Another Whopper at City Hall

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey Leave a Comment

If you like political controversy you must feel like a kid in a candy store these days. One bombshell after another is coming out of San Diego City Hall. Meanwhile, Councilmember Kevin Faulconer is pushing for positive change to guard tax dollars and reinvest in core City services including street repair. Faulconer is calling for action to reduce government waste and inefficiency through …

Faulconer on Mayor Filner’s budget: ‘Repeats the mistakes of City Hall’s past’

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey 2 Comments

For Immediate Release: April 15, 2013 Contact: Matt Awbrey, Communications Director – (619) 929-0089     Councilmember Faulconer’s Statement on Mayor Filner’s 2013-2014 Budget Proposal  SAN DIEGO — Today, Councilmember Kevin Faulconer released the following statement regarding Mayor Filner’s proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget. “Instead of continuing with fiscal discipline, accountability and fully implementing voter-approved managed competition, Mayor Filner’s proposed budget repeats …

Faulconer’s open letter to Mayor Filner

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey Leave a Comment

Today, Mayor Bob Filner and two new San Diego City Councilmembers — Mark Kersey and Scott Sherman — were sworn into office. In his op-ed in Sunday’s U-T San Diego, Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer laid out areas the new mayor and City Council can focus on together to keep City Hall accountable and working for San Diegans. In …

Faulconer Speaks Out Against Proposal to Increase Pension Debt

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey 1 Comment

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 …

Faulconer: “People in San Diego were hungry for change”

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San Diego’s vote on Proposition B is reverberating across California and the country, creating national headlines. Kevin Faulconer, co-author of the Comprehensive Pension Reform citizens initiative, took to the airwaves to talk about the overwhelming approval of the measure, and how San Diego is setting a blueprint for reform for local governments throughout the nation. Watch the clip here.

City Leaders Lay Out Prop B Pension Reform Implementation Plan

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey, Undesignated Leave a Comment

“San Diegans expect results. We must implement Prop B without delay.” That was the message City leaders delivered today following the landslide approval of Proposition B at the ballot box Tuesday. More than 66 percent of voters endorsed the measure, otherwise known as Comprehensive Pension Reform, to eliminate traditional pensions for new employees and replace them with a 401(k)-style plan, similar …

Faulconer pushes to bring City technology into 21st century

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey 4 Comments

Are you reading this using a computer system from the 1980’s? You’re probably not firing up a Commodore 64 each morning, yet much of the City’s information technology network still uses decades-old systems. This morning Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer joined Mayor Jerry Sanders and Councilmember Lorie Zapf to unveil the potential savings from two competitively bid IT services contracts. He called on …

Faulconer talks pension reform on national television

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey Leave a Comment

In case you missed it, Kevin Faulconer appeared on Fox News Channel this week to talk about San Diego’s Comprehensive Pension Reform citizen’s initiative, the fight to put it on the ballot and the millions of dollars in savings it can bring to taxpayers. The reform measure, which will appear on the June ballot, comes at a time when cities …

Competition Between Government and Private Businesses Saving Millions for S.D. Taxpayers and Neighborhoods

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey Leave a Comment

Competition works — and is delivering results for San Diego. Today, San Diego City Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer joined Mayor Jerry Sanders and City Councilmember Todd Gloria to announce City employees won a bid against three private companies to provide street sweeping services to San Diegans. Freed up to compete with the private sector through the voter-approved managed …

Faulconer: “People talk about creating new jobs. We must also protect the jobs we have”

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey, Undesignated Leave a Comment

San Diegans rightly expect all levels of local government to be focused on creating and maintaining jobs, especially in this period of economic uncertainty. Today in front of the international headquarters of San Diego-based manufacturer Solar Turbines, City Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer joined County Supervisor Greg Cox, Port Chairman Scott Peters and many more local leaders to unite …

Faulconer: Redevelopment’s Public Benefits Too Important to Stop

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City Council President Pro Tem Kevin L. Faulconer released the following statement in response to today’s California Supreme Court ruling over the State Legislature’s decision to dissolve redevelopment agencies across the state, including in San Diego. “Redevelopment has been a vital resource in the transformation of downtown and many of San Diego’s older communities. It has been the key to …

Navigating City Bureaucracy ‘Is Like Trying To Get Into A Speakeasy With The Wrong Password’

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey 3 Comments

Local Businesses List Top Solutions To Cut City Red Tape The City Council held the first Regulatory Relief workshop since 2000 last night. Over 100 business advocates showed up to the special evening Council meeting, which has been promoted over the last week by Councilmembers Kevin Faulconer, Lorie Zapf and Tony Young. Dozens of recommendations to cut red tape were voiced directly …

City Council Serves Up “Restaurant Relief,” Removing A Burdensome Regulation For Local Businesses

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey 1 Comment

Faulconer: Government regulation putting “too many cooks in the kitchen” When was the last time you heard of the police breaking up a rowdy dance party at Liberty Station’s Corvette Diner? Probably never, but this family restaurant was required to obtain a $3,000 entertainment permit from the Police Department for the right to feature live entertainment (in this case, a …

“It’s In The Voters’ Hands” — Comprehensive Pension Reform Qualifies For San Diego Ballot

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey 7 Comments

  One hundred fifteen thousand nine hundred ninety one. That’s how many San Diegans signed the petition to qualify Comprehensive Pension Reform for the June 2012 ballot, the City Clerk confirmed today. The initiative’s authors — Mayor Jerry Sanders, City Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer and City Councilmember Carl DeMaio — joined the Lincoln Club, San Diego County Taxpayers …

Bipartisan City Council Coalition Vows To Cut Red Tape So S.D. Businesses Can Create Jobs

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey Leave a Comment

“Time is money.” It’s an all-American saying that every small business in San Diego lives by. Today, City Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer joined Council President Tony Young, Councilmember Lorie Zapf, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and Building Industry Association of San Diego to committ to helping businesses spend less time navigating the City bureaucracy so they can focus …

Faulconer to Review Over 300 Recommendations to Improve City Operations and Boost Efficiencies

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey 1 Comment

Audit Committee to also consider proposal that could recover up to $500,000 from payment errors   Have an idea to fix City Hall and save taxpayer dollars? The independent City Auditor has over 300. This morning at 9:00 at City Hall, Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer — chair of the City Audit Committee —  will be reviewing 313 recommendations …

City Council Approves Private Sector Competition for San Diego Landfill Operation

Matt AwbreyMatt Awbrey 1 Comment

Faulconer makes motion to save millions of dollars through managed competition “We should line up managed competitions like planes on the runway at Lindbergh Field.” This is a line Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer is fond of using when stressing the importance of competition for City services. Today, the City Council gave clearance for another plane to take off …