and local public employees enrolled in CalPERS and the pension benefits they receive. SDCTA prepared a brief summary comparing the changes to current law, as well as to initial pension reforms Governor Brown suggested.
Propositions AA, EE: Endorsing Organization’s Bias Questioned
The San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA) has been considered by public opinion polls to be the leading public policy organization for over sixty years. Dr. Gary Gonsalves, M.D. , the founder of volunteer-led taxpayer advocacy group Stop Taxing Us claims that the SDCTA has an inherent conflict of interest, when analyzing and endorsing school bond issues, because of its member/funders (many of which are construction companies). Gonsalves stood alone, questioning this alleged cronysim but his voice was amplified today by San Diego’s largest media outlet, UT San Diego:
Faulconer Speaks Out Against Proposal to Increase Pension Debt
San Diegans voted for Comprehensive Pension Reform to fix the pension problem now. In fact, much of the City of San Diego’s financial turnaround over the past few years is attributable to local leaders taking the bull by the horns and not putting off difficult choices to future generations.
Today, Kevin Faulconer continued to speak out against a plan that would postpone the City’s full pension payments and run up its pension debt by $335 million. Faulconer appeared on the Rodger Hedgecock Show to reiterate that issuing so-called pension obligation bonds — an idea most recently floated by mayoral candidate Bob Filner — is unnecessary and a step in the wrong direction. A recent analysis released by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association revealed this risky maneuver would cost millions of dollars that could otherwise be invested in San Diego neighborhoods.
San Diego Unified is Poway By The Sea
San Diego Politics & Media Mashup
Cross-posted at FlashReport
I want to highlight a story in Thursday’s U-T San Diego: “Tax Group to Oppose San Diego School Bonds” It’s worth your attention because it does a nice job of laying out a financial crisis similar to the one in Poway that has received national attention.
In short, the San Diego Unified School District is Poway By The Sea.
In Poway, a $105 voter-approved tax is going to cost $1 billion to pay back. In San Diego, Proposition S, which voters approved four years ago for $2.1 billion, is going to end up costing $10 to $14 billion with interest. That’s not a typo.
Financial Plan? San Diego Unified School District says we don’t need no stinkin’ financial plan!
Recent revelations about high-interest, long term financing of a school bond measure by the Poway Unified School District cannot have escaped the attention of a single school official in San Diego, the state of California, or nationwide for that matter. Citizens are outraged and sounding off. Watchdog groups are calling for reforms that would prevent this type of financing scheme on future bond measures.
But it appears San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Bill Kowba isn’t too concerned about that pesky fine print. On Tuesday, KGTV 10 News investigative reporter Mitch Blacher interviewed Kowba about the District’s $2.8 billion Proposition Z school bond measure, which will be on the November ballot.
Last Major Mayoral Debate – Today
The San Diego Association of REALTORS® (SDAR), one of my clients, is hosting the last major mayoral debate.
- When: Wednesday, May 30
- Time: Registration & VIP Reception at 11AM; Lunch at 11:45AM; Debate at 12:15PM
- Location: Town & County Conference Center in Mission Valley.
- Debate is in the Golden Pacific Ballroom. VIP Reception is for media, candidates and guests and is in Royal Palm Salon 5.
This should be an exceptional debate since it’s so close to Election Day, June 5.
At Least the Fleece Awards Were Cute: SDCTA Hands Out 2012 Goldens
Smart governing decisions saving taxpayer dollars and collaborative initiatives took top honors, while cavalier attitudes and lost opportunities were called out and shamed at the San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA)’s 17th annual Goldens Awards Dinner, held at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center in Mission Valley.
Remote controls were nowhere in sight as the evening’s theme “Taxpayer TV: We Can’t Make This $#!% Up!” entertained the appreciative audience who shared the details of the exclusive video parodies highlighting the program via social media. As in past programs, elected officials, members of the news media and other public figures willingly humiliated themselves in a good-natured send-up of the year in government news and achievements in San Diego.
Belly Up To The Bar 2: The Official Goldens Drinking Game
Just in time could be my life’s mantra. I am reminded by Thor’s Assistant that no Official Drinking Game has been devised for tonight’s epic 17th annual San Diego County Taxpayers Golden Fleece and Watchdog Awards.
Calling Ms. Tipit to the rescue.
DISCLAIMER: In this litigious, risk-averse society, we must pause here to admonish anyone reading this column that it is strictly for entertainment purposes ONLY. Please drink responsibly if at all. Please do not be a dunderhead and drink and tweet/post/drive, or you will be the next person we write about on Rostra and it won’t be pretty.
Proposition B Will End Pension Spiking
Shift to PR Concerns U-T’s Top Editor
U-T San Diego's Jeff Light and Voice of San Diego's Scott Lewis at the San Diego County Taxpayers Association breakfast forum on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of SDCTA.
Politics & Media Mashup: your weekend news aggregator leads off with a look at the reporter-to-PR shift. Also included: Links to some of the week’s best stories about local, state and national politics as well as social and traditional media.
Jeff Light, executive editor at U-T San Diego, is concerned about the reporter-to-PR shift. So concerned that he put together this chart showing how much things have changed.
Walter Cronkite is rolling over in his grave after SDCTA Breakfast Forum
Five people who have a lot to do with the news you read, hear and see on a daily basis in San Diego got up early to talk about the role of news media organizations as advocates. What they had to say may surprise you… especially if you’re still living in the era of Walter Cronkite.
The San Diego County Taxpayers Association hosted the panel in the first of its Breakfast Club Forums for 2012. Participants included Mike McKinnon, station manager of KUSI TV; J.W. August, managing editor for KGTV; Scott Lewis, CEO of Voice of San Diego; Jeff Light, editor in chief, U-T San Diego; and Deanna Mackey, station manager, KPBS FM/TV. The assignment moderating this forum was mine.
San Diego Mayoral Debate Mashup
The Lincoln Club of San Diego County, San Diego County Taxpayers Association & The City Club sponsored Friday’s Mayoral Debate at the U.S. Grant Hotel.
All four major candidates — City Councilman Carl DeMaio, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, Congressman Bob Filner and State Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher — attended the standing-room-only debate. This was the first debate to include the four.
The local media blanketed the event, as did the Twittersphere and Facebookers. Most were impressed with what they heard.
Belly up to the bar: The San Diego Rostra Mayoral Debate Drinking Game
For true San Diego poliwonks, New Year’s Eve was just a warm-up act. We know many of you have been saving yourself for the real deal: Political Debate Season 2012.
Starting Friday, January 13 with the first official San Diego Mayoral Debate of 2012, we will soon be subjected to a seemingly endless series of candidate debates and it will all become a blur.
But if you are a diligent citizen, you know you should be paying attention to the debates and learning about the candidates even if they deliver nothing but a painful litany of clichés. It’s enough to drive any red-blooded voter to drink.
How about a healthy serving of pork for Thanksgiving?
In Poland it’s called “election sausage” In the Czech Republic, it’s known as “goulash.” It’s called “sweetener” in the UK. In the USA, we call it pork.
But everywhere including on San Diego Rostra it means government waste and it’s a turkey for taxpayers no matter how you slice it. We serve up plenty of pork around here. Now the San Diego County Taxpayers Association calls on Rostrafarians to submit your finest examples of pork as nominations for the 17th Annual Golden Watchdog and Golden Fleece Awards Dinner on May 16, 2012. This annual event recognizes the very best and worst of local government efficiency, spending and decision-making each year. No poliwonk worth his or her credentials would dare miss it.
Wonk Wednesday Welcomes Sean Karafin to the San Diego Scene
Rostrafarians, isn’t it just like a cool breeze on an unseasonably warm evening when you find out there’s a new wonk at work in San Diego?
In a fittingly timed announcement on Wonk Wednesday, Sean Karafin has been named Economic Policy Analyst for the San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA). Karafin brings formal education in economics, and experience working with numerous municipalities in California conducting economic analysis to his new role with SDCTA. As Economic Policy Analyst, Karafin conducts public policy analysis and contributes to the advocacy efforts of SDCTA. His professional concentration has, and continues to be, providing sound research and analysis to support efficient and effective governance.
Turns out it is not just occasional sewage flowing from the Tijuana River that sullies San Diego’s South Bay. San Diego/Imperial County Labor Council’s “Middle Class Taxpayer’s Association” does a fine job of soiling the South Bay as well.
Proposition R passed in fall 2008, thus allowing the Southwestern Community College 
to issue $389 million in bonds to construct and repair facilities. The language of the promised the bonds would be issued “at legal rates, with required citizen oversight, annual audits and no money for administrators’ salaries.”
Attention, Class: This WILL Be On The Test Monday
Rostra columnist Jim Sills posted a question on my recent post “Calling San Diego Taxpayers: Oppose the “Jobs Tax” asking San Diegans to oppose a proposal by the San Diego City Council to double linkage fees.
Sills had the courage (and the smarts) to ask an obvious question. What the heck is a “linkage fee”?
I called on Chris Cate, Vice President of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association to get a little schooling on this for Rostra readers. Cate was happy to oblige.
Hey, pipe down there, you in the back. Pay attention – this WILL be on the test!
Calling San Diego Taxpayers: Oppose the “Jobs Tax”
The San Diego County Taxpayers calls upon San Diegans to voice their opposition to a proposal by the San Diego City Council to double the so called “linkage fee” charged to construction projects in the City of San Diego. This fee is yet another short-sighted job killer and SDCTA is strongly opposed to this increase.
The Council will also consider setting this fee on “auto-increase” going forward, a sneaky little maneuver which no longer requires a vote of your elected officials to increase this job-killing tax. This action may be taken despite a historic recession and without regard for the concerns voiced by business leaders that this would further hurt jobs creation and economic recovery in San Diego.
Kevin Faulconer set the tone last night, telling a crowd of civic leaders, “This is not about Republicans and Democrats. This is about what is good for San Diego neighborhoods.” Faulconer gestured to a chart showing that, if left unchanged, local residents will one day pay $500 million-a-year for a “defined benefit” pension system. “If we act now, we can save $1 to $2 Billion in the next 25 years, and that will go instead to libraries, parks & recreation, repairing roads and public safety.” Carl DeMaio pinpointed a 65% rise in local water rates since 2007, and said “Pension Costs are fully charged into those stunning increases.” Noting harassment of reform petitioners at local shopping centers, Mayor Jerry Sanders got laughs saying, “I’m actually ‘proud’ of the people doing that because it means they’ve finally gotten off their #$%*&+#* and done something.“ (A helicopter passed overhead at this moment, and I could not make out just what the word #$%*&+#* was.) The Lincoln Club’s T.J. Zane emphasized polling shows 70% public support to end abuses like “pension spiking”.
Comprehensive Pension Reform kicks off
You’re invited…
Who: Mayor Jerry Sanders, Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer, Councilmember Carl DeMaio, Lincoln Club of San Diego County and the San Diego County Taxpayers Association
What: Comprehensive Pension Reform Campaign Kick-off Reception
When: Thursday, June 30
Time: 5 to 7 p.m.
Where: Trellises Restaurant at the Town & Country Hotel (500 Hotel Circle, San Diego CA 92108)
Previous contributions or pledges gratefully acknowledged or $100 minimum at the door. Personal, company, corporate or PAC checks accepted.
To RSVP email info@realpensionreform.com or call 619.446.6441
Do I Smell a Sheep? Nope, It’s the Golden Fleece Finalists!
Politics is sometimes known for its pungent smell. (Rostrafarian wits, I expect great things from the Comments section with this opening line).
For 16 years, April showers have brought much more than May flowers to San Diego – they bring the San Diego County Taxpayers Association Golden Fleece Awards. Yes, there are Golden Watchdogs and Media Watchdog Awards too. But seriously, all we really care about is who gets called out every year for their less than smooth moves with taxpayer dollars and public programs.
Would You Vote To Reform Public Employee Compensation?
Election results show city employees wouldn’t
I recently told you about a vote employees at City Hall were taking. City workers, including myself, were asked if they wanted to eliminate a controversial and costly employee benefit – the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP).
Who in their right mind would vote to eliminate a retirement benefit, especially one that allows participants to simultaneously collect a pension and a salary – costing the City millions of dollars?
Turns out, not many at City Hall voted to drop DROP.
Full disclosure: I received a ballot but did not vote. Not that it would have mattered, given the results of the election:
Welcome The New Poliwonk in Town
A fresh face among San Diego’s political wonks is always a welcome sight. So it’s a pleasure to post word that Peter Amaro has been named the new Policy Analyst at the San Diego County Taxpayers Association.
Amaro’s brief bio: A native San Diegan (hooray!), Amaro received his Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center. During his time at Georgetown, he worked as a policy analyst with the Harrison Institute for Public Law, where he focused on land-use regulation and environmental policy issues facing state and local governments. He was also involved with Georgetown’s Environmental Law Society and Habitat for Humanity student groups. Prior to his legal studies, he worked for AVID Center, a San Diego-based educational nonprofit organization. Amaro earned his bachelor’s degree cum laude in Comparative Literature and Society from Columbia University.
Taxpayer Association Analysis Backs DeMaio “Roadmap to Recovery”
Plan Aligns with over two-thirds of SDCTA Budget Reform Principles
The San Diego County Taxpayers’ Association released a 27-page report evaluating Councilmember Carl DeMaio’s “Roadmap to Recovery.” The report found DeMaio’s proposal to be substantially in alignment with SDCTA’s 38 Budget Reform Principles.
“We applaud the ideas of managed competition and outsourcing, as well as the details provided for streamlining business operations,” the report wrote.
“I appreciate the hard work done by the Taxpayer’s Association in reviewing the Roadmap to Recovery, and I’m pleased with the results,” said DeMaio. “I welcome SDCTA as an important partner in advancing the Roadmap to Recovery. I look forward to working closely with them and other groups to secure the necessary public support for the reforms in the Roadmap to Recovery.”
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