Here is an absolute first rate commentary by Daniel Borenstein dissecting the myth that public employees are compensated less than private sector folks. Included in this article is an amazing 100+ page study that should serve as a reference for many debates to come when having this discussion. Borenstein’s article: http://bit.ly/mdCIFO Full study: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/78892940/pensionstudy
Death Of A Terrorist Brings Life To A President
Written by Bob Siegel and originally published by The Washington Times Communities, 5-6-0-11. Used by permission. SAN DIEGO, May 6, 2011 —In the shadow of the biggest news since 9/11, a small group of Republican candidates held their first 2012 presidential debate yesterday in Greenville, South Carolina. Credit was given to President Obama for taking out Osama bin Laden, and …
Project Gunrunner (Mexican Drug Cartels Say Thanks!)
The BATF’s anti-illegal-gun program has accomplished the opposite of its mission, reports Fox News: It is the closest thing to a smoking gun congressional investigators have in their probe of Project Gunrunner — a program that was intended to stop the flow of guns to criminals in Mexico but instead allowed those guns to be smuggled to Mexico instead. An …
Rostra’s Jantz in Good Company on SDCTA’s 2011 Golden Watchdogs List
This year’s list of Golden Watchdog Award and Media Watchdog Award finalists is out from the San Diego County Taxpayers Association (full disclosure: SDCTA is one of my public relations firm’s clients). On behalf of San Diego Rostra, we congratulate all the nominees. A full list is available here. We take particular pride in one of our OWN being on …
City Attorney: Retiree Health Agreement ‘Achieves an excellent result for City’
Historic agreement helps San Diego avoid years of costly legal battles City Attorney Jan Goldsmith lauded the agreement the City reached today with labor unions to drastically reduce retiree health costs — a move that will save San Diego taxpayers more than $700 million. “This settlement … achieves an excellent result for the City,” Goldsmith said today at a joint news conference …
DeMaio Opposes Massive $1.8 Billion Retiree Health Care Giveaway
15-Year Contract Creates De-Facto “Vesting” of Life-Long City Employee Benefits On Top of Medicare Just when you thought bad pension deals were a thing of the past at City Hall, along comes this unprecedented 15-year binding contract that guarantees life-long taxpayer-funded health benefits to city employees that are far in excess of private sector benchmarks. How can city leaders actually …
Granite State Greetings
Manchester, New Hampshire, to be precise, where I’m visiting maternal relatives. My mom had six sisters, so there’s a ton of relations here. I’m staying with my uncle Bill and aunt Shirley. If you’re reading this, hi! New Hampshire, of course, grabs the national spotlight once every four years with its first-in-the-nation presidential primary. Candidates have already begun their cicada-like …
Jon Cross in at San Diego New Majority
Confirmed last night: Jon Cross is the new Executive Director over at the San Diego New Majority. Cross is a former aide to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and United States Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, among other positions. He replaces Doug Sain. I think this is a positive direction for the organization. I’ve never met Cross but those who have say he’s …
Lani Lutar’s 3-Pointer at Buzzer shelves controversial Redistricting contract. SD Taxpayers Association’s Stunning Victory Tonight
Oh Doctor! Just when it looked like the Gerrymander Railroad was rolling, SD Taxpayers’ CEO Lani Lutar waved a Red Flag tonight and redirected it onto a siding. Rostra’s correspondent on scene reports the draft computer contract debated earlier has been withdrawn and that whole process will be restarted. Our witnesses say the Labor & Liberal leadership on hand were in a …
SD County Taxpayers Association: City Redistricting group should reconsider controversial computer contract
The S.D. County Taxpayers Association is the latest civic group to weigh-in on the troubled SD Redistricting Commission, raising concerns today about a disputed contract for vital computer services. The organization’s statement says in part, “Lani Lutar, President & CEO, said SDCTA is concerned that such a decision would further compromise the perception the Commission is politically biased. ‘Whether or …
“Impartial” Redistricting Staffer Blocks Important Question on Partisanship of Commissioners
According to the San Diego Charter, members of the Independent Redistricting Commission have to demonstrate that they can operate in a nonpartisan fashion in drawing the lines. So of course you’d think that the judges who selected the commissioners would ask about previous partisan affiliation. Nope. Not at all. Not one question in the public written forms or the oral …
Osama mission eerily imitates 2003/04 Operation Dark Heart (part 1 in a series)
On Sunday the world collectively sighed when news broke the most wanted terrorist and brainchild of 9/11 was finally killed. Osama bin Laden was hiding in plain sight-in a Pakistan town with major military bases, academies and neighbors. After nearly 10 years of searching for bin Laden, U.S. intelligence agencies finally put the puzzle pieces together and it doesn’t reflect …
Bipartisan effort to terminate Mexican cross-border trucking program
Responding to mounting criticism from Americans and the U.S. trucking industry, two Congressmen will work together in a bi-partisan manner to terminate President Obama’s stamp of approval that allows Mexican trucks to operate in the United States. A letter addressed to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, from Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) as well as 42 bipartisan …
Various Items of Note: New Majority, Garrick-Hodges Blow-Up, Slater-Price’s Problem
ITEM 1: CHANGES AT THE NEW MAJORITY. Sounds like the San Diego New Majority is in the midst of a staff change. Current staffer Doug Sain, who has served in the position for a couple of years, is either moving on or acting as an adviser in a different capacity (conflicting stories). The replacement will be John Cross. I don’t …
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 …
Fluoridation
The hilarity of the conspiracy theorists is without equal. The death of bin Laden must have happened during a full moon. Or the stores were running low on Reynolds Wrap. Okay, so we may not ever completely know what really happened in that compound. But, heck, we may not ever completely know about a host of other things. Hitler could …
Citizens Redistricting Commission
Dear Community Leader: As you know, the California Redistricting Citizen Commission established by Proposition 11 is well under way. The Commission will begin holding Public Hearings over the next 45 days in our area. Below you will find a link to the complete schedule of upcoming hearings and locations across California. The San Diego Hearings are scheduled for May 13th in …
Another Fine Mess You’ve Gotten Us Into! — Voice of San Diego exposes Redistricting Commission’s “Fuzzy Logic” on Computer Contract
Adrian Florido may just be the Best Reporter you’ve never heard of ! This week he followed a twisting path to the truth about the critical computer services contract for the shell-shocked San Diego City Redistricting Commission. Florido reports the Fuzzy Logic (my phrase, not his) used to apparently reject bids from experienced private firms, preparing instead to turn to the quasi-public San …
It’s Already Ugly In North County
A couple months ago Sherry Hodges (once a staffer for Assemblyman Martin Garrick, then after some sort of fight now a staffer for Orange County Assemblywoman Diane Harkey) declared for State Assembly. The general feeling around town was that Hodges had the endorsement of Martin Garrick. I wondered about it though in a post a few weeks back… the Garrick …
From the Gonzo Invitation Department
Did Senator Joel Anderson get a state use permit for that camera? Anderson Invites Governor to a Budget Townhall in East San Diego County
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