Is That A Sheep I Smell? It Must Be Time for Golden Fleece Nominations!

The San Diego County Taxpayers Association’s annual Golden Fleece and Golden Watchdog Awards recognizing the best and worst of local government decision-making has become the poliwonk equivalent of the Consumer Electronics Show for techies, Lollapalooza for arty hipsters, or Comic-Con for… you get the idea.

But the Association can’t throw a party and produce those infamous parody videos featuring your favorite elected officials with a dude dressed up as a sheep without your nominations.

Lucky for you, the deadline has been extended to March 1. Find the details and the nomination form here. Self-nominations ARE encouraged!

Award categories include:

• The coveted Golden Watchdog Award honoring good government practices and efficient use of public money.
• The dreaded Golden Fleece Award calling out wasteful, inefficient or downright absurd uses of taxpayer dollars.
• The Media Watchdog Award recognizing excellence in reporting on behalf of taxpayers.
• The Public-Private Partnership Award for cooperation between the public and private sectors, stretching taxpayer dollars.

Let’s review last year’s honorees, shall we? Golden Fleece Award recipients for 2010 included the City of Chula Vista, “Attack of the Taxasaurus,” for its repeated failed attempts to raise taxes on citizens; the San Diego Unified School District, for “Survey This! Governance Woes,” earned through a “series of nonsensical decisions” including an ill-fated parcel tax measure plus a revolving door of superintendents; and Tri-City Hospital District for its “Trifecta of Troubles” including squabbles between board members and hospital executives, lawsuits, and bad budget decisions.

The 2010 Grand Golden Watchdog Award was presented to the East County communities of El Cajon, La Mesa, and Lemon Grove, for “Heartland Fire Rescue Consolidation Efforts.” The three cities joined forces to consolidate fire management services, creating additional staffing capacity and containing costs while maintaining a high level of fire and emergency medical services. The expected savings is $560,000 among the three cities without a loss of service to the public.

The Public-Private Partnership winner for 2010 was San Diego CleanTECH, “Public Facilities Renewable Energy Project,” for its successful effort capturing $154 million in allocations for financing renewable energy projects for public facilities available through the federal stimulus program in the San Diego region. The funds obtained for San Diego were equivalent to 19% of the total allotment going to public agencies nationwide.

Media Watchdog Awards were given to Eleanor Yang Su, San Diego Union-Tribune, “S.D. Marathon Runs Into Controversy,” and J.W. August, Mitch Blacher, Christian Cazares and Lauren Reynolds of KGTV 10News, “Water Department Bonuses.”

Fair warning to those of you in the Media Watchdog category: Rostra will be coming at you, so nominate only your very best.

Mark your calendar for May 19, 2011 so you won’t miss out on SDCTA’s annual awards dinner at the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center in Mission Valley. This year’s theme is a winner winner chicken dinner and will be revealed soon! Stay tuned.